Oaxaca Plazas
ZOCALO and ALAMEDA PARK
The green heart of Oaxaca is the Zócalo, a large city square shaded by towering Indian laurel trees. It's borders are Avenida Hidalgo, the Alameda de León Park and atrium of the Cathedral on the north side and Trujano on the south, where the Government Palace is located and the García Bustos murals depicting the history of Oaxaca. On the east and west sides of the park are the arcades of Juárez and "de las Flores" (of the Flowers), with shops and open-air restaurants. Sitting comfortably at one of these establishments with a Margarita or a good Mexican beer and a delicious snack on the table, you can savor the orchestras and mariachis performing in the bandstand, the roving street musicians, and the panorama of local beauties, elder statesmen, tourists, bootblacks, dogs, kids on bikes, balloon and flower vendors, and Indian children who provide endless entertainment. One foreign writer remarked that everyone in Oaxaca crosses the Zócalo at least once a day; if not exact, it's close. At the very least, the lush oasis is a refreshing pause after strolling adjacent streets and markets, a sure cure for stress, a short walk through Mexican Paradise.
Of all the good days, Sunday is the best. School children perform regional dances in wonderful costumes next to the Cathedral, the vendors have out their best wares in the Alameda, families go by all spruced up for lunch at grandma's, the children as pretty as a bouquet of pansies; and the band gives two concerts. The city orchestra has been playing for over a hundred years, founded by French and Austrian musicians who came with Emperor Maximilian. (Legend tells that a flute player named Rousseau was inspired by Oaxaca's flora to paint his famous jungle scenes when he went back to Paris.) Just before sundown, an impressive band of military accompanied by brass and drums lowers the flag in front of the Cathedral, and marches it around the Zócalo into the Government Palace: a stirring patriotic spectacle. During festivals and on occasional week-ends the Alameda and Zócalo have open-air markets selling the most delectable sweets and food, regional textiles, rugs, toys, games, jewelry, and painted wood animals. With its full set of historic arcades and great dark-leafed trees a lush canopy overhead, this is the most beautiful Zócalo in contemporary Mexico. Now complete with cute babies, fountains and flowering trees, it was refurbished in 1973 by Mexico's globe-traveling restoration architect, Jaime Ortíz Lajous, who calls the popular CAFE DEL JARDIN "the greatest outdoor cafe in the world." (On the southwest corner, below the balconies of the ASADOR VASCO restaurant.) The Zócalo has undergone a new renovation / revitalization in 2005.
ARTE y TRADICION SHOPPING COMPLEX
García Vigil 406 btwn Allende & M. Bravo (4 blocks north of the Cathedral Sub-titled "Centro Cultural de Expresión Indígena," this historic house with its pink patio is a perfect setting for the handicraft shops that line its corridors.
LABASTIDA PARK
Located along Abasolo between Alcalá and 5 de Mayo, 3 blocks north of the Cathedral and l block south of Santo Domingo Church.
Surrounded by colonial buildings, this sliver of historic park with a center fountain has been adopted by young artists and craftsmen. A very busy place on week-ends, jewelry merchants find it an agreeable setting for their original hand-made creations. Teotitlán rugs, black pottery, small baskets, and casettes are also sold here. Across Alcalá are shops and restaurants including the HOSTERIA DE ALCALA (excellent regional cuisine in an elegant patio) and CORAZON DEL PUEBLO, one of Oaxaca's very best handicrafts shops. Farther north up Alcalá, DEL FRAILE sells jewelry, EL CACTUS rugs, ARTESANIAS TERESITA painted wood sculptures, and CODICE books and postcards.
PLAZA SANTO DOMINGO SHOPPING CENTER
Alcalá 407, corner of Allende, southwest corner of the atrium of Santo Domingo Church.
A handsome, crisply rennovated colonial building houses this complex of 16 shops and galleries, some of the nicest in the city including the excellent travel agency Oaxaca Tours on the 2nd floor. Downstairs center one can buy good hamburgers; also on the second floor (along with shops and the U.S. consul) is an exceptionally good Oaxacan restaurant - Los Balcones. There is also the boutique LADY SHANGHAI selling designer suits, and (from China) scrolls, furniture, pearl jewelry, and decorative accessories. ARTESANIAS has a variety of handicrafts.
On the first floor are boutiques DISHVê and CIELITO LINDO, three jewelry shops (ARTESANIAS MAY'S, FLOR DEL CIELO and TAXCO PLATERIA); a local travel agency office, boutique CREACIONES LIXHI TUU selling native cotton (manta) dresses and separates. ARTE TEXTIL de OCOTLAN is an excellent source for bed and table linens, drapes and upholstery.
GURRION STREET
Located between Alcalá and 5 de Mayo south of Santo Domingo Church.
