March 7, 2010
Hola again, Everyone...
Tomorrow, we will begin the countdown on our last week in Guanajauto. So much has happened since I last wrote; the day after our ladies left.
That Monday, I started my second week of Spanish lessons at Escuela Mexicana, but due to some mix-up, I was placed in two intermediate grammar classes. As I listened to our teacher, Esme, talking about past tense and flexile Spanish verbs, I panicked and wanted to run screaming from the classroom! But, probably due to my French language experience, I realized that I understood at least the gist of what she was taking about and I decided to stick with it. I managed to make it through the whole week, but made sure that I asked for BEGINNING grammar classes in the following week.
I certainly like group classes better than the private ("privada") as you find yourself learning from the others and sharing laughter over everyone`s mistakes. Plus, you, of course, meet more people and participate more in the life of the school.
This is the way I found out about a locally famous hike up to the top of "La Buffa". "La Buffa" is a landmark peak in the skyline high the city of Guanajuato. We can actually see it from our house, but I didn`t realise that people could easily get up there. David and I found out the details and one afternoon, we decided to at least start the climb and do some birdwatching along the way.
We found the trail to be pretty easy...a slow uphill which took us higher and higher above the city...with increasingly gorgeous views of the mountains and the bowl containing the the city below. As this country is very arid, there were many kinds of cacti, some really enormous, mesquite and all kinds of thorny locusts. We had been warned about snakes, but luckily, didn`t see any.
At about the two mile point, we came upon the most amazing sight. In a huge cavern that reached far back into the rock, there was kind of a church! We were absolutely amazed to find it in such a remote place. In the center of the cavern there was a religious statue...St Francis?...and little altars with flowers and religious pictures. On the outside of the "church", (really, almost a cathedral) there was also ample evidence of donkeys...footprints and you-know-what, so we surmised that people came up by that mode of transportation too.
This is just one example of one of the things we love about this place...the total serendipity of life here. Today, as we went past the little tienda (store) near our house, we happened upon a man furiously making ice cream. He was using a wooden paddle in a big bucket set in an even bigger bucket filled with ice. He offered us a taste, strawberry, so we ended up buying a pint of the delicious concoction.
Another example: one day as we were passing the main church, Our Lady of Guanajuato, in the main square, we noticed a group of tiny girls dressed in the fanciest gowns imaginable...all frills and hoop skirts, with tiny tiaras set on their heads. Some were even wearing tiny white "mink" stoles. All of them were surrounded by their loving and doting families. Of course, I got very busy with my camera after asking for the families` permission to take photographs. As if all this wasn`t photogenic enough, suddenly, an even tinier girl appeared in a pink robe and a green cloak covered in gold stars. All I could guess was that she was supposed to represent the Virgin Mary. She posed for all the photographers with praying hands, and my pictures of her are among the most beautiful pictures I have taken on this trip.
We stayed and watched until all the tiny ones and family entered the church, saying to ourselves that we will have to find out what it was all about.
One final note...as we walked away from the church, a mother ran past us, carrying a little boy in her arms who seemed to be dressed as The Pope! NOW, we really have to find out what was going on!
Well, on to last weekend and David`s adventure at the Leon car rally...I hope I can do it justice. Those who know David, will know that David is mad about cars, soccer and motorcycles, so the opportunity to go to a car rally in Mexico was a Big Thing for him. Ditto for our friend Corvus, who kindly offered to take David with him last Saturday.
Actually the whole rally thing started last Thursday night, here in Guanajuato. First there were fireworks over the city and when David and I arrived in the main Jardin plaza, the crowds were just amazing. The rally cars were coming through, greeted by the screams of girls and women (perhaps some men were screaming too?).
It seems that these drivers are like rock stars down here. I managed to push forward to the barricades to get some good pictures, but just then the crowds pushed forward too, and David and I were separated. Luckily, and unusually for us, we had set up a meeting spot if this happened. Then we had the great task of finding Corvus, Violet and Milo...seemingly an impossibility in the chaos. But luckily, great minds think alike and we found the little family sitting together in another totally deserted square...the place where we all had breakfast together at the beginning of out trip.
On to Saturday....
Corvus came by at 6:30 AM (!) and joined by a German friend, the hombres taxi-bus-bigger bussed to the race site near Leon. There they joined the crowds of thousands, mainly Mexican men, who had camped out and had built little cooking fires all over the fields surrounding the course. There was muchas drinking of cervezas and lots of passed out men lying all over the place. Certainly a different view of Mexico than we have seen in the more "sedate" city of Guanajuato.
Still, the race was an incredibly exciting event for David. The guys got to see cars racing and sliding all over the place in massive clouds of dust. David showed me some of the pictures online and, really, the dust was so thick that it looked like the crowds were being hit by tidal waves of flying dirt.
