Ghost stories and beautiful plazas

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We arrived in Queretaro around 11 am and were considering continuing to Jalpan but it was 5 hours away and I (Rae) was suffering a dose of diarrhoea so we decided to stay put.

We took a prepaid taxi from the bus terminal to Posada Aqueducto which was lovely and colourful. We got a king-size bed and a balcony for P$320 (US$30) a night. The lady at the hotel was all smiles and spoke slowly for us. The laundry guy down the road was equally friendly and helpful. And the tourist info guy was great. The whole town was full of warm people and we felt very relaxed there.

After a cappuccino on the Plaza de Armas we visited the Casa de la Zacatecana where there were some lovely old ladies pointing the way around the 17th century house. Our tour started with a video in English which described the contents and started to tell the tale of a resident ghost. Upstairs the story was continued. There was a couple from Zacateca who moved in. He travelled a lot and she was rumoured to have a lover and later to have killed her husband with the help of a servant. Then later her stabbed body was found in a plaza. But it is believed she was killed in her bed. After 50 years of being empty the house was occupied by people who reported hearing noises and seeing shadows. It was a great story and a fantastic collection of furniture, art and tableware.

In the evening after dinner we met a Canadian couple, Alan and Linda. Turned out they were from London just like Jenifer and the two Erins that we met in El Salvador and Guatemala. These Londoners get around.

Next day we hit a few museums starting with the Museo Regional. We thought we had scored by getting in for free but the lights were not working, explaining the free entry, and we left without seeing too much.

The Museo de Arte was in an absolutely lovely building and they had a fascinating temporary exhibition of notes and sketches by Frida Kahlo. It was all about her relationship with Diego Rivera. The English translations revealed how she was obsessed with him even though he cheated on her and was not so nice to her. We definitely got the impression she was a little unstable.

The Museo de la Restauracion de la Republica and the City Museum were next to each other but were not so interesting. We also briefly visited the Teatro de la Republica which was the site of some important political meetings.

We enjoyed Queretaro for its lovely atmosphere and friendly people.

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