Monterrey Musings......

12:30pm. Saturday, February 14th, brunch at "Trigo Limpio":

I am finishing my cup of coffee at the "Centro Trigo Limpio", a vegetarian/vegan friendly diner here in sunny, warm Monterrey, Mexico. Just finished having a breakfast of vegan tacos stuffed with avacados and seitan (wheat gluten). My all-morning search for food finally ended here at this simple but charming place. This place spans over two floors. The diner on the second floor, and a vegan/veggie-friendly deli is housed on the first floor. It has a bright, colorful decor balanced with ample use of wood which lends a warm feel to the place. It possessed a very "California Pizza Kitchen" vibe. The staff is very friendly, especially a lad, Oscar, who is the only one who speaks English here. 

Since my arrival here last night, I have faced hardship with communication. People here don't speak English and I don't speak Spanish. Result - I have to employ face, voice, hands, legs, fingers, toes,....everything at my disposal to convey my thoughts. I have managed successfully, thus far. I wanted black coffee, so pointed the waitress to my Blackberry cover (which is black) to convey "black" coffee after several attempts to wipe away the clueless look she wore to my "no milk", "no cream", "no creama", "no milk-a", "no cow", "no Moo-oo-oo", "no white stuff in my coffee", "no thingy which comes out of cow udders"...... Finally, I pointed to the Blackberry cover to which she responded - "Aaaah, negro! No leche!". I sank to the floor with relief! Left behind a handsome gratuity for her. I was truly grateful. 

Shockingly, even the Mexicana Airline staff struggled with the English language. Airport staff here also faced challenges with communication. Oscar, mentioned above, did not receive formal instruction in English. His father worked for the Missionaries to Mexico and Oscar assisted him and, in the process picked up goblets of English. I am glad he did because he is definitely, what the believers would deem, "godsent" to me. He helped me read the menu in Spanish, gave me advice where else to go in Monterrey for vegan/veggie food, helped me pick some vegan cookies. He was enormously helpful. Thus far, my two primary observations about this place have been - English is not spoken by most and this is "meat country" (big time!). Everything has meat, milk, cheese, butter in it - haven for the carnivores. I have managed to identify some veg friendly places after some research and enthusiastic leg work. This place was my first stop and has been a gastronomically satisfactory experience for my vegan sensibilities. Although, their choice of music leaves a lot to be desired - they are playing "Amazing Grace". Hmm.... imagine California Pizza Kitchen playing Amazing Grace at lunchtime. 

4:30pm. Saturday, February 14th:

I am sitting at a restaurant by the "Paseo Santa Lucia Riverwalk". After brunch at Trigo Limpio, I ambled away and walked through the "MacroPlaza" - a large patch of green in the city center but closer to downtown, with manicured parks, housing countless sculptures, fountains, a library and a few museums. Also known as the Gran Plaza, it extends over 40 hectares or almost 100 ares, it is known to be one of the biggest squares in the world. After walking through the MacroPlaza, I turned into a street leading me to the "Paseo Santa Lucia Riverwalk". This is the most important landmark of Monterrey - a charming and unique architectural delight. It is a man-made artificial "river", created to imitate the river found by the first settlers of the City in early 16th century. It snakes through a distance of 1.55 miles or 2.5 kms with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and hills. Monterrey is known as the "City of Mountains" as it lies at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains Range and is surrounded by imposing hills and mountains. Several small bridges hover over this man-made "fake" river. Loud speakers line up the entire 1.55 miles and we get to hear music as we walk up and down the riverwalk. Boat rides are available for those who are not inclined to walk. I chose to walk. The warm air, the intense sun, a light summer breeze (summer-like for me, however, it is to be noted that it is winter time here in Mexico) - together make this a charming place to relax and spend the day at an unhurried pace. I see various light fixtures all around the riverwalk and I am told that this place lights up rather impressively at night, donning an entirely different personality. I must return here in the evening to savor its nocturnal charm.