The guys came back after dark, of course grimy as all get-out, but the verdict was that they had had a fun and exciting time. There is a website on the rally for those who would like to check it out, www.rallymexico.com It is all in Spanish, but the pictures are interesting.
Well, that`s enough for this installment, but get ready for the next "e", where I will tell the tale of our Mexican adventures, starring as ourselves in an episode of "House Hunters International". Yes, we have been looking at real estate down here! Seriously? Not really, but it`s been fun to see what`s available and at what prices...
To be continued....
Adios.
Los Exploradores
PS We watched the Academy Awards...all dubbed in Espanol, much better that way!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Visit of the Senoras
March 2010
Hola again from Guanajuato....
Whoa, we are halfway through another week, so I really need to report on our great previous semana with our visitors from Washington.
Our ladies, amigas Megan and Parvin, arrived at midnight on Saturday the 13th (or was that Domingo?). Of course we had to chat for a while, but we had a nice lie in the next morning.
Then it was down to the city via the old Ruta de Tecolote, the road that we have been accustomed to taking into town. This is a charming, picturesque cobblestone road which was used by El Pipla and his men when they charged into town to route the Spaish from their stronghold in 1810.
On the walk down, Megan and Parvin were oohing and ahhing at the view of the Tiempos, (churches) and all the colorful casas climbing up the sides of the hills of the city.
We had a walk around and our Lopez friends, Corvus, Violet and Milo, plus our visiting Lopez neighbors, Jan and Neil, caught us in the "Catrina" candy store. Catrina is a Day of the Dead character who shows her face all over the city...including on the candy bars!
After and nice chat with our Lopezians, we breakfast/lunched in the Jardin de la Union in an outdoor cafe. Breakfast is served until early afternoon here, so that`s what we had. As we ate we were passed by crowds of Mexicans, young and old, who use the Jardin de Union for their Sunday promenading. We could tell that our friends were as instantly taken with this lovely city as we have been.
Then on that Sunday night, Parvin, Megan and I, and Victoria, our neighbor at Las Casa`s Blancas, went back down to the city to participate in the Callejoneada. This is a weekend ramble though the city, hosted by the students of the University. The students dress up in Renaissance troubadour fashion and stroll with the crowd thru alleys and up and down the stairs, all the while singing and telling jokes to a delighted crowd.
Their singing was so beautiful and the settings unforgettable. At one plaza, the ladies stood on one side,, some on a balcony, with the men down below. The troubadours were singing a love song as "helpful" flower sellers circulated through the crowd. The ladies ended up with lots of roses, and to our surprise, started giving their roses to us!
At another stop, the singers asked for ladies from the crowd to come down and do kind of line dance. Parvin and our neighbor, Victoria, rushed forward and Megan and I watched as the ladies all kicked and danced and squatted and waved their arms like chickens, according to the instructions of the troubadours!
Then the men were pulled out of the crowd, and they formed a kicking Rockette line. Afterwards, each man had to do his own little do little dance on his own, with the crowd cheering each one on.
For the final stop, we ended up at the Callejon de Beso, the "Alley of the Kiss", where everyone, except us of course, sang a lovely, obviously well-known song together. Then, one by one,, each of us entered the Kiss Alley...only shoulder width wide...with long pauses for couples who shared looong kisses.
An absolutely unforgettable night. Megan and Parvin, understandably, wondered whatever could we do to top that evening!?
On Monday, after lunching in town, I sent the ladies off on a tour with Augustine, our friendly bilingual tour guide for the same tour of the area that David and I had done the week before.
Tuesday morning, we all taxied to the Mega grocery store to buy groceries. Not too exciting you say? Well, imagine shopping in a store with everything in a totally different language and totally different packaging. Megan started out by looking at a package of "dried strawberries", which actually turned out to be fertilizer. The big containers of hot sauce, seemed at first, to (perhaps) be motor oil and the juice selection included Tamarindo, Hibiscus and mango. Really quite an adventure.
That evening, we had dinner at a restaurant high above the city (about 75 steps...sorry Megan!) where our table faced an open window looking out over the night lit churches and squares. We were all quite taken with the hand painted tables and chairs, which featured Day of the Dead, Catrinas, or fruits and vegs or suns and moons. Really quite lovely.
On Wednesday, we had arranged for Augustine to pick us up at our Casa and take us to San Miguel Allende and points in between...a day trip. Despite the rain, we had a great day. Augustine also brought a lady with him, Alicia, and we Megan later confirmed that she was Augustine`s girlfriend. We were happy for him as that meant that he has more to his life than driving Gringos around!
Our first stop that day, was at a pottery place, Santa Rosa. We were almost transfixed by the beauty of the whole process...which we saw from forming the clay to the painting of the pieces. We then went into the showroom (of course) and all of us bought at least a few pieces and arranged for them to be shipped home.
