Recently, I venture down to Mexico for a friend’s wedding and I was a bit hesitant to go for 2 reasons: 1) I’ve never been south of New York City in North America before and 2) I thought: Mexico in the summer, are you crazy?!? My ignorance took a beating when I found out how lovely Mexico is in the summertime, especially in the province of Michoacán, which is 2km above sea level. Plus, the further south one adventures the spicier the food! I was in heaven, for about three days. Then the spices got to me. Fortunately, I had the beautiful setting of the city of Morelia to keep my spirits high. The city is FULL of beautiful churches, courtyards and colonial architecture. It is know as the city of “open doors” because during the week many doors to business and schools are open and tourist are allowed to respectfully enter to check them out! This got me thinking of how much of a hidden gem Morelia is and that more people should travel to find hidden gems, instead of the classic tourist destinations.
Travelling is about discovering and adventuring to something new. If tourist keep searching for the same, obvious destinations then the essence of travelling is diluted. Engaging in the sense of adventure to find a new doorway to enter. This is how we push our limits and get the feeling of awestruck.
During our trip, there was one day when we had gone on a bus tour around the city and were looking for lunch after. We found this sandwich shop and with our broken Spanish, we were able to order delicious deep fried pork sandwiches called Milaneza. We were motioned to go in to the courtyard to wait for our food and a beautiful surrounding was waiting for us! Around us were beautiful pillars and above was a roof made entirely of stain glass. It was totally unexpected. These special moments are what travelling is all about. When everything is planned out for us and we know what to expect, those little moments are taken from us.
Let us know what you think: should travelling be more planned or should you take an adventure to find your own hidden gems?
