January 21, 2023. I awoke from tortured sleep. The nearby nightclub blasted out beats until about 3:30 and after the noise quieted down completely at 4, I dozed in and out. I got up at 7 and headed to a local breakfast place before heading out on a long tour with 4 other members and a driver.
The tour was promoted as a visit, and I hoped, to climb a solitary volcanic mountain called Peñal de Bernal. But delay after delay of the departure made that hope seem more and more out of reach. We visited several touristy attractions – two vineyards and another toursit trap town of Tequisquiapan before finally arriving at Bernal adjoinging the mountain around 4 pm. Obviously we weren’t going to climb the mountain. We had a nice group of people, 3 Mexicans, one Argentine and me for a nice group. For fun I showed the two young ladies how to pose and how to get nice light out side the vineyard office, which provided some distraction. Later, we all climbed a modest way up the mountain and had some wonderful gorditas made of blue corn. They were really the best gorditas I’ve had, with a granular homemade feel to the blue corn meal called masa. For those not accustomed to Mexican food, gordita is a type of food made from corn meal filled with a variety of fillings. Mine were filled with strips of Poblano pepper and cheese, and another one with mushrooms.
In the evening I went for a short walk around the local park, and danced a couple songs of salsa and cumbia. I was lucky to find a dance partner.
Tomorrow I leave Querétaro and head to Morelia by bus.
