Sadly, we lost two of our adventurers this morning: David and Patti needed to be home, and flew out early. The rest of us, five strong, piled into Manriquez’s van for one last j0urney. Today’s first goal was Yagul, the extraordinary Zapotec site that sits high above the valley on a rocky bench. So we drove ESE along the Mitla arm of the great Valles Centrales.
Although Yagul was first occupied around 500-100 BC, most of the visible remains date to 1250-1521 AD, when the site functioned as the capital of a postclassic city-state. Most of the residential structures remain unexcavated; the visitor sees the main structures of the ceremonial and religious center. This shot gives a sense of the city’s position above the valley.
The ball court is one of the three largest in mesoamerica.
This is the entrance to the “Narrow Street” that runs between the Palace of the Six Patios (above) and he Council Chamber (below).
This is Patio 1; it was originally surrounded by administrative structures; Sue is standing on the remains of one such building.
The pillars of the Council Chamber, at the rear to the left of the large tree; the Council Chamber was the focal point of the patio.
Views like this over the valley surely inspired Heaney and Hendrix.
This is probably the most beautiful place in which a Khan Academy meeting has ever taken place!
This view from above of the Palace of the Six Patios gives a good sense of its complexity: each patio is surrounded by residential structures, and each of the six patios contains several tombs.
Here’s the rest of the crew at the end of our visit.
From Yagul we drove further into the valley toward Santiago Matatlan; we had visited the mezcal palenque Real Matlatl last year and wanted to return. We were given a really informative tour by one of the interning mescaleros, Israel. The palenque had been the site of an artist’s installation; the broad field of Espadin agave had been spruced up just a bit!
The fire pit was aglow, ready to roast the agave hearts.
Once they they’re roasted, the hearts are put into this trough, and the mill wheel (driven by a kind of tractor and not the horse or burro of the traditional palenque) crushes them into a messy pulp.
The pulp is then plopped into huge pine vats and allowed to ferment with natural yeasts from the agave. Very few palenques use chemical analysis of the fermented pulp–the Mescalero determines by taste, smell, and feel the point at which he is ready to distill the liquid. The result is that every batch tastes different. Stay away, far away, Euro zone bureaucrats and your fetishized standardization!
Here are the 300 liter copper stills; this mezcal is called “artisanal.”
And here are the clay pots, which produce “ancestral”mezcal. You can decide for yourself whether the handsome stranger is an apprentice Mescalero…or an ancestor.
Most of the product is held in stainless steel tanks until it is bottled.
And some is stored in barriques made of American and French oak; this becomes the palenque’s reposed and anejo mezcal.
Once we were above ground again, we proceeded to the tasting area…where we found our guide and mezcalero–he of the remarkable pechuga–from last year, Jordany Apricios! We recognized one another right away, and we had a lively talk about the intervening year.
Back in town, Connie, Sue, and I made one last foray into town: in search of adventure…and a certain very specific pipe.
And now, not far from Santo Domingo…bingo! Sue found five of the little devils, and her happiness was complete.
Sue’s early success meant that we had time on our hands, and I proposed a walk toward one of our favorite neighborhoods, Jalatlaco, a colorful working class area full of interesting churches and wall art.
We were waylaid, however, when I ran across a gallery that I remembered. They specialize in the work of Toledo and Tamayo.
I had remembered a striking Tamay “mixografia” image–which they still had.
I asked whether they had any Rodolfo Morales lithographs…and they had exactly one, namely this one:
Even I recoiled at the price; but the galleries said that, since they didn’t represent the Morales estate, they would probably consign it…and that we could have it for 1/3 off. I was tempted, but Sue exercised her right of spousal veto, and off we went.
We walked up to El Llano, the beautiful park northeast of the botanical gardens and watched the families enjoying a beautiful afternoon. On our way back to the hotel, we passed the gallery again and Sue said “if he runs out and says we can have it for 2/3 off, it’s a deal.” We didn’t see the gallerist as we passed, and I assumed that the lithograph was not in our future. No more than 60 yards past the gallery, though, we encountered the gallerist coming down the street toward us. As he passed, he grinned and named a very low number. After a quick glance spouseward, I said “deal!” So you’ll soon see these two lovely ladies and their dogs on our walls.
That evening, we finally got our drink at the Quinta Real–and very fine drinks they were.
After giving the B’s a quick tour of several of the interior courtyards, we headed for our table for the night, a newish place called Levadura de Olla.
The chef, Thalia Barrios Garcia, hails from a tiny village deep in the mountains south of Oaxaca; she had long dreamed of opening a restaurant where she could cook alongside her aunts, preparing the traditional foods of her region. After culinary school, she did just that. The lovely space for the restaurant in an old Colonia mansion first housed a kind of private chef’s table where she cooked for just a few people. That operation has now moved a few blocks away. Levadura de Olla is casual, and much cheaper than the better known restaurants at which we had been eating. We all shared a plate of about 20 kinds of local heirloom tomatoes in delicious beet puree.
Sue and I shared an amazing bean tamale in a pulque sauce; we both had chicken in the best coloradito mole ever; and a baked local squash stuffed with a dozen kinds of fruit for dessert. The meal easily equalled anything that had come before it! What a find!
Back at the hotel, we said goodbye to Vladimire and Sasha, who were headed to Baja for some snorkeling…and retreated to our room in search of the miracle it would take to stuff our purchases in our bags!