Cuernavaca

Video tour of Cuernavaca

2012-01-11T06:41:00.000-06:00

This video from YouTube is shot from the front window as the videographer drives through downtown Cuernavaca, giving you a front seat view of the city.

The Voices of Chichinautzin

2011-12-23T10:26:00.000-06:00

This is the story of Chichinautzin, a natural protected area on the southern border of Mexico City. Supported by local scientists and park rangers, the people of the Chichinautzin risk their lives to protect their biodiverse forests from illegal logging armed gangs and strong development pressures. In an increasingly urbanized world, how can this region and its people survive against the growing hunger for space and natural resources?

The Chichmautzin Biological Corridor is located in the Sierra Norte in the state of Morelos, in the region south of the Federal District and southeast of the state of Mexico. It was created in 1988 as a biological corridor to connect Lagunas de Zempoala and El Tepozteco National Parks.

These parks were created in 1947 and 1937 respectively. Chichinautzin was also established to: (1) secure the biological processes and evolutions in the zone; and (2) to form a natural greenbelt boundary for the population growth of the Federal District and the city of Cuernavaca. The biological corridor itself is 37,302 hectares, but also incorporates Laguna de Zempoala National Park (4,790 hectares) and El Tepozteco Park (24,000 hectares). In this way, the total area of protected by the corridor and two national parks is 66,092 hectares. This region is important for rainwater filtration and is a very important factor improving air quality of the states of Morelos and the Federal District (Mexico City).

Danzón - a chick flick?

2011-02-20T18:10:00.002-06:00

I guess so with a female director and leading role but still one of my favorite Mexican movies.

It's about a couple of phone operators in Mexico City that live for the weekends and the Danzón. Julia (Maria Rojo) finds her perfect dance partner, finds a little romance and he suddenly disappears. The rest of the movie is Julia's search adventure for her dance partner in Veracruz. Lots of dancing, good music and low key adventure.

I used to sit for hours watching Danzon on the weekends on the Cuernavaca plaza. No live music, always recorded and often more dressed up than the folks below.

The Cuernavaca Mercado

2010-08-28T13:17:00.009-05:00

The Cuernavaca Mercado (market) is a sprawling thing that winds around and up and down. Very easy to get lost in. It's located in an arroyo just about 6 blocks east of downtown and the plaza. Much of it seems under ground with many alleys that bring you up to city streets. Just about everything is for sale but mostly divided into sections of flower sellers, meat, vegetable, herbs, clothes and music CD's. You might even see a small boy run by with a pigs head.

When I was taking Spanish classes at Encuentros I also took some evening cooking lessons. Most of our assignments included a shopping list 'in Spanish' and we were to shop at the central market before class. You'd be surprised at how many flavors of 'mole' there are. We had some very good meals those evenings.

I recently heard much of the market was damaged by fire this year. YouTube Video of the fire

Deep inside the Cuernavaca market

Steps up to street level

Bags of herbs

Women in the vegetable section

Las Lagunas de Zempoala

2010-04-24T13:38:00.001-05:00

Las Lagunas de Zempoala is a National Park in the mountains above Cuernavaca at an altitude of about 2,900 meters (9500 feet) above sea level. The park encompasses seven small lakes of which three, Zempoala, Tonathiua and Prieta, contain water year-round and the other four are seasonal. The surrounding hillsides are covered in forests of pine and other evergreens.

Lots of activities including rowing, sailing, horseback riding and camping. There are many hiking trails to walk and cliffs to scale for the more adventurous.

Access to Las Lagunas de Zempoala is via the Mexico-Cuernavaca highway, either the old highway or the new toll road, turning off at Tres Marias and proceeding toward and past Huitzilac village. You can also take the old highway out of Cuernavaca.

Robert Brady Museum

2010-04-10T12:56:00.001-05:00

Next to the cathedral, in the Casa de Torre, the Museo Robert Brady houses an extensive collection of works and artefacts belonging to the American artist. Brady travelled the world in search of artistic acquisitions and the contents of this museum took a whole life-time to amass. His collection of 1300 pieces contains paintings by, among others, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Paul Klee and Francisco Toledo. There is also colonial furniture, textiles, pre-Hispanic objects, African art and ceramics. It is well worth a visit.

