Orizaba is a Pueblo Magico southeast of Mexico City.
Visiting Orizaba was the highlight of our journey. Orizaba is southeast of Mexico City and is a designated Pueblo Mágico in the state of Veracruz. The city boasts a tram, a river walk alongside a river-flanking zoo, a planetarium, a Palacio de Hierro (Iron Palace) designed by Eiffel, the architect who designed the Eiffel Tower, good food (which to me is seafood), friendly people, lovely vistas of hills in all sides, fresh air, lots of green plants everywhere, graceful arches and ancient walls that have weathered for hundreds of years, and a botanical garden with tropical plants and various species of orchids, many of which are native to the area.
The city park, with beautiful trees, flanks one of the main streets
Walking to our Airbnb from the Palacio de Hierro we passed the park above. The variety and lushness of the foliage amazed me. We walked into the park, then through it, we admired the plants while children played nearby and families and couples strolled past.
The zoo in Orizaba flanks the river.
The river that runs through Orizaba is flanked by a zoo that extends along the sides of the river. The weathered arches from bygone days create animal enclosures by the clever use of chain link fencing across the face of each arch. There are jaguars, parrots, and other animals, most indigenous to the area.
There is a Planetarium in Orizaba
We went to the Planetarium, but it wasn’t open when we were there and it wasn’t clear to us when the next planetarium viewing would be. But it was worth the attempt, anyway, as the planetarium dome and its surroundings are picturesque. In the same complex as the planetarium there is Disneyesque medieval castle which, when we were there, seemed to be the destination for young people, perhaps a school field trip.
