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The next morning, after a couple of days in Mexico City, we were set on eating something else for breakfast. No more tacos for us! So we set out towards downtown from a different direction than we originally took. After walking through what I could only determine to be a seedy part of town, lots of things were locked up like there was barbed wire on the fences at the schools, we ended up on this main throwaway after about half an hour. Lisa popped into a couple of places while I waited for her.
However, when it came to food, we didn’t have much luck. It was still early, and we had to get on the road. So we headed back to the hostel, grabbed our stuff, checked out, and hit the road.
The first night, Lisa was freaking out about driving. However, now that we had our GPS going and the streets were full of people, Lisa was a little bit more confident. She tends to have a bit of an issue seeing when it’s dark out, so everything’s a little bit scarier for her.
Tequisquiapan
Without much of an issue, we were able to make it out of town and started driving. Now, I was advised against going to Tequisquiapan. Due to its location in the Querétaro province, where there was a rise in cartel violence and apparently some tourists had run into issues, both the United States and my grandfather were advising against us going here.
Yet, this is where the tattoo artist was, and the next day was the only day she had available. Therefore, we were going. There was no choice. So we made our way on the long trip from Mexico City up to Tequisquiapan.
Now, there is not much to tell about the trip itself. If you have ever taken a road trip in North America, then you know what I mean. You might run into a couple of towns, some stuff at the side of the road, but there’s not much out there. It’s just hours of greenery, plains, desert, etc, etc. I mean, the only thing kind of notable is we stopped at a Starbucks… basic white b****** need their bucks, you know?
Eventually, we pulled into the small town of Tequisquiapan. At first, it looked like any normal town, but we were in for an exciting surprise.
Can A Neighbourhood Be Both Dystopic And Pleasant?
First things first, though. We wanted to stop at the place, check into the Airbnb, and get a little bit situated. So we drove around to, basically, the edge of town. There we came up to this very bright orange gated community. Not the type of gated community you would think of when you think “Woot vacation!”. More along the lines of the community that wishes it was that community.
Driving in, every building was that vibrant orange. It was an orange that would make Trump look pale. We took a few corners, saw an empty pool, clearly for the community, behind a locked gate, and eventually found our place. It was like I walked into the faux gated community version of a ghost town in the Wild West.
We followed the instructions, got our key, and threw all our stuff in before letting the guy know via text that we had arrived.
Old Town Tequisquiapan
I don’t know if anyone else has come to the conclusion that I have. However, I have noticed that for the first few days after getting somewhere on the other side of the world, the thing that drives you to go and do things is hunger. If it weren’t for that hunger, it would be really easy to just veg.
Boy, did we ever just want a veg. Flights, layovers, travelling, exploring Mexico City, everything just all together was so much. We just wanted to take some time to relax, but we were hungry. Now if this had been Austria or Canada you know we probably would have done Uber Eats or the Austrian equivalent. However, here we had no knowledge of anything in that vein. So, into town we went.
We found a place to park right outside of downtown. The rest of the way would be on foot from there. So we began our little trek.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected much from Tequisquiapan. It’s the hometown of Maria, from Mexican Tatts, who has two other locations in big cities. Therefore, I expected something small and quaint.
It was fairly small, but it wasn’t anything like I expected. If you pictured the quintessential Mexican Town in your head, you might get close. You see, Tequisquiapan is a vacation town for Mexicans. It’s not oriented to travellers or tourists from other countries. No one speaks English, or at least very few do. We encountered only a few who did, and the way that people looked at us was as if we were aliens.
Yet, it was busy seeing as Mexican Independence Day was coming up. People were everywhere, Street vendors were out peddling food or toys or other various things, and people were just around having a good time.
Dinner Time
However, we were determined to get something delicious to eat. So after walking a little while, we ended up coming across a Boba Tea shop. Lisa was immediately excited. To our surprise, the owner was able to speak a bit of English. Therefore, he gave us some good food recommendations, and we were once again off.
We headed back to the city centre, where we found this quaint restaurant. We ordered a hot plate/bowl of meat that came with taco shells and a few condiments to make your own tacos.
When the food arrived, we immediately dug in. For some odd reason, Lisa was shocked when she bit into a pepper, and it set her mouth on fire. Luckily, we had some delicious local lemonade. Somehow, this bitter-sweet drink worked wonders on negating the spice level of the food.
We weren’t quite able to finish the food. Therefore, we ended up taking a decent amount with us when we left. Despite the miracle lemonade we drank at dinner, Lisa was still complaining about the spice level. So, we made our way back to the Boba Tea shop and had something to drink.
That seemed to do the trick.
Back To The Apartment
For a short while after dinner, Lisa and I popped in and out of local shops. We were looking for a linen dress that appealed to Lisa. Unfortunately, we came out empty-handed. As the shops started to close up we headed back to the Airbnb.
Once there, we hunkered down for the evening and headed to bed early. Lisa slept like the logs she was sawing, while I had a fairly restless sleep. Just as I always do the night before a new tattoo.
