Back in October we made plans to visit our good friends Jim and Cynthia, who had recently moved to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where they are now permanent residents. Our plan was to visit their home for four or five days, then travel together to Mexico City and take in the sites there for another four or five days. We made our flights, reserved cars, buses and hotel and were quite excited. Then - Sharon pulled out the passports on Saturday, before we were to leave on Monday, and saw that her passport had expired three days ago - what!!?? Are you kidding??
Huge thanks to Greg who is like a dog with a bone. He got on the phone with the airline to change flights, found a way we could get a quick passport renewal, and rearranged all our plans within a couple of days. Miami has a same-day passport office (next closest to us would be Atlanta, so super lucky!). The soonest we could get an appointment was the following Friday, the day before our new, rearranged travel to Mexico. Cutting things a little close?? And it wasn't guaranteed, so we were apprehensive, to say the least.
Fortunately, all worked out and Sharon got her new passport Friday afternoon. (It was an interesting experience.) We flew out of Miami to Mexico City at 6:20am Saturday morning and carried on with our new plans. Whew! These new arrangements meant that Jim & Cynthia met us in Mexico City, and five days later we all travelled to their house together.
What a great trip it was! We stayed in the Roma Norte section of Mexico City at a beautiful small hotel, Roso Guest House, that is part of the SLH (Small Luxury Hotels) group. It has only ten rooms, a beautiful setting, lovely accommodations and fabulous staff.
Click any photo to enlarge it....
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| Front door - if you didn't know it was there you'd miss it. |
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| Our walkway to our room three flights up |
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| Where we had our breakfast |
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| Yup, we're way up there on the third floor.....no elevators. |
Huge thanks to the staff that carried our heavy bags up there!
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Lunch at La Docena - Blue Crab on a tortilla
with a Habanero foam - so yummy! |
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There is a two-way bike lane on the
larger roadways in Mexico City - our cities should do this! |
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| Entrance to the Museum of Anthropology |
This was the best museum we're ever been to that is devoted to the history of man's evolutionary journey from apes to homo-sapiens. Most of the descriptions of the displays were in Spanish, so we had to work hard to understand what we were looking at. Even with that challenge we learned a great deal and were amazed with all we saw.
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Above photos from the Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
Such an interesting place - days could be spent here!
Metropolitan Cathedral, Mexico City |
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| One piece of the three-sided pipe organ! |
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| The most ornate baptismal font ever! |
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| Beautiful! |
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| Excavation adjacent to the cathedral |
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| Two things are very important in Mexican culture: The Dead (Day of the Dead, etc) and CORN! Ireland has its potatoes, Mexico has its corn. |
The Museo Mural Diego Rivera had dozens of more-than-life-size historical murals depicting Mexico's existence before, during, and after the revolution (1910-1920). We had a curated tour by a local semi-retired docent who loved his work and used it to hone his English skills. We were fortunate to oblige him - and he us!
One day we took a bus tour out to the Teotihaucan Pyramids. The tour guide was one of the most knowledgeable guides we've ever experienced. He was filled with information, a great sense of humor, and was able to compare his historic knowledge to present day. It was an amazing experience. Lots of walking and climbing up and down steps!
Teotihuacan pyramids, particularly the Pyramid of the Sun share similar base dimensions (approx. 230m per side) with Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza, but differ significantly in design, purpose, and construction. They are also oriented toward the sun, same as the Egyptian pyramids. Hmmm....the question came up, "Did ancient people from Egypt actually migrate to Mexