Veracruz

Visiting Mexico now. Went to the Naval history museum here today. there are such a number of invasions documented that it makes you feel a bit sorry for Mexico. The one we are interested in was the 1846 landing by the Americans. Our plan is to follow the route they took to Mexico City. The war, though not remembered much these days, is why New Mexico and California (among other places) are in the USA and not part of Mexico.

There are reminders of that war around here. There is an old church converted to a memorial for Benito Juarez. One of the bronze statues in it was of a man who had been a member of the National Guard in Jalapa (our next stop) and fought as a Medic at the battle of Cerro Gordo (the exact location of which I have not determined). Later this fellow was the Mexican Ambassador to the USA, so no hard feelings I guess.

Actually the Spanish text at the museum discussing the war seemed to be a bit hard on the USA, assigning it more blame than other texts I have read. Santa Anna´s name turns up in a lot of places, but I did not catch any references to his treachery. I suppose everyone wants to think the best of their country, I blogged last year about the almost complete absence of references to the guillotine in the French History museum we visited in Paris.

Dinner time!