Oaxaca: Monte Alban ruins and I bought a hat

After our full-day tour, Scott skipped out on a visit to the Zapotec ruins called Monte Alban,. It's about a 30 minute bus ride up the hill from Oaxaca and the driver just said to meet him back in 3 hours. The site is gorgeous and so was the weather.

Besides the small museum, this is the first part you walk into. It's a ball court. A cursory search does not reveal the name of the ball game, but it was probably played with a rubber ball. More about this site after the jump

This was one of the earliest Mesoamerican cities, founded around 500 BC. You can read wiki for more.

The views definitely looked more impressive to the eye than the camera can capture. This one was taken from high atop a platform. I just could not get over the sky and the light, but I guess you had to be there.

As much as I did not want to be the tourist with the dorky hat, much like when I visited Italy in June, and I absolutely had to buy a hat because it was fucking hot. This hat is a little goofy but actually kind of dope and I carried it through multiple airports all the way home. 

And then of course I need to post about some food, I got some street elote for a snack (no mayo), which was actually pretty tasteless.One interesting thing I saw on this trip, that I didn't get a picture of, in this one neighborhood in Guadalajara: people making elote-style broccoli, So they had big, steamed trees of broccoli, and if you ordered it they chopped it and sauced it up with chili, cheese, and probably mayo if you want it.

For dinner we got a reservation at El Destilado. I was really on the fence about whether to go to Criollo. It's the most famous restaurant in Oaxaca, and is (sort-of) run by Enrique Olvera of Pujol fame, but I question how involved he really is. The cons were that it was a little out of the way and we would have had to take a cab. I was enjoying walking everywhere. The online reviews were also very very varied. It ranged back and forth from "best ever" to "garbage and terrible service" so I could not decide. But that's pretty true for all rando online reviews. Regardless, we had a wonderful meal at El Destilado for about the same price and I don't regret it.

We got the six course tasting menu without the drinks pairing. They sent us out a teeny complimentary cocktail with vermouth.

I really wish I had kept the printed menu, since the dishes change every night. This was a delicious taco with an edible leaf as a "tortilla"

 Pineapple and mezcal cocktail with a neon red flower in it. Kind of a dream cocktail

I can't remember what was in Scott's. Maybe he can help me out?

 Stuffed chile

 This one was a Japanese-ish soup

 Rib ey e

 It ended with a panna cotta. I really recommend a visit to El Destilado if you are in the city. The restaurant itself is a warren of different interesting spaces, fronted by a bar and topped by a patio. A few days a week you can go in the late evening for bar snacks and drinks, which might be the best way to go. They sent us home with little gift bags of lemon curd, spicy peanut salsa, and mini bottles of mezcal that they make.