Moving to Queretaro Part 8 - The Trip to Zacatecas

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April 27th 2007

Published: April 27th 2007

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Jeff

Hotel Condesa

View of Jardin Independencia from the balcony of our Hotel

04-27-07
Talk about last minute plans! We have been talking about going to Zacatecas for several weeks. We were attracted to this city for many reasons. Zacatecas ("Z") is 8,000 feet above sea level on Mexico’s high-desert plain. It was the first of Mexico’s great colonial-era silver mining cities. The cathedral in Z is considered one of Mexico’s most magnificent. Because of its location, Z has very few American visitors (yippee!) but it is loved by Mexicans. The city has a swiss cable-car that transports passengers to the top of the rocky peak Cerro del Bufo. We were also attracted by the former silver mine, Mina Eden, which offers a train tour into the heart of the mountain through narrow, dark tunnels.
Originally we thought this weekend would be great. But then we realized Monday is Kid's day in Mexico (actually a very big deal with celebrations and fiestas in the central area). Although the kids did have school all they do is play. So it seemed like a good day to miss. But then Haley had to go to a theater production Friday night from 9 - 11:00 p.m. (Man of La Mancha) and both kids wanted to go to

Hotel Condesa

Our Hotel

school on Monday for all of the fun activities. So we planned to go the following weekend. But when I arrived home (Friday), it had all changed and everyone thought we should go to Z in the morning. After some discussion I agreed. I took Haley to her theater production in Queretaro’s el Centro. I went and found an outdoor cafe. I told the waiter, if my beer is 3/4 gone bring me another. Two hours later I had covered 3-1/2 beers and both the Mexican travel books. We had reservations at a hotel in downtown Z. Haley's play ran over. We made it home about 12:10 a.m. Off to bed and up at 7:00 a.m.
04-28-07
Everyone did great this morning. We were on the road by 8:30 a.m. and the drive to Z was pretty easy. It is a straight shot on cuota 45 past Celaya, Leon, Aguascalientes and then Z. It took less than 5 hours and $30.00 in tolls. The girls were great. We arrived in Z around 1:20 p.m. Then we got waaaay lost and added another 20 minutes to the trip. After asking about 5 people (and driving around about like a fish flops

Jardin Independencia

Is she smiling?

on the beach) we found Juarez Street. Then we found Hotel Condesa, Juarez 102. By 2:15 p.m. we were parked, had our stuff in the hotel and were ready to go. The Hotel was nice and the room is big. It is centrally located and was recommended by both travel books. I had requested a room with a balcony and a view of “Plaza Independencia” - we got both. Cost: $50.00 for a room with two beds for 4 people.
The kids and Teresa were starved so our first stop, Rosticeria el Pastor de Pollo, (roasted chicken). It is about a 3 minute walk from the Hotel. A 1/4 chicken with all the fixings is under $3.00. We walk around the city and eventually end up at Museo Rafael Coronel. We went to see the mask collection, but after an hour of stumbling around this place we have not even come near the masks. But this site is just amazing. It covers an entire city block and occupies the ex-convento de San Francisco which was founded in 1593. The compound was rebuilt in the seventeenth century and then severally damaged during the bombardment of 1914 when Pancho Villa's Division Del

Cathedral

Norte captured the city and completely wiped out the cities garrison of 12,000 federales. The building and gardens have been partially restored. Actually, I consider it completely restored. About 40% is still ruins. But the restored parts are amazingly integrated with the ruins. You see crumbled walls, but they are covered with green viney plants and beautiful flowers. You walk around in complete amazement at the pure beauty of this place. As we first entered into the area a bride and groom were having pictures taken and Haley said, “I want my senior pictures to be taken here. Dad, will you fly me back here for my senior pictures?” Sure, Haley, in 5 years we will just buzz down here for a quick photo shoot and then buzz back home. I was actually thinking what a great place this would be for her photos. We found our way to a top level and were enjoying the view when an older man came to tell us it was closing time. Oops, over an hour and a half and we still had not seen the masks. Oh yeah, the masks. There is a collection of over 5,000 masks on display - largest

Cathedral

collection in all of Mexico. There are modern masks and masks from ancient pre-Columbian times. We were all anxious to see the masks so we agree to return tomorrow to walk around some more and to see the masks. We leave only because they force us too. We absolutely fell in love with this place and hate to leave. So we head down Hidalgo Street and take in some of the city views. We walk with no real destination in mind.
The city is interesting. It very different from other cities we have visited. Here, unlike most of the cities, there is no large central plaza. Rather, the city contains a series of little plazas. For example, our Hotel overlooks the JardÃn Independencia, which is fairly small but quite pretty. If there is a main plaza this is it. It is one block from the market and people hang out here in the evening. Not too far from our hotel is the Plaza Alameda. Here you find a rather narrow plaza with benches, fountains, and a bandstand. There are all kinds of trees so it remains very cool during the day. Next to the Alameda is the JardÃn de las

