Cuernavaca

Now that we have the Honda back we are no longer stuck in the park. We are both feeling the aftereffects of our colds but yesterday we bit the bullet and headed up the highway to Cuernavaca.

We followed the sign to the Centro Historico and looked for parking. We found a small parking garage and pulled in. It was very crowded with cars parked three deep. There was one young woman frantically juggling cars, handing out tickets and collecting money. She motioned us where to park, we gave her the keys and trusted her to keep the car.

The Centro was very busy with a stage being set up for some celebration and traffic was very heavy. Cuernavaca has not yet banned vehicles from it’s Centro so it is a bit of a madhouse. We stopped for coffee and Norma had an order of crepas (crepes) with walnuts and Carmel syrup. We sat in the street side restaurant and people watched for a half hour or so and then walked to the market. Most of the stalls were selling silver jewelry, probably from the nearby town of Taxco.

By the time we got back to the parking lot two hours had passed and we owed 20 pesos (10 pesos per hour). The Honda was in a different spot but was easy to get out. We drove up the impossibly steep ramp to the street, found our way to the highway and headed home. We may go back today for a few groceries and an early dinner. I am out of peanut butter!

It is interesting to note that Costco has been banned from the city after they destroyed the historic Hotel de la Sevla to build a distribution warehouse!

Meanwhile, here are a few shots from town, showing street scenes and the Palacio de Cortez, the residence built by Hernan Cortez in 1535. In typical Spanish fashion it was built on top of an existing pyramid, destroying the previous structure in the process. it is now a museum, displaying many murals by Diego Rivera as well as many of the items rescued by excavating the old structure underneath it: