COLONIAL CONCORDIA IN MEXICO
Known as the land of the serpent, the entire colonial village of Concordia is dedicated to manufacturing handmade mahogany and cedar furniture, bricks, and clay pottery. Sights include a cathedral and busy plaza with a giant rocking chair. An annual horse parade takes place in January around the time of the Festival of St. Sebastian, when I visited last year. I saw more than 200 horses, some stinky and many prancing, with men riding them while smoking, drinking beer, and holding toddlers.
My group stopped before Concordia in Malpica, a tiny town with a church, tile-maker, and bakery (I selected a delicious caramel-stuffed empanada).
From Concordia, we continued to Copala, a 400-year-old former mining town in the Sierra Madre Mountains that is famous for its pottery. A walk tour through the old cobblestone streets passes the old prison, the San Jose Church dating back to 1740, the charming town square, and the town’s colonial-style homes with red-tile rooftops. Kids sell geodes found in local hills as well as hand-carved replicas of their village. Daniel’s Restaurant is in a gigantic open-air palapa and is famous for its banana coconut cream pie; rooms are also available starting at $22 and “skyrocketing to $30."
image depicts Malpica bar, c2009 Carole Terwilliger Meyers
Thanks for the memories! I forgot about that wonderful, surprising horse parade.
ReplyDeleteClaire @ www.travel-babel.com