The Austins' Travel Blog: 2016

Although we had a number of opportunities to visit with Jennifer this past three months,...

...... only now was it possible to get to see her in her beautiful town, Querétaro,...

.....a very prosperous, modern, and innovative city of approximately one million people.

In fact, Bombardier, Kellogg’s, Purina, and as well as many aerospace and car companies have all set up in Querétaro.

While Jennifer was working...at her school's annual fair...

....a hugely complicated and successful undertaking,...

...I went out to do a little discovering.

My first find was not easy to miss!

The city’s 74-arched aqueduct was built in 1738, rising 23 meters out of the ground to become...

....not only a work of art but also for 250 years, the very life blood of the city, bringing to the city its drinking water from regional springs.

Surprisingly, it still provides water to the dozens of bubbling fountains found in this UNESCO world heritage city.

Amazing!

My second discovery was the full-on charm of the “old city”....

....with its mix of indigenous and Hispanic flavours, ...

...its wonderful “andadores” (pedestrian streets), ...

.... and beautiful, numerous squares, ....

.... and of course, interesting, if not at times, carnavalesque churches.

Being a Saturday, you know they were all full of star-gazed newly weds....and nervously hopeful parents. :)

And yes, I even attended parts of two of those weddings, one traditional and one, uh...really, very original.

But I digress. In fact,…..

...all of these colonial buildings…

....once served as a backdrop to a whole lot of serious historical drama....

By the way, note the haircut.

….with four of the nation's most significant events taking place right here in Querétaro.

a) As Boston was to America's, so is Querétaro's claim to be the birthplace of Mexico’s War of Independence from Spain (1810)

b) It was here, in 1848, that the American's signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,...

....putting the Mexicans at the wrong end of the stick.

An incredible 55% of Mexico's territory was ceded to the U.S. that day.

And here we have a pic of Bill escaping

the pressures of Hillary's campaign.

c) Later, in 1867, Maximilian (the French-backed invader/emperor) of Mexico was executed here, putting an end to France's attempt to be the boss.

Oddly, to this day historians cannot figure out why he gave a gold coin to each of the men in the firing squad....maybe he was asking them to make sure they aim above the belt. :)

This has to be the world's smallest

McDonald's, right???!!!

d) In 1917, it finally happened. While the rest of the world was sending its young to Europe to fight the "War-to-End-All-Wars",...

.....the Mexicans got their act together, stayed home, and finally adopted the long-awaited Constitution,...

....... officially making it its own country.

A little champagne to wash down the

dust from a day of volunteering.

Thatevening, Jennifer and two of her very good friends, Daniel and Isaac,...

.....invited me to a local Italian restaurant, close to the Aqueduct,...

...where we enjoyed some Querétaro sparkling wine with our meal. Yes, Mexico is a wine producer too.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

San Miguel de Allende

The next day, we were off to Isaac’s favorite town in Mexico… and now one of mine.

On entering this hillside town, nestled in the green highlands of central Mexico, my attention...

....first went to all of the people sitting under small trees with canopies clipped into geometric boxes,

...then to the many indigenous woman in beautiful outfits selling their home-made dolls and jewelry...

.... and then, yes and then to the “La Parroquia”, the town’s main church, whose rose-colored spires seem to flame out against the deep blue sky.

And …everyone was friendly. My curiosity even led me....

......to be invited into fascinating courtyards and amazing rooftops.

....But what I loved most of all.....

Dips anyone?

It must be time for lunch!

... was all the fun we had together just goofing around.

With Jennifer, Daniel, and Isaac,....

....I simply could not have asked for a more wonderful day, especially with all of it being....

.... topped off with a beer (or two :) ), lakeside, back in Querétaro.

Thank you, all.

On my final day, I went over to Jennifer’s school, The John F. Kennedy School of Queretaro…

...a beautiful modern campus with over 1200 students.

What a privilege to have been with Jennifer as she went about her day.

After having a glimpse of her brand new
classroom,....
....we both went down to watch something very unique for us Canadians, the “flags ceremony”.

Held each Monday morning in the courtyard, anthems are sung and...

....honour is shown to the flags of both Mexico and the U.S.

But mostly,...

....it just felt wonderful to be meeting Jennifer’s colleagues and students…even her principal, as we made our way around the enormous campus.

What I enjoyed most, however, was the time I spent in Jennifer’s classroom..

where I even got to do a little team-teaching with her. Wow!

Sadness is the only word I can use to describe having had to say goodbye to my daughter for the last time this trip.

Leaving early to avoid the 10 of Mexico City’s 23 million people soon to be in the streets and Metros trying to make their own way home, it somehow seemed fitting that as I arrived home, the skies opened up with some of our heaviest rain in months.

And on the Couch were:

Goyo

Jennifer, on numerous occasions

And finally, this being our last blog from Mexico this year, I have to say that without a doubt, it has been an incredibly rich and varied experience, ...

....all making for a very busy three months.

A huge word of thanks to everyone who shared some time with us down here...