oaxaca city, mexico

The pretty colonial-era buildings of Oaxaca city were a welcomed contrast from the bustling (crowded) streets of Mexico city. On the first night we were greeted with lively lantern-lit streets and an abundance in healthy meal choices from the Zacolo. Our first dinner was a freshly made empanada stuffed with zucchini flowers and mushrooms, which we were pretty bloody pleased about.

On the second day, (after spending the first day sourcing a wine shop for Kassandra, and roaming the streets photographing the street art), we visited Hierve el Agua, which is a collection of fresh water springs. The water is over-saturated with calcium carbonate and as the water moves over the rocks, the excess minerals are deposited, creating the look of a frozen waterfall. That evening, after being stranded in a local cafe during an epic thunderstorm, we tried a Tlayuda (mexican pizza folded in half) and a famous Oaxacan hot chocolate, made from locally grown cacao beans. I don't know what other spices they put in it, but it was delicious.

We checkout out a couple of markets, one being the local organic market, and the other being the indigenous Tlacolula market. Kassandra tried her first (and last) tejate at the organic market (a traditional beverage made from maize and cacao), and we enjoyed wandering around sampling the delicacies from the Tlacalula markets. We braved fried crickets, a spikey fruit called a chayote, fresh sugar cane, nieve (a sort of ice-cream/sorbet hybrid), and bit our tongues as we watched indigenous ladies walk around grasping whole dead chooks dangling by their feet. The colourfully dressed indigenous ladies don't like their photo being taken (understandable but disappointing nontheless) but I took one sneaky one from behind a lady walking in front of me.