This collection was assembled by Robert Brady (1928-1986). Born in Iowa with a career in the fine arts at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Tyler Arts Center of Temple University and the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania, he established residence in Venice, Italy for five years before settling in Cuernavaca, Mexico in 1962.

Museum from the street

Main Bedroom

Kitchen

Yellow Bath

Robert Brady Museum

Grutas de Cacahuamilpa and Taxco

2010-01-13T16:17:00.000-06:00

Las Grutas and Taxco are both easy day trips from Cuernavaca even though they are in the state of Guerrero. You could do them both with a car or a tour if you start early. I would not try Las Grutas via bus. Hard to tell what you'll find in Taxco and you might easily spend a day there.

The Grutas de Cacahuamilpa National Park in Guerrero, Mexico, is best known for the Grutas de Cacahuamilpa Caverns, which are one of the largest cave systems in the world. It is also home to the Grutas of Carlos Pacheco, a smaller system, as well as two subterranean rivers which have carved out tunnels in the rock. The park has extreme sports attractions such as rappelling, and rock climbing in Limontitla Canyon. as well as the two underground rivers to explore. It also has a small botanical garden, a pool and places to camp.

Grutas de Cacahuamilpa

Streets of Taxco

Cathedral de Cuernavaca

2009-11-03T11:43:00.004-06:00

Cathedral of Cuernavaca is located downtown about 5 blocks west of the plaza

This building served originally as the church for a Franciscan monastery founded in 1526; it became the cathedral for Cuernavaca in 1891. The fifth mission to begin construction on the continent, La Anunciación de Nuestra Señora employed pre-Conquest building techniques such thick rubble walls reinforced by cut stone at corners, windows, and doorways. The complex was largely complete by 1574. There is little documentation on the original construction, but scholars believe that the open chapel preceded the building of the church.

An amazing architectural complex formed by an atrium surrounded by tall 'battlemented' walls. The Cathedral has been remodeled in the last 20 years and murals depicting the martyrdom of St. Felipe de Jesus were found all along both sides of the walls. In the same complex are found the Chapel of San Jose, the Chapel of Nuestra Senora de los Dolores, the Chapel of Carmen as well as the Temple of Terce Orden. It is also famous for its Sunday "Mariachi Mass".

Teopanzolco

2009-01-04T19:19:00.006-06:00

Teopanzolco is located in the city of Cuernavaca, just northeast of the railroad station. The site is an official archaeological zone maintained by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. There is a modest admission fee Tuesday-Saturday; admission is free Sundays and the zone is closed Mondays.

The present archaeological zone consists of a public plaza surrounded by various structures, including a large pyramid, numerous low platforms, and other structures. The architecture dates to the Early Aztec period (as determined by the ceramics). The pyramid is one of the few surviving examples of the Aztec twin-stair pyramid style popular in the Early Aztec period, AD 1100-1350 (the Mexica Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan, located in modern Mexico City, was a Late Aztec structure built in the earlier style). Across the plaza from the pyramid is a row of low stone platforms that were bases for altars. Excavations in one of these turned up a mass sacrificial burial consisting of skulls from decapitated individuals and offerings of pottery vessels and other items. There are several partially-excavated buildings in the zone whose functions are uncertain.

Teopanzolco was an Early Aztec site that was apparently abandoned during the Late Aztec period (AD 1350-1521).

Postales De Cuernavaca

2008-08-29T07:23:00.003-05:00

Cuernavaca Slideshow

A little fast paced but nice fotos. Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
YouTube Slideshow

Jardin Etnobotanico - Acapatzingo

2007-04-23T17:25:00.002-05:00

The village of Acapatzingo, now part of Cuernavaca, attracts hundreds of visitors, since it is the site of a country house known as Casa de la India Bonita, bought by Maximilian of Habsburg to visit the mysterious Indian Bonita, the beautiful Indian woman who so entranced him that the emperor frequently absented himself from his royal duties to spend time in her company in this idyllic setting. The 'Casa de El Olindo' is now the Jardín Etnobotánico de Morelos, housing a small Museum of Traditional Medicine and Herbs which provides original displays of the biological diversity of Mexico, the relation between man and plants and the medicinal uses of many of the latter. The thoughtfully designed garden paths enable visitors to have a close up view of eight hundred plants of various genera and forms that comprise the largest collection of medicinal plants in Mexico.

