Home-style cooking abounds in Morelia, where freshness and local
produce are accentuated. Enchiladas topped with boiled potatoes
and carrots. Avocados grown an hour away. Corundas, simple
unfilled triangular tamales, are topped with mild salsa and
creme fraiche. Uchepos, another unfilled ("blind) tamale made
with fresh corn, are sold either dulce or con sal. What's known
as tortilla soup in the rest of Mexico becomes Sopa Tarasca here
with the addition of beans. Street vendors sell churros, freshly
made potato chips, and juiced sugar cane.
Rabbit is usually available at the sidewalk cafe in front of
the Hotel Casino. Chamorro en adobo (barbecued pork) is a
specialty of Yugo on Camelinas. Pay de piņa (pineapple pie) is a
favorite dessert at Woolworth's, which used to be a private
chapel.
The Saturday buffet at the Posada de la Soledad is one of the
best bargains in town for traditional Mexican food; however,
reservations are essential.
Upscale, which in today's economy means $10 per person, the
best in town is Las Mercedes. The original, a few blocks from
the main plaza downtown, features traditional dishes in a
courtyard setting. The caged birds, however, may drive you
crazy....especially if they aren't in competition with the
American-born flautist. Las Mercedes' second and newer place on
Acueducto (a $1 cab ride away), amid stark modernity, Zalce
sculptures and orchids, is a better bet. Start with watercress
salad, then go on to this hemisphere's best chicken Kiev (or the
pollo Azteca, stuffed with huitlacoche), then finish with mango
strudel.
The Virrey de Mendoza's dining room, somewhat more expensive,
is a classic with white-gloved waiters....even at lunch.
The nuns of the Parroquia de Inmaculata serve up traditional
Mexican dishes beginning at 6:30 p.m. nightly at a gaily
decorated church center in Colonia Vasco de Quiroga (from
Acueducto, turn north at the Ford agency). Originally a
Christmas fund-raiser, this has become a year-round carnival
with a brass band. If you get there early, there's a great whole
wheat panaderia across the street.
Nearly all of the usual historical sights are within a
one-kilometer radius of the Cathedral. Spend several days in
easy-paced wandering. If you're reading this, no doubt you've
already scoured Frommer's, Birnbaum and Fodor's for detailed
information about museums. For some reason, most persist in
identifying the Casa de la Cultura as a museum...which it really
isn't. It took me a long time to figure out why its doors were
often closed, until I learned it is primarily a performing arts
and adult education center. Sculptures of Don Quixote in the
patio, made of junk metal, justify a visit...even if the mask
collection is unremarkable.
At the southwest intersection of Calz. Ventura Puente and
Camelinas (the southern periferico) sit the Convention Center,
Planetarium, Teatro Morelos, and the Orquidario --- twin
geodesic domes house an outstanding orchid collection.
Just as the Midwest is vanguard of standard American speech,
Morelia is one of the best places to learn Spanish. While its
primary focus is the semester-abroad college student, Centro
Mexicano Internacional (CMI) is the main Spanish language school
for adult travelers and can tailor a program to your needs and
skill level. Four hours of intensive classwork and a shared room
(including meals) with a Mexican family begin at $320 per week.
Fax (43)13-98-98; tel (43) 12-45-96; toll-free in the U.S.
800-835-8863.
Use Morelia as your base of operations to explore Michoacan.
Take day trips to Patzcuaro, Janitzio, Santa Clara de Cobre
(officially, Villa Escalante on the map), Capula. Try out the
mud baths and mineral waters at Balneario Cointzio about ten
miles away. Still in the neighborhood? Uruapan, at the brink of
the high tropics, is about ninety minutes off. Just don't drive
at night.
