Veracruz: the first invasion

Veracruz: what a wonderful place! There´s a refreshing absence of gringos, in contrast to Oaxaca. All the locals in Oaxaca insisted it was the "off season" and therefore, there weren´t a lot of tourists. Oh my goodness, what Oaxaca must be like in the high season! In the evenings, it seemed to me like the pedestrian streets were filled with gringos.
In contrast, I´m sitting in the main square in Veracruz at an outdoor cafe, drinking a beer and waiting for my dinner to arrive. The buildings are three stories high with arched colonades. There are palm trees down the middle of the pedestrian street and all over the town square. The nearby church tower is lit up brightly. There are lots of old-fashioned street lights. It´s an absoluting charming place to people watch: mostly locals, the occasional Mexican tourist and the rarer gringo. I feel like I´m back in Mexico! The nearby marimba band is going full bore.
Driving here from Oaxaca was a trip (as it were)! The bus went up and over some beautiful high mountain passes, reminding me of Hwy. 80 on the way to Tahoe. The mountains rose up dramatically and dropped away just as dramatically as we sailed over bridges high above the gorge. In contrast to the Sierras, where the mountains look like granite, the ground here looks like limestone and there is every conceivable kind of cactus and not much else. I had no idea there were so many types of cactus.
The bus ride was supposed to be about 6 hours. After 7 hours we were only 20 minutes away from Veracruz (finally!), when the bus driver announced "I´m hungry. There will be a 30 minute stop for food." Everybody on the bus groaned and we pulled into a restaurant on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. I´ll lay 3 to 1 odds the owner of the restaurant is related to the bus driver!
But, this is Mexico. Time is not a factor of input. I got the 12 year old kid who had been sitting next to me playing hangman on my electronic dictionary. His parents were grateful that he was busily occupied and not otherwise bugging them.
As I´m writing this, several people at neighboring outside tables could not resist the music and have gotten up from their tables and started dancing, including one heavy set girl carrying a one year old in her arms. I´m not sure which one of them was enjoying the music more.
It´s still only early evening and already the place is party central. The good vibes from the music are infectious and the smiles on the people´s faces reflect it.
In the main square, a stage is set up with an orchestra playing "Cuban music." There are about 100 people dancing on the marble tile, sort of Latin American ballroom dancing. The average age of the dancers is probably 70. They are thoroughly enjoying themselves. The temperature is probably in the high 70´s; there is a gentle breeze coming in off the Gulf.
About a block away, a much more youthful band is setting up. They´re playing CD´s over loudspeakers to the arriving young people to get them warmed up.
In between the two plazas is a quiet pedestrian walkway with tables set up and old men playing chess with an intensity that is attention-grabbing. The onlookers are joking or hooting at every move. It would take a considerable amount of courage and ability to play chess in public here!
Veracruz is truly an exciting and fun place and ranks way up near the top among the towns/cities I´ve visited on this trip.
Hasta luego!