This weekend I had Monday off for Semana Santa, so idecided to make the most of it and head off on a little trip to Queretaro on my own. I went early on Sunday morning, dropped my things off at the youth hostel (comically named La Jirafa Roja) and headed straight into town. It was a really hot day and after wandering about for only a short while i was quite tired!
I went to the city's art museum first of all, which was really good. It was in a beautiful building and had some great contemporary sculpture - so it was definitely worth visiting. I wandered round a bit more after - just taking in the sights - the streets and plazas were numerous and very pretty, and finally ended up back in the main plaza (plaza de armas) and grabbed a pasta lunch.
After that i headed to the Casa de la Zacatecana - a restored house from colonial times with lots of interesting stuff in it including a room with 39 clocks. Walking into the clock room was kind of surreal - all the ticking and the movement was weird but very cool.
After that i wandered a bit more - well quite a lot more actually. Outside all the churches were people making and selling things from palms cos i went on palm sunday and there were lots of other little market stalls too. I also went into a couple of other free art exhibits one of local artists and another that was a photography thing of families of queretaro.
There was a concert in plaza de armas so i stayed to watch that and it went on for a couple of hours - it was nice to sit and relax and watch live music. When it was over i planned to get some dinner, but on the way found a dance event in another plaza - i watched that for a while and it was fun but getting dark. Eventually i headedfor the vegetarian cafe i'd read about in lonely planet where i had a super cheap but very yummy soyburger and a carrot juice!
Then i went back to the hostel where i met two guys that worked there and an irish gu and sat up on the roof terrace chatting to them for a while. Then i went to sleep in my room with 6 argentinian girls, one of whom snored like a pig.
On Monday i got up early and walked to the mirador to see the aqueduct. then i decided to go to the other side of the city and visit the park: cerro de las campanas. It was really pretty and i enjoyed relaxing and spending an hour or so there. Then i walked back to town via a couple of pretty churches and a jesus parade...
I had an icecream and then went to another art museum - it was closed but theyb let me in just to see the building which was actually very nice and i'm glad i got to see it - the buildings are ofetn better than the museums themselves in this oountry! I had lunch at a creperie - i was a bit dubious cos the crepes were quite expensive but i shouldn't have been cos it was the hugest most stuffed crepe ever and i was so full i could barely walk at the end! I wandered a little more and finally went back and got my bags from the youth hostel and headed for alameda where there's a park and where the buses go from. I sat and read a book in the shade for a while before heading to the bus station to go back to slp and work.... but my next adventure is not far off! Guanajuato, Dolores Hidalgo and San Migual de Allende at the end of the week!
