Travel Report 7: Querétaro

From San Miguel de Allende (H) to Querétaro (I)

Querétaro definitely surprised me. According to our guide book some people refer to it as the ugly duckling among the colonial cities. Not at all. Its center is as beautiful as all the other cities, it's just not as "historic". Nevertheless, Querétaro seemed to have to perfect size. It was big enough to boast all the facilities and services you want to enjoy in bigger cities, but it's still small enough to be tranquil and safe. It really felt like a nice "home base" to calm down. If only it had been warmer...

One of the most beautiful plazas I have seen in Mexico is in Querétaro, the Plaza de los Arcos. Unfortunately, I didn't carry my camera, as it was a spontaneous trip with one of our fellow students who lives there. I share with you this photo from a local newspaper, although it doesn't really reflect the beauty of this place. Metal figurines, a nice fountain, beautiful lanterns, and the aqueduct in the background. Wow.

Plaza de los Arcos (Source: El Universal Querétaro)

People very friendly and helpful everywhere - and suddenly the directions they gave were really helpful, instead of right-left-confused. There were great fluffy Gorditas ("fatties") with a filling of cheese which even I liked. Moreover, it was the only place where I found guacamole as a filling. Really good.

Our hostel was superb - from my bed I had a view over the whole city (nevertheless, M. and me had to ask for FOUR blankets EACH, because it was sooo freezing cold...).

Accidentally we met a guy from Cholula who temporarilly worked as a waiter in the Falafel shop we had headed to. Sometimes Mexico is incredibly small.

Querétaro also had some of the best museums I have been to - not only in Mexico, but in general. And they are free! That is, for me as a national student most of the cultural attractions are free, anyway - but many of the museums there are free to the general public. You really notice that this city is one of the richer cities in Mexico. One of the museums had an exposition about blindness. In one room only one person could enter at a time (this isn't a problem, as Mexicans apparently are not too fond of visiting museums). It was totally dark and you had to grope your way. Of course, there were lots of items with very interesting textures and surfaces. Was really great.

The day before K. left to her best friend's house, we went with her to Peña de Bernal - the world's third largest monolith. Above we thought "Oh my god, sooo touristic", but as we continued climbing, there were less and less people and the view was amazing.

Nice art in Plaza de Armas, Querétaro

The aqueduct

"El lápiz" (the pencil) seems to be a favourite childrens's activity during festival season

Buñuelos (dough fried in sweet anise syrup) is a must during Christmas time.

Peña de Bernal

View from Peña de Bernal

Climbing Peña de Bernal - the world's third largest monolith (350m)

Love Querétaro style Gorditas - especially with Guacamole filling...

... and obviously I'm not the only one (in Mercado de la Cruz)

Querétaro's Museo de la Ciudad is one of the best museums I've ever been to!

The Little Prince - thinking of my sister :-)

Even the cheese in Querétaro is awesome (for this great Gordita, just go to the bus terminal and help yourself outside of the station - this is more a reminder for myself :-))