Train Museum in SLP

 The train museum in San Luis Potosí is located just across the street of the Alameda (on one of the long sides).  It´s very hard to miss, given the enormous black locomotive in front of the building.

There´s not much to the museum itself.  I can´t say I learned much about trains.  They had a charming little display about circuses and circus trains.

But it was well worth our while for the trains on display behind the museum.  Not only could we touch them, we could go IN them.  We could sit in the seats!  My son was able to push buttons!  And, let me tell you, if you´re toting a transportation-loving toddler all around a beautiful colonial city, San Luis Potosí´s Train Museum is a must-see.

The adults in the group might not get much out of the experience.
But it will be the highlight of any two-year-old´s year!

Conductor Joe.  

Grandpa and Joey in the little, orange train.

Hello, from the Revolutionary wagon!

Family with that big, ol´ engine at the museum´s entrance.

Destination: San Luis Potosí--with the parents!

My parents were visiting for two weeks in March.  One of the weekends they were here fell on a three-day weekend, so we decided to get out of town.  Being in this area of the country, our long-weekend options are a little limited (Monterrey, Parras, Texas, San Luis Potosí . . . that´s about all the options on our safe list).  However, we´ve only been to San Luis Potosí once, and LOVED it, so it was high time to try it again. 

The view of Plaza Fundadores from our hotel room.

Sitting on the  steps of the theater.  OK, I sat.  The kids could have climbed them all morning.

The National Mask Museum.  It may get its own post in a few days.

Eating candy and enjoying the grass at the Plaza San Francisco.

Plaza de Armas

Our tour trolley!

As the capital of a very important mining region, San Luis Potosí boasts ornateness EVERYWHERE!
At least, downtown.  

Grandma and Grandpa being good tourists while the kiddos got a good nap on the tour trolley.

Destination: Real de Catorce

After living in Saltillo for the past two years, we’ve driven down that empty, mind-numbing stretch of highway between Saltillo and San Luis Potosi more times than I care to admit. The first time we drove it, I was rather intrigued by all the Joshua Trees, cactus, and snake skin sellers. But once was enough.

This last time, when our destination was simply San Luis Potosi, we had time to make a detour—at Real de Catorce. Just crossing the border into San Luis Potosi from Nuevo Leon, we had been promised by Mario’s family that a few hours at Real de Catorce were worth our time.

Real de Catorce used to be a silver mining town in colonial days. I believe the last of the mines were all but scraped clean by 1908. We were anticipating visiting a ghost town.

However, Real de Catorce is a thriving community.

What a surprise, as anyone who wishes to either enter or leave the town must pass through the Ogarrio Tunnel, delving under a mountain nearly a mile in length. That makes for quite a commute, especially as Real de Catorce is the closest thing to the middle of nowhere that I've ever been. Built in 1902, tunnel is impressive. But even more impressive, what were those doors leading off to a few meters from the entrance? I also would have been tempted to stop and look (as my in-laws did). However, the traffic is only one-way, and while they count the cars coming out as the end, if they notice that the traffic has ceased, they may just assume they miscounted, and let the oncoming traffic through. Therefore, when my in-laws stopped to admire this feat of engineering a year ago, my father-in-law had to back up halfway through the tunnel until there was a space wide enough to let the traffic pass. Lesson learned: don’t stop to gawk.

Once in town, what is there? A plethora of the usual tourist trinkets, antojos, and a more than usual number of hippies. I had never seen so many hippies so far from Cuernavaca or Tulum. Who knew that this was hippie mecca? They (the townies, not the hippies) also offer horseback rides to the ghost towns. Therefore, when we return we may get our ghost town fix, after all. And a word to the wise: for those traveling with small children, taking a stroller in this town is more hassle than it’s worth. We learned the hard way.

There were quite a few Regios (people from Monterrey) who were apparently taking a break from getting shot at for the weekend. Much like those of us from Saltillo, they have few weekend options within driving distance. Spotting Regios is fairly easy, as they seem to travel in packs. Were I part of the pack, I would probably love vacationing with them. However, as part of a small, independent family unit, the noise that usually accompanies these packs of Regios requires a bit of patience. Fortunately, they just talk loud. Other than that, they do seem to be very, very nice people overall. I do count my blessings that, at least in my experience, they don’t go blaring that awful norteño music everywhere they go.

And, I’m guessing that thanks to the flocks of regular visitors from Monterrey, we stumbled onto a beautiful Italian restaurant/hotel. But did Mario and I order Italian? Of course not! Mario had German-style rabbit. It was very good, but not near as good as my chipotle sauce-covered rabbit. For those who may venture out to Real de Catorce, this restaurant, aptly named “Real”, is on Morelos, between Lanzagorta and Constitución, a block nearer the center of town from the Plaza Hidalgo.

Futhermore, the lobby at the Real is littered with movie posters and still shots, as the movie The Mexican, with Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, was filmed in Real de Catorce. Futhermore, Bandidas with Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz, and a number of other non-Hollywood movies were also filmed here. The hotel boasts the impressive display of pictures, as the hotel’s owner enjoys being an extra or gets bit parts (he was also a pirate in Pirates of the Caribbean III).

As this is the only other town besides Parras within 3 hours of Saltillo and not currently overrun with narcos, we’ll be visiting again. İQue vivan los Pueblos Magicos!

For those who might visit Real de Catorce, take Highway 57 (Mexico City-Laredo) until just north of Matehuala. Then, cut west on 62 (keep your eyes open—it’s not well marked). From there, follow the signs to Real de Catorce. All in all, it takes about an hour after leaving 57—not counting the time spent waiting to go through the tunnel.

The Real Reason Why SLP Rocks!

