Flowing to Puebla
Sometimes an Uber to the bus station has taken 20 minutes or more. This time, they arrived within minutes. The rest of my trip flowed just as nicely! The bus left a few minutes late but…we made it to Puebla in 4 hours rather than the 5 plus hours I had been told!
The bus station is a zoo, chaotic and a bit crazy. I walked out the front, turned right, walked a block and stopped on a side street to call an Uber. In many cities, the relationship between taxi drivers and Uber drivers is contentious bordering on dangerous. In Oaxaca, last time I checked, Uber is not allowed!! Strong taxi influence there apparently!
Once on the side street, the price for an already inexpensive drive was much lower! Without all the chaos, it was really simple to connect with my driver and get headed to where I was going!
There was a nice warm welcome from Manuel remembering me from my one time here before! Really helpful!
People! Hostels! Cost? I love staying in hostels. Often I stay in a single room but only if it’s early in a trip or if I need a break to rest and recuperate. Otherwise, I’m completely comfortable in a small dorm, 4-6 beds. One hostel I stayed in years ago had 20 bed rooms…I call those the barn rooms! Too many people. Noisy! Not so comfortable.
It’s nice to save a bit of money in hostels. MY preference, travel longer rather than use money staying in a deluxe accommodation. I rather spend my money traveling!
The really nice aspect of hostel’s is the people I meet! Here, I connected with people from Pittsburg (not the Kansas version), Sri Lanka, Uk, Nederland, San Diego and Switzerland. I’ve been here only one night. In the past few days, I’ve met people from Colombia, France, UK, Spain, Germany, US, Mexico, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and such. I love meeting people from all over the world! And it’s the primary reason I maintain Facebook…connecting with my global family!
Last Market Visit
My last day in Querataro, I walked to one of my favorite coffee shops there. From there, I took an exploration route to get to the mercado. I wanted to pick up some treats for the bus ride the next day. I LOVE the bakeries here because the food is full of flavor rather than sugar! So nice having a flavor rich food that doesn’t give me a headache from sugar.
Once at the mercado, I realized I was really hungry. A quick contemplation of what I was hungry for and I remembered how awesome the fresh fish looked. Walking in that direction, I stopped at the other restaurant “mariscos” (seafood) to look at their menu! They were very helpful! I ordered tacos with shrimp and some with marlin.
Then, they brought me a small tostado..a tostad”ito”…meaning small. It was a special ceviche version made with fresh tilapia. It was delicious! Then, they brought me a bowl of shrimp soup to sample! After that, the bread, crackers, condiments and tacos arrived. It was absolutely delicious!
While eating and waiting, the two guys stopped to talk with me and learn where I am from. As I paid, they asked my name, introduced themselves (Rafael and Stefan) and asked me to come back next time I’m in Queretaro!
Awesome walking around Saturday Night!!
Walking Puebla
After sitting, I went for a walk. I headed to the market a dozen blocks away. It was Saturday night! I wanted some exercise, something to eat and to observe life in Puebla!
Nice walk! I saw a HUGEEEE limo for what looked like a quinceanera outside a church, lots of people walking, and as I got closer, umbrellas lining the road ahead of me. Never having been here before, I turned into the market and started looking around! After 30 minutes of exploring I came around a corner. I couldn’t get through the isle for the line of people there!! I was finally able to get by enough to see they were lined up for a food stand, “TacosaDoña Jose”. A man in the line looked at me, gave me a thumbs up and told me in Spanish that these were great tacos!
Back to the end of the line, at least a dozen people in front of me, as I watched Doña Jose work, amazingly fast, putting the taco’s together! At first I thought I might order several taco’s. Joking with the ladies in front of me, I asked them what their favorite was? All of them!! Depends! They they told me they were HUGE! As I watched, I realized one would be plenty!
The man who initially gave me the thumbs up kept looking back at me smiling and pointing to what she was making. I asked him in Spanish if he would please not buy all of them and leave one for me! He laughed.
Then, it was my turn! I ordered one with chicken, rice and black beans! Cost: $35 pesos, less then $2.oo US! It was delicious! Everyone in line seemed to be entertained by me. There was not another tourist/gringo in sight! Here I was eating their food in their company! As I walked through the market, vendors smiled, shouted at me, gave me a thumbs up and such! That was my introduction to Puebla. Have a look!
Big surprise! Recommendations and a teacher!
There were several things I wanted to explore here. Manuel is so helpful I asked him a couple questions. Coffee?? A friend of his has a roaster, he’s from Italy, the roaster belonged to his father, a lot of heart in his work, not far from here, he is taking me tomorrow!
Awesome!! I mentioned a something about a bakery I had been to before. He told me there is a bakery near that has been baking bread in the same oven for 150 years!!! And they make a great cemita…a traditional sandwich here in Puebla! 
Before coming here, I searched the internet looking for a class to teach me how to make the traditional Mole Poblano in Puebla! Nothing stood out! An evening class sounded entertaining but very expensive. Chef’s, homes and restaurants offered classes…it was all confusing! So I asked Manuel if he knew of any class in the area. He thought for moment and then said, “Mother”! Realllly!!!??? He asked her if she would teach me. She asked me if between 9:00 and 10:00 o’clock would be OK?
This morning, we left for the market to get what we needed. I offered to pay her but she didn’t want any money. I helped buy the ingredients. Back home, she started showing me the steps. There are a lot of ingredients but they are put together step by step. Little things I would have never known. They use sesame, almond and peanuts in the mole. The peanuts and almonds are soaked in water for 2 hours to loosen the skin. It’s bitter. The sesame seeds are toasted….lightly! Only to taste and crispy-ness. They go on top. Other sesame seeds are toasted and then turned to powder in a grinder.
Things flew together quickly. I made notes. I took photo’s. Step by step. Crumble corn tortillas in the bottom of the pan. Toast some bread. Add it to the liquid and blend. Cloves, cinnamon, himalyanan salt, more liquid, get it bubbling, stir until the color changed to “coffee”. After 30 minutes of stirring, multiple tastings, adding more chocolate and sauce and stock…it was ready!
During this process, I realized how much my Spanish has improved. She doesn’t speak English. So we found ways to communicate. What a special treat!! This was passed to her from her mother, but it came from her mother, and from her mother…so I feel honored to have the family recipe!
Himasha from Sri Lanka and London joined us. He had tried Mole once but wasn’t impressed. THIS was completely different and caused him to re-evaluate his taste for mole!
Below are some images of us going to the market, assembling the ingredients and some steps along the way!
Now...it's late!
Yes, it’s late. I’m signing off and getting some sleep! Take care of yourself and enjoy LIFE!