The Gentle Charms of Oaxaca

A long time ago, a well-traveled foreign correspondent I worked with told me that Oaxaca, Mexico, was his favorite spot in the whole world. Coming from him, that was high praise indeed.

It took nearly 20 years before I got around to visiting it myself, and at first it was a letdown: the road in from the airport is dusty, crowded and lined with shabby shops and houses, poorer than any other part of Mexico I had ever seen.

But after we checked into our hotel in the old, colonial-era downtown, its charms began to reveal themselves:

At one of the grand old churches, a couple named Angelita and Humberto were getting married, amid mariachis, dancing giants, balloons and hundreds of gawking townspeople:

It seemed a little over-the-top, but at the same time genuine -- the crowds around us may not all have been local, but they were overwhelmingly Mexican. Just celebrating with their countrymen on a cool autumn night.

This set the tone for what turned out to be a great trip.