Sumptuous San Miguel de Allende

Morning light over San Miguel de Allende

I left Miguel And Mariana in Guanajuato as they returned to Leon to pick up their shock absorbers. The country around here is dry and scrubby and the light, combined with the eucalypts that line the roads, make if feel a bit like driving through parts of Aus. Found my way through the backstreets of  San Miguel de Allende to a very pleasant and well run campground tucked in the backstreets of town.

Here we found a wonderful crew of new neighbours, including the Church’s who’s "Mexican Camping" book has taken a lot of stress out of our lives (thanks heaps guys), and a delightful couple in their 80’s who have been visiting Mexico for decades. Thanks to all you folks for your warm welcome and good company!

San Miguel is a very sophisticated town, with many up market restaurants and quality art and craft stores, perhaps influenced by the 12,000 odd (?) extranjeros who live here for part, if not all, of the year. It is unquestionably an attractive town, but it doesn’t have the intimacy of Guanajuato, and the gringos don’t seem to like to acknowledge the presence of travelers passing through “their” town.

...a bit more authentic outside of the tourist zone

M&M turned up the next day and we spent a couple of days wandering the streets as well as getting repairs and services for our cars. With Easter upon us, the streets are full of Mexican tourists  and  never ending color and movement.

And the street art....let the pictures tell the story! 

Keeping good company

Cooking up a feast...

More good company...with Don Roberto!

A chance meeting on the street with the guy who had organised the murals led to yet another contribution to the evolving PanamericanArte canvas (http://www.facebook.com/PanAmericanArte)  by one of the mural painters - Antonio Calderón.

Los colores de Guanajuato

 It is mid afternoon when we emerge from the second of two tunnels that frame the entrance to Guanajuato. The sun is high and a little sharp but even so, the colors of the town immediately leap out at you and you know you have arrived somewhere special. We are in a relatively steep sided valley and, following a local tourist guide on a motor cycle, we climb through narrow cobblestone streets to a point with spectacular views over the city where we are told we can camp safely, and for free.

 For the next couple of days we just wandered the streets, taking in the colors and flavors of this remarkable town. With the beginnings of easter festivities, an influx of Mexican tourists, a vibrant student culture, and locals just getting on with their life, the feel of the town was both vibrant and sumptuous. Narrow, cobblestone paths took us down into the town centre where tree shrouded plazas and casual cafes and restaurants invited lingering. At every turn, the colors and character of the town leap out at you and you are torn between wanting to just sit and let it all wash by, and wanting to explore the next lane-way for the intoxicating delights that you know it will reveal.

Wedding celebrations

As dusk settles over the town, fireworks herald a wedding in a church overlooking the city, the booming of explosives (now banned in much of the so-called "civilized" world) echoing across the town, accompanied by a cacophony of car alarms that they have triggered.

Back down in the town square, the band is playing and the (mostly elderly) locals are dancing with restrained but elegant panache. 

Mexican electrics

How's this for a camp-site? Spot the vans.

Bottle-top artist

Easter parade

Yep - thats a donkey wandering through our cafe!

Hmmm...I wonder how much it would cost to rent an apartment here?