Querétaro Tourist
info
What to see and do (and where to find a restroom downtown)
Querétaro is a colonial city with lots of
historical sights. It is very much oriented towards tourists
within Mexico as well as foriegn tourists. Even if you already
have a guide book with you, it is a good idea to pick up a
tourist map from the tourism office. The tourist maps include all
the important streets in the "centro" and mark all the
sites of interest. They include information about buildings and
sites as well, and are more usefull than any map you might have to
pay for.
The address of the tourism office is
Pasteur norte
4 and Its located
in the
corner of Pasteur and 5 de Mayo opposite "La Casa de la
Corregidora" also known as "La presidencia"
because it's the building where the governor of the city and
various government officials work. Its the most prominent building
in "Plaza de Armas," so once you find that plaza you'll
have no problem finding "La presidencia" and
"turismo." The plaza has a fountain with four water spouting dogs as
seen in the picture at right. La presidencia is off camera
on the right side of the fountain.
Apart from it's historic and governmental relevance, "La
Casa de la Corregidora" is interior archetectually impressive and it
has a public restroom
that you can use for free without having to feel obligated to buy
anything.
There are always about 3 or 4 police officers outside of
the building, but don't let that deter you, the building is open
to the public and they won't say anything when you enter. Next to the
restroom you will notice two funny little notched out areas. These
used to be very small jail cells for wrongdoers: tour guides
always take people to this area and explain this.
Food Safety
Some tips for staying
parasite free and avoiding Moctezuma's revenge.
In Queretaro most locals don't
drink tap water, so you shouldn't either unless it's been boiled
previously for coffee for example. If you ask for a
drink at a restaurant it might be a good idea to ask for something
bottled (más vale prevenir que lamentar).
The most potentially harmful foods are vegetables that aren't
disinfected. Most notably strawberries, lettuce and cilantro (also
known as coriander), because they
grow close to the ground. You can disinfect vegatables at home,
however, using a disinfectant available in many stores. If you drink a
beverage with tap water
ice you might get some amoebas, but if you eat a tempting home-made
strawberry ice-cream or tacos from a street stand you could end
up with parasites or typhoid, which would include diarrhea and
fever.
If you want to eat tacos, do it at a
permanent establishment and ask for your tacos without vegetables (sin
verdura). Make sure to say this before they start
making the tacos. It's ok if they include pineapple and the
cooked onions are probably ok too, but the thing you want to
avoid is the chopped cilantro and onion mix.
Remember, Mexicans can also get sick eating at
street stands. The exception to this
rule would be most tamal stands and the corn on a stick stands.
At night you will find stands that sell corn on a stick covered
with mayonaise, grated cheese salt and chile pepper. Although the
idea of corn + mayonnaise might seem at first unattractive, it's
actually
quite tasty (best with "queso rayado" rather than "parmesano").
Links to tourist information
turismo.queretaro.com.mx The city of
Querétaro tourism page.. doesn't work right now?
queretaro.gob.mx/turismo
tourism page for the state of Querétaro.
.
E Tango Querétaro
This page is
mantained
by
Graeme Clark: Information and correspondence
at
.