Chocolate!

 We began our day with hot chocolate and pan at Mayordomo, one of the major chocolate companies in town.  We enjoyed our beverages while being ensconced in the aromas of chocolate as the mixers filled orders for clients requesting particular blends.  One can design your own chocolate to your liking--perhaps heavy on the cinnamon or vanilla, or light on the sugar (probably not).  It was a frenzy of chocolate powder all over the place. I was tempted to take home the pile swept on the floor after the orders had all been filled.

We rested our full stomachs at the plaza just in time for a parade to begin.  A school group with large paper mache people, women in traditional dress, and a brass band pulsed as they processed around the zocalo with an occasional exploding firework very nearby.  You can feel the excitement stir in the city as more tourists are arrive daily, students finally begin summer vacation, and Guelaguetza (festival of folk dancing) approaches.

Lastly we went to Casa de Oaxaca which is a refurbished home from the colonial period and now houses a library and archives.  The building also has a great exhibit detailing plans for making a more pedestrian friendly city and another outlining the history of peoples in Oaxaca.  It was a beautiful and lovely area to contemplate this new attachment we are forming to this place.

(The pictures loaded in kind of wacky order.  I apologize for the un-sequenced nature.)