The downtown area has a handful of nice, smaller galleries, but the real gems to a museumgoer are the Museo del Desierto (Museum of the Desert) and the Museo del Aves (Bird Museum)--both are fascinating yet inexpensive excursions.

Stroll through the gardens of Parque Alameda Zaragoza, with its wonderful topiary and towering cedars.

Famous for its tiles and colorful weavings, no visit is complete without stopping at the tile factory and the serape factory. Serapes are so much a part of the local heritage that their makers have the local Mexican League baseball team named after them (the Saltillo Seraperos)--games are played from April to early September.

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The indoor pool is nice, but it's a bit odd that the exercise room, consisting of treadmills and exercise cycles, lines one side of the pool deck.

One very nice hotel feature was the outdoor children's playground. I seldom see hotels with playgrounds and was pleasantly surprised at the family-friendliness of this concept.

As a member of the Six Continents Priority Club, the hotel also offerred me a complimentary breakfast in their very pleasant and traditional restaurant. (Every frequent traveler should join Priority Club; it's free and gets you some nice perks from time to time.)

It's a great location for tourists as the TranVia trolley stops right outside the hotel. It's also right on the main highway, so you can easily drive to Saltillo, park the car safely in the guarded parking lot, and use the TranVia to get around town.

You walk into a restored 17th-century courtyard home with a burbling fountain in an open central patio and intimate dining rooms in the surrounding chambers. White-linen tablecloths, dim lighting, and rustic stone walls complete the feeling of intimacy and history.

This restaurant serves the best tortilla soup I have ever tasted; it''s very rich and robust and topped with melted cheese.

Prices are a bit high, but the quality and service justify the cost.

The cathedral is one of northern Mexico's best examples of the fabulously ornate churrigueresque architectural style that was favored in the Spanish colonial era. Construction started in 1745, but it would be almost 5 decades before the church was completed.

Saltillo's cathedral is, like many of the world's great churches, a place that is spiritual and functional, but also one of the region's richest treasure troves of cultural and artistic expression. Every facet, every surface, every nook and cranny of this enormous cathedral is filled with beauty and color and gold and utter extravagance. The huge doors are almost 6 inches thick and they were all hand-carved in the 17th century from a milieau of different woods, including cedar and mahogany. The carvings depict saints Peter and Paul. The archdiocese paid $45 for these doors some 250 years ago.

The side alcoves are exquisite, with ceiling frescoes in one chapel celebrating the Holy Family, while the other chapel commemorates the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Both altars are built with engraved silver front panels easily worth a good-sized fortune. The dome over the main altar features an elaborate choir of angels surrounded by martyrs and the great saints. The paintings along the cathedral's walls were done by Jose de Alcibar--a famous painter of the viceregal period.

While I was strolling around the cathedral, taking photos of the magnificent building, a stranger came up to me and introduced himself as Salvador Medina. Señor Medina asked if I would like to go up into the bell towers and walk on the roof of the cathedral. I jumped at the chance, and was treated to a behind-the-scenes tour that I never imagined being able to see!

We walked up a narrow spiral staircase of the tallest bell tower. The lowest chamber of the bell tower is at roof level, and you can walk out onto the roof and get a fabulous view of the hustle and bustle taking place in the Plaza de Armas across the street. The upper chambers of the tower offer what is unquestionably the best panorama of Saltillo available anywhere, since the bell tower is the highest structure in the city.

This is a big museum with several galleries (called "pavilions") focusing on different aspects of the desert. I loved seeing all the different kinds of wildlife that make their home in the desert, including jaguars and about a gazillion kinds of snakes and lizards. Some galleries show fossils found in the desert, while others show how mineral riches under the surface make attractive places for a certain breed of entrepreneur.

I thought this was a wonderful museum that focuses on a part of the ecosystem that a lot of us (well, at least me) think of as lifeless and boring. The desert actually has quite a large range of plant and animal life, plus enormous riches and clues to earth's past lying just under that sandy surface. It's a fascinating place!