We had a great shock, though, when some VERY LOUD and obnoxious USAers, arrived and started making a huge pile of pottery destined for their FOUR CONDOS IN CABO!!!!!!! We were quiet, like little mice, as they kept almost throwing items on their ever growing pile. We even suspect that they toke a plate that Megan had picked out, from our little assemblage of choices. Yikes....we were glad to see the back of them, as the English say!
Our next stop was the church at Totonlico, a church which features amazing murals that were painted by an unknown Indian artist. The shops out in front all "featured" crowns of thorns (real) and flagellating ropes of various sizes, so we knew serious stuff went on there. Perhaps "no comment" would be the best thing to say here. Still, after David and I read about the history and meaning of this church for the Mexican people, we realized we will have to try to go back for another longer visit.
San Miguel Allende was a bit of a disappointment due to the rain and the total onslaught of USAers (I am not saying "Americans", since we are all either North, Central or South Americans). I mean, we like our fellow countrymen/women ok, but we enjoy the Mexican people and the Spanish language and there wasn`t much of either in central San Miguel. David and I will give this town a second chance too...in fact we are going back for a day visit tomorrow.
Still it was a good day and as planned Augustine dropped us off, back at our casa in the early evening. Roll on To Thursday.
On Thursday morning, we were all privileged to visit a school in Guanajauto! Parvin, an elementary school teacher in Seattle, had planned to go into the city early and knock on the door of Escuela Benito Juarez to see if she could have a tour. Lucky for all of us, we overslept, so Parvin, Megan and I went into the city later, saw that the school door was open and walked in.
After getting clearance from the principal, we went into a central court, where the children were having lunch. There was no cafeteria, the kids were just getting food from two ladies at a small table and then perching on steps or in corners in the court.
We went into a classroom and "talked" a bit to a teacher and I snapped pictures of the walls and displays. Then, as we entered a second classroom, we found that the kids had discovered us. Parvin posed for pictures with the kids, who were perhaps 9 to 12 years old, and one girl, America, who spoke a bit of English, particularly stood out for us. She and I exchanged emails with the plan that we could help each other with our English/Spanish studies.
We were all thrilled to be able to visit the school and since returning to the US, Parvin has been able to show my pictures to her own students in Seattle...one of them, it turns out, is originally from Guanajauto...what a small world.
That evening Parvin, our neighbor Victoria and I all went back into town to do some dancing. Trouble was, it was a rainy Thursday night and we were just about the only party people at the three places we tried! Still, we danced together and had a fun time anyway.
On Friday evening, the ladies`last day, we invited our friends Corvus, Violet and Milo over for a dinner of Parvin`s fine Persian cooking. A brilliant ending to a great week of showing our friends the wonders of Guanajuato.
Hasta luego until next "e"
The Tour Guides
Hola again from Guanajuato....
Whoa, we are halfway through another week, so I really need to report on our great previous semana with our visitors from Washington.
Our ladies, amigas Megan and Parvin, arrived at midnight on Saturday the 13th (or was that Domingo?). Of course we had to chat for a while, but we had a nice lie in the next morning.
Then it was down to the city via the old Ruta de Tecolote, the road that we have been accustomed to taking into town. This is a charming, picturesque cobblestone road which was used by El Pipla and his men when they charged into town to route the Spaish from their stronghold in 1810.
On the walk down, Megan and Parvin were oohing and ahhing at the view of the Tiempos, (churches) and all the colorful casas climbing up the sides of the hills of the city.
We had a walk around and our Lopez friends, Corvus, Violet and Milo, plus our visiting Lopez neighbors, Jan and Neil, caught us in the "Catrina" candy store. Catrina is a Day of the Dead character who shows her face all over the city...including on the candy bars!
After and nice chat with our Lopezians, we breakfast/lunched in the Jardin de la Union in an outdoor cafe. Breakfast is served until early afternoon here, so that`s what we had. As we ate we were passed by crowds of Mexicans, young and old, who use the Jardin de Union for their Sunday promenading. We could tell that our friends were as instantly taken with this lovely city as we have been.
Then on that Sunday night, Parvin, Megan and I, and Victoria, our neighbor at Las Casa`s Blancas, went back down to the city to participate in the Callejoneada. This is a weekend ramble though the city, hosted by the students of the University. The students dress up in Renaissance troubadour fashion and stroll with the crowd thru alleys and up and down the stairs, all the while singing and telling jokes to a delighted crowd.
Their singing was so beautiful and the settings unforgettable. At one plaza, the ladies stood on one side,, some on a balcony, with the men down below. The troubadours were singing a love song as "helpful" flower sellers circulated through the crowd. The ladies ended up with lots of roses, and to our surprise, started giving their roses to us!
At another stop, the singers asked for ladies from the crowd to come down and do kind of line dance. Parvin and our neighbor, Victoria, rushed forward and Megan and I watched as the ladies all kicked and danced and squatted and waved their arms like chickens, according to the instructions of the troubadours!
