August 22, 2008, Instituto Allende trip to Bernal and Querétaro, Lost in Los Picachos, By Susan Syracuse, Travel News You Can Use, By Judy Newell, Travel tips from Nick Gilman, By Nick Gilman

Instituto Allende trip to Bernal and Querétaro
August 22, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Instituto Allende trip
Bernal and Querétaro
Sat, Aug 30, 9am
Instituto Allende
Ancha de San Antonio 20
US$65

Trip Preview
Wed, Aug 27, 4pm
Free

On Saturday, August 30, at 9am, Instituto Allende’s weekly field trip heads to the quaint village of Bernal and then to the city of Querétaro. A towering boulder, one of the world’s largest monoliths, looms over Bernal.

Local weavers produce wool blankets, sweaters, wall hangings, shawls, vests, rugs and pillowcases. The town is also renowned for semiprecious stones.

Afterwards it’s off to nearby Querétaro, for stops at the famous Aqueduct, Cementerio de los Hombres Illustres, Plaza de Armas and Querétaro’s centerpiece, the Villa del Villar del Aquila fountain.

Querétaro’s popular outdoor market is on the schedule, as is a walking tour through the typical colonial streets with preserved gardens, churches, fountains and the house of La Marquesa, now a luxury hotel. Lastly, we visit Cerro de las Campanas (Hill of the Bells), a beautiful park where stands the Benito Juárez Monument along with the Chapel of Archduke Maximilian, erected in 1900 by the Austrian Habsburg family on the site of the Emperor’s death.

Cost for this trip is US$65. Trips are all-inclusive; reservations are a must. Bilingual guides lead all tours. A free lecture previews upcoming weekend field trips each Wednesday at 4pm at the Instituto.

The monolith Peña de Bernal is a 1,500-foot hardened lava core of an ancient volcano whose surrounding cinder cone weathered away.

When it formed 100 million years ago, it was nearly a mile high. The natural pyramid is believed (by some) to impart cosmic energy. Bernal’s residents are said to live a long time.

It’s not a typical rural village; houses are prettier than average and small streets lead to a central plaza. The owner of La Chicaroma, a shop on the plaza selling quartz, minerals and jewelry, says the heart of the rock contains amethyst crystals and las energías are calming. She says the rock is sacred and that many visit it.

Every year at the Spring Equinox on March 21, thousands of people gather all dressed in white to form a human belt around the monolith. Ceremonies and fiestas abound in town and on the rock.

La Peña is the world’s third-largest volcanic plug, after Gibraltar and Rio de Janeiro. Scientists say its “energy” is a measurable positive magnetic charge which does not affect radios, cell phones, or watches, but might promote relaxation and thus have a beneficial effect on health.

Many people make a pilgrimage to a little chapel about halfway up, the highest ordinary hike. The rock also is popular with Mexican rock-climbers.

Energies or magnetism, everyone seems to agree Bernal is tranquil.

Santiago de Querétaro

Querétaro served as Mexico’s capital on three occasions and nearly became the permanent capital of the country in 1917, when the constitution was signed in the Teatro de la República.

The independence movement was conceived in the city mayor’s mansion and the second Mexican Empire was defeated in the city. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the Mexico-US war was ratified in the city.

Querétaro’s Centro Histórico is a tourist’s delight. A walk at night in its narrow streets is a beautiful experience that makes people remember the long struggle for Mexican independence as well as ancient Otomí legends that inhabitants spread from generation to generation.

Eastern Centro is occupied by Cerro del Sangremal, where the city was

founded. The area has irregular streets, typical of some Native American settlements. Convent of the Holy Cross is the dominant structure. West of the convent is the Plaza de Armas, a beautiful square formed by baroque buildings like Casa de la Corregidora, seat of state government, and Casa de Ecala.

The Aqueduct is the city’s most famous landmark—74 arches spanning 1,280 meters at a maximum height of 23 meters. Juan Antonio de Urrutia y Arana built it 1726–1738, with his own funds, to take water to the Convent of the Holy Cross from springs east of the city, which it did for 232 years.

West of calle Corregidora is the chessboard layout common to Spanish cities. Beautiful churches, museums, squares (Plazas de la Corregidora y la Constitución) and gardens (Jardínes Guerrero y Zenea) dot the area. Important buildings include the former seat of city government and the Teatro de la República, Maximilian’s trial site in 1867 and now home to the state Orquesta Filarmónica. Theaters include El Corral de Comedias and Cómicos de la Lengua, close to Plaza de Armas and Cineteatro Rosario Solano, close to Jardín Guerrero. The new cultural center Manuel Gómez Morín in front of the Alameda stands where the old bus station used to be.

Lee, Paul and I booked a day hike with a local tour guide for Los Picachos, planning to be back before siesta time. Lee is a Harvard Law School grad from Obama’s class; Paul is a Stanford grad and an engineer for Boeing; and I am a counselor and school nurse who is thrilled to have all this brainpower in the wild.

The trip to the top was charming—colorful wildflowers, incredible vistas, clean air (I am from LA), cows, bulls, wild horses, a newborn calf, a rattlesnake, a campesino loading his donkeys with firewood.

After lunch, our guide announced he would take us back via a different route. The wisdom of these words would continue to haunt us as the day progressed. We soon found ourselves trekking through virgin, jungle-like terrain and realized our guide was unfamiliar with the area. As we ascended and descended many hills, the promised way out never materialized.

When we reached 10 hours of hiking with only a little daylight left, no food, no water, no cell reception and legs of rubber, it was time for a reality check. Paul and Lee had wives back at the hotel who awaited them. The three of us took a vote and decided to head to the one campesino hut we had seen. Our guide chose to hike out in the dark, saying he would return with horses, flashlights and water. This seemed like a long shot to us!

