Retire Early
Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler
In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age
of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this
financially independent lifestyle, they invite you
to take advantage of their wisdom and experience. |
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The
Plaza in Puebla, Mexico
Billy and Akaisha Kaderli
We got a great deal on a flight to
Puebla from
Guadalajara, Mexico, and since we have never been, we decided to visit this
town famous for their food.
The most recognized
dish is probably mole poblano, which has two different stories of origin.
One story says that this spicy chocolate sauce was reportedly invented here by a woman
who was trying to clean out everything in her pantry.
The other story says
that some 16th century nuns from the Convent of Santa Rosa were worried
because the archbishop was going to visit them and they had nothing to
prepare for him except for an old turkey in the yard. Supposedly due to
divine inspiration, they began to mix together many of the spices and
flavorings they had on hand in the kitchen, including different types of
chili peppers, various spices, day-old bread, chocolate and approximately
twenty other ingredients.
Letting the sauce
simmer for hours, they poured it over the turkey meat and the archbishop
loved it.
Voila! The famous black
mole sauce was invented!

The Convent Church of Santo Domingo de
Guzmán behind the fountain
Interestingly, for much of the colonial
period, this fountain was the main source of potable water. Bullfights were
held in this main square from 1566 to 1722.
And in 1862, during the
Battle of Puebla, this whole area was unpaved and the battle took place in
the front and on the sides of the church.
Interesting to imagine all of this, isn't
it?

Large colorful letters spelling out
the name of this city: PUEBLA
It has been a new feature in cities all
over Mexico, to have the name of their town spelled out in bright colorful
letters. This is commonplace in
Comitan,
Chapala,
Arandas,
Mazatlan and other cities.
It turns out that the
colors of the letters have something to do with what tourist features the
cities offer - archaeological sites, historical tourism, nature tourism,
sun, sand and beach and so forth.

Another fountain in the street
From this standpoint, the Church of Santo
Domingo is to the right behind us, and the Municipal Palace is the building across the
Plaza with the maroon awnings.

Palacio Municipal, Town Hall
The Municipal Palace in Puebla is the
seat of the City Council. The current building style of Elizabethan
architecture was begun in 1887 and completed in 1906. This location was the
seat of civil power since 1536, but there have been 3 different buildings as
the city grew and changed.
In 1714, in the second building, the
corner of the second floor was reserved for the mayors. There was balcony, a
chapter house and chapel. After the main door there was an audience room, a
jail and the mayor's home.

Beautiful, but closed, government
building
This is a government building - a bit run
down (as you can see the windows on the 2nd floor) and had something to do
with the mayor. Embarrassingly, I don't know the name of the building, but
right next door, the white-and-tiled building is the Casa de los Muñecos.
This Casa is a haute cuisine restaurant
which entertains dignitaries and is also an art museum.
In 1987, the historic centre of Puebla
was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The side of the Main Plaza
From this viewpoint, you can see
the Portales (painted in pink) on the right. The Pasaje is also to the
right outside of the photo, and the church is to the left.
Near here was a women's prison, a chapel
for the executed, and there were torture and visiting rooms.
Torture rooms?
Good Lord.

Inside the Pasaje Central
In modern times, this Pasaje (the
passage) is filled with stores and businesses. There used to be access to
the mayor's residence and the jails, chapel, and visiting rooms mentioned
above.

Side of the Plaza
From this view, you are looking to the
Municipal Palace (at the end of the street) and the Santo Domingo Church is
to the right.
Notice the tiled front of the building on the left. This area of Mexico was
famous for the pottery made here called Talavera. Craftsmen from Spain
taught the locals how to utilize the clay soil and glaze the pottery and
tiles for various uses, including the decorative fronts of buildings.
You will see tiled buildings all
throughout Puebla.

Jan Hendrix Sculpture on the Zocalo

I found this white painted aluminum
structure to be mesmerizing.
Walking through this over four meter high
circular and airy enclosure was mind-bending.
Depending on the time of the day and
where the sun was beaming, the art work changed appearance.
This piece is called "Puebla", was
produced by Factum Arte and installed in Mexico during the summer of 2009 in
this permanent location.
The much-acclaimed Jan
Hendrix was born in Holland in 1949.

White aluminum sculpture called "Puebla"
Here is the sculpture again, but earlier
in the day.
Apparently there are lights within it that are lit at night, but the whole
time we were there, the lights were not working.

Municipal Palace at night
With the awnings rolled up in the
evenings and with the lights on, the Municipal Palace takes on a different
look.

Santo Domingo Church at night
At night, the city takes a different
expression. With the buildings and church lit up, one gets a different feel
for this beautiful place.

The Portales at night
Portales originally were constructed to
allow vendors to be able to sell their wares in any kind of weather and
still be protected. It is a typical Mexican and Spanish style of structure.
These were modeled after the ones in Mexico City. No matter if it is
windy, rainy, or too hot, these covered areas allow buying and selling to
continue on unabated. It also keeps the hallways and entranceways into the
building cleaner.
These portals have had many names and
today this area is called "Portal Juarez."
The Santo Domingo Church is to the left
outside the photo, and the Pasaje is on the right, also, just outside
the photo.

The Convent and Church of Santo
Domingo at night
Apparently, Mexico is one of the world's
most seismically active regions, sitting atop several intersecting tectonic
plates.
In 2017, Puebla suffered a large earthquake at the magnitude of 7.1.
Co-incidentally - a national earthquake
drill is conducted every year by the government through the use of public
loudspeakers - and at the time of this drill, the actual earthquake happened!
After the quake some buildings needed
restoration, but fortunately, this church didn't require any work.
In its day, this
church, with its works of onyx, gilt plaster, and creative tiles of Talavera
pottery, was considered to be the eighth wonder of the world.
For more photos and stories on Mexico,
CLICK HERE
VIDEOS, VIDEOS, VIDEOS! See
Mexico for yourself! Beaches, Bars, Babes, Great Food, Live Music.

About the Authors



Retire
Early Lifestyle appeals to a different
kind of person – the person who prizes their
independence, values their time, and who doesn’t
want to mindlessly follow the crowd.
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