El Marqués

It's time to go up country. Having bought my onward bus ticket yesterday, I'm back at the vast Terminal Norte. Without a passenger train network, people without cars get around by long-distance bus. Mexico City has 4 main terminals and this one boasts over 100. What takes some working out is there are up to 10 bus companies and since not all of them publish the time-table unless they have an on-line service, they require one to go to each office to find a suitable departure. But the vehicles themselves are magnificent; this one is double decker with reclining seats much better than those on an aircraft (Economy class anyway) and when I'm checking in at the ticket office, the girl writes the vehicle number on the ticket. 7023---he's 70, she's 23!

It's just a 3-hour journey north-west to Santiago de Queretaro. It's a sizeable city of around a million people and having been a silver mining city in the 17th and 18th centuries, it boasts a beautiful historic core. Some would argue that like other Colonial cities, it was built on the misery of thousands of people who were exploited by the colonising Spanish forces but one can't deny the beauty of what survives today. Some examples are shown here---plus some Sunday afternoon entertainment and how I found sustenance. The breakfast picture shows the almost addictive huevos rancheros, the plate set on a free street map of the city.

It should be added that I write this over a month after the event and while the coronavirus pandemic was being widely reported from China, it was in its infancy in many other countries and was yet to break out in Mexico. Things are very different now to the carefree days of early February.Read more