In Love With Oaxaca: One my Favorite Places in Mexico

In this article, I detail why I fell in love with Oaxaca at first sight.

Imagine a place where there is not just one but two huge main plazas full of people, balloon vendors, food carts, and performers.  The town cathedral is the tall witness of all the activity taking place beneath its façade.  One of the plazas is surrounded by porticos full of restaurants serving regional food.

Not only that.  There is a pedestrian walkway connecting the center plazas to another plaza where a church prettier than the cathedral stands.  This second church used to be a monastery and nowadays it is a museum holding the treasures of a nearby Pre-Hispanic city.

Locals sit down on benches gossiping about the latest “quinceañera” that took place in town.  Others watch as a wedding party celebrates in front of the beautiful church.  The streets are full of colonial buildings painted in ochre, butter, and pistachio tones.  The upper corners of the structures are decorated with clocks or virgin statues.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the markets.  Once you get close to the blocks dominated by them, the noise, horns, and crowds start to grow in an unnatural way.  The covered market offers tejate, cheese, chapulines, bread, and many more goods.  Ladies offer you to try their mole made with a secret recipe. Your mouth water while your mind contemplates all the possibilities.  Watch out.  If you want to make people run, try to take a picture of them.

All those previous paragraphs have been describing Oaxaca.  When I say Oaxaca, I am referring to the city, not the big state composed of eight different regions.  Oaxaca has become my favorite city in Mexico and it is not difficult to explain why.  I guess is the joyful atmosphere that prevails in the city.  And of course, there cannot be joy if there weren’t people expressing that mood.

When we visited, we stayed at the Colonia Reforma.  We had to walk 15 minutes to get downtown and another 5 to 10 minutes to get to the zocalo.  Well, that time used to be longer since there was always an occasion to stop and check out something.  Therefore, we had the opportunity to get lost in the streets and enjoy the scenery.

Check out the following photos.  I bet you are going to find Oaxaca one of a kind.  What can I say?  I just fell in love with the city.

Door

Macedonio Alcala Touristic Corridor

Lion Statue at Juarez Park

Colorful streets in the colonial center

Colorful streets in the colonial center

Police officer directing traffic in the colonial center

Macedonio Alcala Theater

Government Palace

Vendors, people and performers next to the Cathedral

Cathedral Detail

Santa Catalina Ex-Convent

Santa Catalina Ex-Convent

Door

Side entrance of Santo Domingo Church

Palm trees and colorful buildings in Santo Domingo Plaza

Santo Domingo Plaza

Vendors at Santo Domingo Plaza

Santo Domingo Church,

Locals enjoying the shade

Macedonio Alcala Touristic Corridor

Raspados Cart

Lady selling fruit

Macedonio Alcala Touristic Corridor

Cathedral

What is your favorite photo? Let me know in the comments section below.

Related posts:

Arrazola (Oaxaca): Land of the Alebrijes El Tule: Location of the Widest Tree in the World Teotitlan del Valle: Surrounded by Rugs and Textiles Mole: The Out-Of-This-World, Delicious Taste of Oaxaca