After beginning the day in Tlaxcala with simple, satisfying artisanal bread from Molino’s wood-burning oven, drive east to Contla, a village known for textiles that have been absorbed into the city’s sprawl.
Visit the workshop of fourth-generation weaver Ignacio Netzahualcoyotl. He and a small team of dyers and weavers craft contemporary rugs, shawls, and elaborate serapes using pedal looms. (Though usually associated with the northern city of Saltillo, serape weaving likely originated in Tlaxcala.)
From Contla, drive southeast to Huamantla. The town’s central plaza is an ideal spot to grab a quick snack of ice cream and mueganos, the wheat-and-cane-sugar fritters.
From left: Near the village of Ixtenco, members of the Baltazar family pick pumpkin flowers and corn; the harvested ingredients are used to make a traditional soup. | CREDIT: ANA LORENZANA
Continue south to Ixtenco, a traditional Otomí community, for lunch in the humble kitchen of the Baltazar family, whose cooking has its roots in the milpa, a pre-Hispanic farming system built around the symbiotic relationship between corn, squash, and beans. (A visit can be prearranged with the help of culinary historian Irad Santacruz via direct message on Instagram at @irad_santacruz.)
After lunch, drive north to the 17th-century Hacienda Tenexac (doubles from $135), in Terrenate, which is still inhabited by descendants of the family that bought the property in the late 1800s. Spend a peaceful night in one of four rustic cabins and drink in the pastoral calm of a distant century.
From left: A guest room at JapoNeza Retreat with views of the Atlangatepec lagoon and La Malinche volcano; Tlaxcala City, the state’s capital, is home to a UNESCO-listed Franciscan convent and cathedral from the 16th century. | CREDIT: ANA LORENZANA
Source: T+L
