Ephemerica

The road east from Uruapan took us through the towns of Patzcuaro and Morelia, the capital of Michoacan. The centro of Patzcuaro is very uniform—all the signs above the businesses are painted in the same style, kind of like a Mexican version of the Bavarian village of Leavenworth, WA. Patzcuaro, in addition for being known for its ice cream, is also known for its handicrafts, so Cindy and I finally did a little shopping. Of course, we could only buy stuff that was small enough to pack with us until we could find a post office to ship it We also happened upon a children’s parade in Patzcuaro, celebrating the beginning of spring. The kindergarteners marched through the streets of town in colorful costumes of animals like lions and bees, and flowers, holding signs telling everyone to protect the forests and animals. It was very cute, and we had a good spot to take pictures from.

We took a day trip to some towns along the shore of Lake Patzcuaro, thankfully on unloaded bikes—always a pleasure once we re-learn how to steer without 30 lbs of weight on the front end. The towns of Ihuatzio and Tzintzuntzan have some pre-Hispanic ruins from the Tarascan people. Thankfully the signs were in English and Spanish (as well as the Tarascan language, Purepecha), so we were able to learn a little bit about their history as we were viewing the structures. These two places, along with Patzcuaro, constituted most of the Tarascan state, with the site at Tzintzuntzan being the capital. These pyramids are relatively small compared to other Mexican ruins, but still impressive in their longevity.

Then on to Morelia, where the downtown area is full of buildings and churches from the 16th to 19th centuries that “make you feel like you are in another era.” Well, that’s what the tourist literature says anyway. The cathedral was pretty cool…when we first arrived in town there was a mass going on. We usually don’t bother going into churches if they’re in the middle of mass, but when we looked in, there seemed to be quite a few people shamelessly wandering about during the service, so we decided to follow suit. But we had to come back to get some better pictures of the altar and the giant organ in the back of the church. And like Guadalajara, the Municipal Palace was filled with beautiful murals depicting the history of Mexico and the state of Michoacan. We also visited their Museum of Natural History, which was, um, unique. The highlight of the museum was their collection of goat and sheep conjoined twins, and their jars of anencephalic human fetuses.

P.S. I should mention that I blew the GPS recording from Patzcuaro to Morelia by forgetting to turn the computer on a couple of times during the ride. The short version is that the ride was pretty flat and uneventful.

Posted by Matthew on March 19th, 2007 | Filed under: Mexico