The Trip Home

The next four postings show the last of the our Mexican journey. When we left Oaxaca we made the first day a long one and got to Toluca in one tiring drive. We slowed down a bit for a two day rest in Queretero. Just before Queretero, is a village called Bernal and it is known for the big rock at the edge of the picturesque town--La Pena. It reminds us of Devil's Tower, just outside of Sundance.

Queretero

Queretero is a fine Spanish Colonial city and one that deserves a longer visit than the two days we were there. Here are just a few scenes.

This must be something kids do to one another to tease one another--throw pairs of shoes on wires. We've seen this often. The pointy thing below the shoes is a modern sculpture in front of an ancient church.

I include only one church. Below is the front.

And the back.

And a different form of graffiti--gum on the back wall.

And indigenous ladies in the shadow of the church.

Two of Queretero's Museums

The Museo Arte de Queretero was another place I couldn't photograph the works and so I had to be satisfied taking pictures of the building. Fortunately, the building was satisfying.


You will need to enlarge this downspout to get the full effect of the figure. Figures with old faces were on the first level and figures with young faces were on the second.


Graffiti.

Below were figures from a show inside and outside the museum. These faces are about six feet tall and impressive. The artist has constructed his work in clay, in bronze, and in fiberglass and some are only heads, some are full bodies and some are body parts. The artist is Javier Marin.

The next three pictures are from the City Museum. They had a variety of shows in a maze of galleries. Below is an installation that makes the most sense if you understand that the huipil is the native blouse of most of the indigineous women in Mexico. That repeated cruciform shape is the same shape as a huipil.

No, below isn't an art work. It's the men's room, which happened to be open when I passed by.

I include these odd and unorganized photos of art works (when I can) and galleries because I find art in Mexico exciting and inventive and I like to share what we are seeing that might not be on the web in any other locations.

The Trip Home

San Luis Potosi was another gorgeous colonial city, one that is turning the center into a tourist's (and local's) dream of a city. It is clean. There are no potholes in the sidewalks to devour you. They are even putting all of the wires underground. Fortunately there were a few left for me to photograph.

Another useful shadow provided by a church. This church was only one of many in the center. I think there were six magnificent churches within three blocks of our hotel, all with well-kept parks and plazas. San Luis Potosi is also turning many of the streets between the historic sites into walking-only streets. It is great for pedestrians, although we did have trouble finding a way to our hotel and its parking lot.

What we saw when we left the hotel. Unfortunately, there are still wires overhead here.

Santa Clara. This church is lit at night in the weeks around Holy Week. They do some kind of projection on the exterior and we got the whole Easter story picked out on the walls in vivid color. It's too bad my camera wouldn't record this except as a little video.

This is for Tyler. It's more florescent tubes inside a church and a homely little clock. This is the interior of Santa Clara and it is the most elaborately adorned church we have visited.

Below is Santo Nino. Left, in the hopes of a miracle, are toy cars to please the childish saint and pictures of children hoping for help.

Kent wanted this picture, poor though it is, to be included. You are to look for the crystal ship chandelier in the upper right of the picture. It is in a church--not Santa Clara.

After San Luis Potosi we started into the desolate, dry country of the Chihuahua desert. We actually find it beautiful and feel at home here. It could be parts of Wyoming.

Casas Grandes is a town and the site of an archaeological ruin. The ancient people who built this adobe city are related to some of the tribes of the American SW.

Through the museum window. They didn't allow me to photograph any of the artifacts, even without flash.

This ends most of our sojourn in Mexico. Tomorrow we cross the border in the U.S.

Last Pictures from Oaxaca

We've been on the road since last Tuesday and before that we were busy packing, but tonight I have a chance to do a little catching up on the blog. Even though at the moment, we are about three hours south of Chihuahua City, I will return to Oaxaca and keep the blog in chronological order.

The last photos of Oaxaca's walls and doors. I will miss them. The ones in the tourist centers we have visited lately are much prettier, but not as interesting.



Someone tried to paint out the old tagging, but it doesn't take long to show up again.


I'm not sure what to make of the picture below. The item that caught my eye was the figure in the niche just to the left of the arrow. Many street corners have these little figures blessing the crossing, I think. But there is a lot going on other than the saint.



The Stamp Museum had a gracious setting in an old building. They not only had a lot of stamps, but they also had stamp art and all the handwritten letters that Frido Kahlo sent to her doctor. It was a more interesting place than I thought it would be, but mainly it was the building that caught my eye. This is a corner of one of the many patios. Again there is a drift of jacaranda blossoms.


From one courtyard to another.

Perhaps someday that plant will fill in the trellis wires, but in the meantime it's a nice geometric composition.

We were in Oaxaca for Semana Santa and although I didn't get pictures of most of the processions, I did walk about my neighborhood the morning of Good Friday. Almost all the businesses were closed, but they had put altars in front of their doors and they waited for roving Christians to come and bless them.

And here was part of one of the many groups who came to bless the altars. The streets were full of processions, young and old, and the figures of Mary and Jesus from their local churches. I don't think anyone tried to drive anyplace on Good Friday. The big procession was in the evening from Santo Domingo up the street and back. It was silent, except for drums and the banners and the figures the people carried were elaborate. We attended, but it was impossible to take photos.

And dancing in the Zocolo on Easter Sunday after the city symphonic band performed.

I'll try to post some of our pictures from the trip back later, but I'm not sure when I'll get another good internet connection, We've been through Queretero and San Luis Potosi, both cities we'd never visited before and both ones we enjoyed a great deal.

Miscellanies from Oaxaca

Our time in Oaxaca is coming to a close. Here are a few of the final pictures from the city.

The Panteon (Cemetery). Unfortunately, I didn't find Oaxaca's cemetery as photogenic as San Cristobal de las Casas's or Merida's, but I include these snaps anyway, so that you can compare them.

Oaxaca's angles don't point to heaven.



This little figure of the Virgin was in a niche on one of the graves. I think I ought to photograph saints' faces. They are as varied a group as the pre-Colombian figures. This one has a pleasant, medieval, calm appearance.

The A. Bravo Photographic Gallery had a show of a Danish sculptor's work.

The fleshy figure in the photo below looks exactly like the sculptor, who is getting very old.




And finally, some of my favorite subjects--walls.




Wrestling is a favorite spot here and the individual wrestlers are famous. Their masks make popular Halloween masks and they can be bought at any gift store. I see that it costs a lot less to go to a strip joint than it does a wrestling match.