Morelia - Renaissance City in Mexico

Today was the kind of day that makes us love traveling! We awakened in a beautifully renovated colonial mansion-cum-hotel, and had a breakfast of fresh fruit, toast, freshly-squeezed orange juice and coffee brewed one-cup-at-a-time upon request.

Our hotel is in the heart of historic Morelia, a UNESCO World Heritage site in central Mexico. The historic center of town sets atop a steep hill with views out to distant mountains. Unlike Cuzco and Antigua, Guatemala, the Plaza de Armas is not a large open square. Instead, the Plaza de Armas is a beautifully landscaped park that abuts the cathedral directly. On the opposite of the cathedral, another beautifully landscaped park completes the verdant heart of the city.

The cathedral is a glorious piece of civic sculpture, with two ornate towers on the west facade and a beautifully-tiled dome above the crossing of the nave and transept. At night, the towers and dome are dramatically lit, with the drama increased on fesitval nights by fireworks.

From this spectacular centerpiece, the historic city occupies the top of the hill for many blocks in each direction. The magnificently-carved stone buildings are primarily 2 - 3 story blocks that date from the 1700’s and the 1800’s, but are mostly sixteenth-century Renaissance Baroque in style. Throughout the city, the towers and domes of several other churches punctuate the skyline, adding variety and color. The churches face a variety of open spaces, ranging from small paved entry courtyards to plazas that encompass an entire city block. At the west end of the historic city is an aqueduct that brings water down from the nearby mountains.

The historic buildings range from former mansions to government buildings and a large university. Most of the buildings are arranged around a large, open-air courtyard.

Barbara and I were fortunate to secure a room in a sensitively-renovated former mansion on the principal avenue about a block from the cathedral. The hotel remained focused on a central sky-lit court, but responded to modern tastes with onyx wash basins, plasma TVs and wireless high-speed internet in the rooms.

Throughout the day, we wandered along the streets and in and out of the churches and courtyards along the way. At the church of San Francisco, the cloister has been converted into workshops for artisans and a gallery for the sale of their products. Barbara was already figuring out how to get a garden bench into her suitcase, but we escaped without buying anything! At the public library, which is also part of the university, we were able to enter a church-like reading room lined with historic books.

Our favorite location was a block-long “garden” adjacent to the Church of the Rosas and the similarly-named Music Conservatory. Originally, this block had a cobble-stoned carriage-way along each side of a wide, landscaped median. Today, one carriage-way has been taken over by a series of outdoor cafes overlooking the shady park. On the night before, we had drinks and appetizers in one of the cafes before walking around the corner to a more elegant restaurant for dinner. Today, we shared a leisurely lunch of local foods; one entree of enchiladas and another of corundas -- cornmeal cakes topped with a cheese sauce and grated “parmesano” cheese served with pork in a spicy red sauce. The total, including 2 beers, 2 cups of hot tea, was $13. (Note: An endearing feature of Morelia is that almost all beers are served “2X1,” or two-for-one. One needs to walk a lot to be able to take advantage of this local custom!)

In observation of the awakening and departure of the monarch butterflies each year in February and March, the local governments sponsor a series of cultural events. At the end of this fabulous day, we enjoyed a free concert by the state symphony in a restored historic theater. The music included Stravinsky’s Firebird, Gershwin’s American in Paris, and a concerto for violin and orchestra by Sebelius, with a young Chinese woman, Li Gu as the guest violinist.

What a civilized way to live!