GipsyTrips

Travel blog of a global gipsy

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Cuetzalan and its people, Sierra Norte de Puebla, Mexico. 12-2021.

Cuetzalan amazed us at first sight! It seemed my daughter and I came to some old world place. This little colonial magic town on the hills is filled with old buildings (like from Westerns), cobbled streets, numerous food stalls (remembering all kinds of stuffed flatbreads sold there), cozy restaurants serving traditional cuisine. There are several beautiful churches to visit: Parroquia de San Francisco de Asis, Iglesia de los Jarritos и Capilla La Conchita. People of Cuetzalan seemed special: many used traditional clothing and shoes (not for show). People smiled at us and were happy to talk. They generally did not want to be photographed, but my three year old Thaissia would charm them (she already spoke perfect Spanish) and they would give up and let me take some shots. Remembering those precious moments when my little daughter danced Cumbia at local market and was boogying around Christmas tree on New Years Eve at the Zocalo square.

Speaking of restaurants the good ones were: Los Itacates de dona Amelia (try the local mushroom soup), El Portal, Yoloxochitl (we did our New Year’s dinner there) and of course the famous restaurant/museum called La Epoca de Oro (in this post there is a photo where my daughter is drinking her milk sitting down at a table with a glass showcase displaying antique pistols). In that same restaurant we have met Mateo, a funny boy from Queretaro (9-10 years old), who was wearing a Russian ushanka hat oddly enough and with whom my daughter instantly became friends.

On Cuetzalan’s main square right in front the Parroquia several times a day there is a show performed by famous voladores – acrobats, doing a traditional dance and jumping off a high wooden pole with a small platform up top, they free fall heads down attached with ropes and doing rounds in the air! It looks super exciting, and the next post will be devoted to those voladores.

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Reserva Azul, Cuetzalan, Sierra Norte de Puebla, Mexico. 12-2021.

Puebla turned out to be a pretty big state. Over there I was looking for a cool small town or village to visit and avoid herds of tourists. I found it, 175 km away from Puebla amidst Sierra Norte de Puebla mountains. That’s how my daughter and I got to Cuetzalan; we took a 4 hour bus ride from Puebla. I have to say right away that this place and its surroundings became an apogee of our whole trip; everything was simply perfect over there (later on there will be other really great spots too during our exploration of Mexico). I’m devoting 6 posts to Cuetzalan!

Cuetzalan has a status of “Pueblo Magico”, or “Magic Town”. “Pueblos Magicos” is a Mexican government program to develop tourism in historically significant parts of the country. “Magic” status is given to town or village when it has rich cultural heritage and beautiful natural surroundings. Today there are 177 magic towns in Mexico. When we travel there, we always try to find and visit those towns. I have to say that Cuetzalan is definitely number one in our list of visited magic towns!

I would like to start my story about Cuetzalan with describing a place where we stayed over there. Here is a little prehistory to begin with. Previous blog post (without text) was about Cholula (which also has a magic town status). We took just a day trip over there. I can’t say we got very impressed… Yes, Cholula has beautiful churches, a one of its kind underground pyramid below one of the Catholic temples, but also pretty boring landscape, lots of sun and no shade and crowds of tourists. Initially we thought we would stay there for a week and rented an airbnb, but I changed my mind as I kept searching for a better option. Cuetzalan was a lot further and seemed so much more interesting. Our airbnb host in Cholula did not get upset with me for canceling and choosing another destination, but on the contrary he was cool about it and even advised us where to stay in Cuetzalan. Wishing all the best to this gentleman! He recommended something exceptional, fantastic, which was absolutely perfect for my taste.

