Today was our third and final day in Oaxaca before heading to Mexico City for just under a week. We originally had budgeted the extra day to do a tour of some of the historic, archeological sites around Oaxaca, but ultimately decided to save ourselves the 10-hour trip and instead continue to enjoy the sites in town instead. Since it’s a Sunday, we woke up bright and early to the sound of church bells ringing from the multiple churches in town, which was lovely despite the 7am timing. As we’ve wandered through most of the Centro neighborhood, we decided to create a self-led food tour of some of the hidden gems within the city and to visit a couple sites we hadn’t been able to yesterday while taking in the city’s interesting street art.

First on our tour was brunch at Tierra del Sol, another Michelin-recommended restaurant that is effectively three restaurants in one (one is a coffee shop, one sells bread, and one is a terrace brunch restaurant overlooking the botanic garden at the Templo de Santo Domingo).

While you wait for a table, you’re treated to the sight of cooking on the comal, the flat surface where flatbreads such as tortillas are prepared. We decided to try a couple things, including the entomatadas with nopales (basically a fried enchilada filled with onions and nopal), the chilaquiles with chorizo, and ‘tetelas’ which are essentially a stuffed Oaxacan maiz flatbread pouch (similar to a quesadilla) – in our case, the three were stuffed with chorizo, chicken and beef, respectively. Thankfully, breakfast also included cafe de olla, which was cooked over an open grill right there on the patio.

The food was good and the views were great, although I found the ambiance more impressive than the meal overall. Up next, we meandered back to the Templo de Santo Domingo, which was surprisingly open given it was a Sunday morning and services continue throughout the day. The church is apparently one of the best examples of New Spain Baroque architecture, dating back to 1551. It’s also been the site of many famous events, from military installations during wars to celebrations throughout Oaxaca’s history.

I wasn’t expecting much (frankly, I find that many of the biggest churches in any given town are usually the least ornate), but I was so glad we ducked in – it’s absolutely massive and has incredibly ornate detailing on the ceilings. There is also incredible woodwork framing at the entrance to every chapel, which was stunning.

Located inside the former convent of the Templo is the Museum of Cultures of Oaxaca, Santo Domingo, which is incredible and well worth the visit. The curation is interesting, leading you through the winding rooms of the convent as it moves from prehistory to colonial artifacts. From the top level of the museum, you can also see into the choir space right underneath the ceiling of the cathedral, which was a treat!

Fortunately, many of the artifacts relate to the local sites (which we opted not to visit), including Monté Alban and Mítlan, famous cultural and religious sites of the Olmec, Zapotec and Mixtec peoples for ~1500 years. Interesting artifacts included an early calendar developed by the Zapotec culture and later adapted by the Mixtecos called “Los Portadores de los Años,” aka the ‘bearer of the years’ (the circular artifact at the top right below). I also thought it was interesting that there was a lantern with a miniature of the icon featured in the Oaxaca Cathedral (bottom right, photos of the cathedral itself in ‘Oaxaca – Day 2’).

Most impressive, though, were the pieces from “Tomb 7” – which refers to the tomb of a Mixtec leader at the UNESCO World Heritage site Monte Albán dating to ~1300. The collection spanned everything from beautiful jewelry (incredibly ornate – apparently when they entered the tombs, they found kilos of metal, jade and bone ornaments), incredible carvings, pottery, and funerary ceramics. The gold ornaments were also incredible.

Beyond that, the most fascinating piece for me was the ‘turquoise skull’ dating from the mid-1500s – I’ve never seen something like this before in any of my travels. Apparently, the turquoise was glued on with resin and it was used as a Mixtec ritual object representing the ‘Lord of the Underworld’.

From the second floor of the museum, there is a beautiful view of the Jardín Etnobotánico de Oaxaca, which includes native plants and cacti. Sadly, the garden itself was closed for tours today, but the view was gorgeous nonetheless.

Back in the museum, I also enjoyed many of the pieces from the colonial history of Oaxaca. These included relics from the period of Cortes’ conquista, including some amazing religious iconography (the 16th century cross was especially stunning!). I also enjoyed the early ceramic depiction of John the Baptist (middle left; please note the amusing unicorn / horse / misshapen dog thing in the corner) as well as the hand-drawn map. There were also more modern (~1800s-1900s) pieces, including trunks showcasing the growth of the cotton trade and medicines.

I found the details on the cross to be especially impressive and beautiful.

Another interesting piece was a tool used to pan for gold by enslaved indigenous peoples under the Spanish colonial rule.