Today is a glorious day to be here. It is also Valentine's Day. Everywhere I look, I see couples - young and old - enjoying each other's company and boldly expressing their affections. The air is thick with romance. The Spanish music playing around me is dripping with romantic longings and various expressions of love (the crooning in Spanish sounds lover-ly; well, I suspect it to be so because they don't sound mournful or angry). My table and chair are positioned right at the edge of the pedestrian walkway with a canopy shielding me against the bright sun. The river water flows precariously close to me. If my foot slipped from where it sits now, it would land in the water. My beer mug is almost empty. I must pay for it and resume my walk. Let's see where I end up next.....

7pm. Saturday, February 14th, dinner at restaurant in my hotel:

So, I trundled my way at a leisurely pace back to the hotel. On the way, I zigzagged through the streets, chatted with locals, window-shopped and returned wearily to my hotel room somewhat ravenous. How do I feed myself? Where should I go? The few places I had learned about weren't close enough and I wasn't in a mood to embark on another expedition in search of vegan food. Just then a brilliant idea dawned upon me. I sailed down to the front desk and enquired if one of the restaurants could prepare a cheese-less, veggie pizza for me. They responded in the affirmative. I was both relieved and thrilled with the prospects. With juices swirling in my belly, I entered the restaurant and mustered up all my patience and fortitude to employ my fatigued limbs, face, voice, fingers, toes and all else in an attempt to explain to the waiter what I wanted. He motioned me to the table. I settled down in my chair. I looked at him. He smiled. I took a long deep breath and before I could utter a word, he said "what would you like to drink, Sir?". For a moment I couldn't believe my ears. He spoke in English????, I wondered. Did he? Or, is this my imagination running wild??? He spoke fluently. Yay!!! We chatted briefly and it was decided that I should try a pasta dish instead which could be made vegan for me. He also recommended the "tortilla soup" which I ordered reluctantly but ended up relishing quite a bit. He brought some diced avacado along with it which I love and enjoyed with my soup. It lent the soup a delectable creamy texture to it which was certainly pleasing. Dinner was certainly enjoyable. 

A word (or two) about the hotel I am staying. It is a 5-star hotel in Monterrey but I have stayed at better hotels elsewhere, which were rated 4-stars. I am a frugal traveler. I don't seek fancy accommodations. The sheets don't have to be 500-count (I don't even have 300-count sheets at home!) and the pillows don't have to be silky and fluffy either. Sleep comes easy to me without being aided by all things fancy and soft. For me, sleep is connected with a calm mind, not with what's inside the pillows. Hey, I grew up in India where we used to sleep on cots outside, under the open night skies. Frankly, I still reminisce those days with much fondness. Those summer nights in Delhi, the light, warm, night breeze, an old ricketey pedestal fan swinging its head and blowing away at us, the mosquitoes singing in my ears all night, the bug stories we bemoaned about in the mornings over tea, and when it would rain at night, we would wake up, quickly fold the cots away and scramble inside with our pillows and sheets. It was good fun....really! It is what the western world probably best identifies as "camping", only without tents and mosquitoe nets. 

Anyway, back to the Crowne Plaza Monterrey. The room is very comfortable. Has a glorious view of the city. The windows afford a panoramic view of the mountains and the city. It is quite beautiful. The biggest disappointment was the pool. It didn't turn out to be what I had expected. Much smaller and not laps-worthy. I didn't bring my running shoes and so can not go running, which is a bummer. So, I am using the gym to work with weights which, I am not very fond of. But, since I walked all day until my legs crackled, that should count for some cardio-vascular workout, right???  

