June 19, 2012

Today was a pretty nice day and it didn't rain! The past couple of days it has rained, a lot! It's also been pretty cool ranging between 60-65 degrees. Normally, it should be around 70-80, so I am hoping it will be soon! However, right now it is the rainy season in Puebla, which normally begins in May and ends in October. So, I know I should expect a little rain daily. From what I've seen from the forecast and have heard from friends and family is that it's in the 90s in Chicago! Wow! 

I'll let my pictures do the talking, so here are some photos I took today followed by descriptions of a little of what I did today. Enjoy!

My breakfast of eggs with potatoes, onions, rajas with fruit and coffee.

For lunch I had a traditional pre-Columbian soup from Mexico called pozole. Pozole is made with hominy or dried corn. You can choose either red or white pozole with either chicken, pork, turkey, pork rinds, chile peppers, and other seasonings. There are many variations of this soup. Mine was a red pozole with chicken. 

This XVIII home is called Casa de Aldenique. It's named this because its design resembles the famed poblano candies made of sugar, called alfeniques. Here, I received a tour about Puebla, where they showed different indigenous codices (books written by pre-Columbian and colonial-era Aztecs), Spanish armor, maps, photographs, paintings, varied colonial furniture, an antique carriage used by Porfirio Diaz during his government and a collection of antique dresses. 

It's really neat to see how the houses were decorated in the 19th century, unfortunately I was only allowed to take photos outside of the rooms. The colonial furniture and decorated rooms are beautiful and it was a way for people to show their economic status and impress their guests. They had chandeliers, a lot of french furniture, and even a fireplace with no chimney! 

The upstairs

This is an area where a lot of bars, coffee shops and grills are. 

My tour guide said that it gets very packed here on the weekends. This was my view

from a small bar and grill we stopped to rest at. 

I ended my tour today with trying a beer that from what I heard is

pretty popular here. They also served my tour guide and I chicharrones (pork rinds) 

with some lime and salt.