Arriving into Zacatecas from the Torreon highway is like descending into an amphitheater. The city’s cantera (soft reddish stone) houses and cathedrals hug the sides like seats of a concert hall until finally you descend into the centro historico. We parked a little outside of the center near the aqueduct and Jardin Enrique Estrada and explored on foot until stopping at a Birriaria for dinner and then Il San Patrizio Caffe for Illy cappuccinos – best damn espresso in the world. Laura had been to Zacatecas quite a few times before with her family and she had built up my expectations, but I wasn’t let down. The city is just as spectacular as Guanajuato and just as tranquil as San Miguel de Allende, but without the crowds of tourists.

Our first night, after trying to talk down the Señor at the HI from 250 pesos to 200, we passed by an old colonial house with a sign saying Hostel Casa del Angel. We figured it would be way out of our price range but Laura worked her charm and talked the Señora down to 200 pesos, explaining that we were a poor young couple traveling on an extremely “corta” budget. The woman’s stern face turned compassionate and she nodded looking us over nostalgically as most couples do when seeing high school couples on their way to prom.

It was still more than we were wanting to pay on a nightly basis, but staying under the 20 foot ceiling and thick adobe walls of the casa antigua was a nice way to start our trip.

The next day, the 6th of January was Dia del Reyes. Traditionally in Mexico (though more in Mexico City and the South) gifts are given to the children on the morning of Dia del Reyes rather than Christmas in commemoration of the three kings from Europe, Asia, and Africa who came to Bethleham on the 6th to give gifts to baby Jesus. More applicable to a borracho like myself, Dia del Reyes – sadly – brings the temporada de “Lupe-Reyes” to a close. La temporada de Lupe-Reyes marks the time between Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe (December 12th) and Dia del Reyes when the majority of Mexico spends the majority of the days and nights drunk. If you like your Corona and Cuervo and want to visit Mexico during a festive time, this is it. Another tradition of Dia del Reyes is the Rosca del Reyes, a Mexican pastry that looks like a strange hybrid of giant donut and holiday fruitcake. The Rosca del Reyes is cut and shared between family members or employees at work. Somewhere in the cake is a small plastic figure and the tradition goes that whoever’s piece contains the figurine must hold a party at his/her house on the 12th of February, the day of the Candelaria.

After a morning cup of coffee, we drove up La Bufa, Zacatecas’ biggest hill where the famous Toma de Zacatecas took place in 1916 between the armies of Pancho Villa and Carranza in a fight for the northern territory during the revolution. The hill is now a tourist lure with a spectacular view over the city, a photogenic iglesia (to the right) and a small Museo de la Revolucion with a modest collection of sepia photographs, newspaper clippings, rifles and two canons.

Back down in the town center festivities were dying down and families were rushing to the panaderias to buy the last of the Rosca del Reyes to munch on back home. It was already getting dark and Laura and I decided to spend another night in Zacatecas before moving on to Aguascalientes.