Grey skies, blue water

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I am pleased to report a good nights sleep - I know that I have been snoring loudly as I have woken myself up several times! Unlike an airline, the overhead lights here are controlled by the driver, so he decides when we should sleep and when we should wake!

The first six hours are passed in complete darkness, the lights being switched off practically as soon as we stepped onboard!

Our first stop is at Gomez Palacio on the outskirts of Torreón, with a second stop in the town centre bus station five minutes later. Both stops are signalled by loud announcements over the tannoy and part lights in the cabin. It’s 6.30am and we have gained an hour, having passed out of the mountain time zone back into central. Now we have a 20 minute breakfast stop but we decide to stay on the bus and investigate the contents of today’s food parcel. Unsurprisingly it is the usual ham and cheese sandwich with a small bag of crisps and a bottle of lemonade

The driver has turned the lights off again so it’s obviously bedtime again! We sleep for a further hour and now it is light so we can do what we want. I open the curtains to a grey looking day. It is raining but no sign of any hurricane. There is a sign of hope in the distance with an orangey glimmer of a potential sunrise. Yes, I do know the sun rises every day but it’s nice if you can actually see it!

It’s 9.30am and we are on the outskirts of Saltillo - only another 90 minutes and we should be there. Monterrey is a city surrounded by mountains, not that you would know as we are now in thick mist and the windows on the coach are all steamed up! Ian is snoring loudly - he better not tell me he didn’t sleep last night!

We have finally arrived in Monterrey. It takes at least half an hour to negotiate the rush hour traffic jam and arrive at the bus station. Now to reconfirm our bus tickets out of here - it’s the same bus company and the same internet outfit as last night! The main problem here is that they don’t understand what I want! Are the names wrong, do we want to travel today instead? I eventually establish that I am just reconfirming that they have my booking on their computer system...all appears to be well.

We call our Uber to take us to our accommodation - it’s our first time of booking AirBnb so we are not sure what to expect. Amazingly we are delivered to the exact spot as there had been some confusion over the address. We are on the fourth floor of a block of flats and our host, Edgar, has come down to help us with the luggage. It nearly kills both him and Ian, lugging our bags to the top!

It’s nearly lunchtime, we need to get going as this is a whistle stop tour. After a shower and freshen up, we go out to visit Fundidora Park - one of the main reasons for our visit to this town. It’s a shame that the mist is still hanging low and it is raining now. The bright blue of the canal in photographs was the thing that tempted us to stop off here! Amazingly the water is a lovely colour despite the dullness of the day. The rain is also easing off now.

The park used to be the site of the Monterrey Foundry until it’s bankruptcy in 1986. It has since be converted into an landscaped urban sustainable park of 142 hectares. Many of the old foundry buildings still remain in various uses including a steel manufacturing museum.

We walk along the artificial canal with its azure coloured water, that also runs into the centre of the town, observing the various fountains and sculptures along its length. Bridges cross it’s width at intervals, and suitable piped-music emanates from speakers mounted on the LED-lit lampposts. We walk around much of the rest of the park, saving the Horno 3 museum for tomorrow. Fortunately the rain has now stopped though it’s still very dull.

It has taken a surprisingly long time to circle the park and canal. We head back to the apartment, with the aim of buying some food for tomorrow’s breakfast and finding a place to eat later tonight. We spot a fish restaurant which appears popular with the locals, and decide to eat now...grilled fish with chips and, slightly worryingly, vivid green rice. We than head to the 7-11 store opposite, to discover that it is already closed at 5.15pm! Oh well, we’ll skip breakfast tomorrow then!

It’s getting chilly and we need an early night!

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