Morelia

Barb and I met in the bus station in Morelia exactly as planned, 'milagro'!!!

Things have been going well ever since, aside from the fact that I have pink eye and her back and hips are aching at times. But we're still covering kilometres on foot and in 'colectivos'. On one of our walks after a night when my eye really hurt, we passed a farmacia next to a hole-in-the-wall doctor's office. I had used this combo once before in Mexico, so I went into the Dr.'s office, and, after a five minute wait, had a pretty complete checkup for which I paid 35 pesos, just over $3.00, got a prescription for antibiotic eye drops which I filled at the farmacia next door for 60 pesos and we were back on the road in about 20 mins. The drops seem to be working. 

The 'parte antigua' of Morelia is the most  impressive   Spanish Colonial city I have ever been in. The main street is wide.  Countless uniformed 'ciquistadors' on horseback and women in wide crinolined dresses could have swept abreast along it in grand style.  The side streets cross it at right angles, forming a carefully ordered grid,lined with imposing old government buildings and churches dating back to 1531,what remains of a rich, powerful, cruel and grand empire. Many of the buildings are constructed of a pink cantera stone that has a rosy glow, especially in the morning and evening light.  Walking by them and through them you feel the sweeping power of the Spanish Government and Catholic Church.

 Barb and I stayed in the Alfredo Zalce suite in our hotel.  As a result, I got to know another Mexican muralist. He is from Morelia; we saw quite a few of his works, especially in the Palacio de Gobierno, a building that epitomizes the best of Spanish Colonial architechture. It's a massive square of stone and heavy, carved wood surrounding a bright and airy open centre. The murals are on the walls of the second floor balcony. 

On this trip to Mexico I have been in an area where the complex relationship of church and state in the country's history is hard to miss. In Guanajuato the importance of Hidalgo, the priest who  uttered the first cry for independence from the tyranny of the Spanish Government and Catholic Church in 1810, was everywhere. In Morelia it is the warrior priest Morelos, who was inspired by Hidalgo and led the fighting after the latter was executed in 1811 until he himself was excommunicated and then shot by firing squad in 1815, whose memory kept alive. The city now bears his name. Many of the people in this area are well aware of their past struggles for liberty and see the need to contonue them today. 

Barb and I did not find especially good food in Morelia, except that on our first night we shared some Michoacán tomales with great sauces at the restaurant in Hotel Casino Lu. So we decided to return there for our last meal. We both had ribs with yam chips. It was very good. 

The Cathedral in Morelos in the evening light as seen from a rooftop restaurant with OK food but a really wonderful view. 

Part of one of Alfredo Zalce's murals showing Hidalgo and Morelos

One of my favorite parts of another of Zalce's murals. I like the proud posture and expression of both the man and the woman. 

Me on the main street of Morelia with two enthusiastic students whose questionaire on tourists' comments on Morelia Barb and I had filled out. 

A statue of a bird in a park that runs along part of what remains of a Spanish acquaduct. 

A statue illustrating the legend of the Virgin of Guadalupe. 

The belltowers of the cathedral as seen from inside the main government building.