The Morelia party continues ...

Saturday morning was quiet as we walked into the Old part of the City while clouds loomed overhead, threatening rain. We had made a conscious decision to not bring rain gear and to buy it if we felt that it was needed. We should have known better. After all, it is late fall, there are many tropical depressions just waiting to come inland, and rain is badly needed. So of course it would be the weather of the day. It had rained and was colder than normal when we arrived: it will rain many times over before we head home. But for today, we happily traipse out into town oblivious to what was overhead.

Brunch was had at the same restaurant as last night, on the plaza Jardin de las Rosas but this time the plaza has been transformed. It has become the Jardin del Arte de las Rosas  and art forms are found in every empty space.       Of course, the theme is universally, El Día de los Muertos.  I found many that would enhance a room and be a conversation piece, but alas, there is no space big enough to handle one of them. Here a few of my favorites besides the violin:   

As we meandered our way through town we couldn't help but notice the manhole covers for the electric company.  Yes the three Kings are what we see each time we cross one of them but in reality they are representative of the three founders of their independence. 

Today was our day for exploring both outside and inside the various buildings in the historic area of town. Each and every open door that we came to we would look in. Looking into the many open buildings that we pass we also see individual remembrances of the dead, each as unique as the other, yet all with the same displayed items: skulls, candles, orange marigolds with a few magenta flowers, food stuff, and a cross or more worked into the design. Sometimes there is even a photo of the deceased. 

   

There were also many examples of la Catrina/el Catrino, representing a elegantly, richly dressed person who ultimately, in death, becomes equal with everyone, including the peasant. 

 

 

The architecture is reminiscent of areas that we have previously seen: Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain and France. And why wouldn't they be; the builders of the time are one in the same - of the Old World.  Some remain as designed, others converted: An ex-convent is now an artesian exhibition and store. 

Here again we found many wonderful things that would look good in a house. hmmmm do I see a trend here? 

      
   Although I have many different photos of the inside of churches, I promise, no more - well maybe an alter to give the sense of how they are outfitted.

 

 

Along the street, people are out in force as the day progresses but very few costumes such as was seen last night. We did however, come across an organ grinder without a monkey to collect his tips.  Danny loves to listen to these and reward with a tip.

We tried to get on the free trolley for a tour of the area but could never quite get the times right. Oh well, there is always tomorrow. You never knew who or what you would see around the corner.  

Oh look, another festival/happening coming up.  You never know who might be in attendance, promoting the next happening. 

As the afternoon wore on we would have the occasional sprinkle, letting us know that there was a possibility for rain. And then the downpour arrived. The skies became grey and not a speck of blue or sunshine to be seen. Yes, we got soaked. Danny had a jacket with him. I didn't but guess what, Woolworth's sells umbrellas. Also a good time to have an early meal at VIPs, a Denny-like restaurant.

The rain continued long into the night and we made an early night of it. Tomorrow should look better.

Sunday and yes, it continues to rain. Nevertheless we find ourselves out in it as we change establishments. This time we are closer in to town. Working folks have to go back to work tomorrow and thus there are more rooms available. Rain or no rain, there are things to see and places to be. The displays are looking a little dejected and waterlogged and maybe even a little haunting as we wandered through the areas that had been wall to wall with excited and boisterous people Friday night.  

Walking in the rain, with my mind singing ...
"I'm singing in the rain,
just walking in the rain,
What a glorious feeling,
I'm happy again..." twirling my umbrella, and slouching into my jacket. My feet are wet, and so is my hair, but "I'm singing in the rain, ... What a glorious feeling, ..."  This is a pedestrian mall leading to the Aqueduct.

Brunch overlooking the park, coffee overlooking the park, and just off the park, a very informative and interesting Museum of Michoacán detailing life in the provence since the earliest of times. One display traced the development of the indigenous languages which we found very interesting, having studied this superficially, somewhat earlier. The information actually added to our small amount of knowledge and augmented the earlier acquisitions. We will have to return to this as there were areas that we didn't get to by closing.

Back in the hotel, yikes! Their water heating system is solar and there wasn't a speck of sunshine today. Now, what does that tell you? Yup, no hot water for showers. Oh well, c'est la vie!

