Candalarias and Patzcuaro

When we planned this escape to the mountains we had no idea that it coincided with a religious festival celebrated in some parts of Mexico, including the province of Michoacán. Our first clue was the sound of fireworks in the central plaza of Uruapan. We asked about them and were told it was for Candelaria. But we didn’t recognize the word. All day long we kept seeing girls and women cradling baby dolls dressed in white lace, some carried in wicker baskets. 

That evening the plaza was full of families and then the parade began at dusk with a brass band and candles and balloons. Behind the band came families carrying the baby dolls heading toward the church. Sorry for this blurry photo. It's the best I could do in dim light.

Apparently this fiesta takes place on February 2nd, forty days after Christmas. Parties are held, fireworks set off and the dolls, which are representations of the baby Jesus are taken to the church to be blessed. You can read about it here. 

https://www.tripsavvy.com/dia-de-la-candelaria-1588765?

It turns out that this entire weekend is a Candelaria fiesta and it’s celebrated in a big way in the town of Patzcuaro, where we arrived yesterday afternoon. All the hotels are full and everyone was crowded into the main plaza. Kids were taking pony rides and running around with long candle-shaped balloons. And all the restaurants in the portales around the plaza were full of happy families. This explains the traffic jam coming in from where we got off the bus, and the difficulty I had in booking our hotel for a second night. Here's the main plaza last night before the sun set. 

Patzcuaro is a favourite spot for fiestas as it’s a lovely historic town, a Puebla Magica, where many traditional crafts can be seen. People come from Mexico City and other urban areas for the weekend. We visited this place ten years ago at Easter time when we drove down in our old motor home, and were entranced by it then. So we’re excited to have a chance to see it again. We arrived last night and have spent this morning walking around and many things are as beautiful as I remember. 

The buildings are all low adobe style with red tile roofs built right out to the street and the entire central area is painted in the same white and brick red colour giving it an integrated look. Even the signage is consistent.

But it's when you go inside the walls to the inner courtyards that the real beauty strikes you.  Here you can peek behind a few walls. Some are fancy, some less so but all are secret spots of coolness and beauty.

Oh, did I mention the weather? It's heavenly--cool at night and in the morning but once the sun comes up it starts out like a perfect fall day and then warms up throughout the afternoon, then cooling off in the evening. That's what an altitude of 7,020  feet will do at this latitude. I think we made a good decision to escape the humidity for a few days.