After milling around for a bit and checking us out, the campesino family opened the gate and took us in. Soon we were in their “kitchen” boiling river water. We sat around the fire, Paul on the dirt floor, contentedly drinking river water café. Lee was in the corner trying to teach the teenagers “paper, rock, scissors.” I was attempting, in my ever-evolving Spanish, to ask them if, indeed, we weren’t better than television!

As I sat there, I felt so blessed that my new American friends and the campesinos were all so kind. The animals were removed from the stable for Lee and Paul to sleep there. I slept in the kitchen, collapsing on a small pad that the mother of the family put down for me. She tucked a blanket all around me and tried to remove my shoes that seemed welded to my feet. My heart burst with her touching ministrations for a tired, lost stranger.

Soon, I was alone in my snug space surrounded by firelight inside, fireflies and animal sounds outside. Finally, I had time for that full-blown panic attack that had been hovering around. Well, I had a choice: give in to it or tap into my Buddhist wisdom training. I chose the latter. I let all the thoughts and fears float on by like soap bubbles in the Jardín until I found myself fully savoring the present and aware that there was nowhere else I would rather be.

The next morning we hired the three teenagers to take us part of the way out. After three hours of walking, we began to see familiar signs of “civilization.” We stormed the first tienda we saw, flipped open cell phones and caught a taxi back to San Miguel, our faith in the goodness of life and people reconfirmed.

Susan Syracuse is a registered nurse, living in Southern California. She has visited San Miguel five times, and hopes to live here someday.

Travel News You Can Use
By Judy Newell

Mexico Travel News

Spain to help clean Acapulco Bay

The Spanish government will provide 25 million Euros to a project that will ensure that all Acapulco raw sewage is treated before being spewed into the Pacific Ocean. Beautiful Acapulco Bay is notorious for being polluted, although local authorities insist that the problem lies with rainwater that picks up gunk as it flows down from the hills surrounding the bay.

The Spanish project, announced by Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega during a recent visit, also aims at providing potable water to all Acapulco residents. The resort city has a population of more than a million people, many recently arrived squatters in areas without any municipal services.

Placido Domingo to sing at Chichen Itza

Spanish/Mexican tenor Placido Domingo will perform during a benefit concert at the Chichen Itza archaeological site in Yucatan on October 4.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History gave permission when the organizers agreed to limit the audience to 7,000 persons. The Institute worried that any larger crowd might damage the site.

Also participating will be noted Yucatan composer/entertainer Armando Manzanero and soprano Ana Maria Martinez. Ticket prices will range from US$50 to $1,000 with funds going to aid victims of natural disasters in Mexico. Domingo, born in Spain, grew up in Mexico City.

Former Aeromexico chief convicted of fraud

Gerardo de Prevoisin, former chief executive of Aeromexico, has been convicted of a fraud that cost his company US$13 million. He has been sentenced to five years in prison and must return the money he is accused of misappropriating.

The case dates back to 1994. De Prevoisin, who administered the airline when it was a government corporation, insists that he was obliged to deliver the missing funds to the ruling political party at the time, the PRI (Party of the Institutionalized Revolution).

Once accused, De Prevoisin sought refuge in France, where he claimed citizenship, but in 1998 he was arrested in Switzerland and extradited to Mexico. He has been free on bail since 2001.

One&Only Palmilla: Chef Trotter out, Chef Vongerichten in

One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos, Mexico, has announced that effective September 1, the resort’s five-year contract with renowned chef Charlie Trotter will end and with it the closing of “C,” the resort’s fine-dining restaurant.

One&Only Palmilla, however, isn’t in dire straits. It has announced that in November 2008, it will debut an original dining concept through a collaboration with another famed chef: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, behind such haute eateries as the eponymous Jean Georges inside New York City’s Trump Tower at Columbus Circle.

Major Acapulco development set to open in November

Mundo Imperial, the new resort, spa, business, and entertainment complex in Acapulco's renaissance is slated to open its doors in November.

The product of a US$300 million private investment, Mundo Imperial includes the 805-room Resort at Mundo Imperial, which will be the newest luxury resort in Acapulco. It features an exclusive Beach Club, fitness center, Pets Club, five swimming pools, and Executive and Club levels with a concierge staff.

Unfortunately, a friend from New York who was here for the AIDS 2008 conference was robbed in a taxi. He got into a green Volkswagen near the Angel Monument, on his way to dinner with me in Polanco.

My friend noticed, too late, that there was no license in the cab. The cab got as far as Anzures, pulled over, and two guys got in, forcing him to give up his cash and several cards. No violence occurred, he was let off soon after, and even given 100 pesos back for the next taxi! Ladrones simpáticos.

So, sad to say, this is still a problem in the city, something that we residents would like to think of as the past.

I have done a little investigation, querying other chilangos and taxistas and can offer four suggestions on precautions when taking taxis in the city.

1. Only hail taxis that have a license plate beginning with “A.” If it doesn’t, it is a pirate.

2. Make sure the printed license with a photo of the driver is in view before you get in. If it isn’t, ask to see la placa.

3. Make sure there is a meter, that it functions and that it starts at 5.80 or 6.40 pesos for normal taxis during the day (more at night and for some sitio cabs).

4. If you are still uncomfortable, only take sitio or radio taxis. However, this is difficult for residents who don’t use cars in the city.

If one of the above rules is violated, don’t get in! Be careful, be aware and don’t be lax; it is still happening!

Nicholas Gilman is the author of Good Food in Mexico City: A Guide to Street Food, Fondas, and Fine Dining, which recently won the Gourmand Award. He is secretary of Slow Food Condesa/Roma, Mexico, resides full-time in Mexico City and is the regional representative of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association.