Then the men were pulled out of the crowd, and they formed a kicking Rockette line. Afterwards, each man had to do his own little do little dance on his own, with the crowd cheering each one on.
For the final stop, we ended up at the Callejon de Beso, the "Alley of the Kiss", where everyone, except us of course, sang a lovely, obviously well-known song together. Then, one by one,, each of us entered the Kiss Alley...only shoulder width wide...with long pauses for couples who shared looong kisses.
An absolutely unforgettable night. Megan and Parvin, understandably, wondered whatever could we do to top that evening!?
On Monday, after lunching in town, I sent the ladies off on a tour with Augustine, our friendly bilingual tour guide for the same tour of the area that David and I had done the week before.
Tuesday morning, we all taxied to the Mega grocery store to buy groceries. Not too exciting you say? Well, imagine shopping in a store with everything in a totally different language and totally different packaging. Megan started out by looking at a package of "dried strawberries", which actually turned out to be fertilizer. The big containers of hot sauce, seemed at first, to (perhaps) be motor oil and the juice selection included Tamarindo, Hibiscus and mango. Really quite an adventure.
That evening, we had dinner at a restaurant high above the city (about 75 steps...sorry Megan!) where our table faced an open window looking out over the night lit churches and squares. We were all quite taken with the hand painted tables and chairs, which featured Day of the Dead, Catrinas, or fruits and vegs or suns and moons. Really quite lovely.
On Wednesday, we had arranged for Augustine to pick us up at our Casa and take us to San Miguel Allende and points in between...a day trip. Despite the rain, we had a great day. Augustine also brought a lady with him, Alicia, and we Megan later confirmed that she was Augustine`s girlfriend. We were happy for him as that meant that he has more to his life than driving Gringos around!
Our first stop that day, was at a pottery place, Santa Rosa. We were almost transfixed by the beauty of the whole process...which we saw from forming the clay to the painting of the pieces. We then went into the showroom (of course) and all of us bought at least a few pieces and arranged for them to be shipped home.
We had a great shock, though, when some VERY LOUD and obnoxious USAers, arrived and started making a huge pile of pottery destined for their FOUR CONDOS IN CABO!!!!!!! We were quiet, like little mice, as they kept almost throwing items on their ever growing pile. We even suspect that they toke a plate that Megan had picked out, from our little assemblage of choices. Yikes....we were glad to see the back of them, as the English say!
Our next stop was the church at Totonlico, a church which features amazing murals that were painted by an unknown Indian artist. The shops out in front all "featured" crowns of thorns (real) and flagellating ropes of various sizes, so we knew serious stuff went on there. Perhaps "no comment" would be the best thing to say here. Still, after David and I read about the history and meaning of this church for the Mexican people, we realized we will have to try to go back for another longer visit.
San Miguel Allende was a bit of a disappointment due to the rain and the total onslaught of USAers (I am not saying "Americans", since we are all either North, Central or South Americans). I mean, we like our fellow countrymen/women ok, but we enjoy the Mexican people and the Spanish language and there wasn`t much of either in central San Miguel. David and I will give this town a second chance too...in fact we are going back for a day visit tomorrow.
Still it was a good day and as planned Augustine dropped us off, back at our casa in the early evening. Roll on To Thursday.
On Thursday morning, we were all privileged to visit a school in Guanajauto! Parvin, an elementary school teacher in Seattle, had planned to go into the city early and knock on the door of Escuela Benito Juarez to see if she could have a tour. Lucky for all of us, we overslept, so Parvin, Megan and I went into the city later, saw that the school door was open and walked in.
After getting clearance from the principal, we went into a central court, where the children were having lunch. There was no cafeteria, the kids were just getting food from two ladies at a small table and then perching on steps or in corners in the court.
We went into a classroom and "talked" a bit to a teacher and I snapped pictures of the walls and displays. Then, as we entered a second classroom, we found that the kids had discovered us. Parvin posed for pictures with the kids, who were perhaps 9 to 12 years old, and one girl, America, who spoke a bit of English, particularly stood out for us. She and I exchanged emails with the plan that we could help each other with our English/Spanish studies.
We were all thrilled to be able to visit the school and since returning to the US, Parvin has been able to show my pictures to her own students in Seattle...one of them, it turns out, is originally from Guanajauto...what a small world.
That evening Parvin, our neighbor Victoria and I all went back into town to do some dancing. Trouble was, it was a rainy Thursday night and we were just about the only party people at the three places we tried! Still, we danced together and had a fun time anyway.
On Friday evening, the ladies`last day, we invited our friends Corvus, Violet and Milo over for a dinner of Parvin`s fine Persian cooking. A brilliant ending to a great week of showing our friends the wonders of Guanajuato.
