Veracruz, a port city, was founded in the 16th century after the landings of Juan de Grijalva, who landed on an islet that he baptized with the name of San Juan de Ulúa. Hernán Cortés followed who, touching the mainland in front of the island, founded the Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. Hernán Cortés was the Spanish conqueror who, at the beginning of the 16th century, led the conquest of the Aztec Empire in Central America.
Time had run out with our stay in Mexico City. It was time to move on, so we said our goodbyes to Mexico City and boarded the ADO GL bus to VERACRUZ, which would take us 5 ½ hours. Upon arriving in VERACRUZ, we grabbed a taxi, and it was off to find our accommodation. We had used Booking.com to find this 2-bedroom apartment (Inmobiliaria Percales). Our cost to stay here for the next 9 days was reasonable at $278 Canadian (2600 pesos). This location was a cash-only payment, which was unusual as this was the first time we ran across this.
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We got out of the cab and tried the door, but it was locked so I called the owner and he spoke very good English and he told me to go into the hardware store that was right beside the door and a lady would check us in. I went inside while Greg stayed with the luggage and I filled out forms. One problem though, all the forms were in Spanish and they wanted me to sign a contract. I got out my trusty Google translate app to try to read what I was to sign. In the meanwhile, Greg is baking outside in the mid-afternoon heat. Finally, we get the keys and a copy of the contract to take up to our room.
The apartment was very spacious as we walked into the living room through the main door. The dinning room, kitchen was beyond the living room and a terrace past the kitchen. Off to the left of the living room was a bedroom, a bathroom and the master bedroom. We had air conditioning in the bedrooms. The living room and kitchen had large windows for air flow and a fan. The kitchen had pots & pans, but the non-stick frying pan was all scratched up.
We started out going to restaurants but found this was going to be too expensive for the nine days, so we found a Mercado not that far away, we purchased fresh vegetables, fruit, pork, chicken and some very tasty seafood (fish and prawns). With Veracruz sitting on the gulf coast, seafood was fresh and plentiful. This Mercado was one of the bigger ones that we visited on our trip and had plenty to offer, it was an assault on your senses with all the smells including fresh spices. This was definitely a Mercado that was frequented by the locals and being such, we didn’t see any other gringos here. It makes one wish that one could find selections and freshness like this in Canada, but with regret I have never found such a place. We even had a couple of meals here which were very good and inexpensive.
One attraction that we visited and would highly recommend, is to visit San Juan de Ulua, a Spanish fortress. We caught a taxi over to San Juan de Ulua for approx 60 pesos, it is to far to walk and not easy to find. There was a fee of 80 pesos each to enter the fortress.
We found this fortress to be extremely interesting as it dates to the early 1500s, a time when the Spanish had first landed east of this area and went on to defeat the Aztecs. The construction started in 1535 but needed 172 years to complete. The fortress is unique as it was made from some of the corrals of the area; it has a moat around it for protection. We took lots of pictures here as it was so interesting and beautiful. This place has a very interesting history as well as it was also used as a prison.
We also went to the Mexico Naval Museum which is located in downtown Veracruz which took about 1.5 hours to tour. They have lots of rooms with history of the Mexican Navy with several scale models of ships. The downside to this tour is that everything was in Spanish, so we didn’t get everything as much out of it as one might have if they speak Spanish.
Lastly, we met a couple from Finland, and they had been to Veracruz before so they told us about an Olympic size swimming pool that they go to. Well, we had to check it out. It was about 4.5 kms away but we decided to walk it anyways. The 1968 Olympics were held in Mexico City, but Veracruz was where the swimming and diving athletes came to compete. We made it to the pool. Greg had to borrow some yoga type shorts as his long shorts were not allowed in the pool. We swam laps in the pool for about an hour before getting out and walking back to our place. It was a good day.
We made several visits to the beach as well, the one located downtown. Always very busy with people and families. You rent chairs and umbrellas on the beach which is inexpensive, and you can order food from the restaurants near by as well as beer. All in all, we did enjoy our visit to Veracruz. Nine days was probably a little to long. There are places to visit near by but like everything there is a cost and the need to pick and choose is always present. Well after nine days in Veracruz it was time to go to our next destination of Cuidad del Carmen.
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Recommended Travel Essential
Cindy and I call ourselves nomadic so with this lifestyle, we use certain essentials to make this way of life easier and more comfortable. With this in mind, we have composed a list of what we feel are essentials and some tips you might use to plan or take your next travel adventure.
- Travel Packing Essentials to help organize and make this task less stressful
- Travel Safety Essentials to make your life on the road a little safer, giving you peace of mind
- Living Essentials to make life a little more comfortable, be this resting, working, or playing.
Accommodation Options While Traveling The World
- Booking.com is one of our go to’s when we are looking for a place to stay for a couple of days or longer
- Agoda.com we find is best to use when in Southeast Asia, but hey you never know what you might find
- Airbnb.com used to be our go-to but some of their cancelation policies are reasonable, give them a try as well
Travel Insurance
We always travel with some sort of travel Insurance be it just medical or complete trip coverage. We use Heymondo as we find their costs reasonable. Remember don’t travel and without coverage, the savings are not worth the possible costs.
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