Cordoba, Veracruz and Tlacotalpan

So this last Friday, my friend Paloma and her parents and I left Cholula for a Mexican adventure in the state of Veracruz. Our first stop was for lunch in the quaint little city of Cordoba, Veracruz. These two pictures are the only ones that I took while we were eating lunch. It was a beautiful day and a bit warmer in Veracruz than in Puebla. It was a great start to our trip and I was excited to be on the road.

Here are some pics from the boardwalk in the city of Veracruz. It was pretty nice although the wind was blowing hard from time to time. I got to take my picture with Diver Dan (as we referred to him) and it was a nice evening to walk around and see the ocean again (I feel so spoiled to have seen the ocean twice within the last 7 or 8 months-yes Heidi, we know that you go there everyday). Anyways, I really liked Veracruz and would like to spend more time here (just like every other place I've been to in Mexico!).

These are some pictures from the centro of the city of Veracruz which is in the state of Veracruz. The state lies on the eastern coast of Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico. It's a long, thin state and the landscape was extremely green, considering that it's the dry season right now for this region of Mexico. Veracruz is famous for coffee, bananas, mangos, papayas, other tropical fruits and of course, for its seafood. The city of Veracruz is famous for hosting the port into which Hernando Cortes sailed in order to begin exploration. The zocalo and the city are not very big, but it is a nice city and I received a lot more smiles here than I ever have on the streets of Cholula or Puebla. It seems to be a rather big tourist attraction within Mexico. I also included a few of the pictures that I took on the beach which is actually closer to Boca del Mar than to the city of Veracruz.

Tlacotalpan is situated on these waterways, a bit inland from the Gulf of Mexico, in the state of Veracruz. It's a little town and the atmosphere is one of friendly people and lovely, colorful streets. It's famous for being one of the two disputed birthplaces of Agustin Lara, the famous Mexican composer and songwriter that was married 11 times (once to the famous actress Maria Felix). There are a lot of people that fish here and make their living that way. Almost every restaurant promotes their seafood so Paloma and her parents enjoyed very fresh seafood. The server just looked at me like I was crazy when I explained to her that I didn't eat any kind of meat, including fish and seafood. I was still able to leave with a full stomach and enjoyed the view from our table at the restaurant, as you can see in these first two pictures.

Here are some more images from Tlacotalpan, Veracruz. I just loved how colorful the buildings and homes were here in this town of 8,606 residents. It's just really beautiful here and I absolutely loved it. I've always thought that I was a big-city person but I can actually see myself settling down in a little town such as this. It's only eighty or ninety miles away from the city of Veracruz and the people here are very friendly.