Hasta luego until next "e"
The Tour Guides
Hola all,
I am happy to report that as of last Thursday evening, the sun has come out and the days are warm and the skies are blue and all`s right with the world.
A good indication of how bad it was here, is that I did not take even one photo until Friday AM...those who know me will be shocked!
So Friday in the morning, David and I crawled out from our little cold cave and ventured forth, using our guidebook at last and walked along our road, the Panoramica, and heading for the statue that stands high above the city, "El Pipila".
Here is some information on the meaning of this massive statue:
Monument built in honor of Juan Jose de los Reyes Martinez, nick-named "El Pípila", who heroically burned down the door of the Spanish stronghold Alhondiga de Granaditas on September 28, 1810, during the first battle in the Mexican War of Independence. The Monument offers a unique panoramic vista of Guanajuato, spectacular by day or by night.
Built in 1939, this enormous cantera stone statue depicts famous miner Juán José Martínez "El Pípila" charging forward, with a torch in his right hand. At the base of the monument is the following inscription: "...there are still other Alhóndigas left to burn."
The statue is in a plaza paved with cobblestones and ringed by a balustrade. It offers a tremendous panoramic view of the city, with sights such as the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, Mercado Hidalgo , the University of Guanajuato, Teatro Juárez, the Collegiate Basilica, Jardín Unión, and the elegant domes of the churches of San Diego and La Compañía, to name just a few.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
As we sat looking over the entire city of Guanajuato, we suddenly noticed that the funicular that connects the city to the Panoramica was actually running. We had been told that it runs on some mysterious schedule known only to ???, so we immediately decided that we would take it down.
Getting off at the bottom we found ourselves in the beautiful square, Jardin de la Union, which features a bandstand, flower gardens, tropical plants and walkways under ancient ficus trees in a totally car-free area of the city. Everyone was strolling along, so enjoying the lovely weather.
As we strolled, we met an older man who asked us if we would like to go on a driving tour of Guanajuato and the surrounding area, and since we did, we signed up. After we had lunch in the beautiful square, we met Augustin and his van at the edge of the pedestrian zone. Also in the van, were a couple from Texas (they`re everywhere!) and a young amorous couple from Acapulco. Augustin expertly navigated the tiny calles of Guanajuato, pointing out all the sights and then headed straight up to "El Pipila"!!!! Luckily, that certainly wasn`t the last stop of the day, and we headed out to the Valencia area, where we stopped to look at and take pictures of the city and then visited a still-.working silver mine.
Above the mine, was a lovely little garden and buildings with a hacienda feel. Augustin told us that they hold fiestas and weddings in this area. Happily, we just peered down into the main shaft into the mine and didn`t go in, as Augustin told us the history and methods used to bring up the ore that contains the silver.
We then stopped at a beautiful cathedral and then we all passed on another stop (thank goodness) which would have been a visit to a museum of the Inquisition and torture. Yuk!
As we drove along, we had little conversations with the Texan couple, who live in a small town near Austin, TX and raise miniature donkeys. That evening, we exchanged emails and funnily enough we are now considering a house swap some day. They would love to see the San Juans and they live just about where our Texas birding trail left off 6 years ago!
We had a wonderful overview tour and highly recommend Augustin`s tour to anyone who visits the city of Guanajuato.
Yesterday (Saturday morning) we finally met up with the wonderful Lopez family of Corvus, Violet and Milo. who are here in Guanajuato for the school year. It was just wonderful to see them sitting on the steps of the Teatre Juarez next to the Jardin waiting for us.
We went out for breakfast and then Corvus and Violet and Milo led us on a tour of this lovely little town.
BTW, Corvus and Violet also told us that Guanajuato had 7 inches of rain in 4 days...in a season that normally sees about 1/2 inch a month!
Today (Domingo) was supposed to be a much less busy day for us, but since it was so sunny, we did decide to go for a morning walk and a little birding. Yesterday, Augustin had pointed out a road under a bridge near our casa, that marked the old road into the city, so we decided to investigate that. We met up with a couple climbing to the top, who turned out to be neighbors of Violet, Corvus and Milo! They told us that the path, though cobblestoned, was a nice way into the town: So the next thing we knew, we were wending our way down, watching birds, and ending up for lunch in a sidewalk cafe. Amazingly, we decided to give walking back UP a try and even more amazingly, we made it!
We ended our day by sitting on the patio for a little more bird watching and waiting for the sun to set over the city.
Tonight, as I write this, I have mariposas in my stomach, as mañana is my first day of Spanish school. Wish me luck!
Signing off,
The Former Troglodytes
I am happy to report that as of last Thursday evening, the sun has come out and the days are warm and the skies are blue and all`s right with the world.
A good indication of how bad it was here, is that I did not take even one photo until Friday AM...those who know me will be shocked!
So Friday in the morning, David and I crawled out from our little cold cave and ventured forth, using our guidebook at last and walked along our road, the Panoramica, and heading for the statue that stands high above the city, "El Pipila".
