We made plans to leave here with the group at 10:00am and walk the 3 kms (1.8 miles) to the historic central area. We wanted to go to the big Telcel customer service center... but we weren't sure that it would be open. Turns out that it was a statutory holiday here in Mexico and a lot of things were closed.
Another great start to a day...
Sunrise parked up at the baseball stadium in Chihuahua.
While we were waiting to get everybody together for the walk to the city, Ruth heard a bunch of birds making noise in a nearby tree. There were a few parakeets squawking away about something.
Parakeets in the trees.
Garth taking a photo of a statue.
Notice the clear blue sky!
We got to the Telcel Client Service Center and were surprised to find it open on a statutory holiday when most businesses were closed. Quite a few of our group bought SIM cards for their unlocked phones. Telcel has a deal on right now for 12GB of data with unlimited calling and texting within Mexico, USA, and Canada for 500 pesos ($34.20 CAD, $25.90 USD). And, the SIM card itself was free. What a deal.
We wandered around downtown for a bit.
Lots of people out enjoying their holiday.
Ruth and one of the Chihuahua signs.
This is a popular pedestrian street.
Umbrellas.
Can you see how dangerous it is here in Chihuahua?
Nobody from north of the border comes here as a tourist. Both the Canadian and the U.S. governments have travel advisories out on the state of Chihuahau, and many other areas of Mexico.
We have been amazed the last two days at the number of people that have come up to us saying that it is so nice to see visitors to their city. One guy came by the motorhomes this afternoon and said that it's been at least ten years since he's seen a group of tourists here at this beautiful park. Another guy came up to Garth in front of the cathedral and started asking him where he was from. I thought for sure he was either trying to sell something or ask for a donation, but he genuinely welcomed us to the city and that was all he wanted to do!
Everybody is so friendly.
None of the group feel the least bit concerned with walking around in this area. Lots of families and people out enjoying the day.
As part of the Mexico RV Caravan, we supply a group welcome dinner at the beginning of the trip, and a group farewell dinner at the end of the trip. We changed our minds on the welcome dinner and made it a welcome lunch! I found a nice restaurant downtown. It didn't open until 1:00pm, so we got started a little bit late, but we had so much lunch we wouldn't need any dinner!
Checking out the menus.
We went to the Restaurante La Casona. It was a little more high end than what I was looking for, but it had great reviews and it was worth it. We didn't hear a single complaint about the food or the service. Everything was impeccable!
What a beautiful facility.
Everybody got a plate of snacks to start off with.
Quite a few of us had the arrachera.
It was delicious!
Tuna.
Whitefish.
Big shrimp!
Cheers everybody!
Here's to a great trip!
The building itself was beautiful. Built around 1908, this was the home of the former Governor of Chihuahua, powerful and wealthy rancher Luis Terrazas. It has been a restaurant for the past 13 years. We were allowed to go for a tour of the upper floors.
Look up!
Look way up!
A bar upstairs for private functions.
That table is a single piece of wood!
We should have sat upstairs!
There are several private dining rooms upstairs.
Bob, at the piano!
Everybody seemed to have a great day, and although it was nice to spend the holiday here with a lot of people out and about we were disappointed we didn't get to visit the Museum of the Revolution where Pancho Villa's bullet ridden car is on display. Ruth and I had been to this museum before and had wanted to show the group. Lots of interesting stuff there.
Part of the group.
Mona, Roger, Denise, Bob, Martha, Larry, and Ruth.
We are going to wait for rush hour traffic to lighten up so we will hit the road this morning at 8:30am headed for the magnificent Basaseachic Falls.
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A bunch of different Grocery Items are on sale today only!
And in Canada...
So thrilled to follow along on your new adventure. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you Barb, we are happy to have you following along virtually. I am sure you are going to love our adventures this winter. :-)
DeleteWow!!! That was quite the house!
ReplyDeleteYes!!! Glad to follow along too!
It was definitely quite the house for sure. I am sure it has changed just a bit over the years though but it looks like they have tried to keep it looking authentic.
DeleteWe are happy that you are enjoying following our adventures, we really have some good ones planned for this trip. :-)
Perhaps you could get a list of all the statutory holidays in Mexico!
