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Thursday, November 8, 2012

The City of Zacatecas

Thanks for all of your comments and concern everybody, we're totally fine. We had an email last night from the Comandante at the municipal police saying that the photo I emailed her was going to be very helpful. So maybe they will catch the bad guys yet!

Even though we were mugged (you can read all about it in yesterday evening's post) we still had a good day out exploring that we need to tell you about.

We took the local bus from Guadalupe, and it was about a 10 km (6.2 mile) distance. It costs 5.5 pesos (44 cents) each to ride the local bus. We got off at the plaza and just started wandering around. We had been to Zacatecas before, back in March of 2009. But there were some things we hadn't seen, so we figured we would go into town again.

Ruth, admiring the different masks.

They still have some displays left over from the Dia de los Muertes (Day of the Dead) celebrations that took place on November 2. So we went into some of the municipal buildings to see some of the work.

Dance, anyone?

One of the main streets. Zacatecas centro is a Unesco site so all of the advertising on the businesses on certain streets are only allowed to have black writing on their facade.

The theater.

The cathedral has a very intricate facade, but the building is undergoing restoration so it was closed. We did speak to someone later who said it would be open at 5:00pm, so maybe that's when the workers leave.

Artwork inside one of the municipal buildings.

This floor display is completely done with different colors of wood shavings!

One of the things we wanted to do was to visit the Rafael Coronel Mask Museum. It's supposed to be really well done, but Alejandra had called them to find out the hours and it was closed on Wednesdays! bad timing on our part, but I guess it will give us something to see if we should ever end up in Zacatecas again. Still, the building that the museum is housed in is a historic structure, so we went to see it anyhow.

The Rafael Coronel Museum.

Another view.

There are three ways to get to the "La Bufa" lookout. You can take the gondola, but we did that last time we were here. Or you can drive up there. Or, you can hike. So we started the hike up. Had to rest quite a few times, but we were in no rush. made it to the top, and had a gorgeous view of the city.

Ruth. She still has her backpack in this photo, but 45 minutes later she wouldn't!

We wandered around at the top for a while. Then, someone else started wandering around with us. Sure enough, a little doggie started following us. No, we didn't pet him or feed him, although we sure wanted to. he was a cute little guy and we could have easily adopted him. He stayed with us for 15 minutes or so and then ended up following someone else.

Our new friend.

Another view of the Rafael Coronel Museum.

And then we started making our way back down. Then we got mugged, but you already know that from yesterday's post!

Today, we are off to Hacienda Contreras. Not as long of a drive at 386 kms (240 miles), so we should be there mid afternoon. Looking forward to getting back "home"!!


12 comments:

  1. Hoping you have a very uneventful day! If those guys get caught, they may never see the light of day again! Mexico is fierce to criminals who endanger tourists - they know where their income comes from. Good for the police for contacting you so soon.

    Kent

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    1. It was an uneventful drive. We enjoyed the scenery along the way. We doubt that the guys will get caught but are happy with the way the police reacted and also seeing that they got back to us quickly via email.

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  2. Zacatecas, la joya de Mexico. Wonderful place. There is a disco in one of the mines. Not sure if it is still open, but we had an event there in 2006, you take a train ride into the mine. Very well done and fun to boot. Maybe it is a restaurant now. Worth checking out at least for the coal car ride. Have fun!

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    1. Yes it is a beautiful place. Our first year in Zacatecas we did the silver mine tour so we didn't bother doing it again. I was interesting though and I think I remember that they had a disco in there too at one time, like you not sure if it was still running or not.

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  3. Good to see you had a good day before the mugging. These things can happen ANYWHERE!!!!! But you wouldn't do anything if you choose to live with fear. By the time you read this you will probably be back with Sherman. Have a great nights sleep in your own bed!

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    1. You are very right. With everything on the news about what is good for you and what is not, you wouldn't want to set foot outside you own door, and that is just no way to live.

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  4. Cool header photo. The Cathedral is lovely! So glad you were able to keep your photos. Gives you great memories.

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    1. We are too! I think the camera would have been the one thing I would have hated to lose. Luckily we always download the pictures each day to the computer so if they had taken the camera the only pictures we would have lost would have been that day's pictures.

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  5. Looks like you had a nice beginning of the day - love the header photo - take care now!

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    1. We did enjoy our day there, except that we never got to see the Mask Museum or the inside of the cathedral because both were closed. In fact we were headed to the cathedral at the time of the mugging as it was going to be open at 5pm.

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  6. Ok, sitting on that ledge looks scary to me than the mugger! As usual beautiful pics. Next time you are here will have to take you to some of the beautiful old churches in St Louis. The Old Catheral here is magnificent. Afraid that doggie would have come home with me, he is so cute. But I know it is so much easier traveling without a pet, you can be gone all day and night and not have to worry about getting back to take care of a furkid.
    Take care.

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    1. Donna the ledge looks scarier in the picture than it really is. The ledge didn't go straight down otherwise I wouldn't have been sitting there. Would love to have seen the old cathedral in St. Louis, guess it will have to wait for another time.

      We would loved to have brought that little guy home with us but we at this moment we really don't want another dog.

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