Here is some information on the meaning of this massive statue:
Monument built in honor of Juan Jose de los Reyes Martinez, nick-named "El Pípila", who heroically burned down the door of the Spanish stronghold Alhondiga de Granaditas on September 28, 1810, during the first battle in the Mexican War of Independence. The Monument offers a unique panoramic vista of Guanajuato, spectacular by day or by night.
Built in 1939, this enormous cantera stone statue depicts famous miner Juán José Martínez "El Pípila" charging forward, with a torch in his right hand. At the base of the monument is the following inscription: "...there are still other Alhóndigas left to burn."
The statue is in a plaza paved with cobblestones and ringed by a balustrade. It offers a tremendous panoramic view of the city, with sights such as the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, Mercado Hidalgo , the University of Guanajuato, Teatro Juárez, the Collegiate Basilica, Jardín Unión, and the elegant domes of the churches of San Diego and La Compañía, to name just a few.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
As we sat looking over the entire city of Guanajuato, we suddenly noticed that the funicular that connects the city to the Panoramica was actually running. We had been told that it runs on some mysterious schedule known only to ???, so we immediately decided that we would take it down.
Getting off at the bottom we found ourselves in the beautiful square, Jardin de la Union, which features a bandstand, flower gardens, tropical plants and walkways under ancient ficus trees in a totally car-free area of the city. Everyone was strolling along, so enjoying the lovely weather.
As we strolled, we met an older man who asked us if we would like to go on a driving tour of Guanajuato and the surrounding area, and since we did, we signed up. After we had lunch in the beautiful square, we met Augustin and his van at the edge of the pedestrian zone. Also in the van, were a couple from Texas (they`re everywhere!) and a young amorous couple from Acapulco. Augustin expertly navigated the tiny calles of Guanajuato, pointing out all the sights and then headed straight up to "El Pipila"!!!! Luckily, that certainly wasn`t the last stop of the day, and we headed out to the Valencia area, where we stopped to look at and take pictures of the city and then visited a still-.working silver mine.
Above the mine, was a lovely little garden and buildings with a hacienda feel. Augustin told us that they hold fiestas and weddings in this area. Happily, we just peered down into the main shaft into the mine and didn`t go in, as Augustin told us the history and methods used to bring up the ore that contains the silver.
We then stopped at a beautiful cathedral and then we all passed on another stop (thank goodness) which would have been a visit to a museum of the Inquisition and torture. Yuk!
As we drove along, we had little conversations with the Texan couple, who live in a small town near Austin, TX and raise miniature donkeys. That evening, we exchanged emails and funnily enough we are now considering a house swap some day. They would love to see the San Juans and they live just about where our Texas birding trail left off 6 years ago!
We had a wonderful overview tour and highly recommend Augustin`s tour to anyone who visits the city of Guanajuato.
Yesterday (Saturday morning) we finally met up with the wonderful Lopez family of Corvus, Violet and Milo. who are here in Guanajuato for the school year. It was just wonderful to see them sitting on the steps of the Teatre Juarez next to the Jardin waiting for us.
We went out for breakfast and then Corvus and Violet and Milo led us on a tour of this lovely little town.
BTW, Corvus and Violet also told us that Guanajuato had 7 inches of rain in 4 days...in a season that normally sees about 1/2 inch a month!
Today (Domingo) was supposed to be a much less busy day for us, but since it was so sunny, we did decide to go for a morning walk and a little birding. Yesterday, Augustin had pointed out a road under a bridge near our casa, that marked the old road into the city, so we decided to investigate that. We met up with a couple climbing to the top, who turned out to be neighbors of Violet, Corvus and Milo! They told us that the path, though cobblestoned, was a nice way into the town: So the next thing we knew, we were wending our way down, watching birds, and ending up for lunch in a sidewalk cafe. Amazingly, we decided to give walking back UP a try and even more amazingly, we made it!
We ended our day by sitting on the patio for a little more bird watching and waiting for the sun to set over the city.
Tonight, as I write this, I have mariposas in my stomach, as mañana is my first day of Spanish school. Wish me luck!
Signing off,
The Former Troglodytes
“Can you help us? We’ve gone on holiday by mistake!!!!!!!!!!” Withnail & I
Dear all Amigas y Amigos,
Hola! Greetings from Guanajuato, Mexico!
First days…..February 1st to 5th, 2010
Oh it’s been a comedy of errors since we got here, but there are a lot of nice things and, as always, we are able to laugh!
First, the rain! It is non stop and yesterday it started coming in under the back door and across the kitchen floor. We did our best with rugs and towels for a day and then today the towels were so wet that they gave up. I went next door where the brother and sister in law of the owners live and said "Agua Piso!" (water on the floor!) everyone jumped up (except the Spanish learners who are staying with them) , yelling "Agua Piso" Until the students caught on and exclaimed also...
