Another place I struggle to pronounce = wahaca
We arrived here just before dark and, unfortunately, just after a swarm of teenagers had arrived. There seemed to be 1000s of them running all around bashing into people with their luggage. I hope we're not in for a noisy night.
The hotel is an old building built around a courtyard with a small swimming pool right behind reception. After dumping our cases we wandered down and enjoyed a glass of wine in relative peace.
As we'd spent most of last night wide awake, waiting for the luggage, we were both really tired so decided to skip dinner and have an early night. Our worries about drunken revellers returning late at night were unfounded and we had a decent night's sleep. Breakfast the following morning was served on the terrace and I was able to order fried egg yolks so more happy.
After a morning visit to nearby Monte Albán - separate post - we had a walking tour or Oaxaca old town
First stop was the church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, another wonderful example of Spanish Baroque architecture.
The "backside" of the church as Francisco and so many overseas guides love to describe it.
One of our group had been here before and remembered a wonderful botanical garden situated next door to the church, but sadly it was closed. Internet picture
Outside the church a group of Post Office workers were getting into giant Frida Kahlo costumes, quite why we never did work out.
And I can't find anything about these statues.
There is a small planted area in front of the church and this little lad was obviously "helping with the watering".
We then visited a chocolate shop to see the various stages of chocolate making.
We were given little samples to try during the process and hopefully the finished products we bought for the girls' Christmas boxes will taste a bit nicer.
There is a large indoor food market here which is very interesting and colourful but so crowded it was difficult to stop for photos as so many tiny Mexicans where rushing past .
No idea, maybe a fruit juice of some sort.
This is Pasillo de Humo (smoke corridor) as there are dozens of stalls offering grilled, roast or similarly charred meats.
A few random street scenes as we walked about.
There is large influx of indigenous people who come to sell their wares in the outdoor market held in the main square (Zócalo) each week.
Insects - yummy!
I don't know why I find these shoe shiners so amusing, maybe because I can't believe anyone is lazy enough to not do it themselves. But as I've said before maybe it's a way of spreading money around.
Another knife sharpener.
We stopped for a beer and a sandwich and sat watching the world go by.
And fended off a few touts, some of whom were only about 7 years old and were just selling cheap toys (not this guy obviously).
An outdoor art gallery but the work was quite odd and not really to our taste.
We roamed around a bit and stopped off at a nearby restaurant which had been recommended by another couple in the group. They'd said it was quite busy when they went, hence the reservation, but when we returned at 1900 the place was empty and for a while we were the only diners. Dinner was nice enough, Caesar salad for both of us and then a quick wander around the art works for sale. Beautiful wood and stone carvings and exquisitely painted but oh so expensive.
This tree of birds was just beautiful, but so hard to photograph as they kept spinning round.
As I've said several times already, Frida Kahlo turns up in the strangest places - the front of our hotel (taken through the bus window hence the reflections).
