We love Querétaro in Mexico. First of all, it’s fun to say. Then there’s the history, the chic shops, the even-chicer refugees from Mexico City and the wine ice. So it was with particular pleasure that we quite literally stumbled upon a lovely B&B in downtown Queretaro called Casa del Atrio. It wasn’t even quite open when the proud owners showed us around but even then it was clear that this was/is a special place to stay in a special city to visit.

For a tiny town, Bernal–less than an hour from Querétaro–has a lot going for it, including Peña de Bernal (Bernal’s Boulder or Bernal Peak) which is, according to some estimates, the second largest monolith in the world after Mt. Augustus in Western Australia. At 350 meters (1150 ft) tall it’s also the fourth tallest (or third tallest, again, depending on who you ask) monolith in the world after Mount Augustus, the Rock of Gilbraltar and Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio.

As you can imagine, a pedigree like that attracts a lot of rock climbers. The rest of the scant visitors to Bernal come for the town’s own unique brand of peace and quiet.

Peña de Bernal, seen from the porch of our room at the Parador Vernal, is one of the largest monoliths in the world.

Bernal was designated a Pueblo Magico by the Mexican government in 2005 so it delivers a pleasantly stuck-in-time look and feel with simple buildings, festive colors and a central square dominated by a lively church. Old men sit around and do what old men do while younger men gallop down the cobbled streets. Every once in a while a woman pokes her head out of the shop or restaurant she’s running. It is altogether nap inspiring.

While in Bernal we stayed at the Parador Vernal about a 10 minute walk above town itself. The hotel’s mediocre and poorly translated web site doesn’t do its quirks and charms justice. The lobby is largely populated by big colorful birds in even bigger ornate cages. Our room, #8, had one wall that was painted entirely electric green and featured a huge loosely looped wool area rug that felt like walking on a sheep. The bed was comfortable and the view of Peña de Bernal couldn’t be beat. Some of the hotel’s other rooms (there are 13 in total), however, seemed a bit small and dark so ask for room 7 or 8 if you plan to stay the night. Or just pop up for a bite or a drink in the dining room or outdoor bar with an unobstructed view of the monolith.

Peña de Bernal rises above the tiny town of Bernal.

A wedding at the church of St. Sebastian in Bernal.

Throughout Mexico it seems like we rarely see beer on tap, so we were surprised and delighted when we walked past a pretty cafe with outdoor seating and cerveza de baril on the menu. And that’s not the only beverage surprise the area had in store for us…

Peña de Bernal features a hypnotic light show every Saturday that goes on for more than an hour.

If you don't have a horse you can flag down the Asian-style tuk-tuk that plies the streets of Bernal.

About 30 minutes from Bernal in the town of Ezequiel Montes is the Cavas Freixenet winery complete with tours and wine sales and a kind of manic crowd on weekends that seems intent on downing as much of their newly purchased wine and sparkling wine right then and there at tables and chairs set up in an open-air courtyard.

We missed the last tour of the day so we just wandered around trying not to get between the Mexican couples and families and their wine. Weirdly, there wasn’t a single black bottle of too-sweet Cordon Negro sparkling wine that we associate with the Freixenet brand in the U.S. In fact, none of the wine for sale even had Freixenet on the label–the sparkling wine was called Petillant and turned out to be just as sweet as Cordon Negro.

There's more to drink in Mexico than just cerveza and tequila.

Near the tail end (get it) of the whole hysterical and (in our opinion) unfounded swine flu mess in Mexico where it all began, we found ourselves walking down Calle 5 de Mayo in Queretaro. As we passed an ultra-hip clothing store the window display caught our eye. There, next to dangerously low-riding jeans and pricey canvas handbags, was a t-shirt with an adorable pig on the front (shades of Charolette’s Web) captioned with the words “el cerdo es innocente,” the pig is innocent.

We balked at the roughly $15 price tag, then we saw the model number:

Virus H1N1.

Priceless.

The Pig Is Innocent! Eric's new favorite t-shirt shot in front of the main cathedral in Zacatecas from the balcony of awesome room 404 at the Santa Rita Hotel.