Prash and Harneet had decided to visit Teotihuacán on Sunday, and since Phil and I had already been there, we decided to let the kiddies do their thing while we took a day trip to Taxco. It is a colonial city that is nestled in the mountains of Sierra Madre and is a three-hour ride from Mexico City. Taxco is heavily associated with silver, both with the mining of it and crafting of it into jewelry, silverware, and anything else you can think of that can be crafted into silver. Even though, today, silver mining in Taxco has declined, the city has more silver stores than I can count.
We met up with the same group of bikers we had dinner with the week before on Sunday morning at 8:00 AM and headed towards Taxco. We reached the city at around noon due to the few breaks we made along the way. Taxco is an incredibly beautiful city and easily the most picturesque we have been to in Mexico (and we’ve been to quite a few). I almost frolicked along the streets because it looks like a Disney movie, but I refrained because my Mommy told me not to be weird in public. Even the cobblestone streets were not annoying because they’re sanded down flat so it’s easy to manoeuver the bike and not hard on the feet when walking. Taxco be doin’ cobblestones right! 🙂
Aside from silver, there is another thing that is found all over the city – old Volkswagen Beetles. The Beetle was an instant hit when it was introduced in Mexico in 1954. It was so successful that Volkswagen opened a plant in the state of Puebla in 1964. After the era of the oil crisis; however, the popularity of the vehicle began to decline and the plant in Puebla produced its last Beetle in 2003. While not as many are seen in the capital, Taxco has Beetles in abundance. Perhaps it is because the compact car is well-suited to the topography of the city.
After spending most of the day in Taxco, the group decided to call it a day so we headed towards home. On the way back, one of the bikers ran into some trouble with his bike so the rest of the group pulled over and helped him. An hour later, the bike was resuscitated and we were on our way home again. It was a long and tiring ride back in the evening, and we fell asleep hard and fast that night.