Friday of week two finds us in Taxco (pronounced Tasco) south of Mexico City and in a totally different phase of our vacation. We've decided to skip Queretaro and the rest of the central area for the sake of spending more time chilling and discovering and less time driving. We can already feel the difference. Also, the region is decidedly different climactically and topographically. Despite being up in the mountains, we don't get the chill of Creel and Zacatecas.

The latter was indeed a gem. It is a mountain silver mining town of about 70k at about 2600m above sea level. The wealth created by the silver is definitely still evident in this very polished and stylish, almost European, city. It is indeed very cosmopolitan for its size. Another plus is that it has not yet been overrun with hordes of tourists. More on the marauding hordes later. Anyway, our stay there was indeed quite pleasant. The hotel room key was on a bottle-opener keychain. The purpose of this became evident soon enough when we discovered the upstairs lounge area with a cooler fool of ice cold beverages of the brewed variety. It definitely hit the spot after checking out the surroundings.

Zacatecas also has a very vibrant art scene as we're discovering most Mexican cities posses. It is particularly strong there, however. It also has a respectable music scene and we didn't have any trouble finding several live music venues downtown. I have to say however that the quality of the music being performed was not the best I've heard. As JT would say, they needed practice. Also somewhat disappointing were the high prices and exclusive nature of the social scene. This is something I had grown unaccustomed to but is standard in most latinamerican cities. The patrons of the restaurants, bars, and clubs that dot the city center are definitely well heeled and you get a sense that much of their activities have as much to do, if not more, with displaying symbols of their status as with an appreciation for good music and food.

For example, we walked out of a place with mediocre Cuban music when we discovered that in addition to enduring the disappointing music, they had the gall to demand a minimum consumption. That was just too much to take. The following day we managed to find something more along the lines of what we were looking for. Near the market was a huge restaurant crowded with workers, shoppers, and other assorted locals enjoying really good, simple, and reasonably priced meals. We returned there for every meal and were never let down.

After Zacatecas, we moved on to Guadalajara. At about 6 million, it is Mexico's second city and it shows. This is a bustling city that's a mixture of Mexico, the US, and Europe all in one. A world-class city in every sense of the word. Particularly remarkable is the depth of activity going on here. While we were there, the city was preparing to host the Cumbre Iberoamericana. This is a summit of heads of state from the hemisphere's Spanish and Portuguese-speaking nations. A few years ago it started including Spain and Portugal (what some people actually still call the mother countries) as well. As a result, the summit these days now include the EU. In advance of the meetings, the city was busy decking itself out. Streets, buildings, and just about the entire city-scape was being given a makeover. A city worker we spoke to explained all this to us and I concurred with his resentment that only when this sort of event happens does the city become so vigorous in its responsibilities to itself. However we also reflected that even as individuals, it is when you expect guests that you clean house the best. In the end, the improvements will remain after the meeting so it's not such a bad deal after all.

The only down side to all this activity is that we were not able to see the Orozco murals in one of the buildings because it was closed and populated exclusively by policemen. We were able to see a few other Orozco murals in the Universidad de Guadalajara and the Palacio de Gobierno. They are indeed impressive. You really need to see these, know the persons depicted, and understand their context and significance to appreciate modern Mexico. Unfortunately we won't be able to see any murals by Rivera or Morelos in this trip. There is so much to discover here. There will indeed be another.