Trip to Lake Pátzcuaro

 
[Storefronts in Quiroga, near Lake Pátzcuaro, Michoacán; Mar. 25, 2006]

While visiting Morelia, we took a day tour out to the area around Lake Pátzcuaro. A minivan picked us up, along with a couple from Monterrey, a couple from Puebla, and two women from Cancún, one of whom was an American who'd moved to Cancún many years ago. Our driver and guide dropped a video screen down for us to watch a couple of tourist videos, in Spanish and English, about the state of Michoacán, turning it down when needed so he could point out (in Spanish) a few of the sites along the way. It's about a half-hour or so drive out to the Pátzcuaro area, slowed a bit by some crawls on narrow streets through small towns which our driver made up for by speeding breakneck along the twisty highways.

Our first stop was Quiroga. Not the most attractive town, it appeared to be a tourist trap and I had some doubts about our tour, but it did have incredibly cheap stuff, some of it rather nice. I'd spent enough time (and money) in the shops and mercado in San Miguel so I only picked up some brightly colored woven palm coasters and a couple of those silly charro pens.


[A store in Quiroga displays its wares]

A propos of nothing... I mentioned earlier the video screen in the van. On the way home from our trip, the driver used it to show El Padrecito, a movie starring Mario Moreno Reyes, also known by the character he portrayed, Cantinflas. I'd never seen a Cantinflas movie before. It was hilarious! I can't recall now if they subtitled it in English, I think they did, but it was the Spanish wordplay that was so clever and funny. Our ride ended before we got to the end of the movie. I must see if I can get a hold of a copy. Also interesting was that El Padrecito was set in San Miguel de Allende - interesting to see a little of what it looked like long before the American hordes arrived.


[Yellow - very yellow - storefront in Quiroga.]

Comments

[Marja-Leena]

Amazing colours! That's what we need here on our dull rainy days, but I think people would be shocked if we painted our house a bright colour like these!

[brenda]

aayyy!! this right infront of ma house in mexico.. i know all these stores!! lol