Went For The Food and Colors, Fell In Love With The People – Oaxaca, Mexico

We spent 6 weeks in Oaxaca City, or Oaxaca de Juarez, Mexico last winter. And now I want to do that every winter. Here are some of the things I loved about this colorful town in no particular order.

THE COLORS – I knew Oaxaca City would be colorful, but WOW did it amaze me just how colorful it is. Each building is a different vibrant color, and then there are artistic murals at every turn. And then some of the more historic buildings, such as churches and cathedrals are left a natural stone color, which just adds to how picturesque the town is. Most days as we walked around there was a festive street procession of some kind, with dancers, musicians and giant puppets. These processions are called Calendas or Connives, and could be to celebrate a wedding, a graduation, or any holiday. And it seems like they are always decorating for the next holiday season. They went straight from Dias de los Muertos decor to Christmas decor.

THE FOOD – Did you know Oaxaca has 2 Michelin Star restaurants, and a couple more that have had Michelin stars in previous years? And did you know that Rick Bayless spends winters in Oaxaca and gets much of his inspiration there? So if you are a foodie rest assured that you can find everything from gourmet restaurants to delicious street food. Some our favorite restaurants were Copal, Tierra del Sol, Cocina de Humo (where we got a cooking demonstration), and La Olla. Our favorites for the rooftop views were again Tierra del Sol, and La Azotea Grill House. But most days we just walked around and had some street food, like around the Zócalo and the Paseo Juarez. A few times we also had a very casual meal at the Mercado 20 de November.

THE HISTORY – Oaxaca has a rich history shaped by ancient indigenous civilizations, Spanish colonization, and national political figures. The Museum of Culture is a great place to learn about the history and how it shaped this town and surrounding area. And Monte Alban is a magnificent pre-Hispanic city on a mountain overlooking Oaxaca. It was founded about 500BC by the Zapotec people, and later by the Mixtec people. There are 16 recognized languages spoken within the state of Oaxaca, spoken by about 30% of the population, giving an idea of how diverse the people are.

THE MEZCAL – Oaxaca is the main source of Mezcal in the world. Mezcal is like Tequila, but Tequila is made of only one type of agave from 5 specific Mexican states. Mezcal is made from 40 different types of agave, and can be grown anywhere in Mexico. There are different types such as Espadín (most common), Tobalá (a much smaller agave, and must be wild), Arroqueño (a wild agave that takes 20-25 years to mature), and Tepeztate (another wild agave that takes 25-35 years to mature). There are plenty of options in Mezcalerías to taste the different ones. Or you can take a day long tour to visit the agave fields, see the process of making Mezcal, and ending with a tasting. We did this option and it was a LOT of fun!

THE PEOPLE – The people of Oaxaca are super friendly and very family oriented. We felt safe walking around at any time of day or night. We enjoyed going to the Paseo Juarez in the evenings and seeing families letting their kids play in the park. They might play soccer, have dinner from a street vendor, or ride little rented stuffed animals around the fountain. And around town you can see couples dancing wherever there is live music. We enjoyed talking to street vendors doing their handcrafts as they sold their wares, and to our apartment landlord, and anyone else we met. Every person was very welcoming and helpful.

Here are some of the things we did in Oaxaca, although this is hardly an exhaustive list:

Museum of Culture
Mercado 20 de Noviembre
Pasillo de Humo – Hall of Smoke
Museo Textil
Monte Albán Archeological Area
Hierve el Agua – petrified waterfall
Jardín Etnobotánico
Jalatlaco neighborhood
Philatelic (Stamp) Museum (yes, so cool)
The Zócalo, plaza in center
Árbol del Tule (widest tree)
Teotitlán ruins
All the rooftop restaurants 
Cocina de Humo (cooking classes/demonstrations)
Levadura de Olla Restaurant (Michelin recognition)
Santo Domingo cathedral
Street food, especially in Paseo Juarez
A Mezcal tour/tasting
Radish Festival around Christmas 
Ancient aqueduct 
Copal Restaurant

Consider visiting this beautiful city in the middle of Mexico. And save and share this for your future trip.