So when we arrived to Cuetzalan, we took a taxi and went to our accommodation in the forest 1.5 km away from the town. For a whole week we stayed in an incredible eco hotel called Reserva Azul. What is this place like? It’s 11 hectares of forest (bosque de niebla), coffee plantations, trails, all that real close to several beautiful waterfalls, which we visited walking. We rented a cute cozy wooden cabin with a fireplace and a terrace with an amazing view over green hills. Nights were cold and we had someone come and start the fireplace for us every evening before bedtime, it was a great ritual! Breakfasts and dinners (upon request) were traditional and very tasty as well as the coffee from their own plantations. Hotel stuff were all nice and polite folks, still have very warm memories of them. Reserva Azul owners (Luis Enrique and Elsa Frenandez) are amazing people, with whom we had lots of opinions in common about attitude to nature, culture and life in general. This eco hotel has no internet, no TVs and no noise. Just a heavenly place. We are definitely coming back!

In Cuetzalan my daughter and I have said good bye to 2021 and celebrated New Year 2022, it was indeed the best place for our little cozy family holiday!

Next post will be about Cuetzalan magic town and its memorable people.

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Cholula, Puebla state, Mexico. 12-2021.

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Puebla: museums, tiles and 288 churches! Mexico. 12-2021.

In Puebla my daughter and I spent about a week in total, but looking back at how much stuff we have seen and photographed over there – it seems we have stayed a lot longer. They say there are 288 churches in Puebla! And believe me, they are all incredibly colorful and beautiful. Architecture indeed leaves you speechless. Especially great are the tiles on building walls – the famous Talavera Poblana. Also I remember wooden details on doors and sculptures around window frames as well as lots of gold inside churches and museums.

Here is our list of most interesting places:

Phenomenal Biblioteca Palafoxiana – first library of the Americas!

Casa Alfenique and Museo Jose Bello y Zetina – two museums with amazing interiors and art pieces.

Beautiful mansion (outside as well as inside) – Casa de los Munecos.

Capilla del Rosario – famous chapel that leaves you blind with how much gold is packed inside (we even had to wait in line to see this treasure).

Convento de Santa Clara and Calle de Dulces – a monastery with a candy shop (and actually a whole street of places that sell traditional sweets).

Barrio del Artista – Artists’ Neighborhood.

Callejon de Sapo (mentioned earlier) – a little cute pedestrian street where we rented a loft.

In Puebla you can just walk around and get lost visiting its numerous churches – will be enough to see for several days.

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Gastronomic Puebla, Mexico. 12-2021.

On Catholic Christmas Eve my daughter and I arrived to Puebla, another magical Mexican city. We rented a cozy modern loft on the crossroads of two pedestrian streets (Calle 3 Oriente / Callejon de Sapo) overlooking a daily artisanal market from our balcony.

This post will be entirely dedicated to gastronomic delights of the city. Puebla is not just architecture and tiles, countless churches and museums, but also incredibly tasty cuisine, stylish restaurants and boutiques.

Our nightly dinner outing in Puebla was almost just as exciting as a theatre visit! We started the experience from legendary Entre Tierras, which is famous for its 16th century altar (retablo) in the main dining room. I can’t recall what we actually had for dinner there, but I do remember the dessert. We ordered simple Crepes Suzette, but were given a real show with flambéed orange sauce, which was quite spectacular with that altar in the back!

On one of the evenings we went to that well known restaurant called Mural de los Poblanos with classic Puebla menu (Chile Poblano, Mole Poblano, Chile en Nogada, Pipian, etc…). The place is famous for its colorful wall murals reflecting local personalities that have shaped the history of the city.

We ate our Christmas lunch in Augurio, where they had a beautiful Christmas tree and our table was right beside a big white piano (Thaissia played (with) it of course). There we tried the duck Tamal with Mole Poblano. In the evening on December 24th almost all restaurants were closed, so we had traditional street Taco Arabe (kind of like Shawarma meat).

The coziest café I can think of was Celia’s Café; had a feeling we were eating inside some museum or antique shop!

Next post will also be about amazing Puebla.

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Tepoztlan and hike to Corredores del Viento, Morelos, Mexico. 12-2021.

