Look who the cat dragged in!

Yes, people, my Knatolee's World hiatus is over and I am back from Mexico! Did you miss me? We had a great time and the week passed very quickly. I spent my birthday on an Air Canada flight to Mexico City and had a celebratory beer on the airplane. I am now officially older than dirt.

I'm going to torture you with vacation photos, but I'll break them up into a few posts. Remember the old days when people used to force each other to look at slides from their holidays? Here you go...

Right after arriving in Mexico City, late at night, we met up with our friend (and frequent commenter), the wonderful Dr. Sloth. (She has a very nice REAL name, but I'm rather fond of this moniker. And she does have an actual PhD!) Dr. Sloth took a two-hour bus ride from Puebla to meet us at the airport, then escort us back to her home city, where we spent our first two nights. The historic centre of Puebla is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the architecture is absolutely gorgeous.

After a good night's sleep, Dr. Sloth and her Poblano (I think that's the word for a "Pueblan") friend Carmen very kindly spent the day showing us around their beautiful hometown.

Pastel buildings on a Puebla street.

A slightly stormy sky fights with the sun.

The spectacular Puebla Catheral in the alter afternoon sun.

Mexican sweets! We bought a bunch of these goodies. I think my favourites were the candied lime halves, hollowed out and filled with a yummy coconut concoction.

The Church of San Francisco with its beautiful tile work. Puebla is known for its fabulous Talavera pottery. Dr. Sloth gave me a birthday gift of a beautiful bracelet made with Talavera beads!

This church is home to the mummified remains of Sebastian de Aparicio, (1502-1600), who was beatified in 1789 and is considered more or less the patron saint of transport, although he has not reached full sainthood yet, and perhaps never will. His body lies enshrined in a very fancy silver coffin with glass sides.

And inside another lovely Catholic church, the Church of Santo Domingo, is the spectacular Chapel del Rosario. Dr. Sloth and Carmen led us up to the entryway with our eyes closed, then asked us to open them. The photo doesn't really do justice to the baroque, glittery splendour of this amazing chapel:

It was built between 1650 and 1690 and is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, hence the name, "Chapel del Rosario."

Detail.

Breathtaking!

And here is the Casa de Alfeñique, so named because the fancy mortar work outside resembles a sugar/almond candy known as Alfeñique. Gorgeous!

I can't remember what this building is. Dr. Sloth will have to help me!

Addendum: Dr. Sloth says, "It's the Iglesia de al Compania. It was founded by the Jesuits who also founded the university."

And us, in front of the Cathedral of Puebla.

In retrospect, we wish we had spent at least another day in Puebla. It was a fascinating place with scrumptious architecture! Thank you Dr. Sloth and Carmen, for spending the day with us and giving us such a GREAT tour.