Cholula

Situated in the heart of Puebla, mere minutes away from the capital city of Puebla, is the city/district of Cholula.  During our first month in Mexico, we dedicated a weekend to exploring Puebla and parts of Cholula.  While the city hosts a thriving university and a hopping night life, as well as several churches of beautiful, European influenced architecture, the city is perhaps best known for its ancient pyramid.  According to the literature I've read, the Great Pyramid of Cholula is the largest archaeological site in the New World.  Instead of the stereotypical pyramid made popular by the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, the pyramid in Cholula consists of several building and structures, including a courtyard dedicated to altars for worship and for sacrifice.  The pyramid is phenomenal.  The beauty and precision of the architecture is astonishing, and the extent to which the structures have been excavated and restored is impressive to say the least.  

This is one of my favorite misadventures and
by far one of my favorite pictures from this
trip

While the pyramid is amazing, though, a person can find all sorts of pictures of the pyramid online.  Exploring the visitor-accessible areas of the pyramid did constitute a significant portion of our time in Cholula, but it was not our most memorable experience, however.  As we were leaving the pyramid and slowly making our way back to the bus stop, we encountered a small parade or celebration in a park.  As we stopped to watch the procession, we saw people dressed in all sorts of colorful costumes--dog heads, bird heads, Mexican wrestling masks, etc.  We pulled out our cameras and started taking pictures, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake.  A group of costumed characters (including one frightening man in a cartoon mask dripping fake blood and toting a gun) saw Caroline and me standing alone they immediately closed in on us, surrounding the two of us and cutting us off from the rest of our group.  They clearly meant us no harm, but they did come uncomfortably close, jostling us as they laughed and danced.  Caroline and I laughed, shrieked, laughed more, and screamed at our friends to rescue us.  They did not, but one companion had the good fortune to snap this gem of a photo.