Back to Mexico City

So here we are again over a month on. We took a first class pullman bus from Puebla to get here (no more 2nd class Mexican buses for us) and checked into this fine hotel. Loving the last bit of luxury before the loooooooooong long journey home tomorrow.

La Purificadora

We have stayed in hundreds of hotels over the years, but I don't think we have ever stayed in a "design hotel". The hotels in Puebla were quite reasonable, so we decided to stay somewhere really flash. We chose La Purificadora because it looked so different. It features in loads of design books and magazines and has apparently hosted televised events such as beauty padgents in Mexico. I couldn't wait to see it. (Hotel website: http://www.designhotels.com/lapurificadora)

It's basically a converted 19th century water bottling factory, tastefully restored/renovated using many of the original materials. It must have been really fun to design and it was a really fun place to stay. My favourite features were:

- the open air lobby with fire places (see picture below)
- the mixture of monochrome/neutral materials and bright purple fabric
- the glass floors
- the glass-sided swimming pool and roof bar
- the onyx shower room

More pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jomynard/LaPurificadora

The salchicha woman

This is the last little vignette from Xalapa! This is a picture of the main building of our hotel. Can you see where the crowd has gathered? This is street food that will make David salivate any time you mention it. The lady sells longaniza sausages topped with spicy sauces which are incredibly popular. She calls David "joven" (young-un) ha ha ha.

Our home for the last month

Here is the room that we rented for 5000 pesos for the whole month. Great value. Balcones Alferez http://www.aventuradelcafe.com/xalapa/hospedaje/xalhbaalf.htm

http://www.pradodelrio.com/e_mda.htm

Beautiful ironing job

Haven't seen middle creases in jeans since the Abu Dhabi days. This how they came back courtesy of the hotel laundry service. Stylish.