Back to the Zócalo

The purpose of my trip downtown on Wednesday was to once again visit the "Verbena Navideña" (Christmas fair) on the main plaza. 

 In the daytime, one could appreciate better the giant Christmas trees made of poinsettias.

Yes, those are live poinsettia plants.  Obviously, workers have kept them watered because the plants all looked very healthy.

I wanted to go to the handicraft bazaar in order to buy a few more gifts.  On my previous visit I had run out of money.

These dolls had struck my eye on my first visit.  They are handmade rag dolls similar to the ones from Amealco (see previous post).  However, their costume is quite unique.

The dolls come from the town of Chilapa de Alvarez in the mountains of the state of Guerrero.  Apparently, this is the traditional attire of the region, because the vendor was also selling clothing in the same style.  Even though I had just bought a doll for the daughters of a friend of mine, I had to buy one of these because they are so distinctive.

I was also interested in buying of piece of lacquerware.  These come from the town of Olinalá, also in the state of Guerrero.

The very aromatic wood from the "linaloe" tree, which is native to the region, is used to create these beautiful pieces.  I bought a jewelry box from this couple who are talented artisans from Olinalá.

I was tempted to buy more, but I headed back to the apartment with my two purchases.