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While daytime temperatures still can get up there -- this is,
after all, just down the road from broiling Monterrey
and a three-hour drive from heat-prone Laredo -- the altitude
in the Sierra Madre Oriental keeps them bearable and nights
are always refreshing.
I've been there enough lately to start thinking about it as
my second home in Mexico, but there was a gap of at least 20
years between my first visit and this recent burst of activity.
The ceramic clown was still there, and I think that explains
best why I like the city so much.
THE ROAD TO MEXICO
Back in the 1970s, I had taken the bus in from Nuevo Laredo
on one of my first trips ever to Mexico, on a whim to get away
and go Christmas shopping in Saltillo. I found a small ceramic
clown playing a violin in one of the downtown handicraft shops
and gave it to my mother. It was a hit! She kept it in her dining
room for years before it finally broke.
I never saw another one like it in years of living and traveling
in Mexico, but on a trip back to Saltillo after at least two
decades away and with only vague memories of where I'd been
before, I navigated my way back to Calle Victoria, the busy
downtown street leading downhill from the central Plaza to the
Alameda park. One ceramic clown was still to be found on a dusty
shelf in the handicrafts shop.
Although the city has become a robust industrial city (called
by some Little Detroit because of the huge Daimler Chrysler
and General Motors plants in nearby Ramos Arizpe) with sprawling
suburban sections and a sparkling H-E-B and TinselTown, the
central core hasn't changed.
Despite the traffic, this is a laid back city with wonderful
restaurants. Come here to relax and hang out in a beautiful
downtown dating back more than 400 years. Come here to eat spectacularly
well. But don't come in search of nightlife. There really isn't
any worth noting, unless you want to go into Monterrey only
55 miles away.
The distance seems somehow longer because they are both state
capitals (huge Monterrey of Nuevo León and smaller Saltillo
of Coahuila),
so you pass a well-marked state boundary on the drive in to
Saltillo marked by a climb into the mountains.
The rivalry isn't imaginary, perhaps bearing some resemblance
to that between Dallas and Fort Worth. Someone in Monterrey
once told me that people there think of Saltillo as just a suburb.
I mentioned that to a friend in Saltillo, who laughingly retorted
that Monterrey is really just an industrial neighborhood that
Saltillo built to keep the mountains from being ruined.
WHAT TO SEE
History buffs should take special note that Coahuila state
was once Mexico's State of Coahuila and Texas, so the connection
for Texans is quite real.There are three must-sees in Saltillo
-- the historic center, el Museo de las Aves (Museum of the
Birds) and el Museo del Desierto (Museum of the Desert.)
The sight of the Plaza de Armas, by the cathedral and the Palacio
de Gobierno, beautifully lit and peaceful at night, is almost
breathtaking. The cathedral dates to 1745, with an ornate facade
and suitably impressive interior. I'd try to get my first sight
in the evening, and then wander back during the day to explore
the public buildings and the nearby shopping streets (especially
Calle Victoria, of course.)
The bird museum, an easy walk from the plaza, is in a 19th
century building that originally was a Jesuit college. It now
houses the collection of Aldegundo Garza de León, an
ornithologist who over 40 years put together stuffed birds representing
about 75 percent of all the species in Mexico. It sounds a bit
strange, but taking in the museum's five exhibit halls is fascinating.
El Museo del Desierto is a more modern and extravagant affair,
located in the expansive Parque Las Maravillas about a 10-minute
ride from downtown. It's a modern natural history museum
featuring dinosaurs, ecosystems and geology, much of it interactive.
I thoroughly enjoyed it for about an hour and then got overwhelmed
by the sights and the noise, but dinosaur buffs and others really
into natural history can easily spend an afternoon there.
I probably would prefer to spend more of my afternoon at a
Saltillo lunch hour, from about 2 to 4, in one of the city's
busier restaurants with a beer and a tequila chaser. My favorites
are El Principal, a traditional downtown restaurant where the
cabrito can't be beat, and La Canasta, another standby where
everyone I knew in Saltillo wanted to take me. La Canasta is
at its best during the bustling afternoon mealtime. Saltillo
restaurants, by the way, like most in northern Mexico, are heavy
on the meat.
For dinner, romantic or otherwise, I'd go to El Tapanco near
the Plaza de Armas. In a renovated home that features a government
crafts store in front, the patio and the traditional furnishings
make it memorable. And the food "upscale Mexican cuisine"
is well worth enjoying. Don't skip dessert here. The downtown
shopping area includes a smattering of gentrified restaurants
like El Tapanco, cafes and art galleries but is mostly business
as usual.
One store still features the traditional making of sarapes
(Saltillo's team in the Mexican Baseball League is the Saraperos,
or the Sarape Makers), the blanket-like garments that are so
stereotypically Mexican. Saltillo tile, the rustic look that
is so popular in building stores like the Home Depots throughout
the United States, is made here (with kilns that are the city's
second-biggest source of air pollution) but is a little hard
to find at retail. If you are driving, I've found great deals
on garden pots and planters at nurseries toward the outskirts
of town.
Coahuila, like most Mexican states, is just beginning to develop
its vast potential for adventure, and nature tourism in rural
areas, for both Mexican and foreign visitors. A soft place to
get started is Monterreal, a resort 40 miles outside of Saltillo
featuring a year-round ski run and a mountaintop golf course.
Another low-stress choice would be Rincón Colorado, 45
minutes from Saltillo, a site known for its fossils.
TRAVELER TIPS
Given the substantial industrial development of recent years,
Saltillo and Ramos Arizpe have a wide range of hotels, including
the standard run of international chains and franchises. A new,
reasonably priced CityExpress just opened near the H-E-B, and
there is a top of the line Camino Real with extensive gardens
and a bar built over a pool of water. More rustic, 3-star choices
include the Posada San Jose Inn (about $40 a night on a recent
stay) and the downtown Plaza Urdiñola on Calle Victoria.
Flights to Saltillo on Continental through Houston
are available, with a wider range of flights direct from DFW
to Monterrey. I usually drive, since it is only three hours
from Laredo. Getting a car permit at customs in Nuevo Laredo
can take anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours.
Words of caution -- particularly if you don't speak Spanish
and have never driven in Mexico before -- be alert, make sure
you have all your proper documents and insurance, drive during
the day and take the toll roads when available. While really
no big deal, driving in Mexico is different from Texas. For
example, signage is not as well developed. Become aware of the
differences by talking to people who have driven there or do
some research beforehand, through the U.S. State Department
or the Mexican Consulate.
Another easy option is to take the bus from Nuevo Laredo. Mexico
has an extensive network of first-class, inexpensive buses,
most of them playing videos (in English with Spanish subtitles)
the whole way. I have never seen so many Jackie Chan or Steven
Seagal movies in my life, although you sometimes arrive before
the movie ends. I still want to know what happens in the last
10 minutes of "The Sixth Man" with Marlon Wayans.
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