Oaxaca + Puebla 2018

I spent the second week of my Mexico trip in Oaxaca and Puebla.

As a lover of tiles and intricate doors against colourful walls, the two cities and surrounding areas were a photography haven.

I caught the end of the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations: Oaxaca was dotted with ofrendas and the cemeteries were still overflowing with flowers.

I visited the home of a local family through an En Via tour and learned that each community has a distinctive embroidery style to their aprons; you can tell which town someone is from just by looking at their aprons. Most of the women wear these beautiful dresses under their aprons, seen here at the Tlacolula market.

Real talk: I came down with an awful, terrible cold near the end of my trip so everything became a big blur. I pushed myself to keep going but there were times when all I wanted to do was lie down in bed or on a church pew (which is frowned upon, I'm sure).

Even at the height of my illness, I made sure to seek out the Biblioteca Palafoxiana, which is considered to be the first library in the Americas. What's better than a library? A beautiful, old library. I'm that weirdo who loves the smell of musty books.

Oaxaca has a big cacao culture, which dates back to the Mesoamerica. Cacao was brought to Europe by the Spaniards and eventually became the chocolate we know today. People still grind cacao by hand to make chocolate drinks but for those who don't, there are cacao grinding machines all over Oaxaca. The smell of chocolate permeates the air, but it's different from the chocolate we're accustomed to - grainier and dairy-free.

Oaxacan-style tamale is better than all other tamales because it contains mole, and we all know how I feel about mole. When in Oaxaca, you must try the nieve de leche quemada, which literally translates to snow of burnt milk. My goal is to replicate the flavour of leche quemada in some kind of dessert form.

All that chatting at Molino el Pujol got me in touch with Jorge, who let me hang out with him while he shopped at the local market, then invited me over for his and his mom's cooking. Everything was mindbogglingly good, and this happenstance led me to eating at New Worlder's restaurant of the year. Crazy, right?!

My other memorable meal(s) was breakfast by my Airbnb host in Puebla. All three breakfasts that I ate were restaurant-quality. She made a delicious jamaica (hibiscus) jam and I loved it so much that she gave me a jar to bring back home.

I'm already googling where I should visit next in Mexico. Chiapas? Yucatan? Hit me up with recommendations because I'm ready to go back.