Missions and Las Pozas

We went to the Sierra Gorda with three of our friends who do not have kids. I was very concerned that traveling in the mountains with three kids 7 and under would scare them away from having kids forever. They were very patient and even more helpful with the kids and, from what they tell us, they haven't changed their minds about having kids of their own. Whew!

We spent the night in Jalpan, Queretaro, so, in the morning, we explored the small city. One of the five missions is in the center of Jalpan. The five missions were built after the Spaniards came to Mexico to evangelize, congregate, and teach the indigenous people. We only saw two of the five missions (which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites) on our trip. The carving on the the front of the churches was very impressive.

Mission Jalpan

A close up of the beautiful carving on the front of the church

The inside of the mission

The kids enjoyed ice cream (at 10:00 in the

morning) in front of the church

Franciscan Mission in Landa

Rahul playing with Lydia in front of the church

After the short stop in Landa, we headed to the jungle to the town of Xilitla, San Luis Potosi. The highlight here is a site called Las Pozas. Las Pozas is the creation of Edward James, an eccentric poet and artist from England. In the 1960s and 1970s, James created 36 surrealist inspired concrete structures on over 20 acres of lush, tropical jungle. It is absolutely incredible. It's the dry season now, so the pools (where the name las pozas comes from) were a little dry, but I can imagine how beautiful it must be after the rainy season. There were all kinds of structures to climb on, pools to swim in, and a ridiculous amount of things to see. After climbing to the highest point, where there was a tree house, with James and Sarah, Ethan said, "this is one of my favorite days." I would go back to this place in a hearbeat!

The first structure you see...many levels,

bridges, and stairs that lead nowhere

One of the pools

During the rainy season, this is probably all filled with water!

Where Nolan is about to step (right side), is where we

had to walk to get to the other side It is about 5 inches

thick all the way across with water on one side and a

drop off on the other. That explains the way James is

carrying Lydia. This was one of many times we were

thankful to have 3 extra adults with us!

Concrete craziness

Beautiful waterfall on the property

Lydia was very drawn to this structure

Ethan liked the waterfall

A beautiful purple plant on the property

James and Ethan on their way to the

tree house in the sky (below)

The view from the treehouse

Ethan and Sarah in the treehouse

Sarah and Chris

Concrete Orchids

Nolan being silly

The hands seemed to be the symbol of Las Pozas

Miss Lydia

Lydia said, "sss" when we passed the snakes

Close up of the stairs to nowhere

Lydia tried to run up the side of this a couple of times

We ate dinner in the center of Xilitla at a restaurant

with a view of the mountains. There were these

gigantic palm trees right beside the restaurant.

Our crew at dinner

View while we ate