Our first trip to Pátzcuaro for Día de Muertos in 2014 was the byproduct of me being too intimidated to figure out how to approach seeing the festivities in Oaxaca. Turned out to be a happy accident that influenced the course of our lives here in Mexico, but that's another story.
During that first visit we stayed at Hotel Casa Encantada. Not sure how I found it. Probably booking.com I suppose. However it came about, we were sold on the charms both of Pátzcuaro and Hotel Casa Encantada. If we have made 40 or 45 trips to Michoacán since, I would guess we have stayed at Casa Encantada something like 15 to 20 times. Maybe more.
We tried staying in Morelia a few times, both in hotels and airbnbs. And that was fine. Morelia is a bit closer to la CDMX. But traffic in and out of the city can be a bit of a hassle. Once you've seen the centro a few times I don't know that you need to keep going back. And maybe we also need a break, staying somewhere smaller for a day or two when we leave our 9 million neighbors back in Mexico City. Some of the stays we had on the south side of Morelia, as the city starts to go uphill a bit just beyond the zoo, were nice and pleasant with a cool view. But that phase passed, and we were drawn back to Pátzcuaro.
We also tried airbnbs in Pátzcuaro. And once in a while we will mix it up with a stay in Hotel Casa Naranjo, which is 100m down the street from Encantada. But more often than not we come back to Casa Encantada. Location is great. Hospitality is great. Breakfast included is always good. Reliable hot showers -- which is not necessarily a guarantee at some of the airbnbs. It's comfortable and pleasant and familiar and has become an important part of our Michoacán routine.
The owner, Victoria, and her dog Leah greet us during breakfast (failed to take pictures this time; will rectify that in April when we head back). Victoria's story is interesting for sure. And she and the hotel got a mention in a 2008 NYTimes story about 'artsy Michoacán' that I found re-published here.
We have been heading out to Michoacán 3 to 5 times per year since late 2014. I would guess we've done the trip 40-45 times total by now. For the first handful of trips we were just learning the ropes. Stopping at OXXOs along the way for the basics of gas and snacks. Or we'd pack a bag lunch. Then one time we noticed a new looking place and told ourselves we should try it one of these trips. That places is Cafe km118 in Temascalcingo.
Now we have probably been here 60 times more or less (we stop both on the way out and the way home). The 'cafe' in its name is a misnomer. The size and scope of the place is definitely worthy of the 'restaurant' designation. But I suppose 'Restaurant km 118' is not as catchy.
It has two sides, separated by a Pemex. The smaller side, which is more cafe-ish has since been rebranded as Milla 73 (Mile 73, which is the equivalent in miles of 118 km).
That's where we stopped the first 15 - 20 times before we ventured to the 'other side', which is comparatively fancy.
Solid food. Consistent service. And unbeatable location, almost exactly halfway between home and our final destination.
We first learned about the pottery of Capula, Michoacán during a visit to Pátzcuaro for the Day of the Dead festivities in 2014. That is the time of year where they feature a 'concurso de artesanía' where artisans from across Michoacán and neighboring states bring their best work in hopes of peer recognition and, of course, sales. We walked through the exhibition area, which is roughly the size of maybe 2 or 3 football fields and includes a range of amazing work: handmade wooden furniture, handwoven textiles, various types of regional pottery, hand hammered copper pieces, etc., etc. While we wanted to bring home everything we saw, we zero'd in on the barro vidriado Capulineado. Never saw anything else like it. Even today, 10+ years later, it is not commonly known in la CDMX. You see Talavera from Puebla, barro negro from Oaxaca, maybe barro bruñido from small towns in Puebla and Oaxaca. And you will see the rustic version of the Capulineado style -- brown plates with flower-decorated rims -- on the tables of modest restaurants and taquerias throughout the country. But the highly detailed and vivid pieces that we saw that day, well, only a few families have the talent, time, and resources to dedicate themselves to producing that type of work. Over the years we have worked with a few of them, and now focus on 3 or 4 partners whom we see every few months when we come out to pick up our latest order.
Every time we visit we do stop by the mercado municipal, where you you can find the works of a couple dozen of the town's artisans (both those who do not have their own shop and those who have a shop but sell some of their work here in the co-op).
After a quick stop at the Mercado for a bit of scouting and a bathroom break (5 pesos), we head over to one of our partner's workshops. Review the order, confirm the counts, settle the tab, and then they will wrap everything up and load our car like a dishwasher. No boxes. The car is the box. Everything is laid in piece by piece.
Car loading will take an hour or so. In the interim, we swing around the corner to another partner's workshop. Here is a snippet of sights and sounds of Capula on a random Monday in January.
This one is Judy's account for her special platitos con figuras, so I mill around a bit waiting while she reviews her goods.
We were here later than usual today and the Mercado was already closed, so we spun through the center of town and stopped for a paleta. Sometimes when we are out here for a couple of nights we will make a special run to Quiroga, which is where we first saw the paleta de aguacate (haven't seen it in la CDMX, but to be fair we aren't regularly getting paletas here; asked for it once and was told they didn't have it). While we have been to Capula at least 40 times now, we never stopped at this paleta place on the main street. Turns out they have paletas de aguacate as well. Bonus.
Now it's late. It's Monday. It's January. Pretty quiet, most shops are closed. But one is open and we haven't stopped here before. The man has some of the hen figures that can be used as either hueveros (where you store your eggs on the counter, because in Mexico you don't need to refrigerate your eggs) or pure decoration. Or to store whatever. I think Judy has one filled with measuring cups, for example. The last artisan we worked with to get some of these no longer makes them. Excited, Judy places an order for April pick up while I wait outside and take pictures.
By now we figure the car should be just about packed, so we head back to see how it's going.
Yep, done. With that we are off to Pátzcuaro to spend the night before heading home next day.
About 40 minutes south of Plovdiv, and 20 minutes beyond Asenovgrad, is Bachkovo Monastery. Apparently the site dates back to the late 11th century, which is pretty incredible. The setting is beautiful, in the foothills (?) of the Rhodope Mountains. I was visiting in mid November on an overcast day and the trees across the hills were a beautiful mix of green, red, and orange.
Showed up with my Citroen C3 (a nice ride I enjoyed quite a bit). Guy walked up and gave me the hand signal for how many BGN I owed for parking. Think it was 3 or 5. Handed it over and started to take stock of the area.
The access road leading up to the monaster is lined with stalls featuring local artesanía (honey, pottery, some woodworking products, various souvenirs, etc.
Our life in Mexico involves frequent visits to small towns for their festivals featuring artesanía Mexicana, so this whole layout was very much up my alley. Seeing stalls and stalls of things I'd like to bring home made me question my plan to pack light this trip.
Up at the actual monastery and viewing the scenery in all directions it's easy to see how you could find some peace in this place.
