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Sunday 26th June - Zacatecas
We catch our bus to Leon OK and make the connection with the Zacatecas bus. It is not a long trip and it is a beautiful afternoon.
When booking the hostel I had given expected arrival as 6pm. We walked through the doorway of the Hostal Villa Colonial at 6, to be greeted with 'Ah, the English, punctual as ever' from Ernesto the manager. He was very friendly and had an excellent command of English.
We settled in and met John, a retired ex-pat who spends quite a lot of his time in Mexico, but also Florida and other places. He showed us the town centre (stone's throw from the hostel) and left us to find somewhere to eat. Maybe because it was Sunday, we found very few places open and nothing to our liking. Back to the hostel, takeaway pizzas, a couple of beers, then bed.
Monday 27th June - Is this the Zacatecas in the book ?
The hostel has a well-equipped kitchen and the boys enjoy porage for breakfast. Caught some Wimbledon on cable.
Our Lonely Planet Mexico guide seems to flog Zacatecas as a tourism centre.
Equestrian Statues Galore - Panfilo Natera
There are three magnificent statues on the plaza just below El Bufa. We enjoyed it for our own reasons but it was not at all what we expected.
To me it was like Rochdale with sunshine. Lots of hills around, streets in all directions going up or down but rarely level. The main street containing a small number of prestigious buildings and attractive open spaces.
My rucksack has begun to deteriorate, in particular the important bits connecting the main straps to the body. Ernesto suggested I approach the sastreria (tailor's) just up the street. I did but he made the point that his work was quite fine and I really needed the services of the local tapicero (upholsterer). He walked out into the street with me and explained I needed to go a couple of blocks along, then up then ask again. Fine. The first person I asked happened to be deaf but he obviously understood my question (does lip-reading notice atrocious foreign accents ?) and gave me further directions. I carried on but could see no 'Tapiceria' sign so I asked in a small grocer's shop. At first I think he thought I wanted to buy a pen, but eventually understood and led me into the building next-door. It
had no sign other than an upturned TV aerial outside.
He had a quick look and assured me he could fix it by 10:00 Tuesday, and for only 40 pesos, around 2 pounds sterling. I left it with him.
One of the specific tourist attractions is a tour of the Eden Silver Mine. We went along, put on our hard hats and boarded the train to enter the mine. Rory's hat fell off and rolled out of the open-sided train.
We walked along the tunnels, looking at the exhibits and listening to the Spanish guide. You could tell the foreigners as they did not laugh at the right moments, us included.
We surfaced close to one end of the cable car which links hills on opposite sides of the town. From where we were it led across the valley up to Cerro de la Bufa. No-one wanted to take the cable car.
Deb and the boys returned to the hostel to do some long-neglected 'lessons'. I set off walking up the Cerro de la Bufa. I was not difficult as much of it had been specially paved, but it was scorchingly hot. At the top
is the outcrop itself, surmounted by a cross and lights. Lower down is the cable-car station, a meteorological observatory, a chapel and plaza with three equestrian statues to heroes of the struggles for independence.
Tuesday 28th June - Dancing in the streets
Slow morning. I collect my rucksack at 10:15. Beautifully repaired, in fact he also repaired a loose strap that I had not mentioned.
Late breakfast then I wandered around town looking for somewhere to have an evening meal. Most of the eateries are basically snack bars for tacos, gorditas, tamales and tons of other stuff which we still do not understand.
The boys do more lessons. We have enchiladas (how are they different to burritos ?) and walk the streets in the evening. On the plaza there is a band playing what I can only call 'Mexican' music, with drums, brass, guitars, accordion. The crowd are doing there own thing, some individually but not with the predictability of line dancing. Suddenly the band begins to walk off but continue playing. The crowd follows , dancing. We are witnessing the 'callejoneada' which is where the crowd follow the band around the streets and back
to the plaza. Maybe they do it every Tuesday night. Who cares. It was good on the night.
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Steven
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Mine tour
I enjoyed the mine tour when I was in Zacatecas a few years ago, which gave real insight on the hardships of the natives, especially under the Spanish. We also had a dinner at the Minas Real, a real treat in an otherwise austere vacation.