Keepin' up with the Silvas...: Our Weekend Get-Away

PATZCUARO & JANITZIO

My mom gave Jorge and I an early Christmas present...a weekend get-away. We decided to go to the town of Patzcuaro, a place that Jorge has been wanting to take me to for years...since we first got married. We also visited some other small towns in the area like Santa Clara del Cobre, Zirahuen and Coroneo.

In the colonial style town of Patzcuaro all the buildings are painted red and white.

The traditional folk dance in this city is called ¨Los Viejitos¨ (the old guys).

This group performed in the main park for tips.

The boat Jorge and I took to the island of Janitzio was named ¨Perla¨
just like the boat we bought for Proyecto Libertad in Bocachica.

These boats hold from 70 to 90 passengers and are used to take tourists
and residents back and forth from the town of Patzcuaro to the island of Janitzio.
A round trip ticket costs only $3 dollars.

Janitzio is full of steep, winding streets lined with these
shops selling souveniers and family restaurants.

At the top of the island there is a huge statue of Morelos...he was a Catholic priest who helped to fight for the independance of Mexico. Jorge and I climbed inside the statue up to the very top of his fist...kind of like the Statue of Liberty.

A favorite sale item are these ¨gorditas de nata¨ which

are kind of like thick pancakes made with cream.

Another popular snack are ¨Charales¨ which are tiny fried fish.

They look like little minnows and they are crunchy and pretty tasty!

Indigenous ladies from the Purépecha tribe sell tamales. All over the island and in the surrounding towns it´s common to hear them speaking the purépecha dialect.

All the houses are packed tightly together through the island streets.

A view of the Cathlolic church overlooking the town of Janizio.

ZIRAHUEN

Jorge was eager to re-visit Lake Zirahuen...he and a group of his friends came here twenty-something years ago on a camping trip and he had fun going down memory lane.