Arriving with the Three Kings in Patzcuaro

Monday, Jan. 5, 2015--Patzquaro, Michoacan, Mexico

Breakfast doesn't start at our hotel in Guadalajara until 7:00.  Our bus for Patzcuaro was scheduled to leave at 8:30, and the bus station was at least 30 minutes from our hotel.  Therefore, we had to plan everything just right last night and this morning.  We were very tired from a long day of exploring, so we went to bed at 20:30 and set the alarm for 6:15.  We were ready to leave the room by 6:45, but the kitchen wasn't early.  Therefore, we had to wait 15 minutes before breakfast was served.  Then we gulped it rather fast.  We caught a city bus for the long-distance bus station about 7:20; it was arriving at the nearby bus stop just as we were walking toward it.  Fortunately, too, the bus had plenty of room so that there was no question of our taking our luggage on board.  The trip went rather fast, so we were at the bus terminal about 7:55.  Our bus to Patzcuaro was already there, but not loading yet.  All worked out well except that it would have been nicer to have spent more time enjoying breakfast.

The bus was fantastic.  It had both men's and women's toilets.  We were given a soft drink and a pastry to eat.  It had free wi-fi.  And each seat had individual screens for watching films, playing games, connecting to the Internet, or watching TV programs.  How nice it would be to have such buses everywhere!

Our destination was Patzcuaro, and this is the only direct, non-stop bus we could get.  For the rest of the day, it is necessary to go to the city of Morelia via one bus and then buy a ticket for another bus to Patzcuaro.  Our trip took only 4  phours.  Going through Morelia would probably have taken 6-7 hours.

The reason Patzcuaro was our destination is because I have heard my friend Bob Maroney talk about a trip he, Judy, and Marie and Sam Pennington made here many years ago.  At that time, Patzcuaro was not a major tourist town or a retirement center as it is now, so coming here was adventurous.  I think they took an overnight train from Mexico City.  Anyway, I knew from Bob that it is a wonderful city, and I wanted to visit it so that we could have the pleasure of talking about our visits together.  I called him tonight to tell him about today's arrival and activities.

Patzcuaro is in the mountains beside a very large lake.  It is one of the older cities in Mexico.  The old colonial center is quite large with two major plazas--Plaza Grande and Plaza Chica.  Then there are streets running between the two plazas and away from each in various directions.  Apparently there as been a concerted effort to keep the "style" of decoration for the original buildings which all seem to still exist without having been destroyed by fire or by earthquakes.  The buildings have red tile roofs (which look original in most cases) and stucco walls which are painted with a blood-red band along the bottom and white above that.  All signs are in the same style font and are painted with the first letter of each word in red and all the other letters in black.

We arrived on a great day.  Tomorrow is 3 Kings Day when Mexican children get their Christmas gifts.  The city was overrun today with market stalls cascading out of the regular market down nearby streets and also around the edges of Plaza Grande.  The Santuaria de Guadelupe, one of the main churches in the city, had a stage set up in its courtyard, and another stage was in one corner of Plaza Grande. 

During the afternoon, we walked through the market area looking at all the wonderful fruits, vegetables, etc., and seeing what everyone was eating at the various food stalls.  We walked around both plazas.  We walked the streets between the plazas.  We went into a few craft shops.  We were fondly greeted everywhere.  Twice in the meat section of the market, guys got all excited and wanted to know where we were from and expressed their happiness that we were here.

We bought tortas at a portable cart on the corner of Plaza Chica.  They had a big crowd there.  Each torta had fried cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, peppers, and mayonnaise.  We got one with roasted pork (pierna) and the other with chicken (pollo) and had them cut in half so we could try each.

At 17:00, the festivities at the stage in front of the church began.  Actually, it was a huge open-air mass that lasted an hour.  So I went to church for a second time in two weeks!  When that ended, a parade began through town.  There were a number of parade entries, but the man purpose for it was for the three kings to arrive with each being on his own float. 

When the parade ended, we went to the stage at Plaza Grade.  Entertainment was being provided as everyone waited there for the three kings to arrive.  Eventually, they started announcing that the kings had been sighted.  The children were thrilled and looked to see if they could see them coming.  Each king arrived separately, one after the other along a catwalk that went the entire distance of one side of the square.  The young children were so excited--just as children would be in the U.S. awaiting the arrival of Santa.  Those around 12 years of age seemed happy to be there, but it was obvious they wanted their parents to know that they weren't excited because they knew the story is a myth.  Anyway, smaller children rested in the arms or on the shoulders of their parents so they could see the arrival of the kings--the same ones who had been in the parade earlier.  It was fun to watch it all.  It made for an exciting evening in a city which the guidebook says that little happens in the evenings!

Our hotel is really nice.  We are at Mision Centro Historico Patzcuaro.  It is in an old colonial building and is quite elegant.  Our room is large with a small balcony having French-style doors and facing a patio.  We will be here one more day and evening.