After our hike on the volcano of Nevado de Toluca (see Part I), our tour repaired to the nearby town of Metepec. We had lunch at the closest possible restaurant to our parked van (breakfast had been small), where the multi-course meal was
good and the stale Lawrence Welkish jazz musak amusing, then set about
exploring the city center.
Metepec is one of Mexico’s “Pueblo Magicos,” but as a suburb
of busy Toluca it’s rather a busy, ordinary city in its own right. The prettified downtown is small and as if
half-heartedly Magico’d against the leaking tide of surrounding urban
decay. It does, however, boast two colonial-era
churches, which we explored.
The first was the Covento de San Juan, a 1526 church and convent
with a grand stone approach, some lovely walls of crumbling yellow plaster, and
interesting lampposts.
In the quiet courtyard inside, aromatic of stone and soft
wood, they’re in the process of uncovering and restoring some original
16th-century murals on the walls under the arcades.
We also visited an 18th Century church in red stone called
the Capilla del Calvario, which was hard to miss as it commands a hilltop at
the head of a wide stone stairway.
We couldn’t go into this church as there was a wedding in
progress (with tuxedo’d men and glosssy-gowned women scurrying into position
before the doors with baskets of rose petals) but we stood on the belvedere
looking out at the vista of Metepec for a little while.
And that concluded our tour.
On the drive back to Mexico City a blinding thunderstorm broke over the crowded
highways, with hail, and once again I was glad not to be driving my Miata on
this trip!
All in all a great day, and kudos to Aztec Explorers.
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