The hotel is very similar to the building where the Radian offices are housed. It too has an atrium. Do you know that the building where Radian offices are located was once the famed Biltmore Hotel??? Bill Russell, my boss, informed me of it when I interviewed with him for the job. He was introducing the concept of Public Finance to me and the discussion veered to the Biltmore Hotel and its current address. This hotel is exactly like our office building but only much larger with a sprawling lobby where the reception desk and restaurants are located. In the lobby area, every night (Mondays through Saturday) they have live music. A band plays, vocalists perform and guests dance on a small dance floor. It is fun with the exception of one little problem - the music is loud and it flows into our rooms. Worse - it continues till 2am. Thankfully, it hasn't disrupted my sleep but I can imagine those who are light sleepers could be bothered by it. 

When I was preparing myself for this trip, I received advice from many of my friends to be careful in Mexico, as the crime rate here has accelerated. Don't go out alone (umm... I travel alone!), don't take dark, lonely, secluded streets, don't wear jewelry or expensive clothes which can draw attention of those with less than honorable intentions. So, when I packed for this trip, I brought my old worn out jeans, my old beaten up, retired, dusty, mud-caked pair of Rockports, and the most faded and worn out American Eagle polo shirts in my closet (ummm... to think of it, those were the only polos I possessed anyway!). Attired in such clothes made it easy to navigate the streets and the bylanes of the city (which I love to do, wherever I go) without inviting a second look, except from those who share "my pursuasion" but, when I returned to my hotel, the hotel security personnel stared at me with heightened suspicion. Who is this ragamuffin, they wondered, perhaps. I was stopped twice and asked for identification and once escorted to the reception desk for proof of stay. Maybe I shouldn't have toned down my "look" so much that I appear like a homeless guy wandering in a 5-star hotel, I wonder. Hmmm....

Sunday morning, February 15th, in bed:

I have not adhered to the advice of others to stay away from dark lonely alleys. On my first night here, I bought some rides on the Monterrey Metro Subway ("Metrorrey") and have explored most parts of the city. I walked through the quiet residential areas, busy markets, alone on the highways with traffic speeding past me, peeked into private homes at night as I trolled to see how people live here (some styles of habitat I found very reminiscent of lower middle-class homes in India). Last night I found myself walking in dark alleys and unlit deserted streets and it didn't bother me. I think I suffer from an acute sense of lack of fear which can be both a blessing and a drawback. Thus far, in my adventures, I have been fortunate. I go wherever I wish to without processing fear. This is another reason I prefer traveling alone. If I have company, my travel companion is likely to spill his/her concerns over to me which could prove to be a distraction. Walking, to me, is the best way to get the flavor of the place, not sitting in some fancy bar and drinking away (which I did AFTER my walking tour!). The metro train is nice and very clean. There are only two lines – Line 1 (orange line) and Line 2 (green line). One ride costs 4 Pesos. The train covers a relatively small section of the city but appears fairly efficient. People are civilized and quiet during train rides. I did not encountered any loud music, loud chatter, loud phone calls, people seeking alms, consuming smelly food, people selling food items, other wares or performing acrobatics and, no Mexican men here burst into Spanish music with an accordion in hand as it usually occurs in NYC subways. 

7:37pm. February 15th, dinner at restaurant in hotel:

