Additional Tourist Attractions of Zacatecas

Zacatecas has, just like Queretaro, the remains of an old Spanish aqueduct used centuries ago to bring water to the city. There is a series of very high stone arches still standing. I guess I forgot to mention the ones in Queretaro when writing about that city, but they are sort of Queretaro's "official symbol" or something, whereas in Zacatecas there exists so much other great stuff that the arches are just kind of not a really big deal or anything. They are (the ones in Zacatecas) close to a very nice large park that has a fountain with colored lights and music--where the squirting of the water is coordinated with the lights and music to make for a very striking effect, especially when considering that probably close to half of Mexico's remarkable number of public fountains produce only a weak dribble or do not work at all.

Near to the park and the arches is a fancy hotel, La Quinta Real, or "the royal fifth," which refers to the 20% of the silver and gold and so forth that was reserved for the Spanish Crown and sent along the Camino Real by mule train to then be shipped back to the royal coffers in Spain. (I'm sure this isn't big news to many people--Henry Morgan and Francis Drake and plenty of others knew all about it, too).

Anyway, La Quinta Real has integrated Zacatecas' old Plaza de Toros into its architecture. The luxurious rooms are in a circle in the old grandstand and large windows face the former bullring. Management is happy to let people wander in off the street and gape at the wonderment of it. I walked down to the area where the bullfights actually used to take place and, speaking for myself, I think I might prefer a little more room to run!

Friday morning I went with John (the dairy farmer) to Banamex to see if I could help him get his card back out of the ATM, which had swallowed it. He wondered if he hadn't made the mistake of pushing the 'withdrawal from savings' button instead of 'withdrawal from checking' but the manager explained that the problem was that the computers of the financial institutions had not been able to communicate. (John's card said ScottTrade on the front and apparently he hadn't notified his brokerage that he was going to be in Mexico. He also hadn't notified his older sister, who he said "still thinks she is in charge of me" although he is 60 if he is a day!--so I hope she is not reading this.)

Anyhow, on the way to the bank we passed this fellow who had his burro parked on the street between a VW and a Nissan. Strapped to the animal's back was a wooden frame that had been constructed to support four earthenware jugs that looked like they would each hold 2 1/2 or 3 gallons. I said to myself "I'll bet that fellow is selling something cold to drink" and it turned out I was right. He was peddling aguamiel, which translates as "honey water" for 5 pesos a throw. Well, I drank about two-thirds of the ambrosial nectar before remembering how careful we are all supposed to be about the water. "Oh, well--too late now. Down the hatch!"

I later found out, to my relief, that aguamiel isn't made from water (or honey) at all, but is squozen from the stalk of the maguey cactus. The cactus used to make pulque and mescal. But this stuff is just fresh and not fermented or distilled yet. It is pretty good, though. I wish I had had my camera with me.

Well, if I think of anything else worth writing about, I will post more later.