Nerves of steel

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After a disturbed night - Ian is not feeling well and has been coughing all night - we finally get to sleep and don’t wake until around 9am. We are surrounded with grey mist and it is raining!

We wrap up in waterproofs and return to the park as we have decided on an indoor activity for this morning - a visit to Horno 3, a steel museum. On the way we take a short detour to see an area of the park that we missed yesterday. A heavily pregnant bride is having her photos taken in the rain - I am dreadfully worried that she will slip down the muddy bank and spark a miscarriage - it really does not look safe. We reach said area and find that we haven’t missed much! It’s probably very nice in the summer when the flowers are in bloom and it’s possible to see the mountains which are currently hidden by the mist.

We walk across a glass bridge - they do seem to like them here! I am about half way across and beginning to regret the decision - Ian has bounded across, leaving the structure shaking, and now I can see some suspicious looking patterns in the glass which decidedly look like stress marks! The wet weather has also left the surface in a slippery state. I am pleased to reach the other side safely and opt to walk around the circumference of the feature rather than return across the bridge!

We make our way back to the museum. This morning there isn’t steam rising from the rocks outside so it was good we saw this yesterday. Inside the museum, we have four areas we can visit: history of steel, hands on science, planetarium and ‘walk to the top’. There is usually a furnace show as well, but it’s not running today.

We begin with the history section. A bright pink neon lights guides us in the right direction as we take a journey through time from 1900 to the present day, with photos, artefacts and visual aids describing the history of the steel industry in Mexico.

From here, we are led into a very noisy room full of various groups of school children. The room is full of different hands-on experiments and activities which make learning fun. There are lots of additional side rooms where we see kids participating in more group activities. The most popular appears to be a steep helter-skelter which the kids are hurling themselves down...presumably demonstrating how raw materials would have been quickly transported from top to bottom.

The weather has not improved greatly and doesn’t look like it will change anytime soon so we decide to take the walk to the top tour. It looks like we are the only ones stupid enough and actually there is no walking involved, just a lift to the top where we would normally enjoy fantastic views, but today we just frighten ourselves to death and won’t see much at all. We are adopted by two students on work experience. They speak very good English and explain that they are obliged to spend six months of their school career working here...‘being kind to people’ - they call it ‘social services’.

We are taken to a fully enclosed cage-type lift which takes us right to the top of the structure. Here we walk along a platform which, thankfully, has a solid section. I avoid the open mesh parts either side as that would definitely set off my vertigo. Placards show us what we would normally be able to see (damn this mist!).

Now it’s time to descend. This time we are shown to a sloping lift on the side of the building. Originally this would have been used as a hopper, taking iron ore up to the top. Today it’s another closed in cage to scare the pants off visitors. I can’t say I’m not pleased to reach terra firma at the bottom. We thank our students for the social services and head up to the planetarium.

We were expecting something about the stars, but the show turns out to be a clever audio visual presentation on world weather conditions. This is presented on a huge illuminated sphere which is dangling from the head of the furnace. It’s all in Spanish with the occasional subtitle in English and French but we gather it is a warning on the dangers of climate change and how we must all work together to preserve the planet. The subject of worldwide hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis are covered.

It’s 1pm. We grab a quick coffee and set off for our walk along the canal. Today we intend to walk the entire length, ending up at the main plaza and historic centre of Monterrey. Amazingly the sun is making a valiant effort to break through and it’s warming up considerably.

We enjoy our hike, the water in the canal is looking a better colour as the clouds clear and there are many boats plying the waters today. We opt to walk rather than ride as it’s such a pleasant meander. There are so many different water features, statues and fountains to see on the way.

We have arrived at the end of the canal. This signals the start of the town Macroplaza which is also stuffed with sculptures and fountains. It’s in the heart of the historic centre. We linger to study the most impressive Neptune’s Fountain and also find a weird tall structure which appears to serve little purpose until we discover that it is used for laser shows. Unfortunately we won’t be here when the next one is scheduled. A short wander around a trendy shopping area (which is not of particular interest to us), and our sightseeing is complete. It just remains for us to walk the 3km back along the canal and back to our accommodation.

This evening we decide to return to the same fish restaurant that we ate at last night. It was a tasty meal and there are plenty of other choices on the menu. Tonight we both choose breaded catfish. It turns up with the same neon green rice, salad and chips. We order an extra portion of chips and leave the rice - god knows what has been added to turn it that colour! The mist has lifted nicely and we can actually see the mountains now...albeit in the fading evening light.

We have decided to be brave and return to the park in darkness. Our host, Edgar, has recommended it as long as we take care. None of his guests have ever had a problem, but there’s always a first time...and, in his own words, the flat is not in the most beautiful area! That might account for his security camera and the barred and padlocked balcony area that we need to pass through before arriving at his front door. That said, I’d defy anyone to get past his little Scottie dog, Luca! Anyway, I digress!

We arrive at the park and, as promised, it’s a different experience! The canal is lit up, as are the water features and the steel museum building. It’s really pretty! There are lots of people milling around: walking, cycling, roller blading...and just generally enjoying themselves. We even get a sneak preview of a laser show that will be shown at the weekend...they are practicing!

We conclude that Monterrey has been a very pleasant interlude. It’s not a place that we would have specifically visited from the UK, but a great stopover! Tomorrow, we have another long bus rice as we are continuing our journey to San Luis Potosí.

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