From our Photo Files

A waiter, waiting for the lunch rush to begin.  In San Miguel de Allende on the Plaza Jardin.

 A nice lady eating an elote because I asked her to take a bite for my camera.  An elote is corn on the cob, roasted on a grill, salted and buttered and served on a stick. This was in Dolores Hidalgo today.  Dolores Hidalgo is the birthplace of the Mexican War of Independence in 1821, and there are numerous statues of the participants, chief among them, Benito Juarez and Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, fathers of the movement.

Here is the elote stall with the vendors preparing their product.  Pretty simple.

This photo of the newspaper lady in the main plaza in San Miguel de Allende is similar to the one Nancy took just a few minutes before and has posted on Instagram.  Hers is better, better composition and lighting so you can go and compare.  Not to mention she took the photo with a telephone, of all things.  Just think of it.  It also tells time and plays music.  And who reads newspapers anymore, anyway.  Wow.

naahcee

The Suburbs of San Miguel

We've settled in to our beautiful house for the month of July and I thought everyone, especially my family, would appreciate some photos of the place.  First let me reassure those who doubted our plan that going south from Tucson, we could find cooler weather in of all places....Mexico.  Well, the city of Mexico D.F. is known for having a climate of eternal springtime, and San Miguel is no different.  The high temperature has been something like 75F and we've had cool nighttime sleeping weather.  We've had sun, fog and rain, lightning, sideways rain, mostly sun.  But the fact remains, the elevation is around 6300 ft. or 1900 meters, and the air is mostly dry and cool. Our strategy has actually worked and we've left the heat of Tucson behind.  We'll see what the future brings.

So...on to the house.

The house is ivy covered and has a beautiful front door, the whole package worthy of southern France.  The courtyard, one of several, is/are filled with plants, trees flowers of all kinds and there is always a sunny space and a shady one where one can sit and soak up the ambiance.

The roof is another space for sun or shade, and has spaces to dine, do yoga (no, not me),

  and even a small kitchen area.  The cupola lets light into the bedroom below. The nice tree shades the lower courtyard.

I didn't take any pictures of the interior, but I will post some, once the maid comes and cleans up the mess we've made with our belongings, food shopping and general sloth.

But of course, as in a lot of Mexico, the problem lies with the neighborhood.  I always thought little of zoning laws, neighborhood covenants, but I never ignored the benefits of an established neighborhood.  Out here in the suburbs of San Miguel, it is an empty canvas.  The road is unpaved and eroded, the neighbors haven't yet finished their dream homes, construction material and trash lies about. Well, it needs work, but in the meantime, we're loving our situation and the weather.  Tomorrow we head into beautiful San Miguel for some culture, coffee, lunch, and a cold beer.

Catedral Basilica de Zacatecas

Other than the aqueduct, the Cathedral is the most popular tourist visitor attraction in Zacatecas.  We visited on a Sunday morning so it was not an opportune time to walk around inside and take photographs among the parishioners.  And it's hard to get far enough away from the cathedral for a camera lens to capture the entire building, the width, height and majesty.  So I apologize for this photograph.  But in any case, it's beautiful.

You can read about on Wikipedia and learn about the texture on the façade and when it was built.  One of these days, I will do the same.

The columns give you some idea of the rest of the façade, but basically it's very intricate hand carved stone.

I found it interesting that the hands on most of the human figures have been removed, on purpose or vandalized, who knows.  Perhaps the hands were removed to facilitate the installation of chicken wire to prevent pigeons leaving their gracious gifts.  I hope the hands are safe and stored somewhere in the cathedral.

The major doors are very impressive, and large.  But I found this small service door to be charming even though, or because, it's beginning to weather and deteriorate at the lower end.  Apparently, judging by the holes in the stone, there was some sort of decoration or weather protection that has been removed.

Zacatecas, once you leave the outskirts of the historical center, gives you the feeling of being in Spain during the colonial era.  All the signs are hand painted on the front of the buildings.  The electrical wires are pretty well hidden and the only clues that you are indeed in Mexico, is that the cars are mostly American.  By the way, feel free to include corrections of spelling, facts, poor writing or any mistakes whatsoever in the comments.  I am writing this from the comfort of our comfortable and delightful place in San Miguel de Allende, about which you will see here soon.  Adios till next time.

Zacatecas - Fifty Years Later

On a high school trip, fifty years or so ago, we went through Zacatecas, and I can't remember whether it was day or night. We were dazed from the miles and lack of sleep and sheer overwhelming new information to process.   What I do remember is an aqueduct built by the Spaniards in the colonial era to supply water to the mining town of Zacatecas.  As an un-traveled kid from Denver, it was the oldest man-made object I had ever seen.  Yesterday, while roaming around the old town of the old silver ciy, there it was once again. And while it hadn't changed, my perspective certainly has.   I've seen Roman aqueducts and cave paintings from 13,000 years ago.  But it was impressive still.

Fifty years later it no longer had houses built between the stone supports.  The bull ring next door is gone and turned into luxury lodging.  But the majestic feat of building the aqueduct remains in a 70 yard stretch.  And the daily traffic of the city flows underneath it.  Look at the detail in the stonework.

Fifty years is a long time between visits and Zacatecas has changed in many ways.  One thing is unchanged; the people were wonderful, and the accommodations were glorious.  Nancy and I have never had a pleasant moment in Mazatlán in three or four visits, but Zacatecas never lets us down.  Another thing has endured.  No one speaks English, telling me that the place is undiscovered by the neighbors to the north.  And it is a mystery why not.  No beaches, I suppose. Our hotel was from the Spanish colonial days, Hostel del Vasco.  Our room was a converted garage, we think.  It had doors that opened to the street, and Zacatecas being at 8000 feet, it was cool, so we did not try to open them, but we could have.  And the purpose our travels was to escape the heat of Tucson, so we were happy.

This young fellow was guarding the door to some place on the main drag.  He was across the street from the marvelous cathedral, but I don't know why the 1930'Mussolini getup.  But he was friendly, unlike most dictators.  Just a few steps away was this lady in another incredible costume.  She was selling things I didn't need, but I was interested in her lovely face.

 Next time, some photos of the beautiful city of Zacatecas.  I hope it's not another fifty years before my next visit.

On the Road Again - Zacatecas

Mexican Highway 40 has been totally rebuilt complete with many bridges, guardrails, tunnels and tollbooths.  It crosses the Sierra Madre and offers extraordinary views.  The old highway over the mountains was a twisty, curvy nightmare with large truck-trailer combos too long to make the tight curves, threatening the lives of everyone coming the other way.  I had driven it more than once eastward, from Mazatlán to Durango and  been a passenger going westward one time.  Each time was frightening; steep hills, tight curves, large potholes, no shoulders, no fog lines, no lane demarcations.  Every bad thing you can imagine about a road, it had them, even banditos, apparently.  And not one regulation gas station.  I say regulation, because there were pirates selling supplies out of jerry cans in places and we partook once,  I ran out of gas in Mexico, in the desolate northern desert, long ago when it was easy to do.  Now you can pass a Pemex and not curse yourself.

The new highway is an engineering marvel.  However, it is only five or six years old and already deteriorating, badly.  Lots of ongoing reconstruction here and there.

In any case, we made it to Zacatecas and have a day to poke around before heading for San Miguel de Allende.  More soon.