After our few days spent in Mexico City and our day trip to Taxco (you may want to go back and see those first if you haven’t already), we spent the rest of our stay in the beautiful city of Puebla. It was a welcomed change from the hustle and bustle of the crowded city. Mexico has super nice mega buses- reclining seats, beverages and snacks, tv screens- and much cheaper than the ones here the in U.S. This was our view as we drove out of Mexico City…
Overlooking Puebla is a huge volcano they call the ‘Popo’. It looks like a gorgeous mountain…would have never guess it actually erupted just a couple months before we got there! This was the view from the rooftop of where we stayed.
*sidenote- after taking this photo, a man painting the exterior of a house a few houses over started calling me ‘bonita’ even though Andy was standing right there. gotta give the guy props- no shame 🙂
but here’s my hunk. He’s so tough 🙂 I do love these portraits of him.
There were quite a few stray dogs in Mexico. If you know me, you know that I had to say “awwww poor puppy” to every one of them we passed by. I hate seeing dogs without anybody to love them. And many of these you could tell were mistreated. One in particular would sleep right outside a little 7-Eleven type shop. He was a sweetie…just breaks my heart.
Our first day in Puebla, Ivette and Jared had us start the day out right with some quesadillas. Talk about amazing breakfast food!
Then we went and walked around the university Ivette attended for her undergrad. I have never seen such a beautiful campus- seriously. The landscaping was incredible. I only got a few pics of the greenery until a security guard came up to us and told us we couldn’t take pictures b/c we might sell them (are ya serious?! geez)
Well I may have taken just a couple when he wasn’t looking…
Andy’s favorite Mexican food now – tacos al pastor. This is the ‘spit’ (a grill that the meat rotates in) that they slice seasoned pork and layer up it on the stick. Then as it cooks and browns on the outside, they shave thin slices right onto the corn tortilla with a little onion, cilantro, and pineapple.
This has to be one of my favorite parts of the trip. So in Mexico, glazed pottery is a big export. But there’s the premium hand-crafted pottery that’s called Talavera– a VERY old, classic technique. Every part of the process is done by hand- there’s a longer drying time, a better sturdier clay used, intricate patterns hand-painted by artists, and a hardy glaze used. There are just a handful of Talavera studios, and one happens to be in Puebla.
We walked in the front gift shop area where we saw the expensive pottery gallery and were just about to turn back around when the owner walked out and asked us if we wanted a tour to see how it was made. Honestly, we didn’t have big expectations going into it, but the studio was much bigger than we imagined and we could then see why the pieces were priced so high. I thought there would be one or two guys working, but there were at least 8 people just painting like the woman you see below. There were many hands of artists throughout the whole process. It was so beautiful.
Plus, hello…the natural light pouring in…I could have easily used up all my film for the trip right there!
The other awesome part about Puebla was that Ivette’s mom lives close by. And she’s an AMAZING cook. And we were invited to breakfast at her house- twice. Seriously, my mouth is salivating thinking about it all over again. That food was probably the best breakfast I’ve EVER had! 
There were so many Puebla pics, I have to split the posts…so more of our stay in Puebla coming soon!