We’ve been parked in Patzcuaro, Michoacán for the past week, enjoying a slower pace and getting acquainted with what’s certainly one of the more evocative Pueblos Magicos we’ve spent time in.
Patzcuaro was founded in the 14th century as the capital of the Purepecha Empire before the arrival of the Spanish 200 years later. Lots of history (and historic buildings) here.
We’re staying at an RV park (Rancho La Mesa) situated at 7,500 feet above sea level and about 400 feet above town. The views up here are some of the best around.
In addition to being an RV park, Rancho La Mesa is also an actual working ranch with horses, donkeys, sheep, and geese roaming around the property.
Here’s one of our new friends doing what he does best.
We wouldn’t usually park ourselves next to the bathrooms and showers like this, but I these spots have the best views and I don’t think we’ll have any problems with foot traffic.
It’s about a 40 minute walk from the RV park to the main plaza (we found this out the hard way our first night here), but there are Combis (colectivos) that cover much of the route into town for 10 pesos.
Still, it’s nice to walk sometimes. We’ve found ourselves walking down the hill and taking a Combi back. The neighborhood right below Rancho La Mesa is decked out for the annual celebration of the local parish. At one point or another, we’ve found ourselves in the midst of the festivities on our way to and from town.
The picturesque view of Patzcuaro from the top of Mirador Madrigal de las Altas Torres (I believe also known as the Lovers’ Mirador). At this point, stone stairs descend down into the Old City.
There always seems to be something happening at Parroquia El Sagrario. Today, it looks like it might be a very elaborate wedding.
Men on horseback are not an uncommon sight around town.
Plaza Vasco de Quiroga is one of the more picturesque central squares you’re likely to come across in Mexico. It’s always a pleasure to cross the plaza, which is completely surrounded by tall trees and stately historic buildings.
Similar to the historic center of Uruapan, the entire city of Patzcuaro has a white and red motif going on. The major difference between the two cities being that Patzcuaro has a fraction of the population and a much larger concentration of well-preserved colonial-era structures.
Seemingly every street is a postcard waiting to happen.
Restaurante Once Patios (not to be confused with Casa de Los Once Patios) is famous for its celebrity chef (who was featured on Netflix Mexico) and his unusual creation: the Torta de Gelatina (Jell-O Sandwich), among other more traditional offerings.
It’s been a while since we’ve come across an honest-to-goodness cerveceria artesanal (craft brewery). So when we saw Cerveceria Maestra, we couldn’t help ourselves.
We even broke out the big guns for the occasion to fully enjoy the experience.
Our resident breakfast burrito…
Brunch on the ranch.
School time.
And play time…
The boys love this RV park. They can just run around and be kids, pretty much wearing whatever they want.
Sometimes the animals are in their corral, sometimes they’re roaming around the ranch. Occasionally, one of the ranch hands gives them food to feed the horses. They’ve learned a lot about ranching and livestock here in a very short period of time.
Dinnertime. The boys spend a lot of time together. So we typically have one in the RV and one out for meal time (unless we’re all eating together). The occasional separation is good for them.
It took a few tries, but we eventually figured out the Combi route into central Patzcuaro. Getting back is another story. Combis here are cheap, come about every ten minutes or so, and more comfortable than the usual colectivos we’ve ridden on.
First stop, drop off laundry.
Loretta Cafe has quickly become our favorite breakfast stop in town. The price is right and the portions are sizable. Everything’s good, but we’re partial to their hearty bagel sandwiches and spot-on cold brew.
Today, we thought we’d check out some of the top sights in town. Two of Patzcuaro’s most historic places are right next to each other, but these days, you have to fight your way through an endless market to get there.
You wouldn’t know it these days, but we’re walking along one of the most storied streets in Patzcuaro, Padre Lloreda, which forms the northern border of stately Plaza Chica.
Today, the plaza (and surrounding streets) have been completely overtaken by vendors due to the demolition and prolonged re-construction of the nearby municipal market.
Squeezing between pedestrians and fruit vendors, we arrive at the historic cinema, and just beyond it, Gertrudis Bocanegra Public Library housed in a 16th-century church.
Currently, the library’s shelves are bare (it appears they’re doing some renovations), but most out-of-towners don’t visit for the books.
The fairly graphic floor-to-ceiling mural at the far end of the library is the main attraction. Painted by an Irish-Mexican artist in the 1940s, it depicts the history of the indigenous Purépecha people, from origin to Spanish conquest.
It takes some work, but if you walk around the temporary stalls and stand in the middle of the street, you can get a relatively unobscured view of both the cinema and library.
We also take the opportunity to grab a few things in the market. Produce isn’t easy to get up around Rancho La Mesa.
There always seems to be a flurry of activity around town any time of day.
This is the entrance to some random government building that caught my eye.
The Centro might be hopping, but walk five blocks in any direction and it’s not hard to find residential streets like this one.
The slow slog back to the RV park. Taking the Combi into town always seems to work for us. But depending on where we are in town, the route is often not in our favor. Sometimes, it’s just less of a hassle to walk.
First “rain” of the season. The boys haven’t seen rain since we left the Redwoods in early March. It was the briefest of afternoon showers, but the boys were beyond excited. Noe had an idea to make boxes from Picaso tiles to collect the rainwater. I think he was a bit disappointed with the meager result. We weren’t. Rainy season is just around the corner and Lori and I are in no hurry.
The view that greets me in the morning from bed. Doesn’t get old.
In other news, I was very pleased to finally scratch this project off the list.
In recent days, I’ve defrosted the freezer and re-attached the weather sensor, which is all fine and dandy. But it’s been about two months since we had the RV washed in Mazatlan and it was looking pretty grim and grimy.
It’s the first time I’ve done it myself and knew it would not be a small project. But it certainly didn’t help matters that the entire rear of the vehicle was covered in a thick layer of dried sea spray owing to a string of high-surf days in Melaque that I had to literally scrape off by hand.
Not to mention the water pressure is abysmal here.
But after a couple of hours of working away in the hot morning sun, I was pleased with the result.
Third project finished. A dozen more to go before the real rains arrive in another week or so.