In the end of December 2021 my daughter and I traveled from Taxco to the town of Tepoztlan in Morelos state. Tepoztlan has long straight streets that end into tall rocks, and up there on top of those there is a famous Aztec pyramid of Tepozteco. Unfortunately we happened to be visiting right after covid and in some places quarantine was still going on, and this particular pyramid was closed. We did not get upset, but instead found another cool adventure to do. It was slightly more difficult than Tepozteco would have been. We stayed in a very atmospheric colorful airbnb place with a character (rustic adobe house), and our host suggested we try our luck and skills and climb up the rocks called Corredores del Viento, which can be seen from anywhere in town. Ascending it is not easy. The poorly marked trail was closed to visitors, but on Tuesday (when we went) the guards were not present, so we sneaked into the woods and climbed it all at random. There are some steep areas, and for my three year old daughter this hike was like a consecration to become a real traveler! We made it. At the very end there is a narrow area of the path where you have to walk slowly with your back against the rocks and void in front, a bit uncomfortable at first sight. It actually looks worse than it is once you do it. There is enough space to get through it safely. When we were standing in this rock niche (platform) and enjoying the views of surrounding nature and the town down below, these feelings were amazing! I really recommend this place, most likely there will be no one there, it’s a very special hike and we got great memories of it.

Tepoztlan has lots of souvenir shops and a market; sometimes you come across rather original merchandise handmade by local artesanos. Tepoztlan is a touristy place and of course it has some really good restaurant options. We especially liked cozy Lebanese café Teteria Cardamomo, and also a couple more expensive and stylish restaurants with gardens away from the main streets – called Mesa de Origen and La Veladora.

Tepoztlan has a deer sanctuary – Santuario de los Venaditos, where you can watch and feed the cuties. The walk over to that place is long and picturesque.

From Tepoztlan we took off to Puebla.

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Pozas Azules de Atzala, Guerrero, Mexico. 12-2021.

Just 40 minutes away from Taxco deep in the forest there we found beautiful natural blue pools – Pozas Azules de Atlaza - with waterfalls, picturesque rocks and little wooden bridges. On one of the photos you can see lots of black tubes. If you walk straight up from the pools into the forest, that’s where you find them. That’s actually how people of nearby Atzala village get their water. 2.5 km of different private tubes are coming straight from Pozas Azules. Water flows non stop though, they can’t turn it off in their houses.

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Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico. 12-2021.

From Queretaro my daughter and I came to Taxco in Guerrero state, in order to get there we had two bus journeys and a night in Toluca. Taxco is a small but busy town, which is actually considered Mexican silver capital. They don’t mine silver right in Taxco anymore, but bring it over from nearby mines. Every week there is a Tianguis Sabatino – Saturday Silver Market. Another peculiarity of Taxco would be its taxis. Most of them are old Volkswagen Beetles (locals call them vochos); Thaissia and I had a blast riding around in them! Although there are some downsides: traffic and fumes, the air isn’t so clean in Taxco. The town is built on several steep hills: we rented a large studio on one of them. We had a huge terrace with an incredible view of Taxco, its main square and the church – Templo de Santa Prisca. On one of the days we climbed up the highest hill – Cerro del Atache – to see the whole town from high above. Our favorite and very atmospheric restaurant was in a mansion called Casa Spratling (they served food there in S Caffecito). This is a former silversmith studio of an American designer William Spratling. The place is like a real mini museum with interesting multi level architecture, antique interiors, restaurant, little silver jewelry shop and some rooms to rent.

Couple times we took day trips outside of Taxco (of course used Beetle taxis). First we went to Taxco El Viejo and visited a spooky semi abandoned Ex-Hacienda de San Juan Bautista with its medieval stone mansions and fairy tale ancient trees. Then we went a bit further away to natural blue pools and waterfalls hidden away in the forest – Pozas Azules de Atzala. Next post will be about them.

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Santiago de Queretaro and Bernal, Mexico. 12-2021.

After San Miguel my daughter and I traveled to Santiago de Queretaro. There we stayed near Convento de la Santa Cruz in an atmospheric two level apartment which was part of a big colonial mansion with its garden, thick walls, wooden doors and ancient locks with huge keys at least a hundred years old. Furniture was like from the museum: carved and antique. It was colder inside than outside, so the hosts gave us two pairs of handmade wool socks and a pile of warm soft blankets.

