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COLONIAL MEXICO
The region north and west of Mexico City is
rich in history. We spent one day in Querétaro, two days each in San
Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato, and passed through Dolores Hidalgo. Each
of these cities is charming in its own way.
Querétaro
Closest to Mexico City, Querétaro is
sparkling clean and very friendly. In 1917 it was the capital of
Mexico. We arrived on a Sunday night which when the entire town gathers at
the Zocalo for family entertainment and socializing. We were watching a
group of folk dancers when suddenly, all of the six female dancers went into the
audience to pick partners for a traditional dance from Vera Cruz. You
guessed it, one of the senoritas decided to drag LNL out to the dance
floor! What an experience. There were smiles and polite applause at
the end so I guess it wasn't too bad.
Our hotel was formerly the home of a
marquesa and is beautifully preserved. The town also has an aqueduct
which is still in operation. It is over 100 feet high in some places.
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Inside the Casa de la Marquesa Hotel.
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The pristine Zocalo, where verything happens on
Sunday evenings.
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A portion of the crowd gathered to watch the folk
dancing.
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A senorita and her "expert" dance
partner.
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A portion of the still functioning aqueduct.
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San Miguel de Allende and Dolores Hidalgo
San Miguel is a sleepy little town that has
been invaded from the north. There are somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000
Americans and Canadians living here during the winter, and many of those stay
year round. Everything is accessible by foot, and the restaurants are
among the best in Mexico. Dolores Hidalgo is the birthplace of the Mexican
revolution and is now famous for its ice cream. Shrimp ice cream is
available as well as mole and fermented cactus flavors. We settled on
mango.
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A typical San Miguel street. All of the
streets are made with cobblestones.
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A beautiful street near the Parque Juarez.
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Pat looks proud because we climbed to this look-out
point from the city below.
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The Jardin, where all Americans in San Miguel meet
every afternoon.
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The central square in Dolores Hidalgo, from where
the Mexican revolution was launched.
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Guanajuato
Some people think this is the most beautiful
city in the world. It is actually quite spread out and not as easy as the
other cities in the region to negotiate. We visited the birthplace of
Diego Rivera, and also the Alhondiga, originally a grain storehouse but now a
museum. It was used as a fortress by the Spanish until the legendary El
Pípila, memorialized with a statue which overlooks the city, tied a flagstone
to his back and crawled to the fort and set the door on fire. There is
some dispute about the authenticity of this story. We stayed in a very
nice hotel which unfortunately was located next door to a church whose bells
tolled every fifteen minutes 24 hours a day.
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Our hotel was quaint with many exotic flowers and
birds.
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The El Pípila statue overlooks the city's central
square (actually a triangle).
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The view of the city from El Pípila. This is
the picture you see in the guidebooks.
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A Negro Modelo beer is welcome after walking in
this very dry region.
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At the Valenciana Restaurant, gazpacho is served in
a block of ice.
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