Cinco de Mayo was on a Tuesday this year so the teachers had Monday and Tuesday off. Since it was a long weekend and we were going to go to Mexico City to see my friend Amber off at the airport, we decided to visit a few cities. We took the bus from Mexico City to Tlaxcala (pop. 85k) which is a colonial town and the capital of Mexico's smallest state, Tlaxcala. When the Spaniards invaded the city around 1519, the Tlaxcalans fought fiercely at first but ultimately became Cortés' allies against the Aztecs. The city is the most beautiful city that I have seen so far. We visited the Ex-Convento Franciscano de la Asunción, the Santuario de la Virgen de Ocotlán and the Zocalo. Unfortunately, the museums were closed because of the Swine Flu.
The next day we took a trip to Haumantla (pop. 46k) which is a Pueblo Magico (magic village). "To become a Magic Pueblo, a community must have unusual historical or religious significance, a heritage that has been preserved over time and reasonable access from major cities or other tourist destinations." Unfortunately, we didn't really find anything interesting in the town and after lunch with the Yoder-Shrock family (they were on their way from the coast to Mexico City), we returned to Tlaxcala.
Tuesday morning, we took the bus to Puebla, which we had visited in October, to view the site of the battle of Cinco de Mayo. (An interesting note: Cinco de Mayo is not as big of a day of celebration in Mexico as it is in the US.) The celebration of the battle of Cinco de Mayo (against the French) is in the town of Puebla on the Cerro (hill) of Guadalupe. Unfortunately, because of the Swine Flu, the parade and many of the 'usual' annual activities in the town were cancelled. We were able to walk around the Cerro and then went into the town to do some shopping for Talavera (fine pottery).
You can see pictures clicking on this site: http://picasaweb.google.com/regnor11/TlaxcalaHuamantlaPuebla#
Coming next: Ixtapan de Sal
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