Queretaro, at play

The rest of the day after the two performances at Colegio Fontenar was free. Dina and I walked around Queretaro, had coffee, relaxed. That evening, we went back to the park in the historic district, where there was a keyboard player entertaining a large crowd. Couples old and young danced to the music, and many of us sat on the benches on this pleasant evening. After a while, we wandered up the hill to see the Day of the Dead altar in process (more on that in a different post). The next day we took a couple of tourist buses around the city, to see even more of this charming town. Queretaro is an important place in Mexican history, sometimes called "the cradle of Mexican independence." One of the main leaders of the independence movement was a woman, Josepha Ortiz de Dominguez, called "La Corregidora." This is also the city where Emperor Maximilian I was executed in 1867, after Benito Juarez led the Republican forces to victory (did Mexico really need a Habsburg Emperor?!).

Here are some pictures of Queretaro now:
I love the mix of Colonial buildings in this picture.

Talk about Baroque! The goldwork in this church is amazing! In the next picture, you can see St. Francis Church and former convent. There are lots of churches here and I saw many nuns on the street wearing habits (but not in this picture).
Lots of the trees in the city center are pruned like this. It makes for a dense cover.

I'm going to put some pictures of Day of the Dead celebrations up next, including some from Queretaro.