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Add to this cultural mix a historic center complete with numerous sidewalk cafes, parks lined with cobblestone sidewalks and magnificent architecture covered with rose colored sandstone, and you can see how the city of Morelia won this prestigious ‘Old Europe’ distinction for Mexico. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1991 as well. Just don’t get excited to see the river that runs through it, or more accurately, alongside the perimeter. The Rio Solidaridad, also called Rio Chiquito or little river, is a brown, mud-filled reservoir of liquid. Not a pretty site. Morelia was high on my list due to a travel article written by a family of four who had spent a summer there, and had enrolled their two children in a soccer camp, art classes, and music program, at a cost of approximately $100 U.S. Less than the cost of most week-long day camps in the states for one child. I was sold. We arrived at 6 a.m. from our red-eye flight and spent the early-dawn at the 24 hour VIPS restaurant, the only establishment open. When daylight returned, we grabbed a cab and went to view the apartments I had found listed over the Internet. The cab driver, who was inadvertently giving us a tour of the city during our search, kindly offered us a room in his mother’s home . I was flattered, but decided to settle on our second option, a boarding house with a rooftop apartment. It had great views, fresh breezes off the balcony (the city is fairly car-congested and polluted), and accepted our constant travel companion - a five-year-old Rat Terrier. At $160 U.S. a month, I could overlook the non-functioning kitchen. The next day we set-out to find a summer camp and found a month-long, 9a.m. to 1p.m, art/dance/music/theater program at Belles Artes, an ex-convent now converted into a professional arts and music school, for the price of $75. Another summer program for children I found was Alterdans Escuela de Arte located at Avenue Madero Ortega N. 63. It is similar to Belles Artes, just more low-key. Two of the children enrolled this summer spoke little to no Spanish prior to attending. Located two blocks away from Alterdans is a swimming complex, Villa Longin, with an outdoor pool and heated kiddie pool. At Villa Longin they offer two-hour lessons for ages 5 to adult, and private sessions are available. Most camps begin in July and end by early August. Soccer ended up being a free neighborhood league three blocks away, with the addition of many nights of foot jockeying with local kids in the street outside our apartment. The apartment and location was not as quaint as I had envisioned, yet there were more than a few pleasant surprises. The city zoo, complete with lions, tigers and polar bears, was four blocks away. The city zoo offers a summer course “Let’s save the Planet” for children ages five to twelve years of age. A city park, with library, planetarium and a free, supervised play area for kids with indoor and outdoor activities was within walking distance as well. In addition, there was a Dominos Pizza, up the street and around the corner, and numerous tiendas for snacks, cerveza, purified water and homemade tortillas. A combi - the converted VW busses used as transportation throughout Morelia - dropped us off daily near the main city square or zocalo, Plaza de Los Martires, where my son`s art school was located, for the price of $1 each way. A taxi ride costs $3. A more decent living option, Conjunto Residencial Valladolid, is located in the same neighborhood at Tanganxhoan N. 384. The cross street is la calle Vicente Santa Maria. For under $300 a month you can rent a lovely, two-bedroom apartment, with salon, kitchen and 24-hour security guard. They also had a unit up for sale. Bordering the park, the luxurious Fiesta Inn - complete with restaurant/bar, swimming pool and tennis courts - has rooms starting at $200 per night for two adults and two children. A block away is a small shopping mall complete with kids gym, open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. For five dollars each, children can play as long as they want. Here is the web site for The Fiesta Inn - select Mexico for country and Morelia for city: http://www.fiestamericana.com/portal/FA_index.jsp Easily accessed daytrips include Lake Patzcuaro, located just 40 miles away, or a 50 minute bus ride. Hot springs are located at the Balneario Cointzio, a $6 taxi ride away or 10 minute combi ride. There is horseback riding available in the outlying areas also. If you hear a loud ringing coming down the street, like a cow bell being propelled back and forth with all the force the ringer can muster... don’t be alarmed. I heard this first on a Sunday and thought it was a call for everyone to head to church, this being Roman Catholic Mexico and all! The ringing is actually a notification for neighborhood residents to put out their basura (garbage in Spanish) for the garbage truck heading their way. Residents pay 5 pesos, or approximately 50 cents per bag. Our July weather was very comfortable. The rain storms common to summer season here occurred primarily at night, clearing by morning and leading to afternoons filled with warm, clean air and sunshine. A few days were cloudy as well but I wasn’t complaining. Of course, the day after I wrote this, a torrential downpour hit the city and lasted for hours, drenching everything in site... what I had heard could happen, but hadn’t experienced. Bring an umbrella! Definitely still not complaining. My son had a month of low-cost, high-quality art instruction, and a ton of fun. I was spoiled with daily espressos and hours of uniterrupted writing stints at local cafes, in a city that seems made for, and by, souls with a creative spirit. An experience of Mexico neither of us will forget. Flexibility
- the key to a successful trip:
You are traveling and are free - do what feels right. If you, or your family, does not like the hotel others raved about, leave. There may be a little casita off the beaten track with a senora and family who would love to rent their apartment to you. Next door or across the street may be kids of similar ages to your children, who participate in nightly pick-up soccer games in the street - common to most Mexican neighborhoods I've visited or lived in. For half the price or less of that fancy hotel, you are getting a much more authentic Mexican experience. Just be sure an adult plays lookout for cars on the street, something Mexican children are adept at, but an acquired skill for most U.S. children. The real danger in traveling with your family to Mexico is that you and/or your children may not want to leave - go at your own risk! Current
passport requirements for travel to Mexico:
Traveling by car or by boat the new passport regulations are to be in-effect sometime between January 2008 and June 2009. For more information: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html
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Travel
to Mexico with your children? Give yourself some kudos just for considering
it! If the cost is daunting - Mexico may be inexpensive but airflight is
not - think of skipping a few of those college-fund payments and taking
a trip with the cash instead. With money that may or may not get used for
its intended purpose, you can give your child or children a cultural experience
of value and a jump-start on language acquisition.
Every
country seems to have a bit of Paris in its soul and for Mexico, Morelia
is it. Maybe there’s a Lou Vega song there. Morelia is home
to over a thousand historical buildings and sites including the Conservatorio
de las Rosas (the oldest music school in Mexico), the Museum of the Michoacan
Region (built in 1772), and the twin-towered, baroque-style Morelia Cathedral,
finished in 1744. Across the street from the Cathedral is the Palacio
de Gobierno, or the Governors Palace. Built over a period of ten
years it contains three enormous, life-sized murals by Michoacan artist
Alfredo Zalce showing various episodes of Mexican history.
