TRAVERSE 53
TRAVEL - MEXICO
FRANCESCO CICCARELLO & SERENA BARONCINI
REMAINING EMOTIONS
From the golden Caribbean beaches to the tumultuous waves of the Pacific , crossing the jungle that hides the wonderful treasures left by ancient civilisations . And then the explosion of colours and flavours of traditional festivals in colonial cities where Mexico showed us the continuous union of past and present , tradition and modernity .
If we believe almost all the United States citizens we have met , our route on the American continent should stop there , where someone would like to build a wall . We , who also travel to overcome the barriers that prejudices tend to create were excited and curious to know if and to what extent the world would change beyond the Rio Grande , the river that traces the natural border between the USA and the United States of Mexico .
We left Texas behind , with its ranches and the excesses of the Stars and Stripes , to find ourselves in New Laredo , a town founded by the Mexicans exiled after the conquest of Laredo . We ’ d crossed the international bridge , and everything changed ; instead of rows of villas with gardens and residential neighbourhoods we found ourselves in working-class suburbs where the low pastel-coloured houses and the shops with stalls full of tropical fruit captivated us to the point of making us miss the entrance to the customs offices .
Once we found our way back , we completed the paperwork in a short time and the smile of the employee who greeted us with the first of the ' Bienvenidos ' in Mexico contrasts with the dozens of armed and masked policemen surrounding the border offices .
A straight highway under a scorching sun took us to Monterrey , the third largest city in Mexico and the first in terms of per capita income . To realise this , we dedicated
TRAVERSE 53