SLP taxi downtown from bus station 25 Pesos. Buy ticket inside bus station and give it to cabbie. Met up with a Canadian fellow in the lobby of Hotel Principal--he was waiting to see if a vacancy opened up and we chatted for a while. His Spanish was atrocious and somehow he'd managed to pay $12 or $13 in usd for the same cab ride! He was a musician who'd been playing some kind of festival in Texas, missed his flight home, and decided to spend a week or so in Mexico. He was going to Guanajuato, so I made him a little map of how to get to Dona Lidia's tourist rooms. Anyhow, Trevor the Canadian watched my bag while I went to look for another hotel. I checked in at the Jardin. There are a whole bunch of cheap hotels near the old train station. Since there is no longer any passenger rail service, they've fallen on hard times. But still just four blocks from the big plazas in the centro.
SLP is a place where some of the urban buses (about 30%) look like north american school buses, which I haven't seen in other places. The rail yard is still quite active with freight trains and there is an overpass where the highway goes over the switching yard. Just on the other side is the bull ring and the free bullfight museum, where a very nice lady gave me three posters to bring home as souvenirs and refused my attempts to tip her for showing me around. There are many stuffed bulls heads on the walls, lots of old posters and photographs and newspaper atricles framed and hanging on the walls. Some capes and suits of clothing are displayed in glass cases, as is the suit that Cantinflas wore for his wedding. The lady opened the door to the case so I could get a better foto of the wedding suit and we narrowly prevented the whole thing from falling over when the weight shifted!
The first night there was a brass band playing Sinatra songs (My Way, Strangers in the Night) in the bandstand and the next night there was recorded music with quite a few Potosinos showing their Danzon skills. Also, there was some sort of Modern Art exhibition going on at the same time in one of the government buildings, so I mingled a bit with artsy young hipsters with piercings, dressed in black goth-type outfits.
There is a Museum dedicated the the era of the vice-royalty that has several hundred old keys, ranging from ones you could fit in the palm of your hand to keys the size of claw-hammers! Also lots of spurs and a few pairs of old scissors. I guess SLP was an important iron-working center. Of course, it was the regional seat of government representing the Spanish Crown back in the old days, so while Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende were all hot for revolution and overthrow of the Spanish oppressors, the folks in SLP were...not so much.
The regional museum I can't seem to remember much about, but right next to it is the "Callejon de los Hippies" (San Francisco, I think) where you can buy marijuana pipes and those silly-looking multi-colored knit berets, love beads, roach clips, and all manner of items necessary to the degenerate lifestyle.
Lots of cool colonial architecture and big fancy churches, naturally--par for the course.
I really liked my hotel room, as it was right in the front and had a nice big window facing the Plaza of the Mariachis--where the musicians just kind of hang around all day waiting for people who are going to throw parties to come and hire them. But when I came back in the evening after the Sinatra concert, it had rained and there was a big puddle on the floor where the water had leaked in through the wall. They put me in another one, no problem, but I lost my nice window.
I visited Tangamanga park, where there is supposed to be a very worthwhile museum, but naturally it was closed for renovations. The park is nice, though, and very large, with lots of sports activity and instruction going on for the youngsters, jogging trails, and nurseries and botanical gardens.
Next up--Zacatecas!
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<hr>SLP is a place where some of the urban buses (about 30%) look like north american school buses, which I haven't seen in other places. <hr></blockquote>
That type of bus is fairly common in Mexico, at least in areas I've traveled to. You'll see them in Veracruz and Acapulco and serving communities in the state of Mexico (connecting with Mexico City) as just three examples.
I've seen the school bus type buses in many small towns and even some larger ones. The bigger cities are trying to go with cleaner running buses and they seem to be banning the older school buses and the passenger vans.
San Luis is my favorite destination in Mexico. Not necessarily the best place but it has everything I need and it's an easy drive for me from Texas. The Morelia, Patzcuaro, Uruapan region is another favorite but it's a much further drive.
The area around the train station is also where I stay when I'm looking for a budget hotel. Usually at the Guadalajara or the Anahuac because they have parking. The Anahuac has the best parking and the rooms are slightly bigger. When I want fancier digs I stay at the Real Plaza on Carranza.
Thanks for the info on the Museo Taurino. In all my stays in SLP I have not managed to make it there or even to the Tangamanga parks. (I think there's two.) I had read (on the LP guide) that the museum was only open during bullfigts.
Reading this post re SLP with interest because I plan to be there sometime in May. I did not see mention of the name of the hotel that you liked there with a view of the Plaza of the Mariachis. Could you share the name and cost of the room, please?
Nice to hear you like SLP so much, one of the places I have not been, so I am always glad to hear someone liked it so well.
Also any special resturant that you would like to recommend, I prefer typical food of the region, por supuesto.
It was the Jardin or Jardin Potosi or Potosi Jardin, pretty big hotel right across from Mariachi Plaza. I think it was 200p/night single. There are two 'restaurants' that set up their bright yellow tents every afternoon just a couple of blocks away and right down the street from the Hotel Principal (Juan Sarabia 145) and take the tents down each night. Best meal I've found yet for the price, which is 16 pesos for a 'plato sencillo' or 24 pesos with chicken. They cook the food on big sort of bowl-shaped pieces of metal over a fire and the customers sit on benches surrounding the cook. Very friendly atmosphere with everybody packed in on the benches like sardines!
The Bullfight Museum is kind of hard to find, there is no sign or anything, and just figuring how to get to the other side of the railyard (as a pedestrian) is kind of an adventure. If coming from the centro, the museum is in the next building past the bullring and is upstairs. You enter from the sidestreet and might have to ring the doorbell. It is up at eye-level or a little higher, I guess to keep kids from playing pranks. It didn't open until about 5 or 5:30 when I visited, but it is just a short walk from the Plaza de Mariachis (especially once you figure out how to get over the bridge).
Lots of good restuarants in SLP. The Cafe pacifico is right across the plaza de los Mariaches (more or less). La Parroquia is a few blocks away from the hotels 2368 is describing on Bravo. Bravo turns into Carranza about 1 km down the road or less. Cafe Tokyo is one block away behind the Jardin and although it has some japonese decor it serves typical foods. Our favorite restuarant is a little hard to find. It's called Alhondiga and it's located in the Mercado (Hidalgo I believe) within easy walking distance from the Hotel Jardin or any downtown location. The Alhondiga is budget priced but serves great food and generous portions.
One thing I noticed on this last trip was that the section one or two blocks away from the Mariachi plaza has become a prostitute haven. I never really noticed it before but they were rather obvious this time. (mid-March) Seems like everyday life goes on and people just ignore the ladies (or don't). This was during the day. I imagine it could be a problem at night but we usually spent our evenings in the plazas.
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