Oaxaca - Outskirts

Oaxaca has many beautiful and unique places to visit away from the city center. I was lucky enough to visit both of these places. One was CASA, which is an old paper factory. Here you can visit the museum or simply just walk around outside. The views are beautiful and you can take many great photos there. They also have a small shop where you purchase goods made by the artist Toledo. I bought a beautiful necklace that is made from paper that you can see in my photo. You would never guess it's made from paper!

The last and most breathtaking place we visited was Hierve el Agua. This is natural rock formation that looks like a waterfall and has natural infinity pools. It's absolutely amazing!! It's hard to believe that it is all natural. This trip is also off the beaten path, so you should definitely go with a tour! It was my favorite place!

Oaxaca - Archaeological Sites

We went on two tours in Oaxaca to archaeological sites. One was to Mitla and the other to Monte Alban. Both were really interesting places to visit since you are able to see all of the pyramids that the Zapotec and Aztecs had built.  I would recommend going with a tour to both of these places. They are pretty far away from downtown Oaxaca, so going with a guide is the best option plus you get to learn about the history. The pictures speak for themselves.

Oaxaca!

Oaxaca! It's one of the most amazing places to visit. This city has truly kept the true culture and is known for its artisanal goods and most importantly Mezcal! I had the most amazing time in Oaxaca. We stayed at Hacienda Los Laureles, which is about a 10 minute taxi ride from the city center. The hotel was very beautiful, calm, and quiet. You can truly relax there, but still get to the downtown area quickly. In the city center there are so many great restaurants and artisanal goods to buy. We ate lunch at Restaurant La Olla. They have delicious food and drinks! I would recommend getting a mezcal margarita and a tlayuda, which is like a big Mexican pizza. The restaurant has really cool graffiti on the inside and the staff is very kind. You can spend all day walking around Oaxaca and seeing all the beautiful artisanal goods that the locals make.

We visited a place where they make handwoven rugs. The rug master explained to us how he makes the different colors naturally and how he designs them. He has won many awards all throughout the world for his rugs. I couldn't leave without buying one! I'm so glad I did it looks awesome in my apartment.

San Miguel de Allende

While in Guanajuato, we decided to take a day trip to San Miguel de Allende since it's a short trip away (about 1 hour).  I absolutely loved San Miguel. There are so many cute restaurants, shops, cafes, and the entire town is so well kept with colorful buildings. My favorite spots in San Miguel include Lavanda cafe and Ten Ten Pie. Lavanda is a cute cafe with an outdoor garden in the middle of it. Ten Ten Pie is a great place to have lunch and sit outside. I would recommend getting the Molcajete (green chorizo, nopales - cactus, tasajo meat, and cheese all in a green sauce as seen in the picture). San Miguel is a very walkable town with so many cute shops and pictures to snap! I visited Mixta, a really awesome store that has a beautiful garden in the middle and carries jewelry, clothes, and unique pieces of household goods. I ended up with too many goodies to bring back including beautiful shot glasses for tequila! San Miguel should definitely be added to the list of places to see when in Mexico!

               Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel

            Molcajete from Ten Ten Pie

           Beautiful Streets of San Miguel

            Inside Mixta

     

         Perfect shot glasses with adorable     salt shakers for tequila

Colorful Guanajuato

For the holiday, I took my first trip to Mexico to visit my boyfriend's family. We went to different towns in central and south Mexico and has the most amazing time. First, we went to Guanajuato which is a beautiful city. You can really see the Spanish influence in the architecture and all of the colors make it such a lively city. We stayed at Edelmira Boutique Hotel, which is located right in the heart. It's a beautiful hotel with excellent service. On our first day we started by going on a tour of the city and visiting many cute shops. The city is known for it's singing schools, so at night we went on a singing tour. It was a lot of fun and they take you through the cities tiny roads. There is an awesome shop that sells artwork like the one in the photo. If you decide to visit be aware that the roads are actually old aqueducts so it's a bit difficult to navigate driving, but the taxis are reliable. I definitely recommend visiting Guanajuato and staying at Edelmira hotel.