Mexico 2018 - Puebla 2

Back in Puebla for a couple more days, I continued wandering around exploring though frankly, I would just as soon have gone back to Mexico City.  I had seen a lot of the city's charming architecture and the crafts but I had yet to find any of the legendary outstanding cuisine.  And the other thing about Puebla was my arctic airbnb accommodations.  

 It was cold in general at that time, especially nights and mornings but warmed up nicely during the day.  But when I came home, I had to put on my parka and fleece in my all-tile, windowless space. 






 One of the signature dishes in Puebla is mole Poblano, a version of mole about which there are two conflicting legends.  One is that the sauce was created with divine guidance by nuns at a convent in Puebla for the visit of an Archbishop.  The second and more credible version is that mole was created by the Aztecs.  If you're not familiar with mole, it's a sauce characterized by it's complexity, both in terms of ingredients and preparation and by the addition of unsweetened chocolate.  In any case, it's a favourite of mine and I was looking forward to trying some in Puebla.  My first evening in Puebla I tried some at a little restaurant near my Airbnb.  I was the only patron which should have been warning enough.  They were somewhat flummoxed by the presence of a foreigner to start with and the enmoladas (enchiladas with mole) were tepid and under cooked.  I also tried another version of the sauce at a very upscale restaurant and was was equally underwhelmed.  I did have a good cemita at the public market, a sandwich on a bun packed full of vegetables and meats and cheeses.  

One of the notable sights in Puebla is the Amparo Museum.  It houses some archeological exhibits as well as temporary shows. 

 I saw some outstanding photography exhibits there from a variety of photographers from many different countries like these two from a Nigerian photographer.

 My friend, Alfonso, also recommended that I visit the Biblioteca Palafoxiana founded in 1646, the first public library in Mexico and sometimes considered to be the first in the Americas.  The library itself was beautiful but the other exhibits not of interest.  

There was, however, a very good band playing Cuban type music in the central courtyard.

I spent the better part of a day at big big Zona Historica de los Fuentes (Historic Zone of Fountains), a massive park-like area occupying a hill.  You can drive up there or take the Teleférico Puebla, as I did.  It's a very short tram ride to a site where there is a planetarium, museum, a huge conference centre and walking paths and bike trails, a big soccer stadium.  

Quite the place, big views all around over the city and surroundings and the volcanoes if the air was clear enough to see them, which it wasn't.  Hardly a soul around; not one bike on the many paved bike paths and not another walker. In fact, there is bike infrastructure in Puebla but more about that in the next post.