Thursday, July 30, 2009

Dreaming of Mexico...My Lonely Planet Purchase


No plan in my life is ever carved in stone but it is still our intention to go to Mexico in mid-August and stay a couple of months.  We aren't sure where we are going and if we will be traveling or renting an apartment.  Either way, I couldn't wait any longer, I had to get my hands on the  Lonely Planet Mexico  guidebook.  This would help us, right?
WRONG!  Mexico is so big, beautiful, and so varied in food & traditions, how can we narrow it down?   I am a longtime fan of LP guides and I've been flipping through this book for a couple weeks, and the one thing I have decided is that we need more time in Mexico.  

Unfortunately there is a time limit.  We will be working on the Christmas Light Pros in October in Atlanta.   I tried to narrow down an itinerary of 10 places I'd like to see:  

1. Mexico City - Ernesto has never been there, and I definitely have more to see.  We have starwood hotel points, so this will be our starting point.  I also have an idea that we will eat only from markets/street food while we are there.  Don't you think that would be so cool?
There are a couple things nearby Mexico City that I want to check out while we are there too: 
* Teotihuacan - ancient ruins
* Taxco - old colonial silver mining town 
* Tepotzlan - a smallish city in a lush valley surrounded by mountains, one of which has a 700 year old Aztec pyramid built on it.  Also, Aileen (an aquaintance from my Habitat India Trip lives there with her husband and she has invited us to visit. 
2. San Miguel de Allende- beautiful colonial architecture and cobblestone streets make this artist town quaint and picturesque, but I have heard that the 10,000 foreigners living here makes it very commercialized.  This could be why it's said to have the best restaurants, art galleries and schools.  This maybe where Neto takes some cooking classes and I take a photography and/or jewelry class. 

5. Guanajuato- Once a rich silver and gold mining townGuanajuato was a declared a Unesco World Heritage city in 1988.  Just from this picture I was hooked. The grand colonial buildings, tree-filled plazas and brightly colored houses build onto the steep slopes make this city so attractive to me. 

3. Zacatecas- I cut this picture out of a travel magazine (over 8 years ago) of the Quinta Real hotel in Zacatecas.  It is the country's oldest bullring and  it was reconstructed as a luxury hotel.  Must see.  

4. Durango- It seems to be a cool cowboy town with mountains and sand dunes,  but more importantly, Ernesto has family here.  I have met several people who live there and were visiting San Diego, so it should be great fun.  Also we are planning to do the 200 mile bike race from there to Mazatlan on the Pacific coast in mid- September.

6. Guadalajara- Another city where Ernesto has family, Guadalajara, I have read, is a cosmopolitan city, that has kept its colonial charm.  I can't wait to explore it! The shopping is going to be great with many markets, food and artisan.

I mapped it out for you here, and I think we will go counter-clockwise from Mexico City.  
The three T cities near Mexico City can all be day trips.  Then we will head north to San Miguel de Allende and continue the circle, flying home from Guadalajara.  I guess you can call this a "plan".  Besides Mexico City, I have never been to any of these cities, so I am really excited to explore new territory.  

Do you know any of these cities?  Please leave [in the comments] any suggestions you may have, I would love to hear them.  Viva Mexico! 

This post is shared with the Inspired Room and Hooked on Fridays!  I am Hooked on Mexico!

6 comments:

  1. I've always wanted to see Real de Catorce, Vera Cruz, Lake Chapala. Also when you go to Taxco, try to find an old, now defunct resort "Mil Cascadas". I went there with a local and swam is tropical lagoons and showered under the millions of waterfalls. It may be hard to find, but perhaps you can do it. Of course you have to go to Cuernavaca, tambien!

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  2. I am visiting via Hooked on Houses.

    Please drop by and enter my giveaway.

    Have a blessed weekend!

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  3. I love the lonely planet books. They are some of my favorite travel tomes. I haven't been to Mexico but I want to go soon (I just got my passport for my honeymoon).
    Please take lots of pictures to share and enjoy your trip.

    erin

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  4. Viva Mexico!!! My husband is Mexican too, have a GREAT time on your food adventure--great post on Coco. I've done a lot of travel around Mexico you're going to have a blast!

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  5. I just hopped over to your blog from Coco+Kelly because I thought I'd check it out in anticipation of the cooking blog that you mentioned. I've been to Mexico City several times and love it, and have also been to San Miguel de Allende--nice. My absolute favorite place to visit (so far) in Mexico is Oaxaca (the city, haven't been to the coastal areas of that state). If you want to focus on food, you can't miss Oaxaca!

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  6. In Guadalajra, you must eat a torta ahogada, go to the ice cream shop Polo Norte and order the sorbets, and go to carnes garibaldi for carne en su jugo. I just came back yesterday and i'm dying to eat some more!!! i am from there, but dont live there anymore. Chapala is a must, as is Tlaquepaque

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I enjoy reading your comments. Thanks for stopping by Viva Cindy!

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