Monterrey/Saltillo, Mexio

Greetings my friends:

We just returned from 3 days and 2 nights in Monterrey/Saltillo, Mexico. It was a wonderful experience. We had only been to Mexican border towns, never to a Mexican city. We were very surprised at how modern and beautiful the cities are. The old 17 century buildings are mixed in with the new modern architecture. The new buildings are a work of art in themselves. The main streets are at least 3 lanes in each direction and well paved and demarcated. It was a good time to travel as the trees are in bloom as well as the cactuses.

The first day out was extremely hot. Our tour guide, Abel, said it had reached 110F. The next day was perfect and the third day had a somewhat chilly wind blowing, but was still nice. We visited new structures as well as the old city. Our bus driver, JoseLuis, was extremely proficient at turning down narrow, narrow streets with parking on both sides. A couple of times we all gave him applause for making, what looked to us, an impossible turn.

The first photo is a close-up of the cathedral in Saltillo. The detail is incredible. Everywhere are monuments; statues of some Mexican general, president, hero, etc. The parks are well treed, beautifully tended and flowered. The second photo is of the governor's palace in the heart of Monterrey. It is on a huge plaza with many statues and a park.

We also went to Horse Tail Falls, which is high in the mountains and surrounded with a beautiful park where families can picnic and enjoy the scenery. We stayed at a very nice hotel in Monterrey, walking distance to shopping and night life.

Things were more expensive in the cities than in the border towns. There are many huge factories there, which employ the Mexicans. We were told that most factory workers make $1/hr. but are striving to have that increased to $2/hr. For such low wages, a huge percentage of the vehicles were new. We saw rows and rows of the pigeon, chicken and turkey houses that my guide on the border trip had explained. Our guide explained many things to us, from important dates in Mexican history to how squatters eventually own their property. He had two years of post-secondary education to become a tour guide over 30 years ago. Now, he said, you need 4 years of post-secondary to become a tour guide. He had a great sense of humour and told us several jokes, which were very funny with his accent.

All in all it was indeed a trip to remember!