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.

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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