The Jardín Botánico and the Museo de Medicina Tradicional y Herbolaria are open every day of the year from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

La casa as well as the Museum

The garden grounds

The garden grounds

The garden grounds

Herb displays in the Museum

Herb displays in the Museum

Day trip to Xochimilco - Mexico City

2007-04-11T17:43:00.001-05:00

We went into the southern part Mexico City on a Saturday by bus from Cuernavaca. The tour included a visit to the museum of Diego Rivera, the house and museum of Frida Kahlo and the very nice grounds and museums of Dolores Olmedo Patiño. This visit to Xochimilco was the end of the trip.

Xochimilco, the Federal District, South Central suburb of Mexico City. Mainly a commercial and tourist center, it is famous for its canals lined with poplars and flowers (Xochimilco is a Native American word meaning "plantation of flowers"). In pre-Hispanic times the Xochimilcas built soil-covered rafts (chinampas) in Lake Xochimilco on which they grew vegetables and flowers to be shipped to Mexico City on the canals. Eventually the rafts became islands rooted to the lake bottom. Boating on the canals is popular among tourists and city residents.

This was part of the Museum tour to end our day in Mexico City. I suggest you go with friends for a few hours if at all possible. Tour groups lack vitality ... and Xochimilco is all about having fun. Take food and beverages with you.

Sign on the foot bridge

Boats lined and ready to go

These painted boats used to be all done in flowers

Floating food and party

View down on canal and boats from the foot bridge

More fotos of our Xochimilco trip

A day trip to Taxco

2006-12-02T13:42:00.002-06:00

We drove to Las Grutas (Grutas de Cacahuamilpa) near Taxco from Cuernavaca and when "the kids" found out it cost 50 pesos apiece to take the tour ... they didn't have enough money to go. They offered to wait two hours while I went but. instead we decided to drive to Taxco where Rake is from. A tour of the city and food in the market was cheaper than the tour of the caves.

Political rally in the Plaza

Looking up from the Plaza

Cathedral on the Plaza

Dance troop on the Plaza

An almost typical street in Taxco

Originally called Taxco de Alarcon, the silver capital of Mexico is located in Mexico’s southern region, 138 km (85 mi) north of Chilpancingo, the state capital of Guerrero, and 151 km (93 mi) south of Mexico City, off Highway 95. The climate is warm and humid, with an average year-round temperature of 19º C (66º F).

Considered one of Mexico’s most picturesque towns, this charming destination offers cobblestone streets, colonial buildings and white houses with red tile roofs. Another notable attraction of unparalleled beauty is the Catedral de Santa Prisca (Santa Prisca Cathedral), one of the most representative examples of baroque architecture in Mexico. During your stay, you also can visit the Humboldt and Borda houses, which have great historical and cultural value, or you can check out the Viceregal Art Museum and the Silver Museum; in the latter you’ll see incredible silver objects, such as earrings, necklaces bracelets and other items. Silverwork has long been a vital part of Taxco’s economy, thanks largely to American silversmith William Spratling, who had a strong influence on Mexican silver design.

Xochicalco

2006-07-19T11:16:00.002-05:00

Xochicalco
The Spanish school (Encuentros) arranged a trip to Xochicalco one Saturday - approximately 20 miles from Cuernavaca. There is a small museum at the entrance to the site. Our guide knew the caretaker and we got a tour of the tunnel used by priests for celestial sightings. These pictures are from a trip back in 2002

Some much better pictures than my old ones - Xochicalco Park and Museum

Two other students and our guide in little town below after the trip

The ball court

Guess what

Another view

Looking down on a cold beer

Xochicalco whose name means "Place of the House of Flowers" in Náhuatl flourished between 700 and 900 A.D. It was once one of the most important cities in Mesoamerica and home to as many as 15,000 people. During the 20th century the ruins of this heavily fortified complex were extensively restored, and in 1999 Xochicalco was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, it is the largest and most-visited archaeological site in the state of Morelos.

