San Luis Potosi Oct 24

 

 Oct 24

Back at San Luis Potosi, we walk from our Air B&B to the main plaza.  It’s such a lively place!  There is one of those double decker tour buses that show you all of the important sites in the area, sitting there waiting for us to board.  There are still seats open to the air on the upper level.  Perfect!   It’s a great view  of the people in the plaza, the bell towers of the churches (and there a lot of them!  I must admit that I tuned out on a lot of the Spanish commentary.  After a long drive, it just took too much concentration.  We drove by the old opera house, the Leonora Carrington Art Museum that is housed in the old prison, the water storage system that was used until the early 1900’s that is quite gorgeous. 

The tour ended right in front of a Sears store.  How handy!  I can buy some underwear there and a belt.  Juan waits for me outside in the park.  (In case you missed the earlier post, my suitcase was lost at the Mexico City Airport and I have to replace everything I need to function for the next 2 weeks.)

We wander a bit looking for a place for dinner.  A man recommends El Tokyo.  We decide to give it a try.  Hmmm.  They’re out of the first 2 things that we try to order.  And no dark beer.  Only Victoria in a can.  We can do better than that!  We look on TripAdvisor and find that there is a highly rated one real near to where we started walking but in the opposite direction.  It was worth walking back for.  The one thing the Tokyo place had going for it was a cellist right outside the door playing traditional Mexican music with an orchestral background.   The other restaurant had a 3 piece band that was also good. 

 

Juan was up early and saw the sunrise.  I was up a bit later but still caught a bit of color from the rooftop.  We packed up our stuff, dropped off the keys and headed to the Leonora Carrington Art museum. I didn’t know what to expect but Juan was quite excited about it.  I now know why!  Her sculptures are so fantastical and graceful.  There were several of her quotes on the walls that were inspiring in how she viewed life.  The museum is housed in the old prison.  The open air parts of the jail provided great places to display the larger sculptures.  The old cells were the display rooms for smaller works.  Really nicely make over of the space.  It is interesting how a building that used to confine people is now used as  an art school and museum that encourages freedom of expression. 

 

Waze got us out of town efficiently and stress free to our next destination – Pina de Bernal, a pueblo magico.  Along the way there is a road side stand selling tuna, the fruit, not the fish.  We stopped and got several and ate them right there at the side of the road.  Juicy and good.  The only problem is that they have little cactus thorns.  They try to get them all off before selling them but of course, there are always a few that find their way into your fingers. Luckily, they do wash out or work their way out by the next day. 

We get into Bernal late afternoon.  We find a wonderful hotel with a great view of the rock tower from the roof terrace. And there is enclosed parking, which is a plus.  Beside the towering rock, Bernal is known for cheese and their bakeries.  There are many wineries in the area as well.  It is a popular place for Mexicans to visit.  It is close to the city of Queretero and only a few hours from Mexico City. 

From the hotel we walk a couple of blocks to the main square.  It’s alive with people, music, aromas of fresh bread.  Lots of little shops to buy souvenirs and restaurants.  Gorditas are big here and so many of the restaurants feature them.  We pick one of them and each have a couple.  Boy, they sure aren’t like Taco Bell gorditas…….

After dinner we sit and relax in the park before going up to the parking area at the bottom of the tower.  I love the action in the Mexican parks!  I’m so impressed with how people, kids included wear masks even when outside walking down the street. 

We take a little tuktuk to the parking lot, passing several bakeries with wonderful aromas drifting out.  The dancing water show starts at 8:00 so we have a while to sit and people watch.  When it gets dark, the music starts and the show begins.  The water sprays up in various designs along to the music.  Very nice but a bit repetitive.  Tuktuk back down to the main square where we chose a place to have a glass of local wine.  It gets the Ginger seal of approval.