Two Adventurers

25 November 2009 Mexico

Luggage in hand, we took the ADO bus from the bus terminal in Veracruz to the coffee bean growing region of Xalapa, up in the mountains, 1-1/2hrs away from the coast. This was a very smart, up-market bus but with only 5 passengers for the entire journey. Again, the seats laid back almost all the way and there were numerous t.v. screens here and there, including one right in front of our seats. It was fascinating to watch “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” once again, having seen it on the Gold Coast in Australia, but this time it was all in Spanish, a good way to brush up on the language, we felt.  We passed some interesting housing on the way to Xalapa. The black blobs on the roofs are water tanks. As we drove further inland, the landscape gradually changed from the scrubby green bush of the coast to more open farmland.

Our bus wound its way into the mountains on a very good toll motorway, passing over deep ravines and valleys before finally arriving at its destination, Xalapa. This is a well known educational town with several universities and many cultural sites to visit.

It was nearly 3pm by the time we collected our luggage from the bus and bought our taxi ‘ticket’ from the bus terminal. Even in the centre of town the roads, we discovered, are all up and down, with little on the flat.

Our Hotel Villa las Margaritas, is another which we will always remember as it is quite stunning, being very traditionally Mexican, with a gorgeous fountain in the centre of

the dining room. It is the first thing you see when entering the reception area and is surrounded by festive season red Poinsettias in pots and Joseph’s Coats with their

green, yellow and red foliage. Our bedroom is just to one side of the dining area so we can look out onto the fountain whenever we like. With unusual fabric decorations over the heads of the two Queen size beds and tasteful embroidered bedspreads, a table and two chairs, several cupboards for hanging items and a desk as well as a large magnifying mirror on the wall by the bathroom, we have everything we need and more. The bathroom has a bath with draped shower curtain in a fine fabric, as well as the usual amenities.

Dinner was delicious, two regional Chicken dishes, each produced in different ways and both were exquisite.  Despite saying we would catch up on the blogs, once we were finished with dinner we proceeded to chat with one daughter and then another good friend on Skype. Tomorrow is another day so blogs will just have to wait!