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Oaxaca's Grand Plaza is also its heart

As is often the case in Mexico, the best place from which to begin discovering a new city is the Central Plaza, usually called the Zocalo.

Surrounded by arcades sheltering restaurants and shops, and bordered by the Cathedral on one side, and the government palace on the other, the Zocalo is reminiscent of the Plaza San Marco in Venice, Italy. It is surrounded by buildings with covered promenades that provide shade from the heat of southern Mexico and the tropical afternoon rains.

This plaza is also the life center of the city. Under the shadow of the characteristic Indian laurel trees, Mexican often spend hours on its benches and caffes, playing dominos or talking the world over between cup of coffees as events unfold around them as they have for generations, sometime from early in the morning to late at night.

A familiar layout

This French-style kiosk is regularly used by local bands

Respecting a non-written Mexican tradition, a romantic French-style kiosk thrones in the center of the Zocalo, right in front of the governor's house. Twice a week, the official city orchestra plays there for all to enjoy, as the Zocalo turns into a colorful carnival.

The vacant spaces have been occupied by a myriad of small stalls which offer fantastic animas of brilliant colors, strongly scented sweet basils, indigenous knives, cloth dyed with purple snails, cocoa ground with sweet corn, garbanzo beans in honey, fried grasshopers with lemon, or fruit flavoured sherbets.