The streets of Oaxaca

After the hustle and bustle of Mexico City, the beautiful Colonial town of Oaxaca (Wah-ha-kah) seemed a kind of colorful and clean paradise. We had chosen our hotel on advice from a guidebook and it was more charming than we could have imagined, with patios and gardens for relaxing. We met nice guests to visit with at breakfast and a lounge where we could play cards or use the internet.

Just strolling the streets of the Colonial center were a treat for the eyes.

This woman was selling plastic bags full of dry cereal and scowled when I took her picture.

The Santo Domingo Cathedral is lavish and beautiful. I was particularly taken with the checkerboard mosaic patterns on the domes.

Oaxaca has been the site of some pretty serious demonstrations against the government in the past year and there was a death linked to the demonstrations. The U.S. State Department had issued a traveler's warning against going to Oaxaca that was in place for months, so we weren't sure we would go there, but after some research decided it would be safe and we would be careful. One afternoon the main square was blocked off by the police in anticipation of something that didn't materialize. Otherwise it was very peaceful and sadly, the tourist trade is way down because of all that. We were so happy that we had gone and did our best to boost the local economy! (More on shopping to come)

The first evening we were there we walked to the Zocalo (main square) for dinner. On our way back we encountered a parade, celebrating the end of winter and the return of the light. The big puppets were awesome.