Oaxaca

As we did not have a big vacation this Christmas / New Years as we had in past years we decided to get away to Oaxaca for a long weekend. Oaxaca is both the name of a state in southern Mexico and the capital city. The city of Oaxaca (formally: Oaxaca de Juarez, in honor of 19th-century president and national hero Benito Juarez, who was born nearby) is located in the Valley of Oaxaca the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountains, near the center of the state, and at an altitude of about about 5000 ft.

There had been Zapotec and Mixtec settlements in the general area of the modern city of Oaxaca for thousands of years, in connection with the important ancient centers of Monte Alban and Mitla. The area was conquered by theAztecs in 1486 who named it Huaxyácac, which means "above the place of gourdes". The colonial city, however, dates from 1522, when Spanish settlers who had followed Hernan Cortes' conquistadores successfully petitioned the Queen of Spain for a grant of land.

So why Oaxaca? We were looking for a culturally interesting locations that had great food. The city has maintained its colonial feeling. There are many churches, cobble stoned streets, and nice central plazas. It is a place to relax and enjoy the real Mexico

We stayed at the Camino Real Oaxaca aka the ex Convento de Santa Catalina de La Siena. This 16th c. building which has housed a hotel since 1976, was once a convent. The building also served as a prison and even as Municipal Palace. It is really a beautiful place. The breakfast is really excellent as well.

Walking around the old part of the city is very relaxing. The clear starting point is the Zocalo, the main square. We stopped at the Zocalo several times to have drinks and a meal. From the Zocalo we walked around to the neighboring markets. The markets are very interesting. There are food and goods markets. The food markets have huge selections of chilis, meats, and chapulines - grass hoppers. Yes, Grasshoppers. We did not eat any in the markets, but kelly did have some in her food. We also bought some baskets that were being made by hand in the market.

In Oaxaca were were able to sample food from many places. The highlight was Casa Oaxaca which is both a hotel and a restaurant (actually the hotel has a restaurant, and they have another restaurant in town). We ate at their restaurant and really enjoyed the food and the ambiance. Had it been a warmer, more lively evening, we would have enjoyed the terrace with a view of Santo Domingo, one of the old churches in town.

There a many great things to see in Oaxaca including the Santo Domingo Church, the Cathedral and the Museo Regional de Oaxaca (state-owned regional museum). The museum is housed in the neighboring convent to Iglesia de Santa Domingo. It was the best cultural thing in Oaxaca.

Jose made a side trip up to Monte Alban. Monte Alban is a large pre-columbian archaelogical site. Besides being one of the earliest cities of Mesoamerica, Monte Albán's importance stems also from its role as the pre-eminent Zapotec socio-political and economic center for close to a thousand years. Founded toward the end of the Middle Formative period at around 500 BC, by the Terminal Formative (ca.100 BC). It is really an awe inspiring site and vast and large.

Upon leaving Oaxaca we spent a night in Mexico City. We had dinner with Jose's old friends Dan and Sirena. We had dinner at a great French restaurant. We had a great Mexican wine from the winery of Adobe Guadalupe. We highly recommend their wines, albeit it is hard to get them in the US. We think the wines are great, but the price point may be too high to be successful in the US, mostly because it is a Mexican wine and competing with great wines from California, Chile, etc.