As mentioned earlier, normally all we ever do in San Luis Potosi is buy candy. For years, I think Mario thought that's all there was to SLP--Costanzo's candy store (and GM . . . he is Mario, after all).

And Costanzo's really is worth mentioning. They sport old fashioned wooden and glass counters with trays brimming over with an assortment of sweets. Behind the counters, tower stacks upon stacks of cardboard boxes of the freshest gummy candies imaginable. All Mario ever went in there for (before he took me) were their gummy candies--which are excellent. They're really more like jelly candy, and they've ruined me for anything that's traditionally gummy.

However, their second counter is filled with chocolate. I can't say they sold any truffles, but they sport chocolates filled with almost anything imaginable. Mint filled chocolate, Kahlua-filled chocolate, gummy candy filled chocolate, lime cream filled chocolate, fig filled chocolate (we got some of those on a whim . . . however, now that they're all mixed up in the bag I can't figure out which ones those are). I could spend hours just staring at the candy, never making up my mind which to buy.

Mario, fortunately, does not share my indecisiveness. We made out like bandits, and I'll be enjoying these fruits for quite awhile. Once they're gone--bring on the Christmas cookies!

Destination: San Luis Potosi

Move over Guanajuato--this woman has a NEW favorite Mexican city!

We had a three day weekend this weekend, and we have also been wanting to spend a weekend in San Luis Potosi for quite some time. This weekend was a perfect one to finally give that wish a whirl.

When we drive through on our way to Mexico City, we often stop in San Luis Potosi (SLP) to buy candy (that deserves its own post). So we weren't completely unfamiliar with the city. We knew that we wanted to stay in the centro and not use the car for at least an entire day. And so we did.

The Hotel Napoles, where we stayed is just a block from the Plaza del Carmen, on which sits the Templo del Carmen, a beautiful baroque church; the Viceroyalty Museum, not as exciting as I had anticipated; and the Teatro La Paz, an impressive-looking theater--at least from what we could see peeking in through the glass doors.

That square itself was great for walking, sitting, watching, and, for Clara, stair-climbing. However, we noticed that whenever we walked two or three blocks in any direction, another fountain-filled or tree lined plaza was waiting to greet us. Over and over, Mario mentioned that he felt that he was more in Europe than in Mexico. We happily spent all of Sunday wandering through the streets, taking in SLP's seemingly limitless supply of colonial architecture. Starting at the Jardin Colon, on what I believe is the south side of downtown is the Calzada Guadalupe, . The Calzada Guadalupe is essentially a very long park with plenty of good pedestrian paths that stretches for blocks and blocks, finally ending at the Minor Basilica for Guadalupe. It passes an impressive military complex and and a center for the arts that looks like a medieval castle, but was built in 1884. Evening found us returning from our jaunt down the Calzada de Guadalupe, roaming an area that Mario likened to the Roma neighborhood in Mexico City. During this space of time we had been dreaming big and decided that Mario will be looking for a job in SLP sometime in the nearer future. San Luis Potosi had us wrapped around its little finger.

But then it pulled out all the stops! (Come on, SLP . . . you had us at "hello".)

Once we were clearly back downtown and near our hotel, we browsed windows, debating where to stop for dinner. Just pass the Palacio San Agustin (it's a hotel/museum . . . what a combination!) we peeked into the windows of a fancy-pants restaurant called 1913. No one was inside--it was Sunday evening, after all--but the decor caught my fancy with carved chairs, thick stone walls, an antique wooden bar painted bright blue with gold accents. Mario casually asked what they served and once they said traditional Mexican, he was sold. So we tried it, and were not at all disappointed. Except for the fact that I wasn't very hungry. I had been craving a Sopa Azteca all weekend and ordered a nopal salad to share with Clara. They offered Pipian (verde y rojo), which I would have ordered, had I been hungrier. Mario ordered pork with plum sauce. It smelled and tasted exactly like a Christmas dinner should taste. I was so disappointed that I wasn't hungrier.

Once we were finished and they brought us the bill, they apologized as they thought they were hurrying with the bill. After all, they explained, they close at 7 on Sundays. It was 8 o'clock as we were finishing and we walked in at 6:30. They had been so patiently hanging around for an hour after closing to serve us! Even before we heard that, we had been thinking that their service was impeccable, the atmosphere delightful, and the food . . . I can't wait to go back. Despite the fancy-pants look, their prices were fairly reasonable. 50-80 pesos for appetizers, soups, and salads, and the entrees seemed to generally run at about 130 pesos. Sure, we won't make a habit of going there, but when we feel like a splurge in San Luis Potosi, we'll be splurging at 1913.

Leaving the restaurant, we meandered some more, in part to walk off dinner, and partly just because we were having a wonderful evening. Finding ourselves in the Plaza de Armas, Mario was drawn to the cathedral. I suggested that he go in and check it out, which I strolled around the Plaza with Clara (taking her in with her stroller would have been more of an ordeal then it would have been worth, as mass had just started . . . if we are going to play that whole "tourists-come-to-gawk-at-the-church-during-mass" game, we prefer to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible). As I was taking in the cathedral and the government palaces, their faces lit up in the night, a band began to play in the bandstand at the center of the Plaza. Not just any band--a formal one, whose clarinets didn't squeak and trumpets knew how to play in tune.

My cup ran over.

We stayed for a few songs of the concert, sauntered over to Plaza Fundadores nearby, where a lightshow was playing out on the Central Building of the University and the Loreto Chapel. I had read about this in the tourist information at the hotel, and thought it sounded goofy and a lot of light pollution. However, witnessing the show live, with music in the background, was yet another highlight of our weekend.

Well done, San Luis Potosi! I look forward to getting to know you even better.