Spotlight Oaxaca City (aka Foodie Heaven)

Oaxaca – it was everything I hoped for, and so great that it gets two blog posts!  Granted, it took a full 15 hours to get there, but the journey is half the fun and this trip was no exception.  I headed out bright and early on a 6 AM bus where I passed thousands of religious pilgrims making their way to see the Virgin of Talpa, a large pig running free down the highway, and a man on a motorcycle with an adult bicycle strapped to his back.  That dude was super mobile. 

I finally found my name in Oaxaca - that's gotta be a sign.

 And I found a building that totally looks like it's from Harry Potter.

 One of many, many picturesque churches in town.

Lovely landscape.

I arrived at the airport for the first of two short flights to find that I could have been in any airport in the US, with Johnny Rockets, Chili’s, Subway, California Pizza Kitchen, Starbucks and The Body Shop.  I also saw a little girl with a Kate Spade purse who was moving her suitcase around with a remote control.  Is this happening everywhere now or am I on the front edge of a new technology wave here?  I changed planes in Mexico City and finally got to see some of its legendary sprawl and density.  I sat next to a man who had never flown before so I had to explain that I was super excited because I was not accustomed to airplanes with so much legroom, overhead storage space or free drinks (including tequila).  I also had to explain where he needed to put his bag, how to fasten his seatbelt and how to find his connecting flight using the reader boards.  

I arrived in Oaxaca to join four of my fellow volunteers in a 13-bed dorm at a hostel, and was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was (and that I survived 5 nights sleeping in a room with 12 other people).  There’s nothing like time in a hostel to make you rethink your life and how you want to live it.  We met people from Germany, Britain, Australia, Mexico and elsewhere, all of whom seemed so happy and free – and on their way to/from the great Oaxaca coast for some surfing.  Our hostel also had a great rooftop terrace where we rehydrated at the end of each day while listening to music, playing bananagrams and Uno, viewing fireworks and watching a few thunderstorms roll through.  

Art in the hostel.

Hostel rooftop.

So many beautiful churches. 

 All our chocolate purchases gave Peter a good workout.

So many beautiful, colorful buildings. 

This one was next to a great mercado with food and handmade goods. 

This was one of my favorite pieces of art, inside the mercado. 

Here’s the most important thing you need to know about Oaxaca: chocomío.  It’s essentially heaven in a liquid chocolate form from Chocolate Mayordomo.  I will always remember who I was with, how I felt when that liquid hit my lips, and how my life changed on April 14th when I drank my first chocomío.  I cannot emphasize enough how much you need this in your life.  If I was a nicer person, I would have purchased this drink in powder form and brought it back for everyone to try but… yeah, I didn’t do that.  Instead I went there three times in four days, savoring every sip of that cold frothy goodness, and enjoying their hot chocolate, which was also drool-inducing. 

The beloved chocomío beverage, with Peter and Natalie.

This drink is so delicious, it gets two pictures!

We started each day searching for another local coffee shop to taste the legendary coffee of Oaxaca, and finally got to try tlayudas, which I could easily add to my weekly meal repertoire if they were available in my region, a quesadilla with grasshoppers (a little salty for my taste), Oaxaca cheese, pan de yema and stale churros from the night before.  Even cold, slightly stale churros taste like heaven in Oaxaca.  We ate two times at the restaurant La Biznaga, awash in the glow of foodie heaven.  If you want to eat food that makes you savor every bite, and that you keep thinking about for days afterwards, put this restaurant on your list. We ate so much on this trip that for dinner the last night we could physically only fit in a hot churro and hot chocolate.  

 This was our lunch spot for two days. 

I drank this but it wasn't my favorite.

Artistry and flavor at Biznaga: salad with mangos, beets, avocado and craisins.

Awesome floor tiles at a local coffee shop.

Clearly, food was a highlight in Oaxaca, as was the art.  “Street art!” – that was a constant cry as we walked down city streets and cameras were raised to capture the beauty around every corner.  One thing I’ve honed in Mexico is the ability to find art and beauty everywhere.  You can always find a beautiful door, a well-designed plaza, a band playing guitar and wooden pipes, or bright colors blowing in the breeze to give you a moment of pause and appreciation.  We toured several different mercados admiring and purchasing alebrijes, hand woven rugs and table runners, local chocolates and mezcal, and other beautiful goods for ourselves and loved ones.  We also found the textile museum and a maze of never-ending crooks and nannies filled with art.  We explored natural art in the ethnobotanical gardens where we were placed into a tour with a group of roughly 30 visiting students from BYU who really, really needed more sunblock.

 Cactus pond at the ethnobotanical gardens.

Cool tree and plants at the ethnobotanical gardens.

 Cactus wall.

Art near the textile museum.

On our last day, we took a tour of Monte Albán, the former ceremonial and military capital of the Zapotecs, about 15 minutes away.  Here we ran into our friend from Anaheim who was on the same tourist route with us and who we had met two days earlier at Mitla.  She was on point with Jeffree Star skin frost highlighter that immediately endeared her to us, and we helped each other take photos with the ruins to document that we did in fact do more than just eat in Oaxaca.  The ruins at Monte Albán were incredible and climbing to the top made you appreciate how much work went into creating this compound and how much shorter stairs are today. 

 My crew in Oaxaca: Natalie, Mickey, Peter and Brennen.

 Prepping to climb some steep, steep stairs.

  View after climbing all those stairs.

  This was a really beautiful place with sweeping views.

  Historic artistry.

  This dog latched onto us as soon as we entered the site (especially me), so I named her Pickle during our time together. She stayed with us for 2 full hours and climbed all the stairs with us. Sweet Pickle.  

I completed a final 15-hour travel day with one cab, two flights, one Uber and a bus to arrive home full of happy memories and a strong longing for another chocomío.  Seriously, I’m always gonna need more chocomío so if you want to visit Oaxaca, just let me know!   

*PS: We spent one full day on a tour to explore sites outside of the city, which is too much to write about here, so stay tuned for more tales of adventure and beauty from Oaxaca next week!