The city of Xochicalco rose to prominence during the decline of Teotihuacan, whose immense ruins lie to the north of present day Mexico City. This powerful civilization had exerted its influence over most of Mexico for almost a millennium. Teotihuacan's collapse in the eighth century A.D. has still to be fully explained. Its demise left a power vacuum in Central Mexico that was filled first by Xochicalco and later by the Toltec city of Tula.

Xochicalco's origins remain something of a mystery. Its buildings bear the marks of several different cultures, including the Olmecs, the Zapotecs, and the Aztecs. However, the city's architecture and artwork are essentially Maya, leading archaeologists to believe that Xochicalco was founded by Maya traders from the Gulf Coast of the Yucatan peninsula. The strategic location south of Teotihuacan would have given them access to trade routes radiating out from the Valley of Mexico.

Balneario Las Palmas near Tahuixtla - Morelos

2006-02-12T08:41:00.002-06:00

Balneario Las Palmas near Tahuixtla
I visted this place about 6 years ago with friends from Mexico City. Wasn't sure I could find it again but I did. All the pools are spring fed - not from the river. Very clean and nice management. It's about 40 kilometers from Cuernavaca on the Acapulco Autopista. Take the Tahuixtla exit but take the road to the right if you are headed south (don't cross the Autopista). As you come into the second small town about 12 kilometers from the hyway you'll see a sign on the left. Drive in about 1/4 km and you'll be at the front gate. The cost is 45 pesos for an all day visit and 110 pesos for over night camping.

Their Web Site - Balneario Las Palmas - Tehuixtla, Morelos

The front gate

There are three pools and this is the medium sized one

The drive thru the property

The second larger pool

The restaurant and wading pool

The river very full from summer rains

Tepoztlan

2006-02-06T19:13:00.002-06:00

Tepoztlán is only about a 40 minute drive from Cuernavaca either on a Cuota or a Libre thru a few small towns. The most interesting part of Tepoztlán is it's location in a valley surrounded with striking rock formations. There is also a cool church, an ex-convento with a museo and a large market. Other than that, it's a small town worth a few hours.

View of the church with backdrop of mountains

The church

The museum

The market

One of the most interesting side-trips from Cuernavaca is to TEPOZTLÁN , just 20km to the northeast, and dramatically sited in a narrow valley spectacularly ringed by volcanic mountains. Until recently this was an entirely different world, an isolated agrarian community inhabited by Nahuatl-speaking people whose life can have changed little between the time of the Conquest and the beginning of the twentieth century. It was on Tepoztlán that Oscar Lewis based his classic study of Life in a Mexican Village and traced the effects of the Revolution on it: the village was an important stronghold of the original Zapatista movement

It's also the village where Quetzalcóatl, the Plumed Serpent god of the Aztecs, was born.

Cuernavaca Morelos

2006-01-13T16:36:00.002-06:00

Part of the Cathedral with Jardin Borda a block ahead

Cuernavaca is the Capital City of the State of Morelos, Mexico. Located only 45 minutes from Mexico City (one hour and thirty minutes from the international airport) by the way of the Mexico-Acapulco expressway. Actually world-wide known as "The City of Eternal Spring" due to its excellent template climate with an annual average of 20ºC.

La Barranca del Amanalco - makes a nice city park

One of a few fountains in Jardin Borda - Free on Sundays

The ancient name of Cuernavaca is "Cuauhnahuac" in Nahuatl which means "Place near or by the side of the groove". Founded seven centuries ago almost a mile high in the Sierra Madre Mountains.

Until 1910, this state was the third major sugar cane producer world wide, after Hawaii and Puerto Rico, but peasants slaved without hope on the enormous sugar cane haciendas. When the Mexican Revolution began, most haciendas were burned to the ground.

For many years, Cuernavaca has been known as a resort where both Mexicans and foreigners come to enjoy the clean air, relax and enjoy the incomparable climate.

Popular restaurant on the Plaza