This morning there was police and army presence, in preparation for the parade. I took these pictures in front of the zócalo (central square):
After some miscommunication (and a certain level annoyance in both of us) over breakfast, we began the day by going towards the Templo de San Francisco where the parade would pass by. In addition to the military and police, many other groups participated: schools, sport clubs, paramedics, firemen, search and rescue teams, and others. Our vantage point for the parade wasn't exactly noteworthy, so I didn't take any pictures with my camera and tried instead to keep cool in whatever shaded spot I could find, but Jen did take a few pictures:
After the parade was done around noontime, we took a bus to Cholula, where we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening. Upon arrival in Cholula we went for lunch, and after that we went to visit the landmark which best exemplifies the town: the Iglesia de los Remedios. This is a noteworthy church for two reasons: 1- it's built on top of a hill; this in itself is probably no big deal, but recently it was discovered that underneath the hill is a pyramid! So, essentially, after the Spanish conquered the Aztecas, they built a church on top of the existing pyramid (let there be no doubt who conquered who). 2- the church provides a fantastic foreground for the Popocatéptl volcano in the background, as the pictures below show. In fact, the view is so picturesque that the tourism board of Puebla uses it often as a marketing tool to draw people to in. Anyways, here are some pictures.
Iglesia de los Remedios:
The day was actually super hot, and although we'd had food and drink previously for lunch, by mid-afternoon we were both dehydrated (and generally irritated), so when we saw the water fountain (and kids nearby running through it), we decided to be kids ourselves and run through the water fountain. Sheer delight!
After cooling off in the water fountain, we made our way down to the centre of town, where we ordered an iced coffee, and bought some freshly picked strawberries from a farmer. Then we went to the Ex-Convento de San Gabriel. It's actually a fortified convent, presumably the monks built it that way to protect themselves from invaders. At this convent, there was both, a church, and a (very large!) chapel, Capilla Real. Here are some pictures from both. I think of all the churches I've seen so far, this one's my favourite. It's not very ornate or beautiful, but maybe the combination of church, convent, and fort made a lasting impression on me. Note the rich dark blue sky. It looked like a thunderstorm was in the making, but alas, it didn't materialize.
The clincher of our lovely day wss an evening with Tati's sister Gabi and her husband Diego. They live in Cholula, and they met up with us and took us for dinner to a lovely Italian restaurant.
Finally, after dinner Diego drove us back to Puebla, but not before driving by the VW factory in Puebla. What a massive undertaking VW has there. No wonder everyone in Puebla drives a VW...
After the parade was done around noontime, we took a bus to Cholula, where we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening. Upon arrival in Cholula we went for lunch, and after that we went to visit the landmark which best exemplifies the town: the Iglesia de los Remedios. This is a noteworthy church for two reasons: 1- it's built on top of a hill; this in itself is probably no big deal, but recently it was discovered that underneath the hill is a pyramid! So, essentially, after the Spanish conquered the Aztecas, they built a church on top of the existing pyramid (let there be no doubt who conquered who). 2- the church provides a fantastic foreground for the Popocatéptl volcano in the background, as the pictures below show. In fact, the view is so picturesque that the tourism board of Puebla uses it often as a marketing tool to draw people to in. Anyways, here are some pictures.
Iglesia de los Remedios:
The day was actually super hot, and although we'd had food and drink previously for lunch, by mid-afternoon we were both dehydrated (and generally irritated), so when we saw the water fountain (and kids nearby running through it), we decided to be kids ourselves and run through the water fountain. Sheer delight!
After cooling off in the water fountain, we made our way down to the centre of town, where we ordered an iced coffee, and bought some freshly picked strawberries from a farmer. Then we went to the Ex-Convento de San Gabriel. It's actually a fortified convent, presumably the monks built it that way to protect themselves from invaders. At this convent, there was both, a church, and a (very large!) chapel, Capilla Real. Here are some pictures from both. I think of all the churches I've seen so far, this one's my favourite. It's not very ornate or beautiful, but maybe the combination of church, convent, and fort made a lasting impression on me. Note the rich dark blue sky. It looked like a thunderstorm was in the making, but alas, it didn't materialize.
The clincher of our lovely day wss an evening with Tati's sister Gabi and her husband Diego. They live in Cholula, and they met up with us and took us for dinner to a lovely Italian restaurant.
Finally, after dinner Diego drove us back to Puebla, but not before driving by the VW factory in Puebla. What a massive undertaking VW has there. No wonder everyone in Puebla drives a VW...
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