Welcome to Mexico or road tripping

As soon as I found out that my first location for the Dream Year would be Mexico I wrote to an old friend of mine who lives here. Since we met in summer 2010 in London he kept inviting me to his place every time we spoke. It was enough to let him know that I was coming and to hear straight away “mi casa es tu casa” – “my home is your home”. Mexican spontaneity is a great thing. Couple of days before my arrival was enough to sort things out and plan a road trip.

After years of promising, finally I made it. I arrived in Leon, a small city in the center of the country from where we started our trip.

The road trip crew consisted of my friend Jaime, main pilot and organizer, myself, acting as co-pilot, and Jaime’s three friends. Is there anything better than discovering an unknown country with a bunch of fun local people you who will show you around and tell you everything what you need to know? I guess there is not!

Mexico is a top choice country for a road trip, full of stunning landscapes and picturesque villages. The weather is (almost) always good, people are relaxed and friendly. Nobody is in a rush here and Mexicans are always ready to go out and enjoy their life. Oh, one more thing, you can listen to the music in your car as loud as wish (even if you are in a traffic jam in the city center) and nobody gets angry about it!

As we wanted the ultimate Mexican experience, once we reached our first destination, Guanajuato, we chose to stay in a traditional, 350 year old hotel. Nope, it was not a 5 star palace, by 350 year old I mean that it was simply very very old. And staying there felt like living in the 17th century as well. That is maybe why we paid a price that was valid at that time, 5.60 euro per person.Weird noises during the night and a break in to our room included. And plenty of cats in the whole building. Count it as a plus or a minus, as you wish.

It was great to stay on the hotel's balcony and observe the city. The life down here is not as order and structured as in Europe. People have their own ways of doing things. It does not look like they would like to work all day long in a office or that they would be bothered to plan their career. It seems like everybody does what they enjoy and they try to make the most of it and make a living. And maybe they even have more fun than an average person doing some paper work all day. 

During the trip we explored several towns, among others "pueblos magicos" - "magical villages"; we visited very touristy places full of gringos and some unknown ones that kept their authenticity and their own style. 

One of the first things that catches your attention while you are travelling in Mexico is this plenty of colors surrounding you. Everything is so colorful - buildings, clothes, flowers, fruits and vegetables on the food stands on the streets. People walking around are happy and loud and you hear music at every corner, either from a car or a shop or a musicians playing on the streets. 

Wreaths are so in vogue down here. 

The more colorful the better. 

 

Once you have seen enough of nature, architecture, been to local museums and other attractions on your touristic to-do list, there is one more thing that makes travelling in this country so enjoyable. Namely, Mexican food. Chilaquiles, tacos, mole, tamales, burritos, enchiladas, pozole, gorditas, tortillas, guacamole etc. etc. The only problem with the local food is that even if you speak this bit of Spanish, it will not help you to actually understand what you will get on the plate. Unless there are pictures on the menu, or you get something that you already tried before or you have the locals explaining carefully what you will get, ordering food in Mexico is pretty much gambling. 

That is the small fraction of what you can have here. 

That was just the first road trip, in this amazing country, there are more to come. But that is enough for today, I guess that you all feel like going to Mexico now! Keep calm, next time I will write how the locals throw a fiesta here. It will be even more exciting!

Cheers,

Marcela