It’s been a whole week since we have been here in Mexico. Today is a travel day to Puebla. We got up at the yucky hotel this morning and walked to the good hotel for free breakfast since we were kicked out of a day early. On the bus at 11:30, which is where I am right now, typing away. Having a day and a half in Puebla will be fun, but I think many people (including me), are rather really ready to go home. I’ll have to see what the rest of the day brings, and get my royal blog up to speed later!
So I’m back – it’s Saturday and I’m on the plane home. Here’s the dealio: We got to the hotel on Thursday about 4:30. It’s right in downtown Puebla and about three blocks from the zocalo. We had a short meeting and then a group of us left to explore. When we arrived in the zocalo, we were immediately met by an old Pueblan man. He said he was a retired history teacher, and he told us about the cathedral in the zócalo. It took over a 100 yrs. to build and had lots of gold. That’s what I could understand of it anyway. He wanted us to follow him to another church, and we all kind of balked at it. We didn’t know if he wanted us to follow him, pay him, or what. He seemed pretty harmless – but we didn’t want to go with him anyway. So we backed off and split into two groups. Sandy wanted to eat right away so Sue stayed with her. Me, Betsy, Anne, Bridget, and Janet all wandered around the zocalo, then a few blocks from the zócalo, and happened upon candy street. By that time, I had to go to the bathroom so badly that I couldn’t enjoy the shopping. Betsy found a public bathroom and loaned me 4 pesos (40 cents) so I could use it. God, I felt like a new person after!
We ended up eating at a place called Hotel Royalty, which was recommended by the woman working in the tourism office. It really wasn’t that good – we all thought the food was okay, but nothing spectacular. I had a Victoria beer, a beef filet, and some potatoes. I will say that the Mexicans do NOT know how to make a good steak. Or maybe it’s because their cows have tough meat from eating cacti and tumbleweeds. Anyhoo, the maitre’d at the restaurant apparently developed an instant crush on Janet, and we tried to make her flirt with him, but no go. So we went home to bed.