My Conspectus: Cuernavaca: The Land of Eternal Spring

I used all of December 23 to travel to Cuernavaca. The trip from Guadalajara to Mexico City was seven hours (the equivalent of flying from Washington, D.C. to London), I had a two-hour layover in Mexico City, and then it was another two hours to Cuernavaca. I stayed with my great uncle, Guillermo Barraza Ortega, my father’s maternal uncle.
Guillermo lives alone most of the year, but when I arrived his friend, Tessy, was staying with him for the Christmas break. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, she’s a professor of scientific methods of investigation at a university in Mexico City.

Cuernavaca is one of the oldest cities in Mexico, having been habituated since 1200 BC. Its name means nothing, but if it were Cuernovaca, it would mean “cow’s horn.” The center of the city is the Plaza of Cortes, flanked by Jardin Boda. The main cathedral of the city is also a World Heritage Site, with protection from UNESCO.

They call Cuernavaca La Tierra del Eternal Primavera, or the land of eternal spring. On Christmas Eve (Buena Noche), the temperature was 25 C (about 79 F) and the sky was clear. All the stores were open, and buses were operating as usual. I didn’t feel like Christmas wearing shorts and a dress shirt.

Cuernavaca doesn’t offer much for tourists, but it’s a great place to live. Besides the terrific climate, it’s clean, safe, and is close enough to Mexico City to take advantage of its culture and services, without having to live with the pollution, crime, traffic, or noise.

The Palcio del Gobierno, next to El Jardin Del Ninos.