ReplyDeleteIt isn't hard to find the official statutory holidays but it really doesn't affect our travel plans too much. The main one that we are normally concerned with would be Easter Week because things are busier then and traffic is heavier.
DeleteWhat a great restaurant! The food looks amazing. You're off to an awesome start. The city looks clean and pretty.
ReplyDeleteIt was an amazing restaurant, not quite what we had planned but everyone loved their meals, the setting and the atmosphere.
DeleteThe city is really very nice, and yes it is very clean, at least in the areas that we saw.
Great to see that you are underway. The lunch looked delicious and the company seems like a great bunch. It would have been great to see the Museum of the Revolution on the Weekend they celebrate the event. The actual day is Wednesday and there will be lots of Parades that day. We are looking forward to following you along. Safe travels and have a great time!!!
ReplyDeleteWe are glad to be underway as well and so is everyone else on our trip. :-)
DeleteThe lunch was delicious and the setting was fantastic, what a beautiful old house/building, they have done an amazing job on it.
It would have been great but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be and we weren't about to stick around any longer as we have things to see and places to be. :-)
We hope you enjoy the festivities in you neck of the woods.
I do have a distant connection to the recent ambush murders of women and children near the northern Chihuahua/Sonora border. The thing that many people in the US don't realize, is that these high risk concerns are primarily in very specific areas - and even in those areas, certain people are more at risk, depending on their connections.
ReplyDeletePeople are so unfamiliar with the geography (states / cities) of Mexico, they just generalize it and apply what they hear about danger to the whole country. They don't realize that it would be comparable to avoiding certain cities or neighborhoods in the US vs the whole state or whole country because of risk in a small area. Also, the news here never shares positive things about Mexico, so if people don't go out of their way to familiarize themselves with Mexican culture or see people having positive experiences traveling in Mexico, they have no well of positive associations to draw from. It's unfortunate.
Well said, thank you Sarah.
DeleteThe arrachera cut of meat looks like one a butcher in Martinique introduced us to, an araignee or spider cut. USA butchers don't use this cut
ReplyDeleteWell we don't know if that arrachera cut was an araña style or not, what we do know is that it was delicious. :-)
DeleteYou bet, "beat feet across the border and head straight south". Well, hopefully your blog along with others will quell the fears of those that think the border is a bad place. So much to see and do. Just look at your first two days! Have fun! Wish we were there.
ReplyDeleteIt is such a shame that people feel that they have to speed through Mexico to get to their destination by the beach and miss all the amazing scenery and things to see that are in between the border and the beach. We are so glad that we aren't "normal" and take the time to visit these beautiful and not so well known places.
DeleteWe really hope that we can entice more people to visit these areas of Mexico. :-)
What a lovely meal and a luxurious looking restaurant!
ReplyDeleteIt was a great meal and we really loved the history of the house that the restaurant had taken over.
DeleteI'm drooling! What an amazing looking meal in a stunning setting. Love all the colorful umbrellas too. Fun, fun day!
ReplyDeleteIt was totally a wonderful experience and the food was delicious. Everyone really enjoyed their meals.
DeleteI love it when cities do up pedestrian streets with umbrellas or some other creative and colourful thing that hangs overhead, it just adds to the experience. :-)
You probably know this, but Croft has a couple of photos of the shot-up 1922 car..
ReplyDeleteHave Fun!!!
We have photos of that car as well from our visit to the city of Chihuahua back in April 2013. That post is at www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2013/04/glad-we-came-to-visit-chihuahua.html
DeleteA great start to your Mexican Trip. Like you and many others have said it is not the entire country that is unsafe. We have similar areas in Canada as does the US.
ReplyDeleteStill following along sometimes in silence.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
We are having an excellent start to our winter in Mexico and so are the others on the trip.
DeleteLike anywhere else in the world you need to travel with a little caution and always be aware of your surroundings, be knowledgeable of the customs and don't do stupid things, if you follow these rules you should do just fine. :-)
I bet you it was Jim who had the big shrimp! Say hi to Jim from Vicky in the cold tundra of Northern Idaho!
ReplyDeleteNo, Jim actually had the fish dish and he said it was delicious.
DeleteWe will pass along your greeting. :-)