(repost from February 2012)

Oaxaca, at least the part with the touristy bits, is fairly compact, so B & I walked everywhere, and got to see a lot of the center city.  Most of Oaxaca is dominated by a fairly standard Colonial architecture, which could have gotten boring, but didn’t….for the most part, you couldn’t go for more than a few yards without noticing something eye-catching or quirky.  And although he didn’t mention it, I think B may have occasionally got a bit pissed off at me for randomly running across the street or lagging behind to take pictures  Sorry B 🙂

Typical street scenes, the first from the roof of our hotel:

And here are the quirks, some of them architectural, others just things that caught my eye.  The first two are actually from Mitla, a small town outside Oaxaca.

There were more of these weird little three-wheeled vehicles than cars in the center of Mitla:

If the chain link fence and barbed wire don’t keep you out, the cactus plants surely will!

On the way back to Oaxaca….beer and food trump death, at least when it comes to advertising:

There are no condom vending machines in the bathrooms of bars in Oaxaca. Instead, you have to buy protection in the street. There’s no more effective shame than public shame.

This is why tour guides always say “Keep to the right” on the steps:

Groovy transport!

Street sweepers were out early every morning, using brooms that look like they’re from a century or two ago:

Everyone should have a statue with titties staring out from their balcony:

A few last pics, of architectural details, from oldest (in terms of influence) to newest.  Some of these pics aren’t very good, because I had trouble getting my cam to focus in the dark.

Beautiful Art Nouveau door:

And a simple, but gorgeous Art Deco building — loved it!

Not sure where to place this, but very striking.

70’s influence. The pic of the door is unfortunately blurry:

I’d guess this has something to do with the 70’s, but who knows?

-R