Meandering in Puebla

Pueble is a very nice town with a beautiful, interesting and clean city center. I started with what they called a breakfast on the rooftop. 2 sweet pastries with tea and cut papaya took me all the way to lunch. I first went to check out the main square. In every city there is the Zòcalo with the church or cathedral right next to it. Really chillaxing place, people walking around, taking photos, sitting on benches reading their morning newspaper (yes, it's still a thing). There was quite some army presence since a couple of days beforehand one of the drug lords was assessinated in western Mexico and the government was being cautios of public order, rather be safe than sorry they put army and police everywhere. But for a tourist like me it gave some reassurance that the situation is under control. The main square with the curch:

The interior of the cathedral:

After I came out I visited the famous library. The Biblioteca Palafoxiana is a beautiful historic library in Puebla and one of the city’s most special landmarks. Founded in 1646, it is considered the first public library in the Americas, and walking inside feels like stepping into another century. TOday I could run it from my laptop...

Since Mexicans have lunch (and dinner) quite late I used my time to walk in to the Amparo museum. The Museo Amparo is a great place to get a feel for Mexican art and history in one stop. Set inside beautifully restored colonial buildings, it mixes pre-Hispanic, colonial, and contemporary art in a way that feels elegant but still very approachable. Also quite impressive that they kept the old historical part quite limited the focus being on modern art and arthitecture in the mirror of the old historic stuff and still in a very typical Mexican style. Old stuff:

I also saw a temporary exhibition called Estelas del Usumacinta, which I found really interesting and a bit different from the rest of the museum. It introduced the nature and culture of the Usumacinta river region in a way that felt thoughtful, atmospheric, and easy to connect with.

I also visited Atlas de Arquitectura Contemporánea en México, a temporary exhibition that looks at dozens of buildings from across the country and shows just how creative Mexican architecture has been in recent years. I liked that it was not only about beautiful design, but also about how architecture in Mexico is adjusted to the climate, culture and everyday life.

A part of the museum is dedicated to host an old 19th century affluent mexican home:

But the hit was rooftop with a nice cafe and incredible view on the city center:

Lunch was in a very nice restaurant that made it to my list of great places to eat worldwide, Mural de los Poblanos. I ate a degustation meny of different types of mole with corn tortias, rice and bean paste:

Berlin to Puebla

Relaxed morning, train to airport, flight to Amsterdam, sushi for lunch, and a looong flight to MEX. At Benito Juarez airport I picked up cash first. The first ATM wanted to charge me insane amount of monet for a withrawal, but the second one was OK. I downloaded some cash and ordered an Uber directly to my Puebla accommodation. I was quite a challenge, as the pickup point was farther away from where I was originally, then the first driver cancelled my trip right after getting into his car, saying it's too far for him and he might have to come back empty. I get that. The second driver accepted finally and we started driving. One small stop at a tire shop in the one of the barrios, then looking for an open gas station, bathroom break, stuff like that. Nice fella, but his car couldn't drive faster than 70 km/h. Well, it had 326k kms in it, but it made the drive quite long: about 3 hours. I arrived at the accommodation around midnight.

Parts of the drive was quite on a high altitude.

Yuyuan Gardens

Also known as Yu Garden is an impressive garden we explored in Shanghai. It's full with pagodas, study rooms, rock formations, fish ponds, plants and FULL with tourists. Don't let the calm beauty and chilling views confuse you. The photos were taken while constantly managing a bit of a street fight with other tourists for the best spots. The garden is most beautiful though, really. Some rockeries are apparently human designed and made. Even if it's crowded it's a must-do in Shanghai.

Zhujiajiao Water Town and Kezhi Garden

Still in municipal territory on Shanghai, but approximately 40 km away from our hotel we visited Zhujiajiao today. The ancient town, built on water is one of the best preserved towns in China. A mixture of Venice and a floating market. The narrow streets were crowded, vendors are selling local specialties: artifacts, food, cloths. The only thing that was distorbing is the "stinky tofu" smell that really really stinks. We tasted it, but it's indeed not nice to eat something soooo stinky even it it tastes OK.

Before:

After:

Both the town and the garden are dated back to the Ming and Quing Dynasties. Some shots on the garden: