Mexico City Oct 26

 Hotel Catedral is still offering a wonderful breakfast buffet.  More of it is served to you rather than serving oneself because of COVID precautions.  The hot chocolate!  A real treat and something that I look forward to when visiting Mexico.  

The group went on a walking tour of the cathedral, the ruins of Tenochitlan, and I'm not sure what else in the morning.  I stayed at the hotel to meet with a representative from the transportaiton company to pay him for the little bus and driver that we will have for the next week.  

About noon we all met up again and went to the building of the Secretaria de Educacion Publica.  Here there are many murals of Diego Rivera.  These aren't the most famous ones but they certainly give a great view of his style and his work.  Most of the painting here were done in the early 1920's.  It was interesting to see how flapper women were represented in several of the paintings. 

The group splits and some go back to the hotel to rest a little before lunch.  Others join Juan for a tour that includes some meteorites, the statue of "El Caballito", the tile house, the post office.  I walk with the others to the restaurant, Casino Espanola.  It is housed in an elegant building and was a social club for the elite in the early 1920's.  Now it is mostly used for special occasions, business lunches.  It doesn't look at all like a restaurant on the outside so is not a place where tourists generally go.  We had a large, very special lunch.  First is bread served with olives, a spicey red sauce and butter with herbs.  We had a choice for appetizers of octupus or a torta espanola with was an egg and cheese dish.  Both were excellent.  Several people were surprised that the octupus was tender, not chewy.  Next course is soup.  A choice of a pasta and garbanzo soup or a beef broth.  Again, both were excellent.  Then the main course.  A choice of fish in a wine sauce or pork.  Most choose the fish.  Since I'm allergic to fish, I knew my choice.  Again both were awesome!  

Did I say anything about how elegant the building is?

Paula and Jorge had arranged for a friend of theirs,  a naturalist medicine person, to come and talk to us.  He makes many of his own tintures and had come for us to take back to Paula and Jorge.  We enjoyed meeting him.  He learned a lot of his English through songs.  It was fun to connect with him through song.  

While we were on the terrazo, Juan noticed that the volcano Popocapetl was smoking!  

We ordered a pitcher of Lemonade made with mineral water to be delivered to the terraza for our happy hour.  It makes a great mixer!  We had more of the chees from yesterday and a special bread that we bought in Bernal and forgot to serve yesterday.  It is stuffed with a cream cheese and marzipan.  Oh, it was good!  Because we had such a late lunch, people weren't interested in dinner.  

More talking and bonding up on the terraza and then time for bed.

 

Oct 25 Mexico City

 

The tour people are coming today!  We need to get back to Mexico City.  Luckily my contact lenses have held up and I’m able to see to drive our rental car back to the airport.  We drive through some beautiful countryside with mountains in the distance and sometimes not so distant.  We make it back to the car rental return with about ½ hour to spare.  It was great having the car and we couldn’t have visited all the places we went without it.  And, it was a relief to turn it back in without incident. 

 

We have 2 groups of people coming in – The East coast people are coming from Atlanta in Terminal 2 at 3:00.  The West Coast people are coming in at terminal 1 at 325.  Since Delta is in Terminal 2 and I need to talk to them about my lost suitcase, I met the East coast people and Juan goes to Terminal 1 to meet the West Coast people.    It looks like there is very little hope of ever seeing my suitcase again.  The Delta people are baffled as to what could have happened to it.  The manager of all Delta baggage is aware of my case and working on it.  I appreciate the attention but sure wish I didn’t need it.  Nick delivered extra contact lenses and an old pair of glasses to one of the East Coast people so I’ll at least have those so will be able to see for the next 2 weeks. 

It is a happy meeting!  Check-in was a little bumpy but we got it all figured out and found Elle.  The West coast contingency is a bit late but by 6:00 we’re all at the hotel.  We gather on the roof top terrace.  The view is grand. The air is clear and we’re even able to see the volcano, Popocapetal.  We had gotten some cheese in Bernal and I went to a store and picked up a bottle of wine, vodka, some mixers, crackers and chips for our first happy hour.  Everyone has so many interesting experiences to share!

Where we met for happy hour but I was too busy enjoying happy hour to take pictures so took these the next morning.

We agree to meet in the hotel lobby at 7:30 and then walk to a nearby restaurant for dinner.  The Magestic has a terrace overlooking the zocolo (Main plaza)   The govenrment buildings are lit up, the view is great, the food is wonderful  Life is good!

A great start!

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.