Mexico's Best Zocalo?

The Zocalo (or zócalo, a town plaza) is a central (and crucial) feature of every town and city in Mexico. It is literally where it's happening - the focal point for both organized and casual social activity. Most Mexicans take great pride in their zocalo, and it is often the best kept area of town. Warm evenings will find vendors of every sort, clusters of young adults flirting and strutting, venerated Dons and Donas holding court at their exclusive benches, small children racing around

Every town's zacalo is characterized by its own distinctive meeting area - and of course, large cities will have numerous plazas, many of which might have a unique architectural aspect or singularly beautiful garden (jardin). The focal point might be a bandstand (as in Oaxaca) or a fountain (like Puebla), it might be in the layout of the paths crisscrossing the square, perhaps interspersed with trees, or it might be a vast open space dominated by the imposing edifices that surround the perimeter (as in Mexico City's main plaza, the Plaza de la Constitucion).

So where in Mexico exist the best zocalos? As is most of the cases beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and arguments can be made for numerous stellar candidates among the hundreds that might be put forth. Perhaps the most famous is Mexico City's, because of it's immense size, it's location (on the spot where Cortes met Montezuma for the first time).

Arguably the most beautiful is Patzcuaro's Plaza Vasco de Quiroga - a Mexican colonial classic, surrounded by period buildings and filled with trees. Often, it's just a small mountain town's humble offering, set against the fog enshrouded backdrop of the surrounding Sierra Madre Mountains, such as the little puebla of San Sebastian de Oeste, in the mountains of Jalisco east of Puerto Vallarta. Founded in 1605, San Sebastian was once mining centers of Mexico, the gold and silver giving this one time provincial capital a population of nearly 40,000 people it's now virtually deserted with only 600 or so people living there now, but with the opening of the highway between PV and the lovely inland valley town of Mascota (whose plaza is pictured at the top, and is also enjoying a tourism boost from the highway - it is gaining some notice as an eco-tourism destination) San Sebastian de Oeste is now back on the map as a tourist destination.

Another interesting zocalo can be found in the mountain town Tapalpa. While it's not particularly intimate area, it has an interesting, multi-level layout, an imposing church, is surrounded by interesting stores and restaurants and quaint calles that provide delightful walking opportunities for the small town exploration that make destinations such as Tapalpa so rewarding.

Evenings can provide the most satisfying people watching, culture absorbing zocalo experience - especially during festivals (which can last for a week for the town's patron saint). Carnival attractions, numerous band competitions, nightly (and even early morning) fireworks are all part of the mix, such as this lively scene from the Lake Chapala town ofAjijic attests.

Greetings from Ajijic, Jalisco

This post finds me enjoying a beautiful day in sunny Ajijic, on the shores of Lake Chapala. A town of about 15,000, it's population swells during the winter season as migratory snowbirds from all over North America come to spend winter here basking in the winter sun, grooving on the mild climate and taking advantage of the (relatively) inexpensive cost of living that can be found here.

We're staying in the Jewel House, one of two casas owned by Leo and Sheila Gutman. A pleasant 2 bedroom abode, well appointed and within walking distance of town, CasaGutman is one of many rentals catering to wintering norte americanos.

While we aren't here for the entire winter (yet) we are spending a week here and finding out what the pace of life in a small Mexican town is like, interacting with Ajijic residents, both native and expat, to find out about the quality of life here. So far, so good. Early morning found us hiking for the second day high above the town, this time beyond the little chapel that the locals trek up to on Easter week. Thick cloud cover made for a dramatic red sunrise and obscured our views across Mexico's largest lake, but still rendered an awesome vista that was very surreal . The trail up is steep after the 12 shrines one encounters on the way up to the chapel, but the scenery is dramatic, the mountains rise sharply behind Ajijic and Chapala.

Later that morning, after a delicious breakfast of fresh bodillos from the panaderia (bakery) around the corner, we trekked down to the Ajijic village street market, held every Wednesday and stocked our cocina (kitchen) with plenty of fresh fruit and veggies, and numerous varieties of queso (cheese). I'm thinking that there is an entire web page for the site on Mexican cheese in the not so distant future. We also picked up some green tortillas that were 1/4 corn and 3/4 cactus - we made open faced quesadillas smothered in fresh tomatillo salsa.

Our afternoon was spent getting fabulous massages at a spa in town for 250 pesos each (less than $25US). We followed with a beautiful sunset stroll along the Chapala Riberia waterfront park between San Antonio Tlayacapan and the town of Lake Chapala. Life is muy bueno in Mexico right now.



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