We are in Morelia, MX

What a time for us to decide on going to Mexico. We arrived on the "El Día de los Muertos" or "The Day of the Dead". We really had no inkling that we were about to have the time of our lives when we landed. We landed in Toluca, MX, a town next to Mexico City with a wonderful new airport terminal, and experienced a quiet ride through a sleeping city to our hotel. A hotel, mind you, that was far below what one would normally pay close to the airport. Our ride took us past a set of entwining towers that were lit with colored lights - built for the courtyard of a museum, according to the taxi driver.

We checked in to the hotel and chuckled at the desk clerk's attire - scarf and suit coat over a very bulky sweater. Yes, we landed in a cold spell, unusual for this time of year, and without fall-type clothing on our backs, but yes, in our suitcase. The front desk was situated in what we originally thought was inside the hotel. On further investigation, the middle of the hotel was an outside courtyard and there was no wall between the reception area and this outside courtyard. The poor man was freezing. I guess he had no trouble staying awake as he was trying to stay warm.

We decided that we were going to head out of Toluca to Morelia in the morning and see Toluca and Mexico City, or least some superficial parts of said places, at the end of the journey. Our aim for this trip is to see the Silver Cities and Morelia, not Mexico City and Toluca. So with this in mind, we set out for the bus terminal for a bus to Morelia. The bus terminal is said to be the largest in all of Mexico. From the front, it was hard to see that it was all that big ...

 but when we drove out the bus bays seemed to go for miles and miles. The trip was a mere 4 hours and we snagged the front seats on the upper deck. Perfect for seeing the countryside.

Morelia, in the provence of Michoacán: a vibrant, fun-loving city made all the more so by the continuum of festivals and happenings and yet, an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Our hotel, one that was a last resort choice (we could not find a hotel room for love nor money), is very basic but at least warm, dry and comfortable. We originally thought to walk from the bus terminal but on 2nd thought, took a taxi. We are located about 12 blocks from the Old City, a good walk uphill. Check in and head out, that is the name of our game and so we did. We headed to the Old Historic part of the City to try and find some festivities related to El Día de los Muertos" which supposedly actually lasts all weekend, not just on the 1st and 2nd of November. As we wandered into the small streets and side streets we came across our first indication of why "No Vacancy" - yes, the 10th International Film Festival" also celebrating 50 years of cinematography in Mexico. International it may be but I think that all of Mexico is here this weekend.

 The selection of films are from all genres and some I recognize but most I don't. You buy either a pamphlet that lists the films and their showing times or a book that gives a description of the films as well as the timetable. Everywhere one looked people were perusing either one or the other, and with the lines at the box-office suffocating. 

We looked and found so many movies that looked interesting, we had to put the pamphlet away else we would end up spending our whole time here in a movie house.

What a happening to simply wander into without knowledge or planning.

Across the street and up a block we found a great place to eat while we listened to live music. How were we to know that we snagged a seat in the most sought after open-air restaurant in town - Jardin de las Rosas. We looked out over an open green space with the same name and got our first glimpse of the floral representations for the Day of the Dead festival.

 Fitting, no?

As we sat eating and listening, dusk rapidly enfolded us and the crowds became more and more. We reluctantly left our seats to seek out more entertainment. And boy did we find it! We lucked into the the festival of La Noche de Muertes en Morelia" a festival within a festival.

And crowds that included all ages.

Here we came across the dressing up and the representations of the significance of the festival:

 They asked to have their photo taken

skulls of all kinds and shapes, everywhere

in memory of ????? That is not a person sitting there.

skeletons of all sizes and in all manner of dress

shades of Halloween?

each gate to the park was decorated like this

this is made up of "pan de muerto"

always the same orange-yellow flowers

which is the dummy?

floral tributes of all kinds

skeleton with clothes and a cardboard guitar

And this is my favorite:

I asked the parents if I could take a photo of the little girl as the little boy was in mom's arms and she put him down beside her and they posed. Isn't this just too adorable?

As we wandered around a very small area we came across more interesting things than we will probably ever be able to take in. One was an exhibition of photos taken during various filming of films made in MExico. These were sitting in one small section of the Plaza de Armas. And the architecture ... it is phenomenal and so reminiscent of that which we saw in Spain and France. Of course, it was the same as over there as the immigrant/ruling people that built these buildings were from Europe. 

The party was going strong when we left the area to walk home. We met people still heading into the area as we left. There were so much input in such a short span of time, it is hard to even digest let alone write about. And how to cull the photos down to just those that give a good representation? It is definitely something to experience and we are so fortunate to have landed in the middle of this. Tomorrow is another day and more experiences to come, I am sure.

'til tomorrow or ......