(Above: Morning of 2/04/2022: Padre and I witnessed the azure waters of the Carribean for the first time on this adventure.)
1/30/2022: A day beginning in the low 40s and warming to the low 70s. Sunny throughout.
Another fine breakfast of papaya, cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple, and especially-tart star-fruit on the morning of 1/30/2022. 
Un inseto grande en me pulgar. It looked very much like a green leaf… in an environment where green leaves are not particularly prevalent. 
After a walk around town, Padre and I enjoyed another lunch at Restaurante Bar Mi Fondita consisting of chips and tortillas loaded with guacamole and salsas. 
Padre prepares a salsa-tortilla. First step; apply the chili oil. 
Second, spread on the guacamole. 
Third, slather on the salsa verde. 
Fourth, wrap & enjoy! Delicioso. 
Due to a sudden onset of traveler’s… chorro, I remained at the AirBNB where Padre proceeded to bring me some rice from Taxqueño Restaurante. It was good rice.
1/31/2022: A day beginning in the mid 40s and warming to the mid 70s.
Morning of 1/31/2022. Another fine breakfast on the terrace of Hotel Monte Taxco. 
On venturing into town today, Padre and I decided it was time to step into the Santa Prisca Cathedral. What we found therein was incredible. 
Though this was the primary altarpiece, 9 more of these gold-covered sculpture-walls were to be found within the church’s walls. 
Padre for scale. 
The way that the sun shone in on and scintillated off of the altar-pieces was at times unearthly. No doubt, this was the intention of the architect. 
A Latin inscription to be found near the entry of the church. For being ~271 years old (the age of the Saint Prisca Cathedral), the inscription appears to have held up quite well. 
After visiting the prior mighty edifice, Padre and I located a small restaurant which operates in what used to be the house of William Spratling (the founder of the silver smithing industry in Taxco). The name of this place was Scaffecito, and this is the view from the window where we sat. 
Our appetizer consisted of crunchy toast spread with a mixture of garlic-ricotta and roasted peppers. As can also be seen, Padre and I also enjoyed a glass of wine for the each o’ us. 
Next, arrived the lasagna – a delicious Mexican rendition of the dish with plenty of Poblano peppers to give some extra kick. 
Padre observing a bit of the in-courtyard greenery. 
Next, we shared a small vegetarian pizza topped with spinach, roasted peppers, and onion. 
And lastly, we split a piece of light, moist, and quite spongy chocolate cake drizzled with chocolate syrup. 
A view back up the alley toward Scaffecito. 
This design can be seen throughout many places in the city of Taxco and consists merely of an arrangement of sawed-off roof tiles. 
City of Taxco at nightfall (1/31/2022). 
To conclude the evening, Padre and I played a few games of chess back in the AirBNB.
2/01/2022: day beginning in the mid 40s and warming to the mid 70s. Sunny throughout (the climate appears to remain quite stable here), as these temperatures are forcasted for the next 10 days.
Taxco on the morning of February 1, 2022. Sunny & cool. 
Black-bunny – our slightly inanimate traveling companion – pondering rules for a bout of battle-ship chess. 
Due to yesterday’s excellent experience, Padre and I returned to Scaffecito today for a little bit of seltzer-water, wine, and appetizers. 
We sat at the same table and thus had that same excellent view as yesterday. 
A Huauzontle enjoyed by Padre and I as part of our meal. A huauzontle is composed of Chenopodium nuttalliae plant (very much like lambsquarter) wrapped around a core of Oaxaca cheese and dressed (in this case) with tomato sauce. The flavor & texture was reminiscent of a ball of roasted spinach & mozzarella. 
Floor plan for Scaffecito. 
After concluding our pleasant repast, we ventured once again to the Santa Prisca Cathedral. This time, I took a picture of the outside. This is all stonework, and the detail is immense. 
This is an example of one of those bouts of unearthliness which I described in yesterday’s photos. 
After our second foray into the church, Padre and I stopped at Pizza a la Leña for another bout of wood-fire pizza. Due to poor light conditions, this picture came out blurry. The near pizza was the ‘Real’ pizza with Pepperoni, Ham, & Salchicha (which was very similar to hotdog). The other pizza was a Vegetariana with roasted onion, peppers, pineapple, artichoke, and tomato. We also got some blue goat cheese on the latter. Both pizzas were good, but the second was definitely our favorite. 
A close-up of both pizza-types. 
During the hours near dusk, Padre and I decided to explore Monte Taxco a tad more. This is the outside of our AirBNB. It is currently for sale. 
Sun setting on the distant hills. 
A deserted and very-eroded causeway on the north side of Monte Taxco. 
Due to our lunch’s more extensive nature, dinner occurred late and for me only consisted of this bowl of Caldo Xóchitl. It was one of the best bowls of chicken-stock soup that I have ever had, containing large chunks of chicken, plenty of rice, and a large amount of fresh ingredients including: diced jalapeño, onion, and tomato. Excellent. 
I wrote I had only soup for dinner, but I also had an orange that we earlier procured at the Mercado. The flavor was neither too sweet nor too sour. Excellent smell, as well.
2/02/2022: A day beginning in the high 40s and reaching the high 70s.
Morning of 02/02/2022. 
A toast of Coca-light to our final full day in Taxco. 
During our early day walk around Monte Taxco, I needed to ‘make water’ in the bushes. There, I found an especially impressive air-plant in full bloom. 
Later on, for lunch, Padre and stopped at S Caffecito (Casa Spratling) for our third day in a row. Here, he sprinkles a little bit of salt onto some toasted bread spread with a mixture of ricotta & garlic. 
