Just returned from 10 days in Oaxaca City
 

I took my two kids for ten days. We stayed at Hostal de la Noria and loved it. We had a Jr. suite and got a deal for staying so long. The regular rooms are MUCH smaller than the Jr. Suite. The restaurant was very pleasant and reasonably priced. Room service was great. The staff was very helpful and polite. The location was great - only a few blocks from the zocalo and super easy to catch a cab there. The receptionists speak good english and that turned out to be a big help.

We took two cooking classes - Iliana de la Vega (a truly great experience and informative) and Reyna Mendoza. We hired a driver and guide to take us to Teotitlan de Valle, Yagul, and Mitla - a 9 hour day. The last day we hired a driver and guide to take us to Aztompa and Monte Alban - a 3 hr. trip.
We were so busy that we missed things some might consider critical - the anthropological museum and arboretum, the cathedral, and other things.

I put the kids in language school at Bacari three hours a day and they loved it - absolutely loved it. They said in only three days their learned more than they did in an entire semester at their school.

We thoroughly explored most of the art galleries and restaurants. We always opted for local color rather than tourist experiences. We got haircuts and shoeshines on the zocalo, ate in teeny diners on the street, and visited with the local artisans.

Looking back, my favorite experience of all was seeing Monte Alban - what an amazing amazing place. If I'd known how very lovely it is, I would have probably gone a second time. Next favorite was Yagul at dusk.

More next post....

As far as the food goes, I am a foodie and like most everything, but mole leaves me cold. I absolutely did not like the mole tamales in banana leaves- blech!, and their hot chocolate was just OK. I loved their produce - avocadoes, limes, mangoes - oh my goodness. I never knew an avocado could be so wonderful.

I found the boof there way too tough and always overdone in my book. I never had any good fish. On a scale of 1-10, I found the food to be a 4, definitely a dissappointment and I ate at the top five places.

The best meal we had was at Casa Oaxaca - mainly we enjoyed the atmosphere. We loved the atmo at Los Danzantes, but never saw one thing on the menu we wanted to order. Camino Real was a pretty place but the food was rather mediocre in my opinion.

El Naranjo was OK. Their specialty is Chile Rellenos - they have about six kinds - and of course, the everpresent mole. I guess mole is an acquired taste. I tried a total of 7 kinds at maybe six different places and never tasted one I would ever order again. I even took classes to learn how to make two kinds of mole. Now that I know what it takes to make it, I can safely say I will NEVER make it. I love to cook and think nothing of cooking two to three hour recipes, but I just don't like mole well enough to go to all that trouble.

By far, my favorite things about Oaxaca are the people, the countryside, the ruins, and the art - paintings and jewelry. I don't like the rugs - they're mostly garish in color, and the animalitos are OK but they are mostly alike.

I found the paintings by local artist to be fascinating. I bought five paintings by local artists. I'd much rather support local artisans directly than through representatives. I was touched by the purely creative work I saw in paintings by Santiago Martinez, Rene Almanza, and others.

I really enjoyed the painted metal work - very colorful metal ornaments, wall hangings, and soldiers and such made out of either tin or aluminum. Really adorable.

As far as the pottery.... A lot of it is alike. The black pottery is just OK. The green pottery and a lot of the other types have lead paint so I don't want it.

I saw nice silver jewelry, interesting things by creative artisans. I prefer the rather rustic jewelry rather than the super slick and shiny stuff.

It's a city spiritually rich and financially poor.

And I love it.

Worth mentioning here. You forget the meaning of island time until you order food in Mexico. Service is slow for the most part, really, really, really slow. You wonder if they're out back growing the tomatoes for your salad. For one thing, everything is made by scratch.

The slowest service by far was La Olla - unbelievable. IT was so slow we forgot what we ate the last course. Don't go there.

Another surprise-enchiladas are not stuffed with cheese or meat. They're just tortillas dipped in sauce and rolled.

A real safe bet is chile rellenos. I really enjoyed them at Hotel Restaurant Alcala. There's a good bookstore in front.

I am glad you got to go to Oaxaca and enjoyed yourself so much. I would encourage you to go back if you can. I am amazed that each time I go I learn new things. I think many things that did not apeal to you on this trip might grow on you. For example, I would never have considered eating grasshoppers my first trip. Hope you can make a return trip/s.

Dude, we had grasshoppers twice and even the worms they put in mescal. We plan to return in May. This time I will take my paints and an easel. That luscious landscape sings to me "Paint now", more than any other.

Glad you're going back. I am planning to go in June- have a great time!

I am new to this venue, posted a message to Dude in a different place rather than in direct response to the thread of messages. Hope you see it, Dude and respond to my questions.
Enjoyed your impressions, "mariacallas", and look forward to sampling the fare, being a foodie myself. I was saddened to hear your description of the moles, since it is a food stuff I was looking forward to. Will give it my full consideration once we are there, and hope I can find some redeeming qualities.

Svelte -
Be sure to try a chapulines quesadilla - the oaxacan stringy cheese and the salty, slightly sweet grasshoppers. As for moles - I like all of them - rojo, amarillo, verde, negro, manchamanteles, etc. I believe 'mole' means mixture (or stew) - like guacaMOLE. Though I'm not sure how a salsa then differs from a mole being that guacamole is not cooked - anyone?