After a short workout this morning and a lovely brunch at a vegan/veggie eatery "Superbom", just around the corner from my hotel, I hired the services of an executive (fancy) taxi which took me approximately 30 Kms away from Monterrey to "Grutas de Garcia" – an astonishing and fascinating place to visit if you ever end up being in this part of Mexico. Grutas de Garcia is an enclave of grottos (caves) discovered together by a parish priest 750 meters high up in the Sierra del Fraile mountain. The grottos house some eye-popping formations of stalactites and stalagmites which were estimated to be formed about 50 million years ago. The ride to the base of the Sierra del Fraile mountain was comfortable in the fancy taxi. My driver, Raul, did not speak English but made heroic attempts to converse with me during the trip and even attempted at humor which was lost on me but I laughed and giggled anyway to reward his valiant efforts. The ride cost me 700 Mexican Pesos (approximately US $50). We covered the distance in approximately 45 minutes. Upon reaching at the base of the mountain, I purchased an entrance ticket to the grottos for 60 Pesos and then climbed into a cable car which took me 750 meters up the mountain and deposited me at the entrance of the ancient caves. A group of us disembarked from the cable car and were led into the caves by a Latino guide who spoke in Spanish. I did not understand a word of what he said but the tour of the grottos was simply stunning. Inside the caves we walk a distance of 1.5 miles, up and down the caves, exploring the various calcareous formations. I tried taking pictures but they did not capture the magnificence of the interiors due to lack of adequate light. After the hour-long tour I returned to Monterrey and decided to head to one of the malls. The shopping malls here are quite arresting. They almost compete with what we have in the US. Monterrey has several malls to the delight of avid shopaholics, I am just not one of them, although, lately I have found myself to suffer from a slight "shopping flu" - just doing my bit to stimulate the sinking global economy but, I can do only so much unless Obama does something to stimulate my disposable income. 

Now back at the hotel and enjoying the delightful tortilla soup and vegan pizza and recounting the memories of the day here on my Blackberry.

Monday, February 16th, Monterrey (MTY) airport: 

Reached here at 5:30am for my 8:15am flight. It is raining here this morning but the temperature continues to be very mild and pleasant. I arrived here on Friday evening to a marvelous 85 degrees. Saturday was gloriously sunny, and to my glee, boasted of 87 warm degrees. Sunday was overcast but in the upper 70s. A far cry from the chill that awaits me in New York. It was the lure of warm weather which seduced me to Mexico but I wanted to stay away from the oft-reviewed and highly advertised beach resorts of Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Cancun and Los Cabos. I opted for Monterrey, hoping it would provide me exposure to the "real" Mexico rather than the one inhabited by rowdy, merry-making, drunken tourists. Another reason for opting for Monterrey was my frugal budget. This trip cost me $488, inclusive of the 3-night stay at a five star hotel, nonstop Mexicana flights to and from Monterrey and all related taxes.  

Monterrey is Mexico's third largest city and its most modern, infrastructurally developed metropolis. Sprawling, tall commercial buildings adorn the façade of this city, their own façade glimmering under the bright Mexican sun - a shimmering testimony to the City's image as Mexico's business center. The City is fairly clean and well organized. It is evident that it is striving to gain international visibility on the map of Mexico through its development of parks, recreational and cultural facilities and various museums. Monterrey is also home to several industries which are more visible in the outer rims of the city. In fact, Monterrey is home to 25% of Mexico's manufacturing output. Once touted to be the home to Mexico's steel production, it is now also a major producer of machinery, food and beverage and metal parts industries. This was my first trip to Mexico and I found the Mexicans to be polite, civilized, fun-loving and very courteous in their demeanor. My research afforded me to learn that Monterrey is home to a population of over 1 million which is also considered to be the most educated in all of Mexico. Despite the language handicap we endured, its people were very patient with me and eager to be of assistance.  

Mid-flight, somewhere up in the skies over Alabama, USA:

I am seated in the aircraft, on my way to NYC. The hum and groan of the engines is sleep-inducing but my mind wishes to remain awake. The sun spills through the window and lavishes upon my fatigued Rockports, which were especially brought out of retirement for this trip, as previously stated. Here I am, in an air-compressed capsule, several thousand feet above the ground, tearing through the skies to my destination - home. This was a nice getaway. Another addition to my list of destinations visited. Hopefully, the list will continue to grow. I love travel. It opens the windows to my mental faculties and flushes the soul off the toxins of monotony. Even more so, I relish the opportunity it brings to me to write about and share my travels with you (despite the fact that the majority of you don't care to read my travelogues!). Today you traveled with me to Monterrey, Mexico.  

Until next time, when we do this again.....so long. 

Buena suerte y adios!
Cheers!
Deepak
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