Exploring the beauty of Las Pozas

Something I love about the month of May in Mexico is that there are 5 days off of school/work for teachers. And this weekend was a 5-day weekend (known here in Mexico as a “Puente”)! We had Friday-Tuesday off so you know I did some traveling. Bruno and I set off for Querétaro Thursday night after he got out of work. The city of Querétaro is beautiful! It’s one of the nicest (and most expensive to live) in Mexico. It’s very clean and everyone was really well dressed. We got there pretty late but we made sure to take a lap around the zócalo. Near downtown Querétaro there was a restaurant with live Cuban salsa music so we ate there and then asked for recommendations for where to go out. We took a mini tour/taxi ride to a salsa club on the other side of the city. It was packed! It was the perfect place to spend a Thursday night. The people were our age, the music was good, and it was a lot a fun!

Friday morning we had brunch downtown and watched the parade of teachers and workers who didn’t have to work because it was Labor Day. Then we packed up and headed to Jalpan de Serra. We were supposed to make it to Xilitla on Friday but it took longer to drive than expected. In Jalpan we walked around downtown and took lots of pictures of the beautiful church. There are churches of a similar style all around the area. At night, we attended a traditional dance performance. It was really good! They did at least 10 different dances with various outfits and props like small wooden boxes to dance on and glass bottles filled with water to put on their heads. A bird pooped on Bruno and it was hilarious because right before it happened he said that we should move so that we don’t get pooped on. WE didn’t. He did. They even had cake after. We tried to find a restaurant but they were all closed by the time the performance was over so we had some delicious gringas. Gringo(a) is a not-so-nice slang word for white people but it’s also a tasty quesadilla with meat and a poor name choice.

 We finally made it to Xilitla in the state of San Luis Potosí on Saturday and went straight to Las Pozas. Because it was a long weekend, the line was huge but totally worth the 2 hour wait. It’s a garden created by British poet Edward James in a subtropical rainforest in the mountains. It includes more than 80 acres of natural waterfalls and pools interlaced with towering Surrealist sculptures in concrete.  Massive sculptures up to four stories tall are everywhere. The dozens of trails throughout the garden site are made of steps, ramps, bridges and narrow, winding paths that lead to nothing. It cost more than $5 million to build it. They are currently renovating parts of it. It was like a big kid’s playground. It would be a great place for wedding pictures. After exploring the gardens we went to Ciudad Valles. It started to rain so we went to the movies and saw Avengers then watched the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight (which should have been won be Pacquiao).

Sunday was spent in the state of San Luis Potosí. We drove to the town of Tamasopo in the morning to go to the Puente de Dios (The Bridge of God). It’s has beautiful waterfalls that lead into a narrow gorge and cavern that you can swim under. Too bad about the stairs to get down to the waterfall. We didn’t swim because it was a little cloudy and cold so we went to Las Cascadas de Tamasopo (Tamasopo Waterfalls). It features three waterfalls 66 feet high that fall into pools divided by ledges and shelves. It was like a staircase of water. There was a rope swing and all. Lots of people were enjoying it because of the long weekend. They even brought cookout stuff. After the water phenomena, we went to the city of San Luis Potosí. It was a lot bigger than the littler towns we had visited. We tried to go to mass but it was too crazy. It was a confirmation mass so there was a mountain of people and there was a toddler behind us who projectile vomited on my bag. Instead of staying until the end we went out to eat and had San Luis Potosí enchiladas. Devine. Then we hit the road back to Toluca because Mr. Adult had to work Monday and Tuesday.

On Monday I took a little visit to the dentist because my molar was killing me all weekend. My friend tried to call her dentist but the dentist didn’t answer so I went to her boyfriend’s mom who is a dentist and works out of the office in her backyard. It was actually pretty legit until she started using this laser on my tooth…then my chin….then my temples to “relax” me. She was convinced it was working so I just went along with it.

Tuesday was spent with friends. Jess, her German friend and I went to the mall and the movies to se Motrdecai. At night, I met up with Adris to have tacos and meet up with other friends at a bar. That’s what she calls chill. Getting home at 1AM. I loved the long weekend and think every work week should be like this one!