16/01/2023 – 22/01/2023
We arrived at our second destination, Querétaro, a youthful and vibrant student town. We stayed at a newly built university residence hall. What I enjoyed the most about it was the amazing city view of Querétaro and the peaceful campus environment. Chasing the sunset while biking was my favourite thing on Querétaro’s campus. Instead of eating out daily, we brought lots of groceries from nearby Walmart and cooked in our hall’s communal kitchen. On Tuesday night, we had a shared dinner where student made a representative dish from their home country. Our group and the Aussie made fish & chips, kiwi dip and chicken nuggets. We had such a great time cooking together and trying out the food from other countries.
Thursday was a full-on day. We visited the production facility of a Mexican time-honoured consumer product brand, La Corona and had a farm tour at Rancho Santa Maria, which produces organic products (cheese & wines) through a circular economy model. It was very interesting to know the operation of different Mexican companies, their business strategies, etc.
A day trip to San Miguel de Allende on Saturday was the week’s highlight in Querétaro. We were lucky enough to see the 254th-anniversary celebration and parade of the hero, Ignacio Allende (born January 21st, 1769), who had the most prominent contribution to Mexico’s independence. After watching the parade with music bands and war tanks taking off from the civic square, we wandered around the local farmers’ and artisan markets. The markets were so eye-opening, I’ve never seen such wide varieties of exotic salsa/paste, species and fruits in my life. San Miguel and Querétaro downtown were very chilled and peaceful compared to the fast-paced Mexico City downtown. I was lost in the colourful alleys, children‘s laughter and talented buskers’ performance. The beautiful day in San Miguel ended with a bowl of delicious ramen at a Kiwi-owned rooftop restaurant with a stunning view.
Querétaro downtown
San Miguel de Allende