• Capilla de las Animas Capilla de las Animas
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• Organpipe cactus as a bridge rail Organpipe cactus as a bridge rail
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• Capilla de las Animas Capilla de las Animas
• On the main plaza On the main plaza
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We arrived in Bernal after a one hour bus ride from Querétaro.  "La Peña de Bernal" -- the "big rock" of Bernal is the full name. Actually the name Bernal itself means big isolated rock -- in Arabic. Maybe the Spaniards in the 16th century were fluent in Arabic, and maybe they liked the specificity of that Arabic term. Anyway, Bernal is certainly dominated by the Peña. Tourist information says it is the 2nd biggest rock in the world, after Ayer's Rock in Australia – that's in terms of mass. In terms of height it is is also exceeded by Sugarloaf in Rio de Janeiro and Gibraltar. Seen in these photos from the town itself (perhaps ¾ of a mile away), the Peña is indeed imposing. It is possible (though we did not do it) to “hike” about halfway to the top. From there on up is technical rock-climbing territory. Despite that, locals carry a big cross up to the top once a year (!!) – it is visible in some of these photos.

• On the main plaza On the main plaza
• Inside a fabric artesania shop Inside a fabric artesania shop
• Gorditas shop Gorditas shop
• Fabric artesania Fabric artesania
• Baratillo next to the plaza Baratillo next to the plaza
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For us, at least as attractive as the Peña is the charming town itself. Bright colors, friendly people, terrific fabric arts, delicious sweets. And perhaps best of all, fabulous gorditas. We first discovered gorditas years ago in Zacatecas (a couple of hundred miles northwest of here). There are lots of gorditas shops in Querétaro but the gorditas in those we've tried are disappointing. A gordita is a thick (“fat”) tortilla, sliced to form a pocket (like a pita), and filled with combinations of veggies, sauces, meat, cheese, nopales, etc. Except: in Querétaro the only fillings are cheese, nopales, and “migajas” (scraps of beef). But Ahhh!!, in Bernal, they are made with blue corn, and the filling choices are many. We thoroughly enjoyed our Bernal gorditas!

• Capilla de las Animas Capilla de las Animas
• Iglesia de San Sebastian Iglesia de San Sebastian
• Baratillo next to the plaza Baratillo next to the plaza
• On the main plaza On the main plaza
• Restaurant with tile facade Restaurant with tile facade
• Interior of the Iglesia San Sebastian Interior of the Iglesia San Sebastian
• Iglesia San Sebastian and plaza Iglesia San Sebastian and plaza
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We also enjoyed the sweets – regional specialties. But even more, we enjoyed … and bought … some lovely clothes. Lois bought a beautiful long sweater, and Don bought a “natural” (unbleached) cotton shirt. All for extremely reasonable prices, considering the uniqueness of the designs and the excellent quality. We were there on a Friday mid-day, so the place was very quiet. The "Baratillo" (enclosed market) was completely empty. Since almost all tourists in Bernal are Mexicans, the weekends are the busy time. Fortunately all the shops were open and we enjoyed the friendly relaxed atmosphere.

Bernal is a highlight of our Querétaro visit.

Check out Al Stevens' excellent description of Bernal.

Update: Last Friday (February 6) we visited Bernal again, via rental car, with Doris and Lee. Again it was a beautiful day in a charming place. There was even more repair going on in the central plaza, although the workers had completed the refurbishing of the big cross in front of the church. We enjoyed strolling around and visiting the great shops, amidst a vanishingly small collection of other visitors.

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