Mexican Food, mmmm.....

I do not think I have ever ate so much Mexican food in my life, understandable now that I am in Mexico you might think, but I have only been here 4 days and have been alive for 8871 days and counting!

Since arriving in Morelia I have had enchiladas, quesadillas, sopes, fajitas, frijoles, and that's added to the variety of tacos and mexican scrambled egg that I tried in DF (Mexico City). Also, the more I try the more I realise I still left to be tried - I am certain I will be leaving Mexico with a few kilos of extra baggage around the mid-rift.

Yesterday morning I went out to eat (what was supposed to be) breakfast with Judith and her family for Mother's Day - they use the American date for it unsuprisingly. We went to a buffet style place that seemed to be serving everything apart from what I would consider breakfast, it seemed like full blown meals were being served, and they made the humble English Breakfast look healthy!

This hearty breakfast turned out to be a good start to the day as Judith and I went to visit a local town called Patzcuaro. The town appears as if it has been transfixed in time. There are cobbled streets throughout and the buildings in and around the centre have been strictly kept to their original features and all shops are small, fitting into the buildings rather than the buildings fitting them - even the signage is kept simply painted with a stadard font.

Whilst strolling around the city I had the opportunity to try some local ice creams. I tried a fruit based one called zapote and one based on frozen corn kernals called elote - everything here it seems is corn related, I would be suprised if my mattress was not corn based!

On the way back to Morelia we stopped off by a small lake harbour and I tried some more local cuisine - small sardine sized fish battered, with the obligatory chili sauce of course.

In the evening in Morelia Judith and I met up with one of her friends, Alejandra, to go and watch the illumination of the Cathedral. This consisted of a light show on the cathedral with fireworks that was quite impressive. (Again, photos to follow...)

Following that we went to an exquisit bar called Los Balcones, found behind the cathedral if you are interested. Situated in an old building with a open terrace centre and mood lighting it was beautiful. And things got better just after we ordered drinks as the evening entertainment was put on; a belly dancer along with some jesters. The whole show was good, but I was particularly impressed by the belly dancer, she was probably better then the ones I saw in Istanbul.

Today I travelled to Guanajuato, as it was highly recommended by Judith and was in the top things to see in Mexico in my guide book. I arrived late afternoon and, after checking into a hostel, I began to acquaint myself with the colonial town. Again, I have to say that the traditional buildings are exceptional, even the hostal (El Hostelito de Guanajuato) is brimming with character. Aside from walking around the town centre, I went up to the monument Pipila that gives excellent views over the town, and in the evening I managed to see a prosession going through the town centre. I am not 100% sure of what it was about but it was cool!

As I write this I am also preparing my day for tomorrow. I have yet to see two of the main attractions of Guanajuato; the natural preserved mummies and the old mines, so they will be my first ports of call, and after that who knows??