Monterrey

Monterrey sits in a ring of mountains, and one of them, cut into the shape of a saddle, shows up at the end of almost every street. The Sierra Madre begins at the city limits: Chipinque Ecological Park climbs into pine forest minutes from the office towers. The grey walls of La Huasteca open into a canyon that draws climbers from all over the world. Further out, Cumbres de Monterrey National Park hides a waterfall dropping twenty-five metres into the green, and the Bustamante Caves run underground through chambers of limestone. In town, Macroplaza spreads out as one of the largest civic squares anywhere, while the old ironworks of Fundidora Park have become a huge park where people cycle between the blast furnaces. Kid goat roasted on a spit is the local dish, served with wheat tortillas and beer from a city that has brewed it for over a century.