Happy New Year, friends! New Year - new adventures! Everyone around me is doing retrospect analyses and making great plans for the coming months, which got me thinking too. 2017 was quite eventful for me, when I come to think of it! In January I took an Air Yoga course through which I met the incredibly inspiring Yulia Baturina, a Russian yoga instructor and founder of Air Yoga Egypt, who pushed me to travel to India for a proper TTC. And so I spent the month of March in Mysore, Karnataka and got certified as an Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga teacher at the
Krishnamacharr Yoga Shala (200h). I had the incredible honor of learning from Guruji BNS Iyengar, a direct student of
T. Krishnamacharya, who has been practicing yoga for over 70 years. I was also taught by other incredible teachers and made friends from around the world, some of which will surely remain close for life. After coming back to Alexandria, I started teaching Air Yoga, eventually leading three groups per week and feeling more motivated than ever to go deeper into my yoga journey. Now many of my students are certified instructors themselves, teaching all over the city and I couldn't be more proud! In August I quit my job of five years at the Anna Lindh Foundation and, after visiting Poland, Estonia, the East Coast of the US and Montreal, I arrived in Mexico City, where a whole new adventure started. I came here for one job, ended up with another and still the road in front of me is wide open! Who knows where it'll take me next?
Before I dive into the New Year and new adventures that come with it, let me tell you a bit about one of the last trips I took in 2017. Around Christmas time, with some friends, who came for a short vacation from abroad, we visited the city of Puebla, which also happens to be the capital of Puebla State. It took us about two hours to reach Puebla on a bus from Mexico City. There are plenty of buses on this route, even without a reservation we had no problem finding a connection.
Puebla is a city in East-central Mexico, located to the South-East of Mexico City. It was founded in 1531 and lies on 1,135 m above sea level. It is very well-known for it's colonial architecture, pottery and (possibly more than anything else) for its culinary history, in particular for the world-famous mole poblano. It also boasts a very large number of churches.
The historic center, complete with its pretty Zocalo (main square) is exceptionally well maintained and pleasant to walk around. During our visit it was particularly delightful at night, when all the holiday decorations were lit up. By day, we browsed the numerous boutiques, as well as the open air market, selling handcrafts from different parts of the country - set amongst colorful buildings and picturesque streets, this made for enjoyable walks with some shopping on the side. We had lunch at the El Mural de los Poblanos - a highly-reccomended restaurant, serving Poblano classics, including mole. We were especially impressed with the creative dessert menu, offering sweets made with traditional ingredients, rarely found otherwise. At night we grabbed some tacos and drinks in one of the many taquerias around the Zocalo and we even found a pulqueria, which is a bar serving only pulque (a fresh and healthy fermented drink made from the agave cactus; due to it's slimy consistency, which reminds some of semen, pulque is considered an aquired taste - I really like it, but some struggle). There was live music all around, plenty of beautiful murals and, overall, we are of the opinion that Puebla makes for a charming day (or two) trip from busy CDMX.
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| Lunch at El Mural de los Poblanos |
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| Lunch at El Mural de los Poblanos. Mole poblano with shredded duck |
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| Cafe de olla |
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| The restaurant is adorned with a giant mural, covering an entire wall, which is probably where it gets it's name: the mural of the residents of Puebla (Poblanos) and alludes to the rich tradition of muralism on Mexico |
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| Local beer |
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