Mexico Day 16 - The last day in Mexico

On this Saturday morning, the first thing was to sleep in. Fortunately, breakfast was available until 12 o'clock. We had free time until lunch.

During this time, a one-hour bus tour of Tlaxcala was offered. We passed by many popular spots in the city and our guide also told us some general facts about the city.

Tlaxcala is the capital of the homonymous state. This is the smallest Mexican state with just over one million inhabitants. The small town of Tlaxcala is located at an altitude of 2230m and has around 20,000 inhabitants. The name 'Tlaxcala' means 'The place where tortillas are baked'.

During our tour, we passed by the Government Palace, which is diagonally across from our hotel. It is best known for the 450 square meter fresco by the famous Mexican representative of the Muralism movement, Desiderio Hernandez Xochitiotzin. This fresco vividly depicts the history of the Tlaxcaltecs.

We also passed by the churches 'San José' and 'San Francisco', the latter of which was consecrated in 1521 and is thus the oldest church on the American continent.

After a steep climb up a hill, we stopped at the 'Basilica de Ocotlan' and visited it. It was beautiful and featured impressive paintings depicting the life of the Virgin Mary.

On the way back to the city, we also stopped at a viewpoint from where we could see the entire Tlaxcala. Here, we could clearly see the typical colors of a colonial city, such as Tlaxcala. Many buildings are in shades of red, orange, or brown.

Just before we reached our hotel, we also passed by the 'Plaza de Toros', the bullfighting arena in Tlaxcala.

At 2 o'clock we walked to a restaurant for lunch, which was only one street away. Two hours later, the buses left for Contla de Cuamatzi, which was 20 km away. When we arrived there, we were immediately greeted by some policemen who stuck to our sides. We were led to a small square, where a surprise awaited us. The mayor gave a welcoming speech, thanking us for coming to sing for them. Then some old women from the village came to the square and started dancing to the music of a small band. One of the women had a large chalice with incense in her hand. While the group of women danced, two others put a necklace made of dried grass and flowers around each of our necks.

Then we were invited to dance. The locals grabbed us and we danced hand in hand in a circle. The band played and played, and the circle of dancers grew larger. Everyone danced with everyone, it felt like the whole village had gathered because of us. The small Mexican women held our big singers by the hands, some of the local men even took two of us to dance with them. It was an indescribable feeling and a very special experience on the trip, which showed us the warmth and openness of the people here like never before.

When the last note faded away, confetti, flowers, and candies were thrown. But the highlight was probably the gift we received afterwards. Everyone was allowed to choose one of the beautiful, colorful and very comfortable typical Mexican ponchos. We were all overwhelmed by the heartfelt hospitality we received.

Of course, we all wore our necklaces during the concert, which started at 6:20 pm. Before we took the stage, the choir 'Hilando Voces' sang. After our performance, they joined us on stage and we sang together 'The Lord bless you and keep you' for the audience, which had filled the church to the last seat and even stood behind the last rows. The concert ended at 8 o'clock and an endless number of photos and selfies were taken.

Afterwards, we were invited to have dinner. A Mexican band played live music for us. The food became secondary, as hardly anyone stayed seated and everyone danced wildly between the tables. The evening was definitely unique on the trip and certainly a very worthy conclusion to our stay in Mexico!