A weekend in Xalapa, Veracruz

By Lesley Tellez

Crayton and I have a friend, Chris, who works as a biologist outside Coatepec, Veracruz. Last month we
finally had a chance to visit him. Originally Id wanted to combine a trip to Veracruz City, too, but a
helpful email from Leah at In Veracruz cleared that up -- traveling to Coatepec and nearby Xalapa was
enough for one weekend. We caught an early-morning bus from Mexico Citys TAPO terminal and
arrived bleary-eyed in Xalapa at about 11 a.m. We decided to use Xalapa as our homebase because
friends had told us great things about the city. One friend compared it to Seattle, with its drizzly weather
and coffee shops. On Lonely Planets Thorn Tree forum, though, people werent as nice -- some said it
was ugly and urban, and not worth spending even a day there. In the end, Xalapa was just okay. Its a
little too gritty to be Seattle, and the coffee shops werent as abundant as I thought theyd be. Also, I
expected the people to be a little nicer. At the market one day, two vendors brushed me off when I asked
what type of chiles they were selling. No sabra decirle, they said, which roughly translates to, I
wouldnt know. I also had trouble hunting down good regional food. Taxi drivers pointed me to an al
pastor stand and a grilled meat place. I thought there'd be something more specifically Xalapeo. Maybe
I didn't ask the right people. I did take a really cool bike tour in Xalapa, though. And I enjoyed the
Anthropology Museum. In the end, Id recommend stopping in Xalapa for a day and a night, and then
moving on to some of the smaller villages in the area -- specifically Xico.