Today we left the hotel around 9:30, almost without our passports and cash which I conveniently forgot was still in the safe in our room. Luckily I remembered just before we pulled out of the Hotel driveway.
Our move today takes us north-northwest of Mexico City, out of the Federal Territory of Mexico City, through Mexico State and Queretaro State and into Guanajuato State. It’s good to get away from the big smoke (and all the smog of the city). The highways are toll roads, and I guess we have paid about 4 or 5 tolls to get to San Miguel.
As we have moved around I have noticed that there is a huge effort put into security everywhere you go. It is not unusual to see police/private guards carrying machine guns, and they are everywhere from hotels to local streets , shops and highways.
The drive north was uninspiring, mainly rolling farmland either side of the highway, with kms of dry stone walls and cactus. The smog continued for about 200km before it started to breakup. We seem to be still in a valley, with hills all around us and the elevation is around 1900m above sea level. The main agricultural industries up here are Cattle, dairy, chickens and wine. (apparently they make good wine up here)
After we got into our room, which is very Olde Worlde and has its own rooftop terrace via a spiral staircase, I took a walk around the nearby streets. It is amazing here. The colours of reds, oranges, browns and yellows adorn all the buildings, the streets are all cobble stones and VERY narrow, designed for horses, mules and donkeys rather than cars. The main square is being blocked off for the nights festivities, we can’t wait to see what that holds for us.
We had lunch at our hotel, Deb had a soup, Chicken Pozole. White Pozole and Chicken Soup – Deb absolutely loved it, so much so she started looking for a recipe before she had finished it!! (We have changed our restaurant booking for the next two nights so Deb can try the Red Pozole at an establishment called “The Restaurant” a favourite of the locals.) I had Tortillas and when the waiter brought out the non-spicy salsa for it so I asked for something hot. The chef who just happened to be walking by at the time asked if I’d like some roasted chilli to try, of course I said yes! Silly question. LOL In no time I had a bowl with 4 green chillies that had been slightly charred and then had a black sauce dressing put on them. I tried one straight up, cut about 10mm off the end and straight in my mouth. Mmmmm Just a tad below my tolerance, no brow sweat or hiccups! So I deseeded the rest of it and had it with my hot salsa and Tortillas. Beautiful, the Mexicans know how to get the flavour of chilli into your food. I had 2 of the 4 chillies, and that was enough 🙂
We were picked up at 3pm for a visit to a small church out in the countryside that we were told had beautiful ceiling paintings that were done in the 1750’s. It has been dubbed the “Sistine Chapel of Mexico.” The mural was the work of Antonio Martinez de Pocasangre and took him about 30 years to complete. The works, described as Mexican Baroque are in the main naive and all the chapels of the church.
The church itself is small, with deep rich wooden floors and a whitewash external finish. Each Chapel is very different from each other. Our guide got us into a locked Chapel, it was so peaceful inside. The Chapel was dedicated to the life of Christ, from birth to the cross. There were no candles to be lit, but we took a bit of quiet time to pause and reflect.
After a bit of a break back at our room we went for a walk around town before dinner. We had seen a market on earlier so we walked there. A bit disappointing really, a lot of souvenir stalls and then some plant stalls, which Deb enjoyed. We then saw a couple of churches we had been shown earlier, and had a look in both of them. In one, there were a couple of people sitting sketching the statues in the church, one of them was very good, the other OK.
For dinner we went to what had been described to us an authentic Mexican Restaurant with great food, Cantina De Los Milagros. We aren’t convinced it was authentic, but it was great food and they had a 5 piece band playing. We shared a Mixed Molajetes (A volcanic rock bowl with a broth and an assortment of meats, vegetable and haloumi cheese in it), so delicious ($15.00 for us both). The band was Media Luna, and they were so good. 3 guys on guitar, 1 on drums and another on bongos. When they played contemporary Latin/Mexican music they were brilliant, think Carlos Santana with a touch more Mexican. They played for 1 hr 40 mins straight before a break. Great night out, we both wished there was something similar in Adelaide, but no band at home plays for 100mins without a break, and the guitar work was like nothing I have seen before.
We finished the night with a walk to the main city square and called into the main church for a look. We hadn’t been seated long when a service started, so we left and walked back to the hotel. It feels very safe here, no guards with guns everywhere (like Mexico City) and everyone just enjoying themselves. Not long after we left the church, fireworks started going off with very loud bangs. We made it up to our rooftop terrace to watch the sunset and the fireworks. We all but missed the sunset and the fireworks, Deb described them as all bang, but they did have a whizz of colour as they made it up into the sky and exploded. 🙂
A couple of things about this town.
It was established by a Francis can Friar in 1542, who came here to set up a mission. The area became very rich due to gold and silver, and was soon a bustling commercial hub. It was once called San Miguel el Grande
It has a population of around 700,000 and it is 50/50 Mexicans and Expats who have come here to retire.
Like so many other towns and sites in Mexico, this town too, is on the UNESCO Register.
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Sounds like a great day!
Loving your adventures!!