Los pirámides de Malinalco

I’m back on my weekend trip grind! This past weekend Bruno and I went to the “pueblo mágico” of Malinalco. It’s in the state of Mexico about an hour from Toluca. We arrived early Saturday afternoon and headed straight for the pyramids….after stopping for beer and ice cream to enjoy on the climb up. It was about 400 stairs to get to the pyramids. In the 1470s, the Aztecs conquered the area and established a sanctuary for their military called House of Eagles. It was built on the side of the mountain next to the pyramids. It’s a semi-circular room that was used to see if warriors-in-training were worthy enough to become the real deal. I’m amazed by the quantity of the pyramids in Mexico.

After we made the climb down (which was much easier than the climb up) we went to a university-sponsored museum about the Malinalco and its beginnings. What I loved most about it is that in every room there was a person to explain the highlights of the exhibit. One of the exhibits was under the glass floor. It was an exhibit of some of the minerals and rocks of the area. It was very cleverly done. The semi-circular room on the mountain is no longer open to the public to walk through it so the museum had a replica that could be entered. It’s shaped as a snake and you walk in through its mouth.

We were starving after all the climbing and looking so we went to a well-known trout restaurant. I’m not big on fish but I thought it was necessary so I womaned-up and ordered a Hawaiian style trout. I at least thought they would take off the head, tail, and skin! It was like they plucked the poor thing right out of the water and gave it to me wrapped in foil. It was difficult to look at it and to avoid all of the tiny ribs but I did it! Not sure if I would voluntarily do it again but it was a good one-time experience. For dessert we went to an ice cream shop because Malinalco is known for their ice cream. Yes, we had ice cream twice in one day.

On Sunday we went out to breakfast at a cute little outdoor cafe then we headed to mass in a church attached to a convent with Franciscan monks still living there. The Divino Salvador Convent had beautifully painted walls with all sorts of embedded meaning. We took a tour to understand all of the black-and-white paintings. When we left, we headed to the market for a snack. We had a huge helping of fresh fruit with granola and icing. We were going to get ice cream …again but decided fruit might be a better choice. They sold everything in the market from traditional clothes and hand-made jewelry to fresh sweet bread and native fruits.  After exploring the market we packed up and headed back.

We stopped in Metepec on the way back to Toluca. It’s another pueblo mágico right outside of Toluca. We walked around and looked at the shops. They have many art shops and traditional clothing from other parts of Mexico. Then we climbed up el Calvario to see the church. It’s a massive hill with a church on top. The view was great and the church was adorned in gold accents over white paint. For Christmas, the steps leading up to the church had a life-size nativity scene complete with wise men and animals. Then we went to a clay museum. The best exhibit was of the trees of life. They even had miniature ones! “Arboles de la vida” are typical of Mexico and very expensive because they are so detailed. We ended the adventure with pizza at an Italian restaurant which was pretty tasty for being located in Mexico!