Zacatecas, State of Zacatecas

Baroque facade of cathedral

We made the long trip from Tuxpan in the Central Gulf Coast of Mexico to Zacatecas, in the Northern Central Highlands. - and high it is, at an elevation of 8,900 ft (and population of 120,000.)

Cathedral

We arrived at the bus depot at 6.30 PM and the bus departed 30 minutes late, at 8.30 PM.  Our understanding was that the trip would take 10 hours but what was clearly meant was that we would arrive at 10 AM, making it officially a 14 hour trip.  Nevertheless the bus ride was OK and we were able to doze for much of the journey. Shortly after dawn we made a stop at our friend San Louis Potosi before pushing on to complete the last leg of the journey.

I've mentioned taxi cab trouble before and this morning we had another incident.  I had printed the name of the hotel (Hotel Condesa) and its street address on a piece of paper and when I read the information to the driver he directed us to a second cab.  After we were seated in cab the driver did a U-turn and asked us to get into a third cab.  Very strange.  I clearly told this new driver "Hotel Condesa" and he gave a knowing nod. We got onto a fast road and Brenda and I noticed that he had ignored the "Centro" sign and pushed on.  Several miles later Brenda started asking questions, the driver pulled over, and we got it through his head that we wanted the Hotel Condesa in Zacatecas, only 3 km from the bus station, and not some other entity named Condesa in the nearby city of Guadalupe.  Even when we were on Avenida Juarez and all he had to do was to find No. 102 he still had to stop and ask directions.  Eventually he found the hotel.

I pulled out a 50 peso bill expecting change but he wanted 100 pesos.  Que?  Muy Caro!  was my reply.  I got good support from Brenda who kept saying No No No ... while I tried to explain to him that I had given good instructions and the problem of driving half way to Guadalupe was not mine.  I held out the 50 pesos and as far as I was concerned it was that or nothing.  He glanced at my clearly written instructions and decided to take the money.  Brenda figured that I had overpaid him, which I probably had, but I was happy to pay that to settle the issue.

And last night the taxi driver taking us to the bus station at one point was holding a mobile telephone in his right hand while approaching a tight left turn on a narrow street and let go of the wheel so that he could reach across with his left hand to shift the gear. 

It was in Xalapa that I had experienced my first encounter with dishonesty in this tour of Mexico: the driver charged me 80 pesos to take us to the botanic gardens.  I knew that it was too much but I didn't want to start an argument with my bad Spanish.  We were charged only 35 pesos for the return to Xalapa, which confirmed that I had been ripped off.  I decided then to put my foot down if anything like that happened again.

Zacatecas is a historic town, founded by the Spaniards in 1548 to exploit the large silver deposits that they learned about from the local Indians (and as a reward they turned them into slaves in the silver mines).  The following words in the tourist guide attracted us to this city.  "Set amid arid countryside, the most northern of Mexico's fabled silver cities, fascinating Zacatecas - a Unesco World Heritage Site - runs along a narrow valley.  The large historic center is jam-packed with opulent colonial buildings, a stupendous cathedral, magnificent museums and steep, winding streets and alleys."

After settling into the hotel room we set off shortly after noon to visit the Museo Pedro Coronel, a "not to be missed" museum of ancient and modern art that is closed on Thursdays (tomorrow). The museum is housed in a 17th century former Jesuit college. Brenda and I were amazed at the scope and quality of the collection.  For the first time I saw originals by Picasso (4 sketches, 1 oil painting),  Dali, Georges Braque, Chagall, Kandisky and others.  There were also works by  Goya.  There was ancient art work from every continent except Australia, some dating from the 7th century BC.  I saw my first Egyptian sarcophagus, from 7th-6th century BC.

The museum also housed what must have been thousands of books dating from the 19th century and undoubtedly earlier.  One 11 volume set that caught my eye was "Diarios De Las Cortes" dated 1810-1811.

Unfortunately but not unexpectedly, we were not allowed to take photographs.  In fact, for security reasons our cameras and bags were stored in a locker during our visit.