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April 28, 2008
Querétaro: Part One
Chris and Shawn at the Hotel Quinta Santiago, Querétaro
The ride from Guadalajara on the bus was pleasant enough. We both slept off and on for most of it. The films were Rush Hour 3 and Monsters, Inc. The former was subtitled yet still unwatchable, while the latter was dubbed, much to my annoyance, for previously mentioned reasons.
Our cab from the bus station to the Hotel Quinta Santiago cost us MXN $37 (about USD $3.54) and took about 20 minutes. We were delighted to find that the hotel room was huge and quite comfortable. We took a few moments to figure out where we wanted to go with the help of a handy free map they had in the lobby, and then we struck out to get lunch and a feel for the area.
Shawn Surveillance, Querétaro
In mere summaries and snapshots, I fear that one Mexican colonial town comes across as identical to all the others. It is hard to convey the subtle differences that exist between each of them with a hastily put together collection of photos with brief notations. Querétaro seems to me like a composite of Morelia and Guanajuato. Like Morelia, the public areas around the center are spacious, yet like Guanajuato, they seem somehow more gussied up for tourist consumption.
There are the requisite plazas, with beautifully manicured trees and walkways.
Jardín Guerrero, Querétaro
Yet just a few blocks off of these, one quickly comes to the Mexican equivalent of row houses along old cobblestone streets.
Street Scene, Querétaro
Doors range from the simple to the ornate, but there is always an artistic touch.
Door, Querétaro
I especially liked this one...
Door, Querétaro
...because of the stone birds above the doorway.
Detail of Door, Querétaro
There are the statues, like this one dedicated to Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, aka La Corregidora, a conspirator in the Mexican struggle for independence against Spain.
Monument to La Corregidora, Querétaro
She is elevated on a tall pedestal, flanked by eagles resting on cannons that are draped in what look to be flags.
While looking upon this monument, Shawn made the observation that there are so many women throughout history that played crucial roles in freeing their societies, only to have their gender given the shaft by the male-dominated governments that they helped to establish.
Monument to La Corregidora, Querétaro
One occasionally runs across something that just seems odd. I sometimes find out after-the-fact that these things seem funny because I don't understand what is actually being said or I do not know some secondary meaning for a term. This tends to give Mexican readers of my blog no end of fun in ribbing me.
In this case, I understand the word la moraleja to mean "the moral," as in "the moral of the story is..."
La Moraleja Parking, Querétaro
Maybe one of my Mexican readers can set me straight as to why this isn't as odd as it would seem to someone not in the know.
Many times, the things I remember about a specific city are images that are not intended to be artistic, but they achieve a certain accidental beauty that stays with me even after I've forgotten which statues of whom are in which parks in whatever cities. These are things that never seem to come across properly in blog entries or flickr albums.
A Mona Lisa for our times, Querétaro
This is a wall that was originally painted a certain shade of yellow, but has subsequently acquired a patchwork of other shades as graffiti and cracks were painted over through the years.
Yellow Mural, Querétaro
Running the length of half the block, this wall is an unintentional mural of chromatic minimalism and abstract expressionism, akin to that of Josef Albers...
Yellow Mural, Querétaro
...or Mark Rothko.
Yellow Mural, Querétaro
Sometimes it is just a face in a crowd that strikes me, and the moment is horribly poignant because I know, unlike all the tourist attractions that I can visit time and time again on return trips to any given city, I will probably never have the chance to see it again.
Cutie, Querétaro
Sure, the haircut, the shoes, or (as in this case) the pants might make me laugh a bit.
Cutie, Querétaro
Yet I cherish these snapshots among all those of the monuments, buildings and landscapes that I take in our travels across the country, because the people are the most beautiful part of Mexico.
Posted by crispy at April 28, 2008 10:54 PM
Comments
'...or Mark Rothko.'
My thoughts exactly!
Posted by: Akira at April 29, 2008 03:23 PM
...the haircut, the shoes, or (as in this case) the pants might make [you] laugh a bit, but trust me, the 80's are fully back, and that [cutie] would be fashion-plate perfect in any american high school right now.
Posted by: brett at May 12, 2008 01:00 AM