Cowhornville!

Holidays seem to come in waves in Mexico. There will be no days off for weeks, and then several in a row. Last week we had Thursday off for May Day (Labor Day for most non-US countries), and yesterday was of course Cinco de Mayo, as all of you in the US could tell by the number of times you saw a mustachioed cactus with a sombrero drinking a Corona.

Ole!

With the cluster of holidays, many Mexicans take advantage of what's called puente (literally "bridge"), by taking off Friday and turning a 3-day weekend into almost a full week off. It's one of the many "why-didn't-we think-of-that" customs that you discover while abroad. Unfortunately we were caught unawares and found ourselves with no plans for all these late-spring days off. That's not so bad considering we both plan to take significant time once Li'l Moreno drops in early June, so we're saving up all the leave time we can anyway 'cause we gotta bond with the bambino!

Oh God no.

We did take the opportunity to take a daytrip on Saturday to Cuernavaca, just about a 2-hour drive from the city, horrible traffic permitting. Cuernavaca is not the prettiest town but one that is steeped in history. Emiliano Zapata was born there. Cortes built his palace there after conquering the Aztecs. It's now a museum of Mexican history, with one side featuring yet another Diego Rivera mural depicting the brutal story of that same conquest. That must have been fun for Rivera -- imagine a Native American artist being allowed to paint the story of the "settling" of the American west into the walls of the White House.

Cuernavaca was also the temporary residence of Emperor Maximilian and his court during the brief mid-19th century when the French had the hilarious idea that Mexico should be part of its empire. The gardens of the old residence are preserved as a museum. Cinco de Mayo commemorates a significant defeat of the French in the Battle of Puebla, so it seemed apropros to stroll around the dregs of that folly.

Smell the aroma of arrogance!

Finally, and perhaps most strangely, Cuernavaca was the headquarters of the Franciscans' missionary work to Asia and the Phillipines, so the Franciscan cathedral in town features frescoes with Japanese motifs depicting the not-so-warm welcome the brothers got in their work.

Catholic koi.

And for some reason, a skull and crossbones over the entrance.

With all the sights properly seen, we turned our attention to Mexico's finest attraction: drinking beer on a patio and eating good food. We actually had a 2-part lunch, starting with a snack at a little joint off one of the main plazas.

Guy on the left never broke that pose.

We followed that with a meal at Gaia, a restaurant built into the former home of another famous Cuernavaca resident, Mario Moreno -- better known to the world as Cantinflas.

He's often referred to as the "Mexican Charlie Chaplin" which is odd because Chaplin himself once called him the world's greatest comedian. He made over 50 films in a 50-year career and is as big of an icon in Latin America as can be imagined. His house was gorgeous, naturally, and featured this awesome pool in the main courtyard.

But really the weekend was more about relaxing in anticipation of our growing family. We've been doing some test runs for Sasha's daily trips to the local park, stopping at our favorite bakery along the way.

It seems like LouLou approves this new routine: