Puebla City Of Churches - UNESCO World Heritage Site

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It was early in the morning.  We woke up at 3 a.m., showered, and headed for the airport.  I made a reservation over the weekend for parking.  Long-term parking with a reservation has a pretty good discount.  Airport parking has gone through the roof as taxis have become so expensive and Uber is not allowed in the airport, either to or from.  Uber drivers attempting to enter the airport area will be towed and pay a 50,000 peso fine.  

We arrived a bit too early.  Viva Aerobus used to be very strict but has changed their rules making them more passenger-friendly.   Before, you had to be there two hours before the flight.  Now, if you only have carry-on you can be there an hour before.  We didn't buy seats so we again were hoping to get two together.  We had all three seats and the last row.   Very happy with that.  

The food on board is manufactured and you order from a menu.  We opted to have a homemade torta; chorizo, egg, potato, and some cheese on fresh bread we made the night before.  Delicious!  The guy across the aisle was eyeing it!

We arrived safe and sound.  It was a short one-hour flight.   I was about to admonish the flight crew who were sitting in the kitchen behind us for their use of foul language, four guys and one girl. 

The airport is named after the Serdan brothers.  Four brothers had met Madero before the revolution and were determined to end the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz.  Too bad they aren't here now, we're going to need them.

It's not a big airport.  Puebla has a population of over 6 million so you would think there would be several terminals.  Many folks fly to AICM and take a bus to Puebla.  This airport is the same design as the one in Leon, Guanajuato.  Only one restaurant and a small snack bar.  You wouldn't want to have to spend too much time waiting here. 

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I found this fascinating.  It is a self-serve luggage purchase machine.  It has three sizes and many designs and colors.  It's all on the touchscreen pad.  The prices are just about the same as in a retail store.  One less grouchy person to have to deal with.  These jobs need to disappear and humans need to find more important things to do.  JMHO

I checked Uber which can enter the airport here.  430 to 510 pesos.  Yikes!  I checked the airport taxi and it was 430 pesos to the Centro Historic.  It's a long trip, 32 km, and takes about 45 minutes.  We asked about a bus from one of the security guards and he said it passed right in front of the airport.  A 200-meter walk from the terminal, we boarded the Altiplanos bus to centro.  A real roller coaster ride but it was fun.  Cost - 18 pesos per person.   

Considering we arrived at 8:30 a.m., the bus was packed with commuters heading to work.  At one point, the bus was so full that you couldn't move.  15 minutes later the bus stopped in front of a huge tech factory and the bus unloaded.  Well worth the 18 pesos.  

Our neighbor on the bus was kind enough to tell us where to get off and how to walk to the centro.  Our Airbnb wouldn't be ready until afternoon so we were going to walk around and take pictures.  Sure enough, we got off and walked to the calle Reforma.  There a woman selling tamales said to go straight to the building with the "picos" (spiked towers) and turn left.  We did that and in front of this building it said "Secretaria de Turismo".  Hmm, a tourism office?  We went in and we found the main guy and he said it is really an admin office but found us some maps and brochures.  The main spot for tourism information is the kiosk located in front of the cathedral in the main plaza.

Fascinated by the architecture, I asked the head of tourism what the building was previously used for.  It was a prison for a couple hundred years.  Many men died there and he says no one wants to work there at night because strange things happen.

The facade above is now one side of the prison that is dedicated as an Air Force museum.  I want to go there this week.

The pictures below were taken in the first four blocks of our walk from tourism to the centro historic.  Amazing how all these buildings are preserved.  Many are used as banks, schools, even department stores but retain their original construction.  

This is my favorite.  It was built in the late 40s and is now used as an Elektra department store.  

We did quite a bit of walking, 16,000 steps and we will continue today.  We are planning to go to Cholula and to the palace in Cautla.  Those will be bus trips.  

Our Airbnb is great!  Just five blocks from the start of the Centro Historico.  I'll pòst pics tomorrow.