Art en La Ciudad Oaxaca

Always order El Plato del Dia

Yesterday I set off to see Monte Alban, some ruins just outside of Oaxaca City. Before taking the van ride I went out for some coffee, real coffee, not the instant stuff. I love this hostel and their free breakfast, that comes with eggs, but the coffee their coffee is not my favorite. Anyway, I found this plaza that turns out to be La Basilica d

e la Soledad. This picture is of the police in training who were running laps in the plaza...and then crawing on the ground...and doing push-ups, I was trying not to laugh because it looked very challenging, but they didn't seem badass at all. 

From this plaza I went to meet up with two Argentinian girls from my hostel who planned our trip to Monte Alban.  I decided to do the trip sin guia, without a guide, because sometimes that gets boring. So I wandered around the ruins and read little signs and stuff. The ruins were cool and all, but I was baking and for sure getting a sun burn and I couldn't help thinking...How could this have been one of the first planned suburban communities if there aren't any tress or shade? So I asked this dude selling small clay figures about it and we had a whole conversation about the history of the different indigenous groups that lived in this area and he said that yes, there were trees, but they were

destroyed like everything else. Then he told me all about being a farmer nearby and whatnot, very cool dude, I think way cooler than the guias. Anyway, the ruins trip really wiped me 

out and I never woke up from my afternoon siesta. Today, I hiked

 up the largest hill in Oaxaca City to take in the view and then walked down to meet some people for lunch. As I alreayd mentioned El Plato del Dia treated me well.  I got the largest and definitely best meal at the table and paid the least, and of couse it was accompanied by beans!

Oaxaca at First Glance

I MADE IT! I finally left Boulder and I'm now in Oaxaca City, Oaxaca. I'm staying at a super chill hostel, La Casa de Don Pablo and enjoying the sunshine. On my first day of exploring I found myself at the Santo Domingo Cathedral. It's this huge beautiful cathedral with a park the size of a city block attached to the back. Upon wandering in, I was asked to pay, bummer, but really what I didn't realize was that I was getting the complete tour of the botanical garden, which turned out to be really interesting...yep, el flor de marzo is one of the indredients of Channel's no.5, among other more medicenal purposes of most of the other plants. Beyond that, I enjoyed some coffee in the Zocalo, where there seems to be an everprescence, but not always visable, peruvian style flute band.

Today, Day 2, for those keeping track... I headed out this morning to see Los Arcquitos. Los Arcquitos (little arcs), turned out to be, eh, this street lined with little arcs, who could have guessed. Anyway, more importantly, on my way to Los Arcquitos I found myself at this little 

organic farmers market deal and had quite possibly the best toastada of my life. I was pretty hungry, but anywho, this toastada consisted of a crisp tortilla with jalapinllo flavored cheese, 

my favorite type of beans and some sauteed vegtables on top.  This meal really started me off on a day of great eating!

Between this market and my hostel I explored a gra

phic art school that had some exhibits and a librarty. I saw some great artwork in the making. Next, I went to the Casa de La Ciudad which had some excellent art as well. This picture is a photographic floor of Oaxaca, aerial style...

 For dinner I had chicken mole, black mole, oaxaca style, with a glass of wine over looking the Zocalo and a free concert. I didn't realize at the time that the restaurant was so swanky, and cost a little more than my hostel stay for the night, but definitely the best mole of my life, well worth it.

Things I Will Miss In Boulder

1. Everyone
2. The Flatirons
3. Being in the beer of the week club at Liquor Mart
4. The Teahouse 
5. The cyclists on the bike path who are always smiling and high on adrenaline 
6. Breakfast at Dot's 
7. Happy hour at the Med
8. The path around the Res
9. Hot yoga
10. Free Wall St. Journals on campus
11. The Fox
12. The Upstairs
13. The Gyro Stand late night

NYC; 42nd to 45th

NYC is full of exciting things to do and see, yet the process of selecting which activities you might do, where these happen to be located and how you will get to them or park once there, can be quite a challenge. Yesterday, I ventured into the city with my 89 year old grandma, who know here way around far better than I. Our main goal was to see a show and we managed to get two tickets to my grandma's top pick Billy Elliot. Once we had the tickets we had the afternoon to adventure around before our 8pm show. Our first thought was to check out the Moma a few blocks uptown, yet after checking out the line and parking situation we retreated to the theater district to park the car. It is quite lovely to drive into the city, with no traffic and avoid taking cabs, yet unless you plan to stay inside your car, it becomes a large burden. After checking all the parking rates in the area, we picked a rather shady looking one with a good deal, where they said we could keep the car till midnight if we wanted. So from around 8th adn 44th we headed out walking. Our first stop was the Public Library connected to Bryant Park. If you have never been there, it is a beautiful, historic building, definitely worth checking out. The exhibit at the Library wasn't so intriguing so next we headed over to 42nd St., to the International Museum of Photography.

The photography was great and we ended up having some tea and using their seating area for some rest time. At last, we walked back over to 45th to the Imperial Theater and saw Billy Elliot.

I thought the show was great, my grandma, who is a harder critic, gave it a B. The theater always amazes me and the ballet dancing was fabulous. All in all I think we accomplished a lot in a small radius of NYC.

Oaxaca here i come!

Thanksgiving Abraod

For the third year in a row now I have spent my Thanksgiving vacation out of the United States of America. While that may seem unpatriotic to many, I have been bringing the US festivities with me on my travels.

The past years I have visited my sister; once in Barcelona and last year, in her new home of Mexico City. Both proved to be amazing places and I can't say I went to bed hungry on the last Thursday of November.



This year, I spent my thankful vacation in Guatemala with the Segovia family. With a bit of time in the sun...a bit in the city...and the fabulous wedding event, I was feeling very thankful overall. Thankful for my family back home, my sister; who has implemented the travel bug somewhere deep inside of me, and my stand in family the Segovia's, who did make me give thanks in spanish.