Let me show you how Xalapa has something for everyone.

Xalapa is the place to make lasting friends where you can meet for a delicious cappuccino or Americano at the myriad of cafés and restaurants this city has to offer.

Xalapa is also known as the "Athens of Veracruz" because of it's strong cultural influences of three major universities, a multitude of preparatory and technical schools, institutes, art galleries, folklore groups, outstanding anthropology and science museums, and the world renowned Xalapa Symphony Orchestra.

In the surrounding area, you'll find many interesting villages to visit such as: Coatepec and Xico (lots of coffee and where the movie "Romancing the Stone" was shot); Naolinco, famous for its "standing river" (waterfall!); Las Vigas in the pine covered mountains with delicious "jamón serrano" (smoked ham) and beautiful vistas; and Carrizal with it's thermal baths and white water rafting. There are dozens of other small towns with unique attractions that would take a thick book to tell about.

If you're sports oriented, Xalapa lends itself to mountain biking and hiking, with it's veredas (paths) through the coffee plantations. A 25 kilometer trip I love to take with my collie, Kaiser, is to the town of Pacho Viejo and Pacho Nuevo where my friend, Marisa, has her ex-hacienda, which is like stepping back 100 years in time.

If you're looking for creative pastimes, the Patio Muñoz, almost in front of my studio, offers painting, sculpture, jarana (Mexican small guitar) and jarocho (Veracruz) dance classes. Xalapa has an active artist community, with painters like Fernando Vilchis and his very famous wife, Leticia Tarrago(her brother is a world famous violinist). With the excellent Xalapa Symphony Orchestra, probably one of the best in all the Americas, and the Universidad Veracruzana School of Music, the opportunities for studying a musical instrument are abundant. There are also many private classes for pottery and other crafts.

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