Mitla today!

Hola, on a lovely Wednesday morning.  

 

Today’s plan is to get to Mitla to see their archaeological sites, and hopefully (if it’s open!) the Frissel Museum.  

 

First though, I need to talk about dinner last night.  We had a reservation at Zandunga’s, of which there are two separate locations … and our taxi driver of course was trying to take us to the wrong place.  However, problem solved and back we came into the historic center of town for dinner.  Zandunga’s is a lovely spot – the problem was, that neither of us was particularly hungry, after our large sandwiches yesterday afternoon at 2 pm.  So, Rordered their roasted chicken dish and I ordered their enchiladas in two moles – one side red and the other black.  Everything was excellent – again, it really does make a difference, though, if you’re hungry or not!  The room in which we were seating had an open-to-the-sky roof, and the lighting and the decorations were beautiful!  It was also very quiet and peaceful – no saxophone playing like at Las Quince Letras the night before!  Our meal was started by an anonymous appetizer.  Neither of us have any idea whatsoever what it was, but R felt it tasted strongly of fish.  If anyone can recognize it, just please don’t tell us what it was, because truthfully, we’d rather not know!  However, we had a nice, leisurely meal and took our time wandering back to NaNa Vida.  Turns out that shops are all open at that time of night, and we were able to aimlessly wander through a couple of them!

 

(Note:  R was advised years ago by his surgeon who repaired the torn meniscus in his knee that “aimless window shopping” can be hazardous to his health, so he tries very hard to avoid this activity everywhere!)  At any rate, back to the hotel about 8:30 pm and then to bed!  Lovely quiet night!

 

Excellent breakfast this morning, as we (at least I) found that I needed more than bread and fruit to sustain me through until dinnertime!  So, we both opted for dishes of scrambled eggs with excellent salsa, plates of fruit and glasses of fresh orange juice.  Tomorrow, though, we’re going to ask for the bread that we had yesterday (along with everything else!)  That was delicious and now we’re getting greedy!

 

More when we get back from Mitla!

 

Car arrived a few minutes after 9:30 am, with Julio, our driver from yesterday all ready to go.  While Mitla from Oaxaca is only 43 kilometers, what with the traffic and with Julio driving at 65 kph, it took us over an hour to get there!  Turns out, Mitla is located – truly – in the middle of the small city of the same name!  Which does tend to make things a bit confusing!  Julio parked the car on the street in front of the entrance gate – or so we thought, as there was clearly a sign marked Entrada only to find that the gate was locked!  And it seems like they may keep it that way!  However, then someone inside the building comes out with keys and opens it – cautiously – to visitors!  We entered and paid our 85 pesos each ($4.25) and were now, we thought, on site.  

 

Stunning scenery on the way to Mitla!

And lots and lots of agaves!

Mitla town square

The first area is called the “Church Group” – because – surprise! – the Spanish decided, as a way to really try and quash the native religion, to build their Catholic church on top of some of the buildings!   It is our understanding though, that currently, while the church may have its services, apparently the locals also have their services – right out back of the church!

 

The Zapotecs settled and built Mitla circa 1800-1200 B.C.., and their stone work is absolutely exquisite!  There apparently hasn’t been much excavation there since the mid-1930’s, but what was done was some much-needed conservation on the stone work on the various groups of buildings.  In one of the courtyards in the Church Group, you can still see the small glyphs that decorated the site, and they are very reminiscent of some of the Zapotec Codices.  (Native books written on skins or “paper” and folded accordion style; most of the codices were destroyed by the Catholic priests as they tried to erase entire cultures that were not Christian.  Incredible.)  There are also entire walls of red, which are actually the same color as they were originally painted.  

Standing in front of Zapotec walls & Catholic Church

Zapotec courtyard

Very close together!

Stunning friezes

Zapotec original glyphs (click to see larger)

My ancient glyphs

Truly LOVE that wall!

From the Church Group, we actually exited the grounds through yet another locked gate, into a huge market area where vendors were selling all sorts of things.  However, if you walk about 25 yards further on, you hit – yep, another locked gate where we showed our tickets again to enter.  Apparently the locking of the site is the only way in which the site can be protected from the ever-expanding town!  Odd arrangement, truly!  This took us into the Columns Group, where the Zapotec High Priest presided over everyone.  The original six columns are still there, although the supporting roof is gone.  The Columns Group was built around two separate courtyards, and the north end of the patio is dominated by a long raised structure that has three layers of exquisite stone work, in five different patterns.  There is a red painted wall along one side, and a flight of VERYsteep stone steps leading up to the area of the columns.  There are several excavated tombs in the same courtyard, that apparently at one time contained additional friezes, but these have now been closed to the public for what looks like several years.  

Hall of columns

Courtyard of friezes

Me in front of one of the tombs

The scroll work is fantastic!

Lovely countryside on the way back!

There were two additional Zapotec groupings of buildings further down the road, but these, thanks to the presence of villagers and townspeople, were subsequently used as a horse corral and a trash dump respectively.  I guess living among your ancestors must get old after a while, especially if one needs the space … I’m just hoping the fenced in areas can contain things that really shouldn’t be lost!

 

By this time, it was well past noon, and we were thinking about naps.  Again, it took us a good hour to drive the 43 km but it was a lovely breezy day and we very much enjoyed the ride.  (Note:  It was a VERY GOOD idea to hire the car and let someone else think about the driving!  I was able to really look around as we were traveling, which is a thing I don’t often get to do!) 

 

To say there was agave EVERYWHERE is an understatement, and we passed SO many independent or “boutique” Mezcal places it was unbelievable!  Honestly, though, I don’t think I could tell the difference between agave (which is used ONLY for Mezcal) or Tequila, which is made from blue agave specifically!  R says we need to get Tequila glasses – they’re very cute, and I always like glasses – these are like tiny tall glass cylinders, from which one SIPS (not gulps) one’s Tequila!  Now that we’ve done the two archaeological sites we were most interested in, tomorrow will be the day to see Oaxaca!  The Zocalo, the Cathedral – and hopefully find some glasses that meet R’s requirements!

 

So...what do ya think?

Going to Tr3s 3istro tonight for dinner.  Their menu looks like a cross between pasta and pizza and mole!  So, we’ll see!  More later!

 

m

xxx