Wayside_Wisdom Heard Along the Way
South of the Border
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View of the City of Monterrey. |
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Click on the photo to enlarge. Click BACK to return. |
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The Plaza in Saltillo. |
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Artisans Shop in Saltillo. |
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Mountains seen along highway from Saltillo to Monterrey. |
On January 19, it was finally time for us to "unwrap" the Christmas gift we had given each other. We had packed our suitcases with all the necessities – including warm clothes – and at 7 AM on Saturday morning, we boarded a tour bus for three days and two nights in Monterrey and Saltillo, Mexico. The bus, a Turimex highway carrier, was comfortable and luxurious except that its heating system didn’t work! It was cold, and by noon, when we reached Monterrey, we couldn’t tell whether our feet had come along with us on the trip or not!
Monterrey was founded by the Spanish in 1526 and is the capital of the state of Nuevo Leon. It is Mexico’s third largest city with a population of about 5 million. It is a lovely, prosperous and hospitable city, home to many businesses and industries, such as WalMart, GM, and Chrysler.
The city is located 1765 feet above sea level, in the foothills of the eastern branch of the Sierra Madre Mountain chain. It is situated as if in a bowl created by three very high peaks. The best-known and most distinctive of those peaks is Saddleback Mountain (Silla de la Caballo), shaped like its namesake.
After eating lunch in Monterrey, we went on to Saltillo, about an hour further west. Our trip there took us up another 4000 feet because Saltillo is located high in the Sierra Madres at an elevation of over 5200 feet. It is home to three major universities but its smaller size – population of 700,000 – seems to give it a slower pace of life and more of the Spanish colonial influence lingers in city design and architecture.
For nearly a century, Saltillo has been famous for its hand made ceramic tile, distinctive woven serapes (rather like a sleeveless sweater!), and two distinctive additions to Mexican cuisine: pan de pulque and cabrito. Pan de pulque is bread made with – and flavored by – the fermented juice of the agave plant. That juice, called pulque, is quite intoxicating when taken straight, we were told. Baked in bread, however, the intoxicants are evaporated out leaving only the slightly sweet taste of the original fluid. We tried a little. It was OK, but we far prefer empanadas, fruit-filled pastry turn-overs.
Cabrito, a very popular dish in north Mexico, is kid goat roasted whole on an iron spit. We’re told it’s very tasty but we couldn’t quite get our appetites past the displays in restaurant windows of little goats being roasted on-the-spot, and in public!
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Boat on the Paseo Santa Lucia. |
Waterfall along Paseo Santa Lucia. |
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Mural along Paseo Santa Lucia. |
Museum of Mexican History. |
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Nepture Fountain. |
Fountain at Museum of Mexican History. |
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Cathedral in Monterrey. |
Horse Tail Falls (Cola de Caballo). |
Back in Monterrey, we spent two nights in an elegant hotel with a much-too-tempting buffet. Sunday morning, we toured the city’s elegant old cathedral. Then we took a boat ride on the new Riverwalk (Paseo Santa Lucia), which is lovely with many artistic sculptures and fountains. Our boat tour guide reported the popular saying that "If you get wet in the mists of the fountains, you’ll be able to speak Spanish with a northern accent!" We’d be happy to be able to speak Spanish with any kind of an accent, but the boat didn’t go close enough to the fountains for us to get wet!
After our boat trip, we took an all-too-short tour of the Museum of Mexican History. Our guide gave us a short overview of major national events from about 500 A.D. to the present time. She summarized her country, saying "Mexico has an ancient history but is still young in self-government." We found that very interesting in view of the fact that 75% of Mexico’s 85,000,000 citizens are less than 30 years of age!
We spent our free afternoon walking Monterrey’s double-decker Gran Plaza. We joined thousands of families, young folks, lovers, skate-boarders and bicyclists enjoying the beauty of downtown Monterrey and its backdrop of mountain peaks. The lights of the city and a full moon added to the scene after sunset.
On Monday morning, on our way back north, we stopped for an hour or so at Horsetail Falls (Cola de Caballo). It is a state park that preserves a waterfall of extraordinary beauty. We were glad for the side trip to that lovely place and were really thankful that someone else was driving the bus up the narrow, winding road to get there!
We thoroughly enjoyed our "Christmas gift tour" to Mexico. We enjoyed it so much, in fact, that Bruce is already reading a book entitled Bus Across Mexico. What do you suppose he has in mind for our next trip south?
Mary Sue Rosenberger - 25 Jan 2008
photos © Bruce Rosenberger