Puebla con Pau

A few days of January I was spending with Pau, who I got to know in the city center. We were exploring different parts of the city which I didn't discover so far. These include some parts of the city center, the wall paintings (murales) in Xanenetla (district of Puebla), los túneles de Puebla, los Fuertes (forts), el teleférico (cable car) and la Estrella de Puebla (observation wheel) within the Angelópolis Lifestyle Center area.

The first day we spent in the historical city center, enjoying a tea at the terrace and strolling around the streets which are framed by colourful houses. We went up the terrace of the Museo Amparo, which offers an amazing view of the cathedral of Puebla.

The following day we went to the Xanenetla district. Before 2010 this quarter wasn't considered a turistic attraction at all until it was beautified by Colectivo Tomate, a group of people who travel around the world to paint run-down houses with all kinds of figures to make them more attractive. In the same neighborhood you can find the entrance to one of the tunnels which are undermining some parts of the city. These tunnels have probably been dug in the 18th and 19th century as military strategy moves against the occupying forces from France.

Los Fuertes are a district within Puebla. Its name comes from the fort which marks the location of the Battle of Cinco de Mayo, which Mexico fought against Napoleon III in 1862. It is located on one of the hills which surround the city so that you get panoramic views there. Furthermore there are some parks which invite you to linger a while. Pau and I had a lot of fun shooting fotos and videos and joking around. Pau was teaching me quite a lot of Mexican words and sayings.

Puebla has a cable car which only runs a few hundred meters within the zone of Los Fuertes. You can walk this distance within ten minutes but as it isn't expensive to take a ride we enjoyed to go down the hill within the cable car. Originally this cable car was only supposed to be the first of many in Puebla. However, since the costs of this project skyrocketed, no other cable cars were built.

Angelópolis is a district of Puebla and the biggest mall within the city where you can find any kind of shops with European, American, Asian or Mexican brands. Many walls of the shopping center of Angelópolis and the mall next door Plaza Solesta are also beautifully painted. One of them shows e.g. a modern interpretation of the Aztec calendar. Mictlán is the name for the underworld and the place of death in the Aztec mythology and the dog is an important animal because it'll help you cross the river after death.

Later in the afternoon we went to a seafood and fish taco restaurant. I had Aguachile, a dish made of shrimp, submerged in water seasoned with chili peppers, lime juice, salt, cilantro, and slices of onion. It is served with different forms of fried/toasted tortilla: Totopos (small, triangular pieces) and Tostadas (round, palm-sized). As a drink I had Agua de Horchata, a drink made of rice, flavoured with vanilla and cinnamon. Incredibly delicious! There are a dozen of these "Aguas" of all kinds of taste that are sold all over Mexico.

La Estrella de Puebla (the Star of Puebla) is the world's biggest spike wheel that can be dismantled and reassembled at a different location. However this has never been done so far. It costs less than two Euros to get on it and go for a ride. Its maximum hight is round about 80 meters which offer you great views over the city and the surrounding mountains.

One evening we enjoyed ourselves at the Zócalo. We shared a pizza at Vittorio's, an Italian-Mexican restaurant. I ordered the most typical Italian-Mexican dish I found: A pizza with mole poblano, a sauce of a wide variety of ingredients like bitter chocolate, chipotle (smoke-dried jalapeño), tomatoes, almonds, banana, walnuts, raisins, sesame, cloves, cinnamon, parsley, pepper, onion, garlic and many different kinds of chiles. There was a free concert due to the The Day of the Magi.