Puebla

For the last puente weekend (bank holiday) a bunch of us went to Puebla, the city (and state) between here and Mexico City. It was quite nice actually not having to sit through a horribly long journey to get to our destination, as it was only about 2 hours away. However, Matt and I were both quite exhausted after having had a small amount of sleep the night before, having stayed up chilling at his appartment with Diego... Nevertheless, it was a beautiful, sunny day, and upon arrival at the coach station we sat down to wait for the others in a cafe. I was over the moon to see that they sold actual dark tea with milk so swiftly ordered myself a large. Too good to be true, I thought. And that was the case... It was actually Rooibos. Which, although my mum or grandma would have been happy, I was certainly NOT. UGH. Total letdown. I guess the hunt for proper tea is still on...

After meeting the others, we headed to the zócalo (the central square) to grab some lunch. I had these tiny little fat tortilla type things with salsa which were really yummy, and we ordered a big jug of beer - it was a sunny bank holiday weekend, how could we not?! So we chilled there for a good while, then wandered around taking in the sights and smells of the city - apparently one of the best places for food, and home of the original mole poblano. It also has (supposedly) a church for every day of the year and it's not like they went for quantity over quality either, each one is as beautiful as the next, and there's a lot of variety, too. One of them I thought looked like some sort of intricate meringue tower. Whereas others are covered in special tiles made in puebla called talavera and have pretty mosaic pictures on them.

Also, what with the run up to Christmas and all, we felt it necessary to visit many a market during the weekend. However, I think I actually bought more food for myself from the market than I did presents... Perhaps my highlight of the weekend, or at least the thing I remember getting most excited about at the time was the fish. Proper battered fillet of fish. First proper piece of fish I'd had since I'd got here (fish fingers don't count). It was good. Smothered in salt and lime, and ripped apart with my greasy fingers as I wandered around the market stalls, I felt on top of the world... Okay, exaggeration, but I was incredibly pleased and satisfied.

Shamelessly, we took the TOUR BUS around Puebla on the Sunday. To be honest, it was a really good way to see the city. No way could we have seen what we did on foot, unless we had tirelessly JOGGED around the sites. We went up to a viewpoint where we saw the volcano and the 'lady on the mountain' (you can see a woman lying down on the mountain if you look carefully), as well as stunning views of the massive city. We passed countless beautiful churches, statues and landmarks, most of which I have forgotten now... but after a heavy night out in Cholula, the studenty suburb of Puebla, it was a nice chilled out afternoon.

Dinner that night was a bit of an affair. We were all desperate to try mole, so ended up in the zócalo again, where, despite the higher prices and more touristy atmosphere, we knew we would find some. However, it was not the most stress-free of experiences. We enjoyed the free bread and tortilla chips, but once the food started to arrive, things started to kick off. The mole was cold, and the lemonades still had not arrived. Plates were sent back and the lemonade was politely requested for a second or third time. Plates arrived back warmer. Mole was GOOD. Spicier than others I've tried before, which I liked. Though the only way I could try it was with rice. Stupid being a vegetarian in Mexico, it's getting on my nerves. I have also since realised that what I had wasn't even vegetarian since mole is made with chicken soup. Oooops. Worth the betrayal though :S However, they had microwaved Keshia's salad. She now had warmer chicken, with hot salad. And the lemonades still hadn't arrived. At this point, people were getting a bit angry. The waiter thought if he bought us more bread, it would make up for the lack of lemonade. Didn't work. Eventually, everything was brought and dinner was enjoyed. Except for the hot salad. To top it off though, when the bill came, service had been already added to the bill. WHAT A F*****G LIBERTY! (I hope my Grandma realises that this is a Catherine Tate reference and I'm not just swearing for fun here when she reads this... :D). We, of course, did NOT pay the tip. This is a big deal in Mexico, as you generally tip 10% even if you buy the smallest thing. I thought we should have told the manager but people couldn't be bothered with the fuss. So we continued on to some random bar with sombreros hanging from the ceiling for cheap cocktails and then turned in.

I'll write the next blog on our big night out in Cholula and our visit to the pyramid-top church there. I'm tired of writing and need to get ready to go to uni.