After we shared our displeasure with our hotel room, we checked out and headed to the San Juan de Ulua. Building started on this tiny island right across from Veracruz in the early 1500s. Imagine Cortes meeting with Aztec emissaries who are representing Montezuma and his empire! At one time a fortress, a prison and even a palace, today the area is surrounded by industrial shipping activity and a Mexican naval shipyard.
Cousin Mike made it to Saltillo last night and today called us from just outside of San Antonio. He said his return to the US was quick and uneventful. There you have it -- no more irregularity.
We drove through the city Centro rather than heading straight out of town and soon found ourselves in Boco del Rio (Mouth of the River). This community is more or less the new part, or the growing part, of Veracruz. With the goal of becoming the next booming resort area, construction is everywhere along the beach. Finally out of traffic, we followed the beach road heading east toward the Yucatan. The road, filled with topes, speed bumps, makes for slow progress, but ensures fabulous views. We arrived in Alvarado in just a couple of hours in time to explore the town and head to the beach. The town suffered extensive damage in a hurricane not too long ago and some of that damage is still apparent. Since we didn't know where we'd end up for the evening we didn't yet have a hotel. We stopped to check out two before we settled on The Miami Hotel. These motels remind me of the Japanese "love" motels where visitors can pull in and cars are hidden. Rather than electric garage doors though, here there is a hanging tarp one would close over the garage area. However, the wind blows the tarps so the license plates are not hidden and there were no by-the-hour rates. The room was sparsley decorated but spacious and clean; AC, cable and wifi and tile floors which is perfect for the beach. We got a room with not king or queen or even a double sized bed but instead the label is "matrimonial" bed. The size seems to be between double and queen. I went to look at the room before agreeing and chose the room with two beds since it was a bit larger so Gemma got her own bed. Cost? 380 pesos or about $19.
We are not in a metropolitan area at all; we are in real Mexico. There are no chain restaurants and no department stores; there are no HEBs or Krogers. We did find a local mom and pop restaurant very near the local fish market. Justiln and I shared two local specialities -- camerone Veracruz and arroz a la tumbada. The very popular and traditional Veracruz sauce is tomato based with olives, garlic, capers and lots of yumminess. Arroza la tumbada? Mexican paella meets mom's hearty soup -- a delicious concoction of all sorts of fish and shellfish, tomatoes, onions, garlic, green chili peppers, rice and spices and herbs. Served with fresh corn tortillas makes for good eats!
No English TV tonight which really isn't a problem for Justin and me especially since we have all the news to read regarding Trump's first week in office and the noise with building a wall. Will we be able to get back to the US in March? Will the wall work both ways?
No comments:
Post a Comment