We spent our days walking those long and straight city streets, visiting temples; the most beautiful of them in my opinion is Templo de Santa Rosa de Viterbo. Memorable restaurant for us was Maria y su Bici (Oaxaca cuisine), where after that tasty dinner as a dessert they brought us oranges with goat cheese sprinkled with toasted ants (chapulines)…

In Queretaro we met with our friends, and together took a day trip over to a picturesque town called Bernal, which is famous for Peña de Bernal – a 433 meter tall monolith, rising 2150 m above sea level.

From Queretaro we then continued on to Taxco (Guerrero state), and next post will be about that.

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San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. 12-2021.

From Guanajuato we took a taxi directly to San Miguel de Allende. I had vague ideas about the place and only heard this town was full of American expats and pensioners. So expectations were low. And it turned out to be a real surprise in the end, a town from a fairy tale, a dream place! Our eyes were getting tired of all these beautiful churches, inside and outside. There in San Miguel Thaissia and I learnt what are actual Mexican patron saints festivals like: loud firecrackers and church bells non stop starting at 5 am and sometimes going till late at night! Our two storey airbnb was incredibly stylish, cozy and spacious, also beyond expectations. Cobbled streets were full of amazing restaurants and all kinds of boutiques. All that was in a quiet way, without noise and traffic, just a nice cute colonial town from a fairy tale. If you climb up the hill, you would get a great view of the town and of the main church (pink) - Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel. Remembering the restaurants, the best two I can think of would be cozy Café Rama with a fireplace and chic Casa de Sierra Nevada at Belmond Hotel. San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato are the two places I’d like to come back to, definitely favorite Mexican towns now!

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Guanajuato, Mexico. 12-2021.

In November 2021 my three year old daughter and I took off for our big trip around Mexico after a long covid break from traveling. We were so happy! The route was done only partially. I decided to start the trip in Guanajuato. We crossed USA – Mexico border from San Deigo, California and flew from Tijuana over to Leon. Starting our travels in Guanajuato was like having dessert before dinner. For Thaissia Mexico was her 6th visited country. For me this was my fourth time in Mexico, but never before I have traveled there for so long.

Guanajuato is colonial heaven on the hills. Churches, theatres, museums, themed costume nightly outings of people singing (Las Estudiantinas), tastiest gourmet cuisine and stylish restaurants, cobbled narrow streets (callejones, and they say there are 3200 of them there), grandmas selling flowers, fruit and edible cactus (xoconostle). Old city is surrounded by massive stone walls and underneath there is an impressive tunnel system. The best city view is from Pipila hill. Speaking of restaurants, the most memorable ones were La Casa del Rector (where we celebrated my birthday) and Santo Café on a little bridge. Thaissia being just three years old attended her first theatre festival at Teatro Cervantes. As for picturesque places I also remember ex-hacienda San Gabriel de Barrera (museum with some interiors and garden) and Presa de la Olla (a dam in a nice area of the city). We had the coziest airbnb ever, which was super important (by the way it was a couple minute walk from Santo Café).

Leaving Guanajuato was hard in several days, because we really loved the place. But we wanted more adventures. We continued our way to the next fabulous town called San Miguel de Allende. Our land route (without any flights) was the following: Guanajuato – San Miguel de Allende – Queretaro – Taxco – Tepoztlan – Puebla – Cuetzalan – Ciudad de Mexico. Second part of the route (with flights and visiting further states and provinces) was created by me on the go. Next posts will be about all that.

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World travels 2020-2024 - Post about everything.

It’s been five years (or about that) since I have written a nice long article about our travels with my daughter because of many different reasons. Now I finally got a free moment and desire to write where we have been roaming around all this time. Thaissia is now a big princess, she has visited 9 countries so far, I’m still on number 88.