Although not properly a park or plaza, this short stretch of luxurious palm trees and shops selling rugs (MAGICA EXPRESION) and textiles (CRESPO) with some tinware, pottery and jewelry, is a convenient oasis with refreshment and sweet stands. Pairs of sweethearts are always perched on the steps belo the Dominican church, and shopkeepers gossip outside when low on customers.
Mothers with children in tow, tourists and families emerging from the Regional Museum at Santo Domingo are lured by the street's simple pleasures enhanced by a double row of electric pink bugambilias along the side of the church.
At the east end of Gurrión before it turns into Constitución is a tiny park, well-named: the JARDIN DEL PAñUELITO (Garden of the Little Handkerchief). Its jacaranda trees bloom azure-lavender in the spring, creating a lovely profile against the clouds and shading the park benches and GECKO ART GALLERY complex with the renowned CASA OAXACA restaurant, with TEOTITLAN rug shop on the corner and the WELTY INSTITUTE FOR OAXACA STUDIES library at the back. Walking 2 blocks south on 5 de Mayo toward the CAMINO REAL HOTEL in a magnificent 17th century convent, you will encounter a group of attractive stores with jewelry, books, rugs, and other handicrafts, as well as COFFEE BEANS, Oaxaca's best little coffee shop.
Across from the Santo Domingo on Alcalá are other good stores: ORO DE MONTE ALBAN jewelry (its workshop on Gurrión is open to visitors), LAS SIETE REGIONES specializing in textiles and IAGO, the INSTITUTE of GRAPHIC ARTS of OAXACA with its outstanding library, bookshop, exhibition galleries, and a patio restaurant.
PLAZUELA OF CARMEN ALTO
Just south of Carmen Alto Church, between Alcalá and García Vigil, a short block north of Santo Domingo Church. On the south side of the plaza are COCIJO handicrafts and REMBRANDT foto supply. On the west is García Vigil Street with additional handicraft shops including JADE and CHIMALLI.
Up Alcalá a block north of Carmen Alto Church, is a delightful narrow park with tall trees and benches but no commerce, a special place for a quiet rendevous or those who like to walk a city, finding out its secrets. One block north and east is another little park called JARDIN CONZATTI complete with a fountain, benches and trees (palms, pines and "pirules"). Just north of the park is where the Holiday Inn Oaxaca is located.
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Located 6 blocks north, 1 block west of the Zócalo (a five minute taxi ride from the Zócalo or five-minute walk from Santo Domingo Church). Covers two blocks between Lic. Verdad (north side), Dr. Liceága (south side), Pino Suárez (east side), and Juárez on the west.
Dedicated to Oaxaca's great Zapotec Indian President (note his statue on a pyramid-like base with pre-Colombian motifs, surrounded by gold urns), El Llano Park merits discovery by visitors. Quieter than the Zócalo, it is much loved and enjoyed by Oaxaca natives. Something is always going on: parties for children, book fairs, color guards practicing for a school parade, gymnasts flipping on mats, maids gossiping, joggers circling, dogs chasing, and couples flirting on the park benches, the fountains and on rollerblades. Indeed, the park is the place for sweethearts; on Fridays during Lent, university students hand out flowers to their favorites, and the pretty girls with the most blossoms become the Beauty Queens.
On the west side, a distinguished turn-of-the-century house has been converted into the CASONA del LLANO hotel, with food served on the veranda. On the NE corner is a newspaper stand, on the SW was a good movie house, ARIEL 2000 - now closed. Along the edges are restaurants (try the seafood at Marco Polo formerly called MARISCOS DE LOS JORGES); also visit the CASA BRENA complex, a restored mansion with shops selling delicate linens from Brazil (...a mano BRASILEñA), and office and architectural supplies (PAPELERIA DEL ISTMO PACIFICO). On the south side of the plaza you can buy good perfume and makeup at EXTRAVAGANZZA, and sports clothes at JANEKOS. Near the Casa Brena is a bank and even a veterinarian, DR. NAVA. Drugstore FARMACIA DEL AHORRO is open 24 hours; the steamed corn, sweets and taco vendors close at sunset.
PLAZA OF LA SOLEDAD CHURCH
On Independencia a few blocks west of the Alameda Park, is a tiny plaza before the atrium of La Soledad Church. The temple has a grand baroque facade like a giant altarpiece; it is dedicated to the Patron Saint of Oaxaca.
The park has trees, a fountain, tables, and rainbows of stretched awnings. It operates as one big restaurant where everyone seems to be among old friends, both customers and the owners of the stands doling out ice cream, cakes and candies. A few vendors sell fantasy jewelry and other small items; at festival time the plaza is more than busy. All year long it is good fun, a place where Oaxaqueños come to indulge their legendary sweet tooth.
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