Joyce M. Shumate
On Tuesday, January 29, 2019, a small group of 22 Quail Creek residents will have the opportunity to travel on this unique 10-day private tour designed just for Quail Creek residents. You are invited to learn more about this tour at an informative session on Tuesday, September 18 at 2:00 p.m. in the Kino Conference Room.
This Colonial Mexico Tour offers you the chance to explore the true mestizo, the blending of Indian and Spanish. You will witness the timeline from the early pyramid ruins of Teotihuacan through the early Aztec remains and then the stunning filigree architecture of the Spanish Baroque and Neo-Classical Basilicas.
Traveling to Mexico City from Quail Creek is easy. The tour package includes a charter bus from the QC Clubhouse directly to the PHX International Airport to catch the flight to Mexico City. In Mexico you will meet up with a certified English-speaking guide that will take you to your hotel for a good night’s rest before beginning this adventure.
First day discovery is Mexico City, the seventh largest city in the world at approximately 21 million people. You will quickly start feeling the mestizo blend. Touring Mexico City’s Zocalo, or town square, is just the beginning of many Unesco Heritage sites of this tour.
On our second day, you will explore the Teotihuacan Pyramids. The Aztecs came across these ruins well before the Spanish. Thought to have been one of the largest civilizations of the times, what happened to the 200,000 people so suddenly to disappear? Possibly droughts? And then after the Spaniards write of the beauty of the pyramids, why did they raze them? On the same day, you will visit the Shrine of Guadalupe, a pilgrimage for millions from all over the world. What a contrast in a day!
Onward, the tour stops at Tula and Queretaro on its way to the historic heritage site of San Miguel de Allende. Voted twice in a row, Travel and Leisure writes, “San Miguel del Allende is the best city in the world.” You will visit the highlights and have ample shopping time in the evening.
Through Atotonilco and the town of Delores Hidalgo, you make your way to ambient Guanajuato. In Hidalgo, the namesake Manuel delivered the famous Grito de Delores or Cry for Independence speech in the early 1800s. After centuries of Spanish colonization, the seed was planted to set Mexico free! Guanajuato is full of sites that you will see including the silver mines that you will explore by train.
Ahead to Zacateras founded in 1548 to support miners, the city is decorated with beautiful architecture and panorama views. An evening walk shows the romance of this colonial jewel. Further down the road, the pottery village of Tlaquepaque is probably Mexico’s largest and most important arts and craft center featuring works from all over the country.
The next day will feature the Tequila region tour to counterbalance that shopping time! Enroute you will visit Lake Chapala, the biggest lake in Mexico, and stop at Lake Patzcuaro, famous for its colonial beauty and unique customs. From a fellow traveler describing Patzcuaro, “They call it a magical town and indeed I’m still under its spell.”
The final stop will be in Morelia known as the aristocrat among Mexico’s colonial cities. Tripadvisor’s verbiage includes “stunning day or night” “a walk in history,” maybe we saved the best for last?
Returning to the capital city to catch your flight home, you will have a good understanding of Colonial Mexico. You will have experienced the food, the art, the language, the costume, the music, the people, the customs besides the architecture; all to be measured if Indigenous Spanish or that Mestizo blend?
The tour package includes bus transportation to PHX airport, an international flight to Mexico City, nine night’s accommodations at 4-star hotels, daily breakfast, all transfers and excursions, private tour transportation, entrance fees to museums and archaeological sites, service charges and taxes. You will be surprised at all the side stops not even mentioned here.
Contact Joyce for more information by email [email protected] or call 520-777-8341 to leave a message. Sneak preview: https://youtube/-g_Dph32F24. You have to type that perfectly!