A Picture Postcard from Puebla

As we said in our last post we have unexpectedly found ourselves in Puebla, Mexico for a while. Now things have been settling down with my sister's health we have managed to spend a few days out and about enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of this wonderful city.

We have been to Mexico a few times over the years, but this is our first extended visit to a major metro area. Puebla is the fourth largest city in Mexico with a population of 2.7 million. It is less than two hours from Mexico City. This is no backwater village with burros wandering around the streets. This is a major, modern (well modern-ish!) city.

The colonial era Centro Historico is extremely well preserved since it was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987. Hey and guess what - Puebla is where the French troops were defeated on May 5th 1862. This is actually the place in Mexico where they do celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Mexican Independence Day recognized across the whole country, known as Grito de Dolores, is celebrated on September 16th and commemorates the start of the war in 1810 that eventually ended Spanish rule 11 years later. Now that we have that straight let's move on.

Rather than describe the beauty of the city, I'll let the pictures do the talking. Below are some of the beautiful buildings in the Centro. Many are colorful, and many are intricately tiled, others have gorgeous ironwork. I'll save all the church pictures for a future post.