Morelia is a beautiful city. One of the things that strikes you is the high concentration of architectural features that are either churches or related to churches (convents, chapels, etc) in the core of the city. The queen of these is the cathedral, which was across the street from my hotel (and gave it its name). Here it is during the day. The photograph was taken quite early in the morning to take advantage of the pleasant light (click for larger view):
It has fountains and gardens on both sides of it, and so acts as an all important community gathering point (or collections thereof) for the city where there are performances, spaces to wander or sit, and of course group viewings of the world cup (as far as I gathered from seeing the parked big screen truck/van, decorated with world cup paraphernalia – I was working at the University during the day when the games were on).
It is difficult to stop photographing in Morelia. Even just the cathedral turns your eyes and camera to keep drinking in the views she offers. Here’s a night shot (click for larger view), with an obliging moon. It also gives you a sense of how lively the place gets, and at night time there’s a number of cafes and bars in this area that keep a party atmosphere ticking along, especially on weekend nights.
-cvj
I prefer the nighttime photo too! I desperately want to visit South America, but only when my Spanish improves enough to be able to remember the key phrases when I need them (I need to understand all their usual responses to estas guapisimo and puedo invitarle a una copa?). Like the French, the Spanish I have met seem to instinctively dislike chatting to English speaking tourists (especially on topless beaches). Say Hi and they say Goodbye! Say Hola, and it’s much less hostile…
I was in Morelia 3 years ago. I liked the architecture, yes, but I found the city terribly noisy and smelly and no quiet corner anywhere. Not my sort of thing.
I love the night photo. The last time I was in Mexico (1980!), we traveled for 6 weeks and went all over the country, only staying with relatives for a few days and in two motels. We’d camp in the countryside, usually by a microwave tower. When we found ourselves in a city, we’d camp behind the cathedral, sleeping in the back of our small pickup. We had an illusion that we’d be safer near the cathedral. One night, the people who lived behind a particular cathedral arrived home to find us camped in front of their house. Instead of becoming irate about the two gringos on their doorstep, they *fed* us and kept us up talking long into the night.