Durango

Had the name of a hotel called the Reforma which had secure parking so after asking people on the street where it was (Gertie the GPS,a Garmin Zumo 550 touch screen has stopped working so can't be programmed any more) Jill booked in while I went off to the secure parking which was far from secure and about 2 blocks away. Retrieving our money from reception we headed towards the Cathedral and ended up in Hotel Plaza Catedral, which I remembered Chris had stayed in and posted a picture on his blog. We got a back room with no outside window for 250 pesos a night. The hotel is a very old building with lots of character right next to the Cathedral and main square where it seem everything was happening. We had planned to have Christmas in Zacatecas but decided that it would be good to stay here for Christmas and move onto Zacatecas for the new year if we could get a better room as the one at the back of the hotel was very dingy. We had to wait a few hours for things to sort themselves out but ended up in a very nice room with twin double beds and balcony overlooking the Cathedral where Nancy had pride of place in the hall. Durango is a very vibrant city with lots of pleasant colonial architecture, a very crowded and colourful market all dressed up with more Christmas lights than I have every seen before. It has a teleférico that takes you to the top of a hill for views of the city a great park and a vegetarian restaurant that does great burgers. But for the last 2 days Jill has been sick with a cold and spent Christmas eve in bed sounding and looking terrible. I think her fear has taken on a physical manifestation, but she is getting better slowly with the help of some horse pills got from the chemist.