Mexico/Veracruz: Veracruz City
Veracruz City is the capital of the state of Veracruz and was one of the first settlements established by the Spanish in the 16th century when they arrived here. The old town has a lot of historical and cultural sights, grand colonial architecture, and a nice pier. But the entire city felt like it is in the depth of a depression, and not COVID-related. Apparently cartel violence in the state has skyrocketed and Veracruz is now the leader in homicide with mutilated corpses popping all around (that’s from the news, we didn’t see any of it). The downtown area felt very dilapidated and frankly uncomfortable to even walk around, homeless and drunks everywhere and a couple clearly high-on-drugs guys tried to prevent us from even leaving from the parking spots. It was the first city in Mexico, where we couldn’t wait to get the hell out.
