. : Monday 7th February 2011….A special day in Mexico!!

Monday, February 07, 2011

Monday 7th February 2011….A special day in Mexico!!

Today is Constitution Day (Dia de la Constitucion) in Mexico.

The federal and state governments shall organize the penal system within their respective jurisdictions on the basis of labor, training and education as a means of social readjustment of the offender.

-from Article 18 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States

On this day in 1917, the Constitutional Congress approved the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, which continues to govern Mexico today. The new constitution addressed concerns of land reform advocated by revolutionary reformists during the Mexican Revolution by promising to restore lands to native Mexicans. The constitution also introduced significant economic and educational reforms.

The Mexican constitution has many similarities to the constitution of the United States, including a separation of church and state, universal free education and the right of citizens to peaceably assemble. Among the significant differences is Article 18, which asserts that the purpose of imprisonment is rehabilitation, while the U.S. generally acknowledges other goals of incarceration, such as deterrence and segregation of the offender from society. Therefore, Mexico will not allow extradition of criminal suspects to countries that permit life sentences, such as the U.S., unless an avoidance of a life sentence can be guaranteed.

To celebrate the constitution, a public holiday is observed in Mexico on this day.

Whilst having my morning tea I heard the familiar sound of an air balloon and took this from the back yard!!!

At 9.30am we went to the RV park to pick up our friends, Terri and Mike and a new friend Jecka and off we went on a road trip about 90 minutes away to the below!!!

The biggest rocky formation of Mexico, la Peña de Bernal, is a 350 m high monolith with governs the landscape in the central region of the state of Querétaro. Its emblematic appearance embodies various stories full of magic and mysticism.

Close to the village of Bernal, in the state of Querétaro, stands the biggest singular rock of Mexico, a gigantic monolith that reaches the height of 350 m and which can be clearly distinguished from far away.

This monolith forms an essential part of the picturesque landscape surrounding the village of Bernal, catalogued as one of the Magical Villages, and has been used as a scenery for various movies. The friendly and hospitable inhabitants of this place, who tend to stay in good health and reach an extremely old age, claim to have seen unidentified flying objects -UFOs- flying about above the rock.

As time has passed, la Peña de Bernal has turned into a meeting place for those who believe in its energetic virtues. Every 21^st of March, during the spring-time equinox, hundreds of people gather in its vicinity in order to "charge themselves with energy" and thus renew their strength.

During the past years la Peña de Bernal has also gained fame among many sportsmen and –women, who have started to practice various adventure sports over there, such as trekking, climbing and rappel.

On the way we passed a road side stall selling baskets of strawberries

You get all the strawberries at least 5lbs and the basket for 80 pesos….6 dollars!!

You drive towards Bernal and expecting to see this huge rock when suddenly round the corner it appears!!!

We parked and the 5 of us started to walk towards the base of the rock. I have been here before, last year actually twice, and Sara was looking at my last years blog post of the same visit and too funny but today I am wearing the same shirt!!!