Taxco: The Silver Capital

This weekend's destination was the silver capital of Mexico: Taxco! The plan was for about 6 of us to go to Malinalco but people couldn't go last minute so my travel partner, Bruno, and I set out for Taxco. It's only about a 2-hour drive from Toluca. The toll sysytem here is crazy compared to the states. I think a toll in the Chicagoland area is $1.50 and that's without an iPass. Here it can be as much as $250 pesos in one booth and you have to go through 6 booths to get to your destination. This is because there are toll roads and free roads. The toll roads are a lot safer and better paved. The route to Taxco wasn't too expensive though.

As soon as we arrived, we did the most important thing: looked for food. We found a nice place in downtown Taxco where we were able to sit on the roof. It had about 3 roofs. We sat on the highest one...after climbing more than 100 stairs. The view was beautiful. We were able to see all of Taxco and Santa Prisca (the main church) in the downtown area. All of the houses and buildings in Taxco are white with earth-tone red roofs. We shared a molcajete. It's a bowl made of black stone that's filled with different kinds of meats, onions, cheese, and cactus. It's devine. After linner (lunch/dinner), we found a hotel. It had a courtyard and an awesome view from the roof. Then we walked around a little bit and found out that the Feria Nacional de la Plata happening that weekend. They had a stage set up outside of the church and we got to see Alexander Acha perform his radio song "Te Amo"! After that, we found an antro to dance. where Bruno paid them to play salsa music. We took a taxi back to the hotel. All the taxis in Taxco are Volkswagon Beetles! And they don't have a passengar seat because it's easier for people to climb in back that way.

When we woke up on Sunday, we went to mass at Santa Prisca. It has all sorts of decorations behind the altar and on the walls. The picture does a better job explaining. Then we had brunch on a balcony of a restaurant that overlooks the zócoalo. There were performers taking part in a traditional Mexican dance right outside the restaurant so we were able to watch while we ate. Then we did what we came to do: buy silver! I love silver rings so I went home with two. I also bought some gifts for family and friends. It's really inexpensive for silver. I got a matching necklace and earring set of a mutli-colored daisy. We did some sight-seeing, had some ice cream, then hit the road back to Toluca.