Putting the finishing touches on a mural for a new restaurant

Of course, we explored the city beyond the shopping mall. Walks in our neighborhood, quite an upscale area, revealed lots of interesting architecture.

An entryway in the neighborhood

We met an American couple, John and Kay Lowman, who spend part of every year in the city, and they gave us a lot of good background information.

Ciudad Victoria is a prosperous and modern city of some 250,000. It is the capital of the state of Tamaulipas, so there are numerous government workers there. It also has many Pemex employees and is the center of a thriving agricultural region. The weather was mostly nice in January, though warm jackets and jeans got more use than shorts and tee-shirts.

The ground floor is old, the top floor ultramodern!

The city is not a typical tourist town but we found plenty to enjoy. Its downtown is modern, unlike the more touristy towns. We roamed around, gradually getting used to contemporary Mexico.

We continued to be surprised at the prosperity-this was nobody’s stereotype of a third-world country! Everyone was well-dressed: their clothing styles were often casual but their grooming was not. The style for women of all ages was to wear clothing considerably tighter than in the U.S.

Ad above a clothing store

One of our favorite things to do in any town or city in Mexico is to find the mercado or market – a center for fresh produce, meat, fish, tourist items, housewares, you name it. Ciudad Victoria’s was right downtown, and included a large statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe. She is seen everywhere in Mexico, and I noticed that people crossed themselves as they went by or stopped to commune with her a moment.

The Virgin of Guadalupe and the mercado -
two Mexican institutions, here combined.

Some of the other campers were staying at the Victoria Trailer Park for a month or more. It was tempting, but we were ready to explore further. Rosie told us about a famous pilgrimage center not far away, and the Lowmans told us about a lake near it. We could learn more about the Virgin and relax in natural beauty, so off we went. We would be back to Ciudad Victoria.

[Next: we head out to El Chorrito, a Mexican pilgrimage spot.]