La Quemada

March 9
Friday
After a sumptuous breakfast at the Hotel Meson de la Merced, we board the bus for the archeological site of La Quemada. The site is far back from the highway and surrounded by acres of saguaro cacti. Looming mysteriously on the horizon, the pre-Columbian courts, stairs, buildings and massive pyramid-like structure are made of weathered stone. They cover a huge area of land next to a lake. Apparently, La Quemada was not a place where people actually lived. Rather, it was a religious or ceremonial center for 200 surrounding settlements.
Along with Claude, Paul and Rose, I climb to the top of the pyramid. Challenging, but worth the magnificent panoramas of surrounding countryside. After this exhilarating experience, I join others in La Quemada’s excellent archeological museum. Exhibits include pottery, a wall display of the maguey plant and its uses, and a presentation of atole, from which are produced many useful fibers.
Returning to Zacatecas after our field trip to La Quemada, we tour the Guadalupe area, peek into the opulent Guadalupe Cathedral. It is the most ornate of the many churches we’ve seen, full of gold and silver artifacts, marble columns, oil paintings and art treasures. The priest who was supposed to know that we were planning to visit cannot be found. Someone else, perhaps a caretaker, comes along and takes us around the cathedral grounds. Alas, he does not have a key to the inner sanctum. Thus our only peek at the church’s interior is through iron gratings. Even that partial view gives an idea of the church’s opulence.
At 3 p.m. we enjoy a late lunch at San Miguel Hotel, run by the same company as El Meson de la Merced, our Zacatecas “home away from home.” At last, we’re free to explore on our own for a few hours. Inez and I pick up our clean clothes at the laundromat where we’d left them a few days earlier. Then we shop. I find two beautiful rebosos, one of red wool, another of rose silk shantung. In a nearby jewelry shop, we buy silver earrings and necklaces. A small boutique carries must-have peasant blouses. In a bookstore, I purchase a map of Mexico and postcards of Zacatecas.
Shopping nearly accomplished, we go to Sanborn’s for coffee and desserts. We browse in Sanborn’s book department, where Inez buys a few Spanish comic books. I am hot and tired by this point, but my tireless roommate is just getting started. Skipping dinner, we walk to the musical performance by marachis. The performance is in the plaza just behind the Meson de la Merced. The tiniest musician was a boy trumpeter, who looks no older than five. Back at the hotel, while Inez is still out dancing, I pack for our journey from Zacatecas north to El Paso. Though we are basically turning around and going back the same way we came, there will be some different sites visited.