Mexico has designated 83 towns and villages as Pueblos Magicos (Magical Towns) throughout the country. To achieve such a designation a town must demonstrate natural beauty, historical significance and cultural diversity.
70 km east of the beautiful colonial town of Merida in the Mexican state of Yucatan, is the enchanting “Magical Town” of Izamal, nicknamed La Ciudad Amarilla (the Yellow City) for the glowing yellow paint that covers the colonial buildings. Izamal is a beautiful place to experience the diversity of three cultures: Maya, Mexican and Spanish.
I spent an entire day walking around this colorful town with its mustard yellow colored walls, cobblestone streets and colonial lamp posts. Every corner I turned opened up to another street scene that felt more like a Hollywood movie set than an old colonial town.
You can also get around town by hiring a Victoria or Calesa (a horse-drawn carriage) which serves as taxis for both locals and tourists.
Or you can get around the old fashion way like this local woman with a bicycle.
Happy Travels!
Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography
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Showing posts with label Colonial Style. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colonial Style. Show all posts
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish
The University of Guanajuato is located right in the historic center of Guanajuato, Mexico which gives the city a youthful atmosphere (there are over 30,000 enrolled students).
I photographed this young woman along one of Guanajuato’s cobblestone streets and her laugh reminded me Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement speech where he told this story to the graduating class.
“When I was young, there was an amazing publication called ‘The Whole Earth Catalog,’ which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960′s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: It was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.”
“Stewart and his team put out several issues of ‘The Whole Earth Catalog,’ and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: ‘Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.’ It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.”
“Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”
As a wandering travel photographer I have to constantly remind myself to Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. To wander a city as a temporary local and seek new experiences and not have it handed to me from a formulaic tour package. To photograph people as human beings with fascinating stories and not as a cultural backdrop.
I guess this is why I love to travel and photograph, to tell compelling stories and to Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Happy Travels!
Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography
Why don't you join me on Facebook?
Still figuring out Google +
Follow me on Twitter!
I'm over at Pinterest too!
Sam's Photography Blog
Sam's Travel Photography Gallery
I photographed this young woman along one of Guanajuato’s cobblestone streets and her laugh reminded me Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement speech where he told this story to the graduating class.
“When I was young, there was an amazing publication called ‘The Whole Earth Catalog,’ which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960′s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: It was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.”
“Stewart and his team put out several issues of ‘The Whole Earth Catalog,’ and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: ‘Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.’ It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.”
“Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”
As a wandering travel photographer I have to constantly remind myself to Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. To wander a city as a temporary local and seek new experiences and not have it handed to me from a formulaic tour package. To photograph people as human beings with fascinating stories and not as a cultural backdrop.
I guess this is why I love to travel and photograph, to tell compelling stories and to Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Happy Travels!
Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography
Why don't you join me on Facebook?
Still figuring out Google +
Follow me on Twitter!
I'm over at Pinterest too!
Sam's Photography Blog
Sam's Travel Photography Gallery
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