Then two tiny senoritas who clean the houses turned up and mopped and wrung out the rugs and towels then put them back down...that worked for about 10 minutos. Apparently someone is coming tomorrow to put in a gutter to divert the cascada of rain back there.
It is SO cold...54 in the house and we spend a lot of time in bed...hee hee, as that is the only warm place. The owner, Gustavo, went up on the roof tonight (in the torrents of rain) to see why we only have lukewarm water...oh for a hot shower... and he said it``s because of the wet/cold weather...hmmmm? He did turn the boiler up so our hopes are renewed.
Then on the way home from the restaurant tonight, we were slogging along and suddenly there was no sidewalk where my right foot went down and my leg gave way and I went down on my knee ...hard! To make things worse I was hanging onto David and as a result, he flipped over me and landed on the umbrella which he completely crushed. As we both struggled up he madly threw the umbrella over the precipice...there was quite a drop off...which upset me as I thought he had gone kind of crazy!
I have a bruised and bloody knee, but luckily David was not hurt at all. Hey! He was supposed to be the one that falls.
Doesn`t this all sound very grim? Well not really….
On the good side, everyone is so nice here....all our Mexican neighbors are so helpful. In addition we are almost surrounded by Texans (!) in our complex who are not related, but are all here to study espanol. Also they are mostly from Austin, so not so bad. One of the Texans came over today and told us all we need to know to get here and there and I will be going to their Spanish school with them tomorrow AM to enroll for next week.
Corvus and Violet(our Lopezian friends) have called and emailed and promise that this ridiculous weather will go away and it will be the normal sunny and dry soon We are to meet Friday which is Mexico``s national day of some sort so it should be lively in the town.
Thursday PM
More torrential rain all night…what have we all done wrong?
I was up early to accompany our neighbors, Mike and Jan, into town via a shared taxi. Guanajuato is a city set in a giant bowl in the mountains and there is a road running around the edge of the bowl…that is the Panoramica. We are up on the Panoramica, looking down at the city. There are, apparently, stairs running down to the Centro, but there are literally several hundred of them of different surfaces and very steep, so I will not attempt these in the rain. I could go, as David calls it, “Ass over tea kettle”!
So off we went into town where we were let off at the edge of the pedestrian zona…the whole center is pedestrian, hooray! We arrived at the school Escuela Mexicana” where I was interviewed by Orlando (very cute)…thank goodness in ingles,,,and it was agreed that I would take two hours per day, one on one, conversation and then grammar. I start this coming Monday. BTW, Orlando was completely Unimpressed by my knowing French, but I am quickly realizing that it will help a lot.
I then walked around this gorgeous town with buildings literally every color of the rainbow. Some great sights….a woman walking along with a Patio (!) umbrella…so wide it was bumping into both sides of the narrow street. The steep, STEEP roads with stairs, turned into cascadas..waterfalls! An amazing sight. A man working his way up a step street, carrying a steel propane bottle…4 ft long?...across his shoulders. A man emerging from a tunnel (more on those next email) pushing a small handcart loaded with a dozen boxes, towering over his head, and pushing this load over the cobblestones!
Buildings with Spanish balconies, cascades of tropical flowers, bougainvillea, hanging down. COLORS everywhere. Really a lovely city with the air of another world. Well, it is another world!
After a couple hours of exploring and getting lost, I hailed a taxi for our Casa Blanca. BYW, I am finding that I MUST learn Spanish fast as almost NO ONE speaks ingles, except for the gringos…who are few and far between. I am carrying a dictionary with me at all times and look up words in advance when I know I will need them. The Spanish classes can’t start fast enough.
After our usual “escape from the rain and cold” siesta, David and I ventured forth to take our mud covered jeans (from our falls last night) to the lavendaria down the street and then we hailed a taxi and went to the Mega store which our neighbors told us about. It’s kind of like a K or Wal mart, huge with clothes, household goods and lots of groceries. We absolutely filled our cart with supplies for the coming weeks and then headed out to a waiting taxi diver who wasn’t fazed at all buy our dozen crammed full bags…they went into his trunk with ease.
AND!!!!!!!!!! As we were coming out of the store….a Miracle (MILAGRA!) happened! The SUN came out!!! We just couldn’t believe our eyes….blue sky and fluffy clouds!!!!! Is it over?! Well, we went out this evening to watch the sun set over the city…pink clouds over red, blue, mustard, green, white, purple and orange buildings below…
Hey, all is right with the world….
Adios for now,
The Drenched, but Drying Out, Ones
Dear all Amigas y Amigos,
Hola! Greetings from Guanajuato, Mexico!
First days…..February 1st to 5th, 2010
Oh it’s been a comedy of errors since we got here, but there are a lot of nice things and, as always, we are able to laugh!
