One of my weekend excursions from Guadalajara during my Mexican language study trip in February of 2010 took me to Morelia, the capital of the Mexican state of Michoacan. Morelia is known for its huge collection of colonial architecture, which even includes a 17th century aqueduct. After a 3.5 hour bus ride in a luxury ETN bus I arrived in Morelia on Saturday, February 13. My local guide by the name of Rodrigo picked me up and we went on a double-decker tour bus of the entire city which gave me a great overview of this historic city. Our sightseeing bus also stopped at the Santuario de Guadelupe, a spectacularly ornamented church with soft pink and white gold trim. Once our bus tour was finished we walked through the towns centre which was full of people celebrating carnival. The streets were packed with revelers and traffic on the main street had come to a standstill. From here we headed to the Museo del Dulce (the Museum of Sweets) which features demonstrations of how sweets were made when they were originally introduced by Spanish nuns during the early colonial times. Extensive retail operations for gifts and sweets accompany the museum and a small café allows visitors to sit down and relax. After our walk through the downtown we drove up on a hill from which we enjoyed a magnificent vantage point to look over the whole city. In the late afternoon I checked into my hotel, the Hotel Catedral, which is located virtually opposite the impressive cathedral. The rooftop terrace of the hotel provides a magnificent view of Morelias main square and the entire city. In the evening I took a walk through town which was still bustling with large crowds. Most of the churches and monasteries downtown were beautifully illuminated, giving the town an almost magical atmosphere. At 9 pm I enjoyed beautiful fireworks that were ignited on the roof of the cathedral and lit up the skies for about 15 minutes. For all sorts of other travel articles from different locations please visit: http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos.htm

• published: 20 Apr 2010
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