Hi, I'm Jenny and welcome to Eat, Baila Travel a channel for foodies salseros y aventureros
In this vlog we're venturing into the city of Zacatecas located in the state of Zacatecas northwest of mexico city.
This particular episode is very special to me because Zacatecas is
where my mom and my family are from. So this is not only a travel vlog it's an opportunity
to do some heritage exploration and learn about the art architecture and complicated history that Zacatecas has.
If you've been following us you may have seen an earlier episode where we visit
Kevin's family in Veracruz so part of this journey as we've mentioned is to learn more
about ourselves and where we come from and i'm really excited to have that opportunity today
Let's start with this city's impressive colonial architecture
I want one
I can't believe we barely started our architecture tour and you already stopped us for an esquite.
You're the one eating it!
It's so good!
i just i saw that there was no line and i had to stop
Because normally the line is from here all the way to that bus stop.
You know what it is? It's these salsas.
This is what y'all call salsa matcha in Veracruz huh?
Walking around here is like an outdoor museum
This particular architecture if i'm not mistaken
if i can recall my study abroad art history class in Spain correctly i think this is baroco.
Baroque architecture one of the popular styles in i forget what century somebody help me out
I'm sure someone out there has to know the art and century any art gurus out there let
me know comment below because i would really disappoint my art history teacher right now
Across from la catedral you have a market type building i haven't been able to figure out the name of this building
but it's full of a bunch of cool shops there's art shops wine shops
And best of all souvenirs oh and of course jewelry did i mention that
Zacatecas is known for its silver you may have heard of that because it's a mining city
So of course there are tons of jewelry and silver stores all over all over the city
I actually like the vibe here i wasn't sure that i would i thought it was going to be kind of boring.
Even with the pandemic there are some things that are missing
but even so it's cool i like all the outdoors patios and restaurants
Zacatecas is a great city to visit if you like art,colonial architecture, mexican history, mezcal and even wine.
Mostly though, it's known for its role in the mexican revolutionary war and for being the world's largest producer of silver.
When you visit Zacatecas one of the must do activities is visit el cerro de la Bufa.
This is a great place to come and explore but also learn about the role of zacatecas in the mexican revolutionary war.
Previously inhabited by the indigenous tribes of the Zacatecos.
En cerro de la Bufa played an important part in the mexican revolutionary war
This event is known as "La toma de Zacatecas" Pancho Villa and his men stormed the city
And defeated the federal army of then president slash dictator Victoriano Huerta
This event was a single most important battle in the Mexican Revolutionary war and did away with half of the city's population.
Making it one of the most tragic and bloodiest events in this war.
To learn more about the Mexican revolutionary war. We have a few resources that we recommend that you can check out
in the description below, there's a quick 10 minute youtube video that goes through an overview of the war.
As well as a quick read of a book that we highly recommend
And of course last but not least while you're in Zacatecas definitely take advantage of visiting el museo de "La toma de Zacatecas.
To learn more about the role that the city played in the war but also more about the context around the Mexican Revolution.
Just to give a little bit of context Mexico's been in a state of economic and political instability for a long long time.
The mexican revolutionary war officially began in 1914 when Francisco madero was president.
But the war was cooking up even before that while Porfirio Diaz was president.
Now Porfirio Diaz was president for 30 years and eliminated in many ways.
Any kind of opposition and did not allow opposing political parties to run against him
So the fact that he was president for 30 years in many definitions might make him a dictator.
But as we are learning it kind of depends on who you ask. We were on the tour that we just took here
at The Cerro de la Bufa. The other couple next to us describe Porfirio Diaz as the best president that Mexico's ever had.
I think some people might argue that the economic growth that mexico experienced during that time was significant.
And yes porfirio did do a lot to help grow the mexican economy but
It was at the expense of indigenous mexicans and the lower class these are problems that
continue to manifest in Mexico today because i'm still learning about Mexican revolutionary war.
and Mexican history and the leaders that Mexico has had. I still don't feel like i am in a position
to have an opinion on someone like Porfirio Diaz but if there's anyone out there that does have
an opinion i'd love to know what your thoughts are please leave your comments below and help me
reflect on what these leaders have done for Mexico and what kind of impact they've had
Because classism continues to be a huge issue in Mexico today oppression of indigenous and
lower class is a huge issue so i feel like it may come from a lot of that there are a lot of
people who say that you know they wish that someone like Porfirio Diaz was still around.
Another fun thing to do while you're visiting Zacatecas is to ride the teleferico
to get a bird's eye view of the city.
Let's hope we don't get stuck mid-air
From the ferris wheel in Chicago to the teleferico in Zacatecas it's always fun.
By the way did you know that the word Zacatecas comes from the indigenous language of Nahuatl
which means place where there is an abundance of grass everywhere
which is why if you ask mexicans with that green stuff growing out of the grass is we're going to say it's Zacate.
Other countries in Latin America might tell you that it's cesped
Now let's go back 300 years before the Mexican Revolution to the time of the spanish colonial period.
The spanish became interested in Zacatecas when they discovered
its gold, silver and precious minerals and that's when they established the mines.
We're going to start today by visiting La Mina del Eden
There are two entrances we came into the back entrance so we have to walk through to the other side check this out
The mine tour cost 100 pesos per person and was guided the entire time.
The tour guide shared the history, stories and urban legends that live inside the mines.
The spanish started to exploit this mine and the native population in 1586 and yielded immense weath.
For the spanish this mine was their paradise hence the name the Mine of Eden for the natives this mine was hell.
Workers were paid slave wages and worked in dangerous conditions.
People died every day for all kinds of reasons and when parents died their children were often
called upon to fill their shoes to repay any owed debt.
One legend says that the famous tacos envenenados were inspired by the mines.
As miners ate their lunch in the mines the toxic dust landed on their food and many died of poisoning by the minerals they ingested
At least that's one theory on the tacos envenenados.
Be sure to check out our Zacatecas food vlog for more stories and theories
While Mina el Eden even was officially shut down in 1960 the state of Zacatecas continues to be
the world's leading producer of silver there are anywhere between
60 and 80 mines in the state yielding a variety of precious stones and minerals.
You can not only visit the mine by day but also by night the world's only nightclub in a mine is here
Admission ranges between 150 to 250 pesos depending on the season.
Zacatecas is a city full of art and some amazing museums the museo Rafael Coronel is in an old convent
whose ruins were partially restored to hold the largest collection of pre-hispanic masks.
The masks were kind of creepy so if that's not your thing the museum is worth visiting
even if it's just to admire the old convent
On our way to visit the museum of Francisco Goitia we walked by the parque Sierra de Álica
It's a beautiful park to take a walk pictures and just relax
Behind the park is the museum of Francisco Goitia considered the most mexican of mexican
artists the museum is inside the former casa de gobernadores a beautiful mansion on its own
I hope you enjoyed exploring the city of Zacatecas with me there's definitely much more to this city
Than i previously thought.
There's just one experience that we didn't get to share with you and that's the callejoneada.
The callejoneada are street or alley parties with live tamborazo and lots of mezcal
Those are currently suspended because of the pandemic but i hope to return someday and show you
Or even better i hope that you get to visit and experience one yourself
Before we close out this video i just want to give a quick shout out and thanks
to two Chicago-based tamborazo groups Tamborazo Herencia Zacatecana and Tamborazo Express
Thank you so much for your music in today's video