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Hotel Urdinola

We found the Hotel Urdinola through LPM as we usually do. The lobby and pretty courtyard were nice but we found the room a bit small and the price a bit big, but it was very centrally located and within walking distance of most everything that a first-time visitor to Saltillo ought to see.

On our second trip we were much happier with our love hotel, Hotel Lourdes, which at about the same price as Urdinola gave us a much newer and better equipped room, with a private garage, huge modern bathroom, and cable TV although it was way on the southern outskirts of town.

Catedral de Santiago

This is the very lovely Catedral de Santiago.The front facade is very exuberant and baroque, similar to the one in Zacatecas though a little more restrained. It has beautifully carved heavy wooden doors in the front. Inside the church has a single aisle and is mostly neo-classical with a central dome and real transepts. In the transepts, however, the neo-classical gives way to more baroque with gilded altars just like those in the Templo Santo Domingo in Zacatecas.

We happened to be in Saltillo on Easter Sunday and stepped into the Cathedral for ten minutes during Easter Mass. Not only was the church full to overflowing but throughout the day people streamed in and out in such numbers that one door was marked Entrance and another Exit.

Mural in the Palacio del Gobierno

Across the square from the Cathedral is the Palacio del Gobierno, which like so many others in Mexico, has a set of murals painted on its walls. The subject of these murals is very predictable: how the oppressed people of Mexico heroically overthrew the evil aristocracy in the glorious revolution of 1910. Imagine our shock and horror, however, to see Stalin, the bloodiest dictator of the 20th century, lionized alongside the heroes of the Mexican independence movement and the Mexican Revolution. What, one wonders, do teachers say when they bring their students to visit this the seat of their local government and have to explain the figures in the mural and why they are there? Do they explain how many millions were killed in the Gulags of Siberia? We like Mexico, but don't always agree with the politics of their revolution.

Easter Sunday in Alameda Park

After sampling Easter Mass at the Cathedral, we walked over to the Alameda, a lovely green area not far from the historic downtown, where we found the citizens of Saltillo enjoying a few laughs at a stand-up comic or just sitting and watching the world go by. Note the cowboy hat, typical headgear for a man in northern Mexico. It often goes along with fancy cowboy boots and matching belt.

We spent most of Easter Monday (it's not a holiday in Mexico) at the Bird Museum. While it may not sound very exciting, it is actually a first-class museum that has hundreds of stuffed specimens and tells you everything there is to know about the birds of Mexico. It was fascinating and gave our beginner's Spanish a real workout.

Dr. Manuel Sanchez, Neurocirujano (Brain Surgeon)

While on our first visit to Saltillo, Gerry wanted to consult a dermatologist about a small wart-like growth on his arm. We first asked for help at the tourist office and were told to go to the new hospital in town, the Hospital Muguerza. There we learned about Dra. Ibarra and with the hospital clerk's help called her office to ask if she spoke English and would feel comfortable treating a foreigner.The call was taken by Dra. Ibarra's husband, Dr. Sanchez who in excellent English assured us that his wife spoke very good English and would be delighted to see Gerry the next morning. Since the doctor's office was half a block away, we walked over there to finalize appointment details and found a brand-new building devoted to doctors offices and a young (to us) Doctor Sanchez who was very gracious in answering all of Gerry's questions about the brain and brain surgery.

The visit the next day was very pleasant even though along with the good news that the growth on his arm was no problem, Gerry got the bad news that there was a small growth on his face that in the doctor's opinion was a basal-cell carcinoma. The doctor took a biopsy for testing, made a note of our contact email and gave us some salve and bandages to treat the wound. She also promised to try and find us a competent, English-speaking dermatologist in Mazatlan for follow-up once the lab results of the biopsy were received.

Dra. Sara Ibarra, Dermatologo

The tests were positive and Gerry did consult another dermatologist in Durango (although not recommended by Dr. Ibarra), but when we knew we were going to be passing through Saltillo again in October, we made another appointment with her so that she could do the follow-up herself. The ending of the story is a happy one as the cancer has now been completely removed.