Travel with Amateur Traveler Podcast · Chris Christensen

Travel to Puebla, Mexico

·1 hr 16 min·5 clips

At Santa Rosa, Scott links Puebla’s convent kitchen to mole poblano and chiles en nogada, including the 20-ingredient flag-colored dish.

1. Travel with Amateur Traveler Podcast episode 984 focuses on Puebla, Mexico. 2. Chris Christensen hosts Scott Thompson of liveitspanish.com, a Spanish immersion center in Puebla, because Scott moved there to teach English and later started a school after meeting his wife. 3. The episode asks what a traveler should see, eat, and time for a visit to Puebla. 4. Scott says Puebla sits about two and a half hours by bus from Mexico City and is a UNESCO World Heritage city recognized since 1987. 5. He calls Puebla "the one big city that nobody's ever heard of" and says the center has 2,600 historic buildings and monuments. 6. He recommends beginning with either a hop-on, hop-off bus tour or a free walking tour to get oriented in the historic center. 7. He says the cathedral is one of the best in Mexico, with construction finished in stages and clock towers that are the tallest of any cathedral in the country. 8. He points to the Zócalo, the municipal building, museums, and the hill north of the center where the Battle of Puebla fort sites sit. 9. He says the forts are now museums and that underground tunnels near them were used by soldiers and cavalry during the battle. 10. He describes the neighborhood of Shanentla as a mural project made by artists and locals who painted residents' houses. 11. He says Puebla was founded in 1531 as Puebla de los Ángeles and built as a colonial city between two rivers and on the route between Mexico City and Veracruz. 12. He explains that the ex-convento de Santa Rosa shows how nuns lived after Benito Juárez separated church and state in the 1860s. 13. He links Santa Rosa to the kitchen where mole poblano developed and clarifies that Puebla claims that dish in its own version. 14. He also describes chiles en nogada as a seasonal dish with more than 20 ingredients, including pork, pears, apples, peaches, walnuts, and pomegranate. 15. He says chiles en nogada is tied to August and can usually be found from late June through September. 16. He recommends La Pasita in Los Sapos, where a raisin liqueur is served with a raisin and a small piece of fresh cheese. 17. Scott keeps the tone practical and local, moving from history into food, markets, and neighborhood-specific advice. 18. The format is a conversational interview with Chris Christensen asking for an itinerary, and Scott answering with examples, dates, and street-level details. 19. Travelers who like history, food, and walkable colonial cities should listen. 20. Listeners wanting fast theme-park style sightseeing may skip it.

As heard by us

Puebla is presented through cemitas, ice cream, and food advice that feels immediately usable.

Puebla comes across as a city best understood through food. The strongest stretches stay near the market, the cemita, and the ice cream counter, with the simple push to stop moving on autopilot and try something a little less familiar.

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Why you'd press play

If you want Puebla by way of lunch and dessert, press play.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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