First, the rain! It is non stop and yesterday it started coming in under the back door and across the kitchen floor. We did our best with rugs and towels for a day and then today the towels were so wet that they gave up. I went next door where the brother and sister in law of the owners live and said "Agua Piso!" (water on the floor!) everyone jumped up (except the Spanish learners who are staying with them) , yelling "Agua Piso" Until the students caught on and exclaimed also...
Then two tiny senoritas who clean the houses turned up and mopped and wrung out the rugs and towels then put them back down...that worked for about 10 minutos. Apparently someone is coming tomorrow to put in a gutter to divert the cascada of rain back there.
It is SO cold...54 in the house and we spend a lot of time in bed...hee hee, as that is the only warm place. The owner, Gustavo, went up on the roof tonight (in the torrents of rain) to see why we only have lukewarm water...oh for a hot shower... and he said it``s because of the wet/cold weather...hmmmm? He did turn the boiler up so our hopes are renewed.
Then on the way home from the restaurant tonight, we were slogging along and suddenly there was no sidewalk where my right foot went down and my leg gave way and I went down on my knee ...hard! To make things worse I was hanging onto David and as a result, he flipped over me and landed on the umbrella which he completely crushed. As we both struggled up he madly threw the umbrella over the precipice...there was quite a drop off...which upset me as I thought he had gone kind of crazy!
I have a bruised and bloody knee, but luckily David was not hurt at all. Hey! He was supposed to be the one that falls.
Doesn`t this all sound very grim? Well not really….
On the good side, everyone is so nice here....all our Mexican neighbors are so helpful. In addition we are almost surrounded by Texans (!) in our complex who are not related, but are all here to study espanol. Also they are mostly from Austin, so not so bad. One of the Texans came over today and told us all we need to know to get here and there and I will be going to their Spanish school with them tomorrow AM to enroll for next week.
Corvus and Violet(our Lopezian friends) have called and emailed and promise that this ridiculous weather will go away and it will be the normal sunny and dry soon We are to meet Friday which is Mexico``s national day of some sort so it should be lively in the town.
Thursday PM
More torrential rain all night…what have we all done wrong?
I was up early to accompany our neighbors, Mike and Jan, into town via a shared taxi. Guanajuato is a city set in a giant bowl in the mountains and there is a road running around the edge of the bowl…that is the Panoramica. We are up on the Panoramica, looking down at the city. There are, apparently, stairs running down to the Centro, but there are literally several hundred of them of different surfaces and very steep, so I will not attempt these in the rain. I could go, as David calls it, “Ass over tea kettle”!
So off we went into town where we were let off at the edge of the pedestrian zona…the whole center is pedestrian, hooray! We arrived at the school Escuela Mexicana” where I was interviewed by Orlando (very cute)…thank goodness in ingles,,,and it was agreed that I would take two hours per day, one on one, conversation and then grammar. I start this coming Monday. BTW, Orlando was completely Unimpressed by my knowing French, but I am quickly realizing that it will help a lot.
I then walked around this gorgeous town with buildings literally every color of the rainbow. Some great sights….a woman walking along with a Patio (!) umbrella…so wide it was bumping into both sides of the narrow street. The steep, STEEP roads with stairs, turned into cascadas..waterfalls! An amazing sight. A man working his way up a step street, carrying a steel propane bottle…4 ft long?...across his shoulders. A man emerging from a tunnel (more on those next email) pushing a small handcart loaded with a dozen boxes, towering over his head, and pushing this load over the cobblestones!
Buildings with Spanish balconies, cascades of tropical flowers, bougainvillea, hanging down. COLORS everywhere. Really a lovely city with the air of another world. Well, it is another world!
After a couple hours of exploring and getting lost, I hailed a taxi for our Casa Blanca. BYW, I am finding that I MUST learn Spanish fast as almost NO ONE speaks ingles, except for the gringos…who are few and far between. I am carrying a dictionary with me at all times and look up words in advance when I know I will need them. The Spanish classes can’t start fast enough.
After our usual “escape from the rain and cold” siesta, David and I ventured forth to take our mud covered jeans (from our falls last night) to the lavendaria down the street and then we hailed a taxi and went to the Mega store which our neighbors told us about. It’s kind of like a K or Wal mart, huge with clothes, household goods and lots of groceries. We absolutely filled our cart with supplies for the coming weeks and then headed out to a waiting taxi diver who wasn’t fazed at all buy our dozen crammed full bags…they went into his trunk with ease.
AND!!!!!!!!!! As we were coming out of the store….a Miracle (MILAGRA!) happened! The SUN came out!!! We just couldn’t believe our eyes….blue sky and fluffy clouds!!!!! Is it over?! Well, we went out this evening to watch the sun set over the city…pink clouds over red, blue, mustard, green, white, purple and orange buildings below…
Hey, all is right with the world….
Adios for now,
The Drenched, but Drying Out, Ones
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