Early in the morning of 5th July Marie and I boarded a flight from Montreal to the port city of Veracruz, Mexico to attend the wedding of Cesar Penagos Herrera (Fernanda's brother) and Maria del Pilar (Pili) Cobos Gonzalez. We had an unbearably long and boring layover at the George Bush International Airport in Houston before finally boarding a rather beat up looking United EMB 145 jet to Veracruz, arriving at midnight into a wall of heat and humidity - the southern Gulf of Mexico. We were dead tired but able to find a willing taxi driver to take us to our hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn in Boca del Rio, a short drive south of Veracruz. We had a wonderful view of the Gulf from our window, found the staff very pleasant and helpful, the rooms clean and the location just what we needed in order to relax for a few days before the partying started! We had never been to this part of Mexico before and were to find it fascinating, friendly and fun.
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| 11 hours in the George Bush International and still smiling! |
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| Patricia (sister of Pili) and Lars, on the way to the wedding |
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| off to Veracruz, finally! |
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| Hilton Garden Inn, Boca del Rio, Veracruz |
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| our room |
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| next morning, early |
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| Marie by pool, view from lobby to Gulf |
We stated at the Hilton on the very warm Gulf for four nights before moving to downtown Veracruz where Pili is from and into the Gran Hotel Diligencias in the Zocalo where the rest of the wedding guests would be staying. We found Boca del Rio under constant construction and way too hot in the day to wander the streets so we chose to stroll the beach and swim in the warm water every day, meet the vendors hawking food along the way and look for shells and sand dollars in the dark sand. Boca del Rio means river mouth and flows into the Gulf from the Jamapa River but we never did see the river itself. We enjoyed the variety of fish that was available along the beach front and one night after it had cooled a bit had some papas del Huerto and Campesinas (fried potatoes) at one of the food trucks, Los Granjeros.
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| los Granjeros food truck |
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| beach in front of our hotel |
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| enjoying some cervezas, beach at Boca del Rio |
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| Ruben, singing for a cerveza |
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| sunset, still 90 degrees |
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| La Parroquia |
The Gran Cafe de la Parroquia is world famous and we walked towards the town centre along the waterfront for almost an hour one morning for breakfast. Marie ordered the cafe Lechero. The waiter arrived with a few ounces of dark coffee in a glass, then left. A bit perplexed we finally figured out you have to clink your spoon against the glass if you want them to come back with the scalding hot milk which they pour from a large kettle into your coffee. Everybody does it here and it is quite the tradition. Nobody seems to know why though!
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| beer and local beach food |
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| a fruit masterpiece |
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| walking along Boulevard Manuel Avila Camacho |
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We were recommended to try the fish at the Villa Rica, just a few minutes from our hotel close to the beach. We started out with fried squid and cold seafood salad. I had red snapper a la Veracrusian and Marie had the pompano. Wow! The fish they serve is priced by size and weight so you can order just how big a fish you feel like having. It comes baked whole with carrots, chaote squash and olives, in a delicious broth. We would find ourselves back there a few days later to say our goodbyes to this wonderful place! But first we had a wedding to attend! gws
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| Red Snapper a la Veracrusian |
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| Hilton Garden Inn, Boca del Rio, Veracruz, Mexico |
