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Published: April 7th 2009
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April 3, Friday
This day began with wonderful coffee and pastry in the Cafe Catedral, a little shop right next to the cathedral. Then we walked down to where Bear was parked, hopped aboard and took the wrong road to El Tajin. With no map and no GPS, I had to use a little intuitive sun decoding, and we managed to get to the site. Another coffee at Restaurant Isabel ( the lemonade stand from yesterday) and we strolled into the entrance. 51 pesos per non-mexican person (citizens get in free) and 300 for the English speaking guide. We figured if we were going to get anything out of the visit, we might as well learn what was going on in English. Fernando is a University of Vera Cruz graduate in archeology, and although he spoke fairly quickly, and with considerable accent, I was able to absorb most of what he said. The site is very interesting, scads of history and archeology, and a few years ago, when Pemex ( the national oil company ) was doing some airborne scanning, it was discovered that they’d only unearthed about 20% of what was there ! I’ll skip the full history lesson,
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Temples are solid. No rooms inside ! but the city was abandoned, they’re not sure why, many years before the Spanish conquistidores showed up. At least it wasn’t smallpox. We watched the Voldedares do their flying ( the guys that climb the pole, then hang upside from ropes while they spin around the pole and their rope unwinds, lowering them to the ground. After about 4 hours at the sight, we returned to the Hotel, using the proper road this time. A dip in the pool, a bit of a siesta. The carnaval continues, but I can’t read the poster well enough to figure out what happens tonight. We’ve met several more English speaking folk, including one guy that works for the local TV, radio, and internet station. We even said good morning to two girls from Minnesota who are staying at the hotel. I wonder if Deb and I look quite so pale as they, to the Mexicans? Later this evening we strolled through a few streets close to the plaza, stopped to watch a parade filled with little kids all costumed up and following trucks with speakers playing music. The kids were kept together by adults holding a rope around each group like a corral.
Extremely cute. Then we wandered around the plaza to the sounds of a live band playing for the dance competition, and from the other side of the plaza, some huge sound set-up - I'm guessing a radio station, blaring away so loud I couldn't stand on that side of the plaza. We searched for some fruit cups with yogurt like we had in Saltillo, but settled for french fries with catsup, mayo, queso, and chili sauce. Then ice cream. Watched all the teens acting like teens the world over. I finally bought a pair of jeans. Size 34 ! Of course they are the baggy type... so I'm probably still a 36. Back to the hotel for pre-packing.
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