Two-Stop Daytrip: Stop 2: Taxco

Not all the taxis in Taxco are VW Beetles from Ancient America.
Only most.

Heigh-ho, Silver. Away! Away to the silver city of Taxco, the second stop on the two-stop daytrip out of Mexico City.

Taxco is a town built on silver. Its wealth in Spanish Mexico was from its silver mines. Its economy today is built on tourism. And selling silver jewelry and home decor to the tourists. A silver miner even greets you at the entrance of the city.

Well, a statuary silver miner. Not made of silver.

Let's wander in and up:

The most famous sight in Taxco is the Santa Prisca church, built with silver wealth.

We'll go inside later, but first lunch.

Lunch was at the Del Angel Inn, adjacent to the church. The views of the city from the restaurant are amazing.

Taxco is dramatically situated on the steep sides of cliffs.

Technically, it's walkable.

If you have strong knees and strong lungs to walk straight up the cliffside on which the town was built.

There is a statue of Christ at the top of the hill overlooking the city.

(Close up zoom function in effect.)

What to eat? The local specialty is "mole rosa," pink mole. So I ordered that because where else can you get mole rosa except in Taxco?

They grow oodles and oodles of roses ("oodles" being a scientific term meaning "scads") in nearby Cuernavaca. The rose-colored mole of Taxco can get its color and flavor from rose petals. It happens. Beetroot is a more common source of the rose color and the sweet flavor. The mole rosa was quite good -- even if it were made with mere beets and not with roses -- although the chicken underneath was a bit dry. Just like chicken in the USA!

Back to Santa Prista. Fortified with a lunch of the local mole rosa, let's have a look inside:

 

The silver money from the mine owner was used to outfit the church interior.

Yes. In the 1700s, this was one of the richest cities anywhere. All from the local silver.

The money flowed so freely into this church that they were able to hire the preeminent New World artist of that era to paint the church interior: Miguel Cabrera.

Note the pregnant Virgin Mary above, on the right. Apparently depicting the Virgin as pregnant -- even though she was carrying the Christ child -- was scandalous in its day.

More works from Cabrera:

There also is a large depiction of Our Lady of Guadalupe -- this is Mexico after all -- made entirely of pure silver.

This is a recent addition to the church decor.

Even the side chapels are ornate and feature the paintings of Miguel Cabrera.

Time to explore more of what Taxco has to offer the tourist.

Next we visited a silver shop. And not just any silver shop. This was the shop of silversmiths who designed and cast the silver depiction of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Santa Prista.

This is the mold:

It looks like any mold. It's the imprint. It's not the actual object. You pour in the molten silver and that's how you get three-dimensional rendering of the Virgin. That's how it's supposed to work. Or ...

If you look closely, when you take a photo, the face and hands of the Virgin look three-dimensional, like they are popping out from the mold and are not merely a debossed image. Look closer:

Even more amazing, if you move your camera downward, the face of the Virgin looks like she is looking downward. If you move the camera to the side, her face (and eyes) follow you. I should have shot video to make this clear but my brain cut out momentarily there. The effect was amazing. 

The silversmith shop had some other interesting pieces that were outside my budget range. Por ejemplo: the Last Supper. In silver.

This is the official Catholic Church approved depiction of the Last Supper, with Christ in the center, Peter to the left (Christ's right) and John to the right (Christ's left). Judas is at the far right end of the table. Again, Christ's left. The most sinister position in the depiction. This is not the da Vinci version. People treat the da Vinci depiction of the Last Supper as if it were a photograph of the actual even from 33 or so A.D. It's not. It's awesome. It's a masterpiece. But it's not the official record.

And note this cool silver chess set. Instead of black and white, the sides are the Spanish conquistadores and the Aztecs.

The pieces are different for the two sides. The Spanish wear armor. The Aztecs are less clothed. The Aztec "knight" -- they didn't have horses until the Spanish conquest -- was a jaguar. Rooks were castles on the Spanish side, temples on the Aztec side.

The price? One million pesos. A bargain when you consider that is merely $50,000 U.S. for all that intricate silver work.

And here are the Taxco letters.

Every city in Latin America has its letters. These are Taxco's.

The tour left a little time to explore Taxco on my own.

This required a steep uphill climb, since all roads in Taxco are either a steep uphill or a steep downhill.

I didn't make the Christ statue at the top of the hill. No one climbs the climb. At least no tourist does.

That's what the VW Beetle taxis are for.

The sun is starting to dip behind the mountain.

The daytrip day is over. Time to return to Mexico City.

And back in Mexico City, it was time to head to the hotel bar to redeem my coupon for my free "welcome" drink. It's Mexico so it was a margarita. And there was a "band" playing at the hotel bar. A violinist accompanied by a piano.

They played my absolute favorite Latin standard:  "Perfidia." Vacation luxury! Even better: affordable luxury. The best kind of luxury there is.

Riding the Funicular Up Cerro San Cristobal

Looking down on Santiago from the heighths of Cerro San Cristobal

Santiago has a funicular. I am in Santiago. Easy guess as to what else was on my agenda for the day.

It was a short walk through the Bellavista neighborhood to the funicular station. I had to hurry because the funicular would be shutting down for the night in less than one hour!

Fortunately there was no line.

But there was a climb!

And that is why I am so happy. I am having fun. On the fun-icular!

Ascending Cerro San Cristobal. This is one of the good kind of funiculars: two cars. One ascending, one descending, at all times. It's not one of those funiculars with a singe car and a weight providing the balance that makes it a funicular. This is a two-car funicular.

And here it comes!

I am using exclamation points to communicate the fun I have riding funiculars. Don't know why I love 'em. I just do.

It was not a long ride, so soon we were at the terminus, well up the summit of Cerro San Cristobal. 

A better view of the car, with no people!

One last look:

And here are the first of many viewpoints:

There will be more, as we climb higher. The funicular did not quite go up to the summit. Lots and lots (and lots) of stairs to go to get to that point.

And here are a few of those stairs:

And another look down on Santiago, climbing higher.

This is the Capilla La Maternidad de María.

And, this is the summit: La Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepción.

This is a large statue of the Virgin Mary visible from many parts of the city. This is a variation on Christ The Redemeer in Rio de Janeiro. You can take a funicular up the summit to either!

Definitely enjoying the atmosphere. And enjoying the knowledge that there are no more stairs up.

For the descent, I take the Camino de las Siete Palabras, the Way of the Seven Words. There are seven crosses along this route.

One of the seven crosses, along with one of the magnificent views down into Santiago.

This cross is a popular stopping point on the Camino de las Siete Palabras. Two reasons. First, it is a switchback point on the descent.

Second, there is a great view of the Costanera Tower, the tallest building in South America.

There are a lot of stray dogs up on Cerro San Cristobal.

They all look to be in good shape, decently well-fed and even tempered. Here's a pup prostrating himself under a bedazzled cross.

But all good fun must come to an end. Time to descend back into Santiago proper.

There was a lot more up top on Cerro San Cristobal for a next visit to Santiago. There is even a teleferico, or cable car, heading eastward. But the day was coming to an end and the funicular would soon shut down for the evening. So time to get on board.

And back down into Bellavista. A lot of people like to be at the summit of Cerro San Cristobal for sunset (or sunrise) (but who would do such a thing at such an hour?). But I'm not into staring at things you're not supposed to look at.

Besides, the shadows were growing longer.

All this walking around left me with little appetite for my last meal in Santiago.

So I had a ham and cheese empanada from this gentleman. Great crust. Not enough "jamon," but very tasty. Good night from Santiago.