A magical walk through time

The last time I was in Cuernavaca was in March 2020, just as the pandemic started. My son Andrew and I had planned to spend March break in Mexico to visit my mom and attend a party she had planned to mark her 80th birthday. When we booked the flight, there was no pandemic looming that we thought would ever shut down the city, the airport, and eventually the North American borders. But as our departure date neared, we debated cancelling outright, as many people in Canada were abandoning their plans to vacation at a beach resort. While our trip was a vacation, it wasn't at a beach or a resort, and we thought the worst that could happen is we would be comfortably contained in a familiar home with my mom. 

Mexico had not fully accepted the reality of the pandemic. In fact, when we got to the Mexico City airport on March 16, 2020, I asked the immigration officer how widespread the virus was here, and she replied that it was all fake news, and claimed there was no virus here at all. Since we didn't share that mentality, we quarantined in Mexico City first before heading to Cuernavaca and seeing my mom. We didn't hug her or leave the house other than to go to the grocery store and Costco to beat the run on the toilet paper and water supplies. Also, we convinced my mom to cancel her party which would have been attended by about 30 vulnerable octogenarians. 

This time around,  thanks to the vaccine, my mom and I are free to hug one another, and also we are able to venture beyond the monolithic presence of Costco. So today, we travelled much further, through time it seemed as the colonial charm of the city showed us the way through the timeless streets of downtown Cuernavaca. 

I had seen all the sites many times before but for some reason --possibly because we don't take travel for granted anymore --the streets and colours seemed magical. I've tried to capture in photos why Cuernavaca has been a favourite retreat by Aztecs kings, conquistadores and many ex-pats from North America and Europe.

A colourful street leads towards downtown Cuernavaca

Ninety years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, the conquistadores led by Hernan Cortes were building a cathedral in Cuernavaca.

A side view of the Cuernavaca Cathedral

Entrance to the Cuernavaca Cathedral

My mom and I bobbed through the streets and shops trying to enjoy the moment while we could tolerate wearing our masks in the heat. Luckily, we were distracted by the beautiful flowers and coloured pierced paper marking the upcoming Day of the Dead. We let the colours lead the way through the cobblestone streets.

The orange seasonal flowers adorn a downtown restaurant

An entrance to a local business brought to life by pierced paper and flowers

After walking for a while, we stumbled across a courtyard that was shared by a few shops and restaurants. We chose to eat here as the area was protected from peddlers and the business of the cars and street noise. We had a picturesque view of a fountain and as dusk approached, accent lighting kept the area alive with colour. 

Cuernavaca has seen the famous and infamous, from Ferdinand Maximillian, ordained by the French as emperor of Mexico, and his wife Carlotta of Belgium who spent weekends here, to Charles Lindbergh. 

The famous last scene in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where the outlaws were gunned down by the Bolivian army was filmed here as were several other classic Hollywood movies. I will have to tell my son Andrew, 18 about this, as he is currently in Vancouver studying Film Production at Vancouver Film School. First though, I think I will send him a picture of our delicious burger dinner!

 

Wish you were here, Andrew!