Sorry for the delay in updates, but we are indeed alive and well so I hope no one worried too much. We have spent so much time enjoying the trip that we haven´t taken the time to write about it. We have some downtime in Mexico City though so I hope you are ready for tres grande entradas.
Our second stopover in Mexico was just as wonderful as the first. Thanks to excellent advice from Francisco (our gracious host in Monterrey) we headed down to Zacatecas. It was a charming city set high in the mountains (elevation 2450 m, 8050 ft for los gringos). You can catch a glimpse of it in the photo on the left. It had so much more to offer than just colorful buildings though, it also had an ornate 18th century cathedral, nice monuments and a silver mine just to name a little. It was a great introduction to the real Mexican city as Monterrey is known to be more American.
The one thing Zacatecas doesn´t have is anyone we know living in it. Therefore we had to splurge and pay for a night of housing. Luckily the Lonely Planet Guide (gratuitous plug) suggested a nice place to stay for only 240 pesos (roughly $22 US). It is the green building in the picture on the left. Not the most aesthetically pleasing, but it did come with parking. Although there were only two beds so Greg and I had to share one. Eat your hearts out ladies.
Our token niño bonito did do his best to try and secure free accomodations. After visiting the silver mine (or at least trying to, but it had already closed) we were walking back towards our hotel hoping to score some helados (ice cream). Greg was able to score something even better though. We passed a group of three Mexican girls along the sidewalk. Much to our suprise, since we were pretty much the only gringos in town, one of the girls spoke to us in quite good english. So we chatted with them for a little while and they offered to give us a tour of the rest of the city. Unfortunately only one spoke English, so Greg chatted with her while Jose spoke with the other two. I did what I do best and remained inconspicuous around women. In fact I had to superimpose myself into the picture on the left. From left to right the picture includes myself (Todd), Jose, Alejandra, Reyna, Greg, Bella and random person who snuck into the photo. The girls were wonderful tour guides and during the course of the tour we found out that Reyna learned English while studying in Phoenix. I assumed perhaps she went to ASU, but she said that she went to Cactus..... High School. Thats right we found out these girls were the ripe old age of 16 and Reyna had quite the crush on Greg (whose profile lists him as a youthful 31). So nothing risque to report. Although Greg did get an e-mail address which he proceeded to write down incorrectly and thus break the heart of a precious young girl.
After the girls curfew at around 21:30 we proceeded to continue exploring the city on our own. While walking around we ran into a tamboriada, which is basically a parade of people following around a mariachi band. We followed them for a short distance until they got to the plaza and it broke into a dance party as can be seen in the picture. It was a most interesting and truly Mexican experience. It felt surreal and less realistic than if it had been at Disney World. Really cool and fun time and a great introduction to Mexican culture, which for Greg and I had previously consisted of dining at Taco Bell. Although Taco Bell is more authentic than one would imagine as we were able to consume actual Gorditas and Chalupas in Zacatecas. Now if only I could get my hands on a good Mexican Pizza and some fried ice cream.
Our second stopover in Mexico was just as wonderful as the first. Thanks to excellent advice from Francisco (our gracious host in Monterrey) we headed down to Zacatecas. It was a charming city set high in the mountains (elevation 2450 m, 8050 ft for los gringos). You can catch a glimpse of it in the photo on the left. It had so much more to offer than just colorful buildings though, it also had an ornate 18th century cathedral, nice monuments and a silver mine just to name a little. It was a great introduction to the real Mexican city as Monterrey is known to be more American.
The one thing Zacatecas doesn´t have is anyone we know living in it. Therefore we had to splurge and pay for a night of housing. Luckily the Lonely Planet Guide (gratuitous plug) suggested a nice place to stay for only 240 pesos (roughly $22 US). It is the green building in the picture on the left. Not the most aesthetically pleasing, but it did come with parking. Although there were only two beds so Greg and I had to share one. Eat your hearts out ladies.
Our token niño bonito did do his best to try and secure free accomodations. After visiting the silver mine (or at least trying to, but it had already closed) we were walking back towards our hotel hoping to score some helados (ice cream). Greg was able to score something even better though. We passed a group of three Mexican girls along the sidewalk. Much to our suprise, since we were pretty much the only gringos in town, one of the girls spoke to us in quite good english. So we chatted with them for a little while and they offered to give us a tour of the rest of the city. Unfortunately only one spoke English, so Greg chatted with her while Jose spoke with the other two. I did what I do best and remained inconspicuous around women. In fact I had to superimpose myself into the picture on the left. From left to right the picture includes myself (Todd), Jose, Alejandra, Reyna, Greg, Bella and random person who snuck into the photo. The girls were wonderful tour guides and during the course of the tour we found out that Reyna learned English while studying in Phoenix. I assumed perhaps she went to ASU, but she said that she went to Cactus..... High School. Thats right we found out these girls were the ripe old age of 16 and Reyna had quite the crush on Greg (whose profile lists him as a youthful 31). So nothing risque to report. Although Greg did get an e-mail address which he proceeded to write down incorrectly and thus break the heart of a precious young girl.
After the girls curfew at around 21:30 we proceeded to continue exploring the city on our own. While walking around we ran into a tamboriada, which is basically a parade of people following around a mariachi band. We followed them for a short distance until they got to the plaza and it broke into a dance party as can be seen in the picture. It was a most interesting and truly Mexican experience. It felt surreal and less realistic than if it had been at Disney World. Really cool and fun time and a great introduction to Mexican culture, which for Greg and I had previously consisted of dining at Taco Bell. Although Taco Bell is more authentic than one would imagine as we were able to consume actual Gorditas and Chalupas in Zacatecas. Now if only I could get my hands on a good Mexican Pizza and some fried ice cream.
2 comments:
Greg, you're such a pervy old man!
I guess "underage" is not illigal down there, hm?
Post a Comment