Post-museum, we opted to begin our ‘food tour’. First up was Sagrado Filemón, which is a lovely rooftop coffee shop and bakery. We ultimately ended up enjoying it so much we stayed for a couple hours reading – the food was great as well! We tried the local specialties – chocolate de agua (and one with milk), kalanca ice cream – and loved the breeze. For those curious, this chocolate drink is not similar to a chocolate milk. I’d actually compare it more to a mocha, if you removed the espresso and added spices like cinnamon and clove. It’s relatively thin and extremely refreshing on a hot day. The kalanca is an herbal liqueur from the Chocholteca region, which was made into a refreshing ice cream.

We then tried to hit two additional spots we’d identified – El sabor de Cecy and Panaderia “El Nanchalito” (photo of the door below), but both were sadly closed for the Sunday.

Instead, we ended up continuing to wander through Oaxaca, admiring the street art and beautiful murals. There seem to be a couple types of art here, which I appreciated.First are a series of graphics posted by URTARTE, or “La Unión Revolucionaria de Trabajadores del Arte (The Revolutionary Union of Art Workers)” which is a “collective of graphic artists who post socially conscious art around the streets of Oaxaca City and beyond” according to their website. These seemingly simple street graphics actually depict incredibly important indigenous rights issues, which the artists catalog on their Instagram @urtarte_oaxaca. Issues highlighted through their work include socioeconomic equality, women’s rights, education access, and so much more.

The second type of art are murals that appear to welcome you in to the various businesses and restaurants of Oaxaca. In many cases, these murals are commissioned by the business and are purposely intended to be celebratory and colorful.

Lastly, Oaxaca has a variety of more ‘magical’ traditions as well, which are also included in the street art. Magic mushrooms are easily foraged here and are used as part of the traditional indigenous medicine, and apparently elements from these practices make it into street art as well. I’m not entirely sure if we saw any of those murals (we didn’t do a specific street art tour), but it’s an interesting thing to keep an eye out for. If you’re interested in a different type of mushroom, there’s always the friendly burrito mascots to sate your appetite!

Then, we decided to attempt to break the heat – it’s incredibly warm here and A/C is basically non-existent (even in our hotel room, the A/C is more of a fan and we’ve been sleeping on top of the sheets). Sadly, we weren’t able to find any and decided to retreat to the hotel to pack before heading back out for dinner.

Before dinner, we decided to hit one of Oaxaca’s cocktail bars, Cosana. The first floor is essentially a nightclub (and had some amusing psychedelic alien decor). They’re clearly geared towards the Instagram set, which honestly meant the experience was picturesque during ‘golden hour’ overlooking the Cathedral.

For dinner, we headed across the street to Zandunga Sabor Istmeño, which is a restaurant inspired by the flavors of (based on a Google search) the Istmeño indigenous peoples, who fled from the eponymously named peninsula in Panama north to Mexico. The food was basic, but well done. We had a different variation on the enchiladas in mole (negro and ancho), a sopa de frijoles, and shared a tlayuda, which is essentially a giant tortilla covered in melted, shredded cheese and then filled with ingredients before being folded over like a quesadilla.

Given we’d been in the heat all day, we headed back to the hotel to relax and pack before we head out tomorrow to Mexico City.

Before I conclude, I do want to memorialize a couple additional thoughts about Oaxaca for safekeeping:

• It definitely helps to speak Spanish here – we’re pretty proficient, but it certainly would have been much more difficult to get around without it
• Oaxaca is a cash economy, especially once you leave the Centro tourist zones (and even within the tourist zone, there are minimums for card payments); food is incredibly cheap, especially at local restaurants, so if you carry $500-1000 (pesos) per day you should be ok!
• Despite being an incredibly tourist-oriented city (at least in el Centro), the hotels are largely boutique; the good news is there is great variety and service is friendly and welcoming – however, do read reviews to ensure your hotel will have A/C and be sure to look for any amenities you need (like assistance booking tours, arranging transfers to the airport, etc.)
• Be sure to bring earplugs – Oaxaca is a party town and the fiesta doesn’t stop until 3am at some bars
• Some restaurants we’d love to visit next time: Selva Cocktail Bar, El Espacio, El sabor de Cecy and Panaderia “El Nanchalito”
• Neighborhoods we’ wanted to visit but didn’t’d love to explore: Barrio Jalatlaco, Reforma
• Other experiences we’d do given more time: Visit El Tule (the oldest tree in the world!), Mítlan and Monte Alban (Zapotec historic / cultural archeological sites), artisan villages (there are many, but some specialize in beautiful handicrafts such as long, tapered candles and textiles), participate in a Temazcal (I regret not doing this, it’s essentially a traditional indigenous sauna experience led by a local shaman – I strongly considered booking with Temazcal Traditionale)

Now, on to Mexico City! Wish us (and our wallets and waistlines!) luck.