Colores de Tepoztlan

Tepoztlan in the state of Morelos is graced with an ¨eternal spring¨ type of climate. The town is clean, and full of street vendors that offer therapeutic concoctions ranging from bee pollen to aromatic herbs and from organic fruit shakes to indigenous inspired cures. Because most visitors to Tepoztlan visit to hike up the Tepozteco mountain in the background, a good hour and a half hike, vendors push many products that cater to the proactive and environmentally conscious tourist. Hiking up the Tepozteco, as it is called, is strongly recommended, especially considering the archaeological significance of the indigenous temple you will see if you reach the top.  

Tepoztlan´s Warning to Humanity

This weekend I drove to Tepoztlan, Morelos, a great town about an hour´s drive from Mexico City. This town is off the toll road to Cuernavaca. While there, I saw this great mural with the following warning to humanity: ¨Con los ojos respira el hombre, con los pies planea su muerte, y con las manos se destruye¨ (roughly, Man breathes with his eyes, plans his death with his feet, and destroys himself with his hands).  

The Adrenaline Reserves

Although Valle de Bravo is well known for its wide array of extreme sport activities, from sky diving to cliff gliding and from water skiing to mountain biking, for those of us that enjoy just a nice chat by the town´s zocalo, this place also delivers. As these guys enjoy the nice breeze on a Sunday morning, others are tapping into their adrenaline reserves as they maneuver down some hillside. The bottom line is that Valle de Bravo caters to a broad spectrum of tastes, from daredevils to zocalo patrons.  

Valle de Bravo - Clear Blue Skies

Valle de Bravo´s main zocalo really brings the town together on weekends. There are enough vendors to please the accidental tourist without offending those visitors that prefer a fly on the wall approach. There are great places to eat around this zocalo and the lake is only a 5 minute downhill walk. Valle de Bravo´s clear blue skies offer a well deserved breath of fresh air to any big city resident.  

City Slickers - Bienvenidos

On a nice Saturday afternoon, you are likely to find Valle de Bravo´s main zocalo full of ice cream and balloon vendors. Valle de Bravo is very popular with Mexico City residents who take advantage of the artificial lake (a dam controls the water level) for water sports, fishing and boating. In addition, Valle de Bravo´s elevation means its landscape is one of pine forests and mountain terrain. Nearby you will find numerous Monarch Butterfly reserves, especially during the late winter and early spring months. Valle de Bravo is the perfect place for the urban dweller looking to hike, see nature and enjoy the outdoors.  

Dos Burritos

Ah, yes, the inevitable picture of burros in a quaint Mexican town. Well, here it is. Enjoy. These two burros were tied to this post in Valle de Bravo, a small lakefront town in the Estado de Mexico, about a 2 hour drive southwest of Mexico City. The street sign reads ¨Calle de las Ratas,¨ literally Street of the Rats. Quite lovely actually. And here there is nothing lost in translation.  

La Lavadora de Santa Fe

If you wondered where the Pantalon building gets washed every weekend...well in the nearby Santa Fe suburb of Mexico City, we have the ¨Lavadora,¨ roughly the Washing Machine. This building is quite pleasant to see as you drive into the trendy business park section of Mexico City. The Universidad Iberoamericana is across the street from the Lavadora. And the Tec de Monterrey Campus Santa Fe is about five minutes away from this part of the city. Santa Fe is in the northwest part of the Mexico City metropolitan area. Any missing white sock inquiries should be directed to the Chamber of Commerce of Santa Fe for further instructions.  

El Pantalon

Mexico City has some interesting architecture throughout its urban sprawl. This building is commonly known throughout the city as the ¨Pantalon,¨ literally the pair of pants. While many have grown to refer to it in various ways, including the SpongeBob SquarePants building, the Pantalon reference is sure to get your taxi driver to this particular destination. This is in Delegacion Cuajimalpa in the northwest part of the city. It is off the Avenida Constituyentes. I see this building everyday during my commute.  

Macaroni at Ease

This is one of the pieces featured at the exhibition Thursday night at the Tamayo Museum. There were many international people there, but mainly it was a very bohemian young artist crowd. The Tamayo Museum is directly in front of Chapultepec Castle. Although the museum has great space and lighting, the curator appears to be going for the extreme minimalist approach, by only placing an item like this all by itself in a huge hall. Some of the audience members felt rather unfulfilled by the few number of pieces displayed. In this case, less was actually less.  

Watermelons Rojos

Earlier tonight I drove from Lomas Vista Hermosa where I work to Paseo de la Reforma to visit the Museo Rufino Tamayo in Polanco. The Rufino Tamayo Museum is launching a new exhibition in February. Although the Tamayo Museum has very few works by Rufino Tamayo himself, I stumbled upon this great painting by him. This 1968 piece is titled ¨Sandias¨ (¨Watermelons¨).