Our First 48 Hours in Oaxaca, Mexico

The start of our trip in Mexico's food capital city

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Hi Friends, welcome to Oaxaca, Mexico — the second of three stops on our trip to Mexico. We just wrapped up two weeks in Mexico City, and after Oaxaca, we’ll be doing what we do best…lounging and relaxing, on a beach chair, in Tulum with drinks in hand.

As you can see from the photo above, the city of Oaxaca is so colorful! The buildings are beautiful, with bright contrasting colors, there are colorful decorations celebrating Mexican heritage and holidays all around, and the city feels alive.

Oaxaca is a much smaller city than CDMX (the abbreviation for Mexico City), and it has a more ‘traditional’ feel, but we haven’t gotten the sense that Oaxaca will be dull or quiet city. We’re staying in the central area of Oaxaca (called Centro), where there are seemingly unlimited options for cafes, chocolate shops, bars, restaurants, and art galleries.

The weather in Oaxaca is similar to that in Mexico City - right now, the temps are hovering between 75-80°F during the day and 50s-60s°F at night. This made packing for this trip (for 5 weeks) quite easy.

In our first 48 hours in Oaxaca, we’ve eaten fantastic tacos de hongos (mushroom tacos), bought our first bars of Mexican chocolate to eat while we were here, tried our first chocolate de agua drink, iced and made with fresh cacao, did a Mezcal and Mole tasting experience, found a restaurant/bar serving Thanksgiving dinner next week (one of the owners is from La Crosse, WI!), Chris went to the barber for a haircut and beard trim, and we went to dinner and a jungle-feeling cocktail bar with new friends from Manchester, UK and Oakland, CA.

We’ve noticed a lot of wonderful woodblock artwork in the gallery shops we’ve walked through, and we found one that is hosting a woodblock art class while we’re here, so I think we’ll likely sign up for it. For two people, the 4-hour class will cost us MX$500 (roughly $26 USD). We’re also doing a walking tour on Monday to learn more about the city, history, and the area’s 15+ indigenous groups.

Before we sign off, did you know that the demand for Mezcal has jumped 40%+ over the last 2 years? That’s amazing because it means more people are enjoying this wonderful spirit. However, it takes at least 6 years to grow and harvest an agave plant (some varietals are 20-25 years!)…so fast forward into the nearish future, and we likely won’t have enough supply for the demand around the world.

We are thrilled we found a place to eat Thanksgiving dinner next week, so we don’t miss out, and if you’re celebrating, we want to know…what are you making this year that you’re most excited about? Leave a comment below!

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