Mole-drizzled lasagna – a fusion of Mexican and Italian cuisine in which S Caffecito specializes. 
Padre enjoyed the Pimientos rellenos (spicy serrano pepper filled with queso panela). 
Entrance to the silver gallery above S.Caffecito. 
On our way back to the Zócalo, we found a great place to picture the entire front of the Santa Prisca cathedral. 
A dusk walk around Monte-Taxco yielded an excellent view of the city and its surrounding hills at sunset. 
A for-sale sign for land on Monte Taxco. 
Leucaena leucocephala seed pods along with mystery peppers procured from the market earlier in the day. The seeds of the former are for eating. 
For dinner, Padre and I both enjoyed a salad and bowl of the Caldo Xochitl at Monte Taxco hotel. The view, as always, was simultaneously tranquil and vast.
2/03/2022: Today began in the low 40s and proceeded to warm into the mid-70s in Taxco (Sunny and Dry). On reaching Cozumel, we found the weather to be in the high-70s and quite humid.
Morning of 2/03/2022: ¡Hasta luego, Taxco! This is the road back to Ciudad de México. 
Along the way to the airport, Padre and I saw Popocatépetl – Mexico’s largest active volcano. 
Beef, roast pepper, & bacon sandwich with a few pieces of avocado on top and accompanied by French Fries. It was very tasty for airport food, and provided a goodly sum of energy for a lengthy day of travel. 
A travel tip for la Ciudad de México’s airport: Go all the way to the end of Terminal (Hall) B to find the best priced refreshments (water, soda, etc.). 
After arriving in Cozumel, collecting our bags, getting in a taxi (a 100 meter or so walk from the airport entrance), and cleaning up at our room, we ventured to El Palomar where dinner was procured. These are Padre’s pork sopes. 
And this is my Fried Fish Hamburger (Hamburguesa de Pescado Rebozado) with French Fries and guacamole. The menu for Palomar can be found at this URL: https://stravopys.com/el-palomar/main-course
2/04/2022: Today began in the high 70s and proceeded to warm to the high 80s. Sunny and humid.
Morning of 2/04/2022: Padre and I witnessed the azure waters of the Carribean for the first time on this adventure. 
Padre investigating the ocean a tad more closely. 
Our breakfast appeared markedly familiar despite being hosted approximately 1100 miles away from our prior location. 
For lunch, Padre had a Caldo Pollo Verde. It looked excellent, but I wanted more calories after our morning swim. 
Hence my obtaining these delicious these nachos arrachera (steak nachos with plenty of roasted vegetables and black bean mash). 
After a brief adventure to the Mercado and finding it closed (our clocks were running an hour late), we returned to the room for rest and reading. Another bout of swimming ensued, and thus, a reemergence of an appetite. Tonight we ate at La Cocay (Mediterranean Restaurant). This was the ‘gratis’ flatbread starter. 
The Island Salad, containing fresh peppers, tomatoes, purple onion, and panela cheese. 
And our main entree consisted of La Cocay pizza which was topped with prosciutto, arugula, and roasted tomatoes. This choice of topping was very reminiscent of the first pizza that Camoen and I enjoyed in Sicily almost two years ago. URL for 1/27/2020: https://findwalden.com/travel-day-to-catania-sicily/
2/05/2022: . Today began in the mid 70s and proceeded to reach the low 80s. Cloudy throughout.
Morning of 2/06/2022: After the morning swim, we played chess at the Palomar restaurant next door. 
Afterward, we stopped at the Soriana grocery store to procure some groceries (there will be pictures of some of those ingredients in the ensuing slides). 
Lunch preparation: What was originally just to be ‘Chicken Fajitas’ ended up being ‘Chicken Gizzard Fajitas’. It was still delicious, and these are some of the ingredients / process that was used. 
Freshly chopped onion, sliced bell pepper, and white corn ready for sautéing after the mushrooms. 
Serrano pepper, fresh garlic, and diced tomato to placed in the mixture at the end of the cooking process. 
Cooking all the vegetables to soften and reduce moisture. 
40 pesos or $2.00 worth of mollejas de pollo (chicken gizzards). 
After reducing moisture of the vegetables, draining the molejas, and browning everything into a cohesive ‘stew’ we made the fajitas and topped them with Romaine lettuce and fresh salsa from the Soriana store. 
The whole lunch spread of 2/05/2022. 
Padre and Jacob preparing the lunch. I tended to cooking, while Padre did the chopping and cleaning. 
A clean kitch. 
After a post-lunch rest, Padre and I went swimming. I brought the underwater camera. 
Puffer fish (unpuffed). 
A rock bearing an exceptional amount of biological diversity. 
This sea biscuit was larger than the size of my fist! 
As was this Padre. 
Scattered intermittently about the sea floor, were these beautiful ‘pain-rocks’ which were themselves adorned with a plenitude of sea urchins. 
A sizeable angelfish found near one of those aforementioned rocks. 
I am uncertain what type of fish this is, but it was dwelling near an up-welling of fresh water (that’s the cause of the blur to its postern side). 
Coral, urchins, and reef fish. 
A leopard round stingray. 
A sign seen during our walk to obtain pizza. 
The pizza that we proceeded to obtain – a ‘Vegetariana’ with additional pepperoni and roasted vegetables. 
This was accompanied by a ‘home-made’ salad along with a little bit of wine.
Final Note: Taxco was downright splendid, and I’ll be going back. For now, though, it is time to enjoy food and swimming a-plenty in Cozumel, México!