Jordan and I got up fairly early to catch a bus to Puebla, a town nearby. I say town, but Puebla has nearly 2 million people in it, so it’s a pretty big city by American standards. We were pretty excited to visit, because it was supposed to be beautiful. Also, Jordan’s cousin had married a woman from Puebla, so we had a list of recommendations to check out.
We got to the bus station and the buses were surprisingly nice. It was cool to see the outskirts of Mexico city during the ride and then the countryside outside of the city before we got to Puebla. After a little under two hours we arrived at Puebla.
Some of the buses from ADO, the bus company
Countryside outside CDMX
First glimpse of Puebla
Bus station in Puebla
Without a set destination in mind, we headed to the spot we had chosen for lunch. It was a spot called Mesón Sacristía de la Compañía, and was actually where Jordan’s cousin had had their rehearsal dinner for their wedding. When we got there though, it was closed and didn’t open for about an hour, so we wandered around the town a little. We ended up getting a cup of coffee at the zócalo (city center) a few blocks away.
Coffee in the zócalo
The buildings in Puebla were beautiful and we saw some on our short walk to the square. There was also an amazing cathedral in the square (kind of a theme in Mexico). This one was pretty gothic, but they were painting it purple and white and the transformation was in progress, which made for a pretty cool look.
The street with the Mesón Sacristía de la Compañía
A cool cathedral we saw on our walk to the square
The cathedral in the square, being painted
One side of the zócalo in Puebla
Once the restaurant was open, we headed back to grab a table. This ended up being one of the best meals that we had during the trip. We split a plate of mole poblano (a local specialty) and some tacos with cochinita (a traditional slow-roasted pork dish) and pickled onions. We also got some local beer and some espresso at the end of the meal!
Mesón Sacristía de la Compañía
The courtyard where we ate
Local beer from Puebla
Mole Poblano
Cochinita tacos with pickled onions
Jordan and I after lunch
After lunch, we wandered around Puebla a little bit. We stopped at a market and picked up some souvenirs for folks back home. We also saw some more interesting and brightly colored buildings; some of which were, of course, cathedrals.
Market in Puebla
Cool architecture in Puebla
More cool buildings in Puebla
Even more cool buildings in Puebla
At this point in the afternoon, we got an Uber ride to Cholula, which is a nearby town. There’s a church up on a hill overlooking the town that’s supposed to be spectacular. It’s called Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Shrine of Our Lady of Remedies). We were a little skeptical, because we had seen some pretty ornate cathedrals at this point, but everyone said it was a must-see, so we went.
The ride was about 45 minutes and the church itself turned out to be stunning. It was bright yellow and was perched at the top of a tall hill. From the top you could see really far. Check it out.
Climbing up to the church
Front of the church
View of the city from the top
You weren’t supposed to take pictures inside the church, but I was able to covertly snap one while we sat in the pews (sorry Jesus). The back of the church from down the hill was even more impressive, because there were embankments on the bluff that were built in the same style as the church, making it seem bigger from below.
Inside Nuestra Señora de los Remedios
View of the church from the bottom of the hill
At the bottom, you can go into some old Aztec tunnels that run beneath the hill. This is because the church was actually built on top of an old Aztec pyramid (that’s how the conquerors win, apparently) some old Aztec tunnels.
Jordan waiting for crowds in the tunnels
Another shot of the church behind the city sign
Posing on the sign
It was getting to be the early evening, so we grabbed an Uber back to Puebla to check out a little more of the city and get some food for dinner. When we got back, the city was filling up (everywhere we went were pretty dead until about the mid-afternoon). We checked out the inside of the cathedral on the square in Puebla. Then, there was a large market area near the square that we checked out. There was even an area of the market that was filled with candy stores, called Calle Dulce (Sweet Street, aptly named).
Cathedral in Puebla
Inside the Puebla Cathedral
Another shot inside the Puebla Cathedral
A cool mosaic building near the square in Puebla
One of the candy stores on Calle Dulce
After wandering around we were getting hungry again. Jordan’s cousin had recommended a couple rooftop bars for us to try out, so we headed towards one that was nearby. It was called Attico 303 and was on the top floor of a small boutique hotel near the zócalo. The views from the rooftop bar were stunning and featured the cathedral prominently.
Inside the dining area at Attico 303
View from our table
We got a couple appetizers to split and had some beer, but the main highlight from our meal was the tequila we tried. We tried a glass of Casa Dragones, a very nice tequila (bottles in America are ~$275!). The waiter was excited that we ordered it and brought the bottle over to show us. It was served with a shot glass of lemon juice and a shot glass of spicy tomato juice and were told to sip the lemon, then the tequila and then the tomato. It was so good, I may never be able to drink cheap tequila again!
The bottle of Casa Dragones
Tequila with the accompanying shot glasses
The sun had set by the time we were finished, so we got an Uber ride to catch a bus back to Mexico City. We hadn’t wanted to get back to Mexico City so late, but Puebla was a pretty special place. If we did it again, we both agreed we would have spent a few days just in Puebla.
Nighttime view from our table
Shot outside the building that houses Attico 303
One last shot of the cathedral at night.
The bus ride back to Mexico City was uneventful and we got back between 10 and 11 at night. After catching an Uber back to Lolly’s apartment, we crashed after a long day. Tomorrow we go to the pyramids at Teotihuacan and wanted to get some rest before another day that was heavy on walking!
