The Pink City

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After over a month in Mexico we are now officially sick of the buses. Always with movies being played but often competing with the drivers radio. And frequently we are arriving at our destination before the movie is finished. Hmm.

Zacatecas is set in the hills at around 2500 meters but it was surprisingly warm. We stayed at the Hotel Condesa which was quite pleasant. Unlike Guadalajara this town had a lovely feeling. The streets were busy with vendors and the stone buildings ranged in colour from orange to pink. The cathedral was particularly spectacular. We found a lot of upmarket shopping and didn't see any other foreigners. We saw some people protesting outside the government buildings and guessed that the tractors we had passed heading into town had something to do with it. And sure enough, as we returned to the hotel, the slow convoy was just arriving in town with lots of waving and smiling. Bit more like a parade than a protest.

While browsing the shops later that evening we were approached by a guy with a board that said 'ubrazas gratis'. He was dressed up a bit like a clown and when we asked what is an ubraza, he gave us both a big hug. And then we got hugs from another guy as well.

Next day we caught a bus to Guadalupe, a small community not far from Zacatecas. There we found the most stunning church and monastery. We could see they were doing lots of work but only after paying P$37 each and going inside did we realised that not all sections were open. We saw lots of religious art and walked the ancient halls of the monastry but were disappointed not to see more. And we found nothing more to see in Guadalupe. I had a brief chat with a garbage man who wanted to know if we liked his town.

Back in Zacatecas we walked to the entrance of the Eden mine. We were looking forward to this as Eden is my maiden name. The tour was P$60 each and started with a ride in a wee train. We had on hair nets and yellow helmets. At the end of the ride, well inside the mine, was an area where shops and a musuem had been installed. There were concreted floors all through the mine making it a little like a theme park ride. Our guide lead us through the mine and stopped frequently to tell the small group stories in Spanish. I didn't understand a huge amount but it seemed to revolve around the hardship of the indigenous population that worked there. We could see the flooded levels of the mine and there were displays and statues dotted around. We left by elevator at the other end.

Next day we saw a few museums in town. The first that we searched for was obviously invisible. The second was found. An indigenous museum, it was full of crafty things and very interesting. One room was full of colourful religious paintings on wood, with nicely decorated wooden frames. Next we found the Museo Pedro Coronel housed in a beautiful monestry. It was his private collection and he had very good taste. He had Picasso and Miro and a Dali amongst other recognised names. He had pre-Colombian art as is generally found in Mexico but he also had pieces from India, China, Japan and Thailand.

That night we treated ourselves to an expensive dinner at one of the posher hotels. This included an expensive bottle of Mexican wine that was good but perhaps because I had not had any wine for quite a while, it made me feel rather crook afterwards. This lead to a rather embarrassing moment the next morning. I felt like plain fried eggs and pointed to what I thought was that on the breakfast menu. I was delivered 2 raw eggs in a bowl which made me turn pale. The waiter happily returned them to the kitchen for frying.

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