Monterrey, Mexico: Mega-City for a Quick Getaway

Photos and article by Eleanor S. Morris

When you want a fast romantic get-away south of the Border, don't just go tothe Border--that's only just the Border, not the real Mexico. Head to mega-city Monterrey, where there's a great deal for travelers to see and do in this booming capital of the state of Nuevo Leon, less than 150 miles south of the Texas border.

With its enormous green Gran Plaza, its Alfa Museum, its new modern art museum and markets, glass factories, churches, and the northern Mexico cuisine, Monterrey is a grand weekend getaway for a totally different Mexican experience. Monterrey is a modern industrial city and business is booming, people are prosperous--everybody seems happy and busy. Streets are bustling, restaurants jammed, museums welcoming a myriad number of visitors.

Monterrey's centerpiece is its Gran Plaza, one of the largest squares (100 acres) in the world. Landscaped to a "T," it's punctuated with fountains and statues. Most outstanding is the magnificent Fuente de La Vida, celebrating El Agua, the waters of life, with a triumphant Neptune figure driving his horses through the spray, surrounded by joyous water nymphs. Striking amid the greenery is a slender, tall and bright orange concrete slab. It supports Faro del Comercio, "Trade Beacon," a green laser beam circling around the city every night.

On the southeast corner of the plaza is the newest andbrightest museum on the scene, MARCO, (Museum of Contemporary Art) housing the most important permanent collection of contemporary Latin American art.

Next door, facing the plaza is the Metropolitan Cathedral, one of Mexico's marvelous baroque churches, begun in 1600 and completed 150 years later. It has a beautifully carved facade and a Catalonian bell tower, added in 1851. Along the Gran Plaza on the south is the modern City Hall, with an exposition area on the ground floor and an imposing statue, the figure of Mexican hero General Zaragoza on horseback saluting the plaza.

At the opposite end, the imposing Palacio del Gobierno is especially impressive when its Corinthian columns are lit up at night.

Tearing yourself away from the pleasant walks and restful benches of the plaza is hard but worth it to visit the Alfa Cultural Center, a striking museum which appears, from the outside, remarkably like a huge tin can wedged into the earth. Surrounded by landscaped gardens, the museum, considered by many to be the best museum of science and technology in the country, has hands-on exhibits, a planetarium with a giant IMAX theater, and a replica of a huge Olmec head in the garden. The Planetarium, Science, Art and Technology Museum, located on the grounds of the Alfa Cultural Center, has several exhibit halls, cafeteria, gift shop and a film projection theater with an Omnimax system.

Another place of interest is the Obispado, the Bishop's Palace, built for retiring bishops. But thanks to its position high in the hills overlooking the city, it saw service in the Mexican-American War, the French Intervention (when Napoleon III tried to keep Hapsburg prince Maximilian on the Mexican throne) and the Mexican Revolution of 1915. Monterrey has several glass factories, the largest of which, KRISTALUXUS, offers tours. Tours run Monday to Friday, but the showrooms are open weekends, and prices are discounted there. There's shopping, too, at the colorful Sunday market at Parque Mariano Escobedo on Washington and Pino Suarez Streets.

There's always shopping at the pedestrian mall of Avenida Morelos between Juarez and the Gran Plaza. (Be sure to try the popular local strolling treat, "churro relenos," a long crunchy tube of batter filled with either chocolate or caramel syrup).

There are restaurants and hotels for every pocketbook. You'll want to try the northern Mexican dining specialties of carne asada and cabrito. For casual meals, Sanborns (920 Escobedo Sur) is always popular, as is the coffee shop VIPS on Hidalgo across the street from three very popular hotels, the Gran Ancira, the Ambassador, and the more modest Hotel Royalty; another fine hotel is Hotel Rio DoubleTree on Padre Mier y Garibaldi.

IF YOU GO:

BY AIR: AEROMEXICO (1-800-237-6639) has flights to Monterrey from Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles and San Antonio.

WHERE TO STAY: Gran Ancira, Hidalgo at Escobedo, tel. 83/45-10-60 or 1-800-327-0200. Ambassador, Hidalgo at Emilio Carranza, tel. 83/44-93-00 or 1-800-228-3000. Hotel Royalty, Hidalgo Ote. 402, tel. 83/40-98-00. Hotel Rio DoubleTree, Padre Mier and Garibaldi, USA: 1-800-432-2520.