Taxco, Guerrero

This is the lovely little silver mining town of Taxco de Alarcon in Guerrero state. Ian and I drove there (first time driving in Mexico!) to finish our Christmas shopping. It's a great place: lots of silver, lots of artists, lots of pink rock, and lots of tiled roofs. It is just as steep and narrow as it could be, and the streets are better suited to donkeys than to Beetles!


Taxco cathedral seen from above (from the Cristo in the photo below).


Cristo Monumental looks over the city from above. The statue, like the cathedral, is in pink stone. It's a great view.


A narrow street away from the center of town. The white line is the lane divider. That's part of why VWs are such popular cars! (See the taxi photo below.)


A street in Taxco with the cathedral at the end. Most streets are two-way, and drivers are really civilized about each other and about pedestrians. It was tight, but we never felt ourselves in danger!


Street in Taxco. We were there at the end of the Feria de la Plata - Silver Festival - and the whole place was hopping!


Our hotel, Los Arcos, was a converted 17th century monastery. Its courtyard was like something out of a movie with irregular stairs, a giant tree, fountains, and unexpected arches. It was a very nice hotel for our purposes.


A sweet and serious little boy enjoying his lunch near our hotel.


Ian had the camera all weekend, so he documented the fire out of me (as they'd say in Alabama) buying stuff from vendors. I was not in haggling mode, so the process was painless, regardless of the look on my face! Here I'm buying straw finger toys that the cats will love until they destroy them.


Also not haggling over the price of ceramics in the street. They're lots cheaper in Taxco than Mexico City....


And finally, not haggling over a cute straw bag from one of the many men in many hats.


This is a car-bus taxi, locally called a combi. Most (if not all) public taxis in Taxco are VW Beetles (the old kind) or car-buses. It's a great town.


There's a lot of funny ideas in Taxco about how best to use all that silver. This saddle weighs in around 20 kilos (according to the salesman).