The city of Morelia is the capital for the state of Michoacan. The first Viceroy of Mexico ordered the founding of the city in 1541 under the name Valladolid. The name was later changed to honor the revolutionary hero Jose Maria Morelos, who was born in the town. Morelia was intended as a safe place of Spanish culture from the region's large population of Indians. (viceroy is a regal official who runs a country - state etc.. in the name of and as a representative of the monarch. In this case Spain)
Today the adjective people most frequently use to describe Morelia is "aristocratic", and I agree. Aristocratic is a perfect word to describe Morelia. The city's greatest appeal lies in its grand colonial architecture. The buildings are beautiful and they will remain so because of a century-old historical preservation code requiring all of the downtown buildings to maintain their original facades. You will see new construction but it is from the inside out. The outer construction will remain standing while a new structure is built inside and then attached. The original outside walls will remain original with a whole new house inside.
The stores and malls are top quality and plentiful. The parks and public open spaces are well maintained. The night life is something - the theaters and in fact Morelia is where the Film Festival is held.
The art and fountains in the town are so well done.
Guadalajara is like Morelia but not as clean and not as - well - aristocratic as Morelia. Morelia has a pretty bad reputation as far as the United States is concerned. The U.S. has the whole state down as a dangerous to visit, but the truth is that the borders of Michoacan are dangerous not the cities. The drug lords do not let much get through the borders of their states. When one drug lord wants to gain access into another drug lords state, that is where and when the real danger is present. The Michoacan state is bordered by Colima and Jalisco to the northwest, Guanajuato and Queretaro to the north, Mexico to the east, Guerrero to the southeast. To the southwest, Michoacan stretches to the pacific ocean.
Jalisco is the state that we lived in when we were in the Lake Chapala area. In ancient times Jalisco was Aztec and Michoacan was Tarazan. The Tarazan empire was equal to the Aztec empire at the time when the Spaniards came. The Tarazan's were feared by the Aztec because they were just as strong and as large an empire as the Aztec's. When the Spaniards conquered the Tarazan empire first (that is because of where the Spaniards landed) the Aztec empire was very frightened and fell rather easy. From Michoacan the Spaniards marched into the main empire of the the Aztec nation which is now Mexico City.
Morelia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The downtown area has over 1,000 historic, civil and religious buildings that feature a wonder combination of the Renaissance, baroque and neoclassic styles and were constructed with this pink stone.
At night, what I think is absolutely beautiful, is the Aqueduct. It is the symbol or one of the symbols of Morelia. This Aqueduct has 253 baroque arches and is all light up at night. At the time that it was built, it was used to transport the drinking water to the populated areas.
When we get there I will take pictures but I have been so busy looking for rental signs that I have not taken the camera out to take pictures of the city.
In Mexico I am sure that there are traffic laws but I am also sure that not one Mexican follows them, that is if they even know of them. The government in Mexico does not spend a lot of money on road repair or maintenance. You can be driving down a street and the guy on your right makes a left turn in front of your car right before you hit a giant pot hole in the road. It is quite a driving experience. Now at some streets you have to turn left from the far right lane - that is the normal thing to do. However, some streets you turn left from the lane in the far left like in the states. Your guess as to which road has what turn lanes and where they are and if your lucky you figure it out before you arrive at the signal light. If not you just drive a little further and eventually you will figure it out.
The road from Morelia to Patzcuaro is often closed. It is used to demonstrate by different groups of people. I have no idea if this is legal but it seems to go on without much involvement from the police. I was driving down the freeway and noticed all these cars coming head on. They were on the wrong side of the freeway. Coming directly at me. Well that just means that a couple of semi-trucks or buses just turned themselves side ways on the road up ahead and blocked it off. The driver gets out and just leaves his bus or truck there and walks away. What do you do if your driving? Turn around and find another way into or out of town. Or do what I did the other day. I just stayed right where I was and put my car seat on recline and took a nap until the road opened. Eventually you will figure it out.
Maybe that is why people say that the Mexican way of life is so laid back. You just take what is in front of you and eventually you will figure out how to do what you want to do or you change your mind. If you are the type of person that likes things all tidy and done right, well maybe Mexico is not for you. However, if you just sit back and let things roll - you will laugh a lot, smile a lot, eat a lot and enjoy Mexico a lot.
Adios! (see - I am working on my Spanish)
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