A Little Site Seeing

I'm not sure about everybody, but I don't need to do the tourist thing all day everyday when we are on holiday. When we are home the big girls have us up a few minutes after the sun is up. We are probably two of the only people that look forward to the mornings staying darker longer:c} So when we are on separate holidays it's very decadent to sleep in till we wake up :c} LW can enjoy his coffee and not have to wait until the girls have had their morning constitutions. In most, actually in all Mexican cities yards (read grass) are almost non-existent. Houses are all attached so the only real outside space is a patio. On the streets parking strips are concrete. Grass just isn't around. Bottom line is dogs have to be walked. SO holidays for us is all about no schedules

Each day we picked a different place to see. This way we could lolly gag having breakfast and enjoy our afternoon siesta There is an amazing Botanical Garden between Coatepec and Jalapa. The old spelling is Xalapa. Many locations in the central part of Mexico have indigenous names, that at times are nearly impossible to wrap your tongue around.There seems to be an attempt to modernize some of these old spellings. I find that a bit sad. When you look at Mexico's history most of it's Prehispanic roots have been destroyed, changed, or given little importance. Sometimes the only thing left of this history is the historic name and now those are being lost. Because it had rained all week, that morning, and threaten to at any time we didn't climb up the trails into the high cloud forest. There is something about wet rocks, covered with moss, terraforma the consistency of raw eggs, and an incline of 75% that strikes fear in the heart of this little treker!! In order for these gardens to be available to most people the entry fee was a whapping $5 peso (less then 50 cents)

One day we took a trip out to the old Hershey Coffee Plantation. Like many large plantations in the US south the Hershey Plantation's buildings fell into a very distressing conditions. A few years ago a group of artisans formed a NGO (nongovernmental organization) to restore the plantation home. It's now a school for hands on internships, learning and teaching many lost techniques.



One of the bests places in every Mexican city, town, all the way down to the villages is the the center park. There is always benches, shade and a gazebo, no matter how small. These squares are where you hear all the news, where you go to be seen and to see. Where you meet your friends for coffee, gossip, or dominos. It is the heart of the community.
I think it's time for this bloglandian to fix a cup of tea, turn the AC on and start a new book I checked out of the library. You northern Bloglandians might be enjoying the cooler days of Fall. And my "other side of the world" Bloglandians friends might be enjoying the warmer days of Spring. I however am not enjoying the "Dog days" of October!!

I think that about says it all :c} Have a good day or evening depending on what part of Bloglandia you are in :c}