December 14, 2023 – Veracruz, Mexico

Yesterday, while walking to the malecon, passed a guy who asked if I wanted a taxi. I had been trying to find a tour or some way to visit some archeological sites north of Veracruz.

So, asked him if he would drive me to La Antigua in the morning. It’s about 15 miles north.

He said yes and then showed me a selection of tours. One tour was exactly what I had been looking for. So, we hammered out a deal.

Met at 9:30 AM at the same place and set out. About six miles later he said he had to get fuel. “We need gas?”, I asked. “No, fuel for my stomach”, he said in Spanish, of course.

So, we stopped at a roadside stand next to a big gas station, Pemex. We ordered and he paid for my two tacos and Coke. The tacos were good.

Then, we drove north to Quiahuiztlan Archeology site where the Totanac people lived. It was inhabited when Spaniards arrived.

Then, drove to another archeological site, Cempoala. It was here that Cortez made allies with the Totanacs. They weren’t happy being subjects of the Aztecs.

It was also here that Cortez had to fight a Spanish force sent to reel him back to Cuba for disobeying the governor of Cuba who had told Cortez he couldn’t go to Mexico.

Cortez won the battle and returned to the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, where he defeated the Aztecs with help from smallpox carried by some Spanish soldiers. Biological warfare at its finest.

After that site, drove south to La Antigua where Cortez’s first house is still partially standing with great help from supporting tree roots.

There is a lot of doubt that this is Cortez’s house. It was probably a customs house. Still, it was built in the early 1500s making it one of the first structures built by Europeans in the Americas.

The first church in the Americas is also here in a greatly restored state.

Okay, enough history. Go have dinner. I suggest tacos and a Coke.

PS. I’m not a big fan of Cortez or the conquistadors. They were greedy douchebags. But, their history is here.