During covid my real time blog posts have stopped, all the travels were paused, and my little one and I stayed in Dominican Republic (where we initially had come to spend the winter in November 2019) for one year and eight months without leaving. What was our island life like? If I’m going to remember only the good things, then I have to say that every day we were enjoying empty and most beautiful tropical beaches of Samana Peninsula with zero people and infrastructure on them. We were eating fresh fruit and fish, hiked in the jungle, made friends with whom we are still very close, and have lived a whole little life in a quiet (at that particular time it was quiet) Dominican village of Las Terrenas, while the rest of the world was going crazy on quarantine, which we did not experience at all. We isolated ourselves from unneeded people, if I may say so. I still miss those times a bit, because there were more stars in the sky, the sea and the sand were without trash, smells were pleasant, nights were peaceful without loud music and drunks on quads.

This pause in the Dominican Republic later brought us to Mexico (via California), where my daughter and I had our first BIG trip, which lasted almost 2 months (she was three years old). Then we were coming back to Mexico yearly (4 more times). We can call ourselves experts there! Also we were in the USA, Russia, UK, Turkey, Serbia and Colombia. Next posts will be about all these travels. I chose photos to this little presentation from all the countries mentioned above from 2020 till 2024.

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Playa El Breton, El Hoyo, Laguna Gri Gri - Rio San Juan, Dominican Republic. 10-2024.

Between Cabrera and Rio San Juan it was becoming more interesting, felt like we were in between civilizations, and really far away from all the big bustling towns. El Breton beach was perhaps the most dramatic one that we have seen that day. We got there around 3 pm, and dark yellow sunlight was shining over its tall rocks. From there we popped in a cute little coffee shop, bakery and nursery called Cappucino & Vivero Flor Café (really cool and unusual place for that area). Over there in their cozy tropical garden under a huge tree we tried easily the best apple pie on the whole island (reminded me of French Tarte Tatin). Then we moved on towards Rio San Juan. We stopped on the rocks before the town and visited El Hoyo, which sometimes is a natural pool and sometimes a blowhole. When we were there water was coming out of it like a fountain with each hitting wave. Then we passed Caleton beach and left immediately as this one was full of people and cafés. In the dusk we arrived to Laguna Gri Gri and found a super cozy restaurant there right on the water in the mangroves – El Mangle. Rustic wooden walkways lead to its nicely lit terrace. In the twilight with perfect yellow lamp lights and sounds of lagoon creatures our dinner turned out very memorable; paella was great too (prices were way lower than in Las Terrenas). Rio San Juan and this restaurant are now definitely in our list of favourite places in Dominican Republic.

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El Saltadero Waterfall, Cabrera, Dominican Republic. 10-2024.

After we visited beaches Playa Diamante and Caleton de Dario (which were deserted and we loved it), we came over to El Saltadero waterfall; it’s only a five minute drive from Cabrera. We really did not expect to be there almost alone as well. The place is wonderful! There were just a couple local boys, who entertained us jumping in the waterfall from the cliff and the bridge. They told us they lived somewhere near by, so for them this waterfall was like their back yard playground – amazing setting! Thaissia and I jumped in the water as well, it was very inviting over there. We noted el Saltadero as the place to come back to on weekdays in the morning.

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Playa Caleton de Dario, Cabrera, Dominican Republic. 10-2024

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Playa Diamante, Cabrera, Dominican Republic. 10-2024

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Laguna Dudu, Cabrera, Dominican Republic. 10-2024.

In October it felt that we really needed to travel some. There are lots of beautiful places within 1-2 hour distance from Las Terrenas, where we live part time. Some places we visit regularly, several times a year, like Las Galeras, for example. In October 2024 we decided to explore the opposite direction. Every Monday we would leave for a day trip, so that month turned out to be a busy one. We started with a long hike to Playa Jackson (photos from there I published right away in October), then we went to our old time favourite – Playa Rincon, Las Galeras and Boca del Diablo. A week later we went to Laguna Dudu (photos in this post), and from there further down to explore Cabrera, Rio San Juan, its beaches and a waterfall. I cant say we were all that impressed with Laguna Dudu, it was way too civilized and there was too much cement over there. The only thing that was cool was the color and the clarity of the water and also the fact that we were the only visitors that Monday morning.