Cathedral

Madres which is very small yet has a large statute of a woman and beautiful flora.
So we walked and took in the city. Because the city is sandwiched between two mountain ranges, there are narrow alleys running everywhere. Sometimes you must climb steep steps to go from one street to another. Eventually we make it back to the room. We recharge our batteries for a few minutes and decide to eat dinner at “La Cantera Musical.” Lonely Planet says it has “truly delicious Mexican food” and “live music.” The girls get out the map and decide that they will navigate us to the restaurant and to my amazement the girls do a great job and 15 minutes later we are ordering our dinner. As we enter, this little Mexican girl (about 3 or 4 years old) marches over to the girls and starts talking to them. She was so friendly and cute. Her Mom eventually makes it over to the table and we have a nice chat. The family is from Aguascalientes. They are spending the night here for a little getaway. Mom was just as gregarious as her daughter. Dinner was great, but we are disappointed because the

Cathedral

View from the cable car

music ends after 15 minutes.
We wander around the Cathedral area after dinner. The Cathedral is best described as, well, flashy perhaps even a bit ostentatious. It was completed in 1750 and the front is carved from a pink stone. The carvings are pretty amazing but perhaps a bit overdone. Plaza Hidalgo is next to the Cathedral and it is not really a plaza at all. Rather, it is a small paved area with steps that go down into the plaza. Next to it is Plaza Huizar. Because of the angle of the street, the steps here are steep. On this evening, street performers are working and the steps serve as a sort of amphitheater seating. Perhaps 300 - 400 people are watching the performers. After 15 minutes, we are all tired and decide to call it a night.
4-30-07
We all awake around 8 a.m. The girls decide to plan the day and do ALL of the navigating again. They are bolstered by the success from last night. They decide that breakfast will be at Restaurant Fonda El Jacalito. We walk out of the hotel and the girls are a bit confused by the street numbers (Many of the

A second Cathedral

View from the cable car

buildings have two street numbers. I ask someone why and I am told they were changed a few years ago and some people have not yet gotten around to pulling down the old numbers - ok, um alright). They stop, and then go back to the hotel to ask for help. The door man smiles as Haley asks for directions. He says nothing, but rather raises his arm and points at the restaurant directly across the street. We walk for 39 seconds and arrive at our first stop for the day. Breakfast proves to be so-so and a bit on the pricey side. We leave and have a pretty long walk to our next destination, the aerial cable car (“TelefÃ©rico”). Madison is a little nervous, from the ground it looks like the cable car travels pretty fast but once we are on it, she loves it. We are the only ones riding at this point so that is nice so we can walk around and look out all sides. The car climbs to the summit of Cerro de la Bufa and crosses high above the city. The view of the city is amazing. Once we arrived it is just a

Museo Rafael Coronel

View from on top of Cerro de la Bufa

short walk to the top where you find a chapel called Capilla del Partocinio. The view from here is really great. Next to the chapel we found the Museo de la Toma Zacatecas. It was all in Spanish so we were a little confused but it was full of revolutionary arms and memorabilia and old pictures. We learned about the battle of 1914 with Pancho Villa and how much devastation it caused to the city. I think about 5,000 people died. Some of the pictures were really amazing. We rode the TelefÃ©rico back down the hill. It is approaching 1:00 p.m. and we are hungry. Haley and Madison had a place all picked out. They knew the address and take us almost directly to El Pueblito. The book promoted it as “tasty Mexican dishes” with “Zacatecan specialties.” It was very good.
After lunch it we go back to Museo Rafael Coronol to see the masks. They were worth the effort but after about 30 minutes it becomes almost overwhelming. After a couple of hours we leave, stop at a store and buy some really cool wooden masks (hand carved and painted). Then it is off to tour the Mina El

Museo Rafael Coronel

EdÃ©n, atop Cerro del Grillo. The tour takes you deep into the mountain via a short train ride. You put on your hard-hat and board the train that descends into a dark tunnel. Spanish-speaking guides point flashlights up to the veins of metal and down to pools of water and flooded lower levels. They tell us all kinds of things --we understand almost nothing. Nonetheless it is really cool (literally and figuratively). The exit is at a different location then the entrance. We exit, we are lost. We stumble around for a while and finally find our way. We head back to the hotel for some rest time. None of us felt like going out to dinner again so we ended up at a small taco place just around the corner from our hotel. After dinner we walked down to Plaza Alameda. A band is playing and it is a very festive night. We are back in our room and in bed by 10:00 p.m.
5-30-07
Breakfast, shop for silver, buy silver, buy more silver, depart Z ,and drive back to Queretaro. Of course as we approach Leon and Guanajuato we stop at our normal place to buy strawberries. This