Real de Catorce

Last Monday (Nov 16), we had the day off of work for Día de la Revolución. Technically Día de la Revolución is Nov 20 (Friday), but for some reason the federal laws state that when the 20th is a Friday, the holiday is held the previous Monday...Día de la Revolución celebrates the start of the Mexican Revolution against the dictator Porfirio Diaz in 1910. This means that next year, 2010, will mark the 200th anniversary of Mexican Independence and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution--it should be a very festive time to be in México!!

Taking advantage of the long weekend, a couple of coworkers and I headed down to Real de Catorce for a day-trip on Sunday. Real is a tiny pueblo in the state of San Luis Potosi, in the center of México. It used to be an old silver mining town (like many pueblitos in México), and is now mostly a ghost town / tourist destination (like many old mining towns in México). It is probably most famous for being the site of various movies, including The Mexican with Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. Another notable site is the long, long, very long cobblestone road that leads to the town. It stretches on forrrrreeeeeeevvvvvvvvveeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrr...



We ate lunch at a hotel where the crew for The Mexican stayed during filming. The chef is actually an actor and appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean. Lots of pictures of both movies in the lobby.



On Friday after work, we had a carne asada at my counterpart´s apartment. It was a lot of fun, and a group of us actually wound up staying til 2:30 AM playing Risk! I haven´t played in a long time, but it was a good time.