Tlayacapan Pictures and Stories

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	Our host family took us for a "paseo" (roughly a stroll, but in this case more like a Sunday drive) to Tlayacapan - the ceramic village. On the way, we got a chance to see the many factories just outside of Cuernavaca as well as some beautiful countryside. The streets of Tlayacapan are lined with shops selling hand made goods. The family told us that most spend a good part of the week making the things they will sell on the weekend. As you can see from this picture, the variety and quantity are amazing. Martha, our hostess, was particularly fond of ceramic members of an angel orchestrata. Click here to see them in the house.
The building Steve is standing in front of used to be a convent but is now a museum. Unlike in the United States where there are laws governing the display of human bodies, in Mexico it's completely permissible. Here in this museum are numerous "mummies" - remains of people who were buried there - displayed in glass cases along with many artifacts from the convent.
	Perhaps the best part of our visit was the bread. John and Martha have a tradition of visiting a particular small bakery whenever they come to Tlayacapan. That long paddle the man to the left is holding goes all the way into a very deep oven in the wall. On his right are shelves to hold the bread. There were all sorts of breads from bread for tortas (a particular kind of sandwich) to many delicious kinds of pan dulce ("sweet bread"). There are laws governing the price of bread so the bread is inexpensive. We bought three bags for 20 pesos (about $2). The Kortrights have tried to pay more in the past but the owners would not accept it.