A day in Veracruz

Yesterday we checked into a much-needed lovely hotel in Veracruz right on the water. Time to relax and stop worrying about the flying conditions for a while.

Today started out with a most excellent 4 or 5 mile jog along the seawall. While on my jog, I encountered the police surrounding an apparently abandoned large SUV with Coahuila license plates. But I wasn't worried. Our taxi driver had explained that this area is tranquilo owing to the fact that it is entirely controlled by the Zetas. The funny thing about that is that he was actually saying that the political party PRI is in control (and therefore by proxy, the Zetas). What a relief to know that our personal security is ensured by Mexico's most dangerous drug cartel (through their puppet governmental representatives)!

We spent the day wandering around the lovely Veracruz, oldest city established by the Spaniards in Mexico. The cool thing about Veracruz is that it is a tourist destination, but only for Mexicans. Not many gringos around these parts. It's one of Mexico's largest shipping ports (second only to Tampico now, I think). But the boardwalk that runs from near the shipyard out to the lighthouse is actually a pleasant area.

We saw the amazing fort San Juan de Ulúa, dating to 1565. There's a large Naval Museum of interest. I thought I was walking into it - all laughing and smiling, but I had in fact wandered into the funeraria naval. Oh shit. We took that as a sign that we should just avoid all museums. We succeeded swimmingly in that effort.

We enjoyed some live marimba. Some excellent well-roasted coffee. A lot of local folks doing what local folks do. Some mediocre ceviche. The seafood mercado. And a LOT of walking and looking and soaking it all in. The flip-flop tan is well underway.

I loved all of the beautiful old tile work all over town - on the sidewalks, the buildings, the cathedral dome, everywhere. Unfortunately, our camera batteries were dead within two blocks of the hotel as we set out this morning. I'll post the one or two tile photos in the next post. For the most part, the few pictures we shot before we lost power were unimpressive, except for the hilarious shot I've posted here of me and a large sculpture by the shipyard.