Teatro Macedonia Alcala

Saturday night we went to our first performance in the turn-of-the-century opera house here in Oaxaca. It's a bit earlier than the one in Merida, but still in that Porfirio Diaz Greek reivival spirit with a bit of French flavoring thrown in. We saw modern dance. There is a week and a half festival of modern dance here and if last night's performance was any indication of quality, we are in for a treat. Again as in Merida, many performances are free and some have a nominal charge ($4US/ticket).

This appears to be the original drop.

This theater is smaller than Merida's, but nicer inside, I think.

The ceiling decoration must have been renewed. The ladies look a bit too modern for 1900.

Below is the western side of the Zocolo. The Zocolo (central square or plaza) itself is trees, walkways, a bandstand, and benches and around the outside on the portales (arched, covered walks) are restaurants and galleries, at least two sides in this case. The cathedral is on one side and the municipal or state buildings are opposite the cathedral. It is by Oaxaca's Zocolo that we judge every other Zocolo. We think this the best one we've visited. We once spent a month in Honduras looking for the same kind of thing--a central square which has a park and restaurants, where at a table we can have a coffee, read a newspaper, watch the people and feel a part of the scene. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything in Honduras. I'm sure there are many perfect Zocolos--Morelia's, northwest of Mexico City, is very nice, and San Miguel de Allende's is nothing to sneeze at and Merida's is okay, but we like Oaxaca's the best. The area takes up a large city block and the surrounding streets are closed to traffic. Tranquillo.

On the pillars of the portales are wires to keep the pigeons from roosting and leaving unwanted additions to one's food.