Monterrey, Mexico.

Monterrey, Mexico



Day 12 – continued...


We finally touched down in Meh-ico to a stinking hot Monterrey. We were expecting a nice quiet sleeping plane ride (seeing as we were the only ones who could speak English....at least that’s what we thought!) – however the lad in front of us was from Utah (a moreman!) and was quick to start up a conversation....which didn’t stop for the whole 3 effing hours. FML!


Mexico Customs is well...haha....basic to say the least! Ela put her bags through the x-ray machine...picked up her bags and headed straight for the exit doors. To both of our surprises, two armed men pointed their guns and yelled “ALTO! ALTO!” (Stop!) We were greeted at the airport by the lovely Michael (Kate’s eldest brother) and his fiancée Paulina. We were swiftly put in our town-car (a bit like celebrities really!) and then off we went.


We arrived late so after a quick chat, we went to catch some well earned zzzz’s.


Day 13:


We slept in till 11am...ahhh...bliss! Then Michael called us a taxi and we went to a couple of malls. So....kinda interesting to see how EVERYONE stares at us whities. Totti was a white tiger amongst all the orange ones! We are like an endangered species.


Shopping = FAIL! We didn’t buy one single item. Sigh.


We had a quick skype session with Ma and Papa Walker which was lovely  Then....it was off to Nueva Luna (New Moon – restaurant/bar/nightclub/everything!). We had traditional tacos for dinner – 2 types of cow, chicken and sausage (simular to cabanossi). It came out on a giant hot plate, Deliciousness. Ela and I ordered 2 margaritas (expecting the standard measure)....oh hell no. When they came out they were literally a fish bowl with legs! And potent at that! So we proceeded to drink them...then a little sick...then some dancing. The Mexicans were intrigued with our dance moves (or lack of). One Mexican chica approached us and praised our dance moves and then proceeded to try and rape Ela! LOL.


Day 14:


Another sleep in. Michael took us to St Lucia – the heart of Monterrey which has a man made river through it which tourist boats travel up and down. The river has stores and restaurants along the bank. We walked for about 20 mins and then stopped at one of the stores and bought a watermelon popsicle. Yum. We caught the boat ride back...again “non intiendes espanol”. “Si”.



After a short siesta, we were taxied off to Paulina’s house for the much anticipated Bachelorette partay. Ah...how can we describe this. Picture 40 mexican lasses who don’t speak any English and then picture Ela and I entering the room and then the silence. Lucky for us, Paulina speaks both English and Spanish. However, Totti did dabble in the Spanish! The first language barrier was hit when Paulina was explaining to the group about our trip...to indicate ‘around the world’, Totti stuck her index finger in the air and twirled it in a circle motion. HA! FAIL. Apparently in Mexico, that movement means that you sleep around. That would explain the hysteric laughter. The second incident came at dinner. Totti queried whether the ‘salsa’ was JALEPENO. Well...that was the running joke for the rest of the night. We still don’t understand why!


The party begun with speeches. The tradition in Mexico is for a book to be made for the bride to be by her friends. There were lots of tears and although we didn’t fully understand what they were saying, we could tell everyone was very moved. It was very sweet.


The hightlight of the night was the Mexican dragqueens! OH MY GOD. There are no words...just check out the pictures. The dragqueens danced and sang and also told jokes. The jokes were in Spanish, however they did ALOT of actions (gyrating mainly!) to go with the jokes...it was clear to us, although we didn’t get the punch line, we could tell they were very dirty. At one point, the queen pulled out a dirty pad. BARF!


Paulina’s family were very sweet – despite the language barrier – we could tell that we were very welcome and they were happy to meet us! A very fun and interesting night 


Day 15:


Clearly a communication error between Totti and her brother – she set the alarm for 8:30am and so we got up. Michael and Paulina slept in till 11. Fail.


Once we were all up, Paulina and Michael took us to San Tiago – about 30minutes out of Monterrey. We went to Collo del Caballo (the horses neck) - a national heritage park with a protected waterfall. We got a taste of a more traditional Mexican atmosphere – with lots of little stalls up the mountain selling lots of leather bound goods, lots of colourful cloths, maracas, food, Tequila :p


We made our way steadily up the mountain – covered in a canopy of tropical trees. The path was flanked by traditional stone grills where people were lighting them and having bbq’s which filled the air with deliciousness. And finally we made it to the base of the waterfall – it was massive. Once at the top you can see the trail it has carved into the mountain, and where the water flows all the way down to the bottom. It was pretty spectacular.


On the way back down we got caught in the tropical thunderstorm – it literally bucketed down rain!!! We found shelter in one of the little stalls and waited with a small cluster of other saturated mountaineers for the storm to pass. Some just opted to keep walking as they were already wet enough. Overall a great hike 


On the way back – we did a drive through Carl Jnr (a burger store) in a Mexican cab. Nice. We got these gigantic delicious burgers with sliced and fried potatoes. Complementary jalapeno peppers included – as a challenge Ela ate one of the small tubs. Hello toilet – sucks to be you!


Totti and I then decided to showcase our amazing futbol talents – we went and joined in with some small Mexican kids in the street, who were very happy to have us. Again the sign language was used to indicate our desire to play. Lucky it was pretty basic – one point to ourselves, then another at the ball. Enough said. Game on  it was a highlight for both of us – a great afternoon. Needless to say we dominated the little amigos!


We went down to St Lucia for dinner by the river. It was about 11:30pm by the time we got down there. So....Ela and I got the English menus – ah HOORAY! However, we still managed to fail at our order. You see, although the menu was in English, the ingredients were not so easy to understand. We decided we wanted an entree, so we pointed to the one that said “Cheese” – a word we know. The waiter bought out our entree – it looked like giant crackers with a little bit of cheese and a thick blot of vegemite....that, plus crap! We asked Paulina to ask the waiter “What the heck did we order”. After conversing with the waiter, Paulina turns to us and cracks up laughing and says “eewwwwwwww”. She proceeds to inform us that the black stuff is the root of corn mushed up with corn and fungi....that, plus crap! So we both agreed that since we ordered it, we must try it. Vom. It tasted like gooey, chunky mud...that, plus crap. It was awful. Totti’s teeth were pitch black – see photos. We scraped off the rest of the gunk and just at the crackers and cheese. Entree fail.


We got home at about 1am – after a quick skype with Ma and Papa Walker, we said our final goodbye to Paulina and went to bed.


Day 16:


We got up reasonably early and packed our bags. Michael had a class (he teaches English to the Mexicans) in the morning so we just waited until he returned. This afternoon we head off to the airport to catch our flight to Cancun via Mexico City.


Sooooo. When checking in baggage, we were shocked to find that their definition of scanning bags was erm....manual. Totti got her undies searched, much to her embarrassment – perhaps they were looking for something suspicious in her undies.....THAT, plus crap. Awkward. So we made it through check in and are now waiting to board our flight to Mexico City, then to Cancun. So in the hope that we don’t get a cavity search thrown into the mix, our next update will come to you via Cancun, complete with fluffy robes and infinity pools.


A day of laze and travel.


Adios for now,


Say hi to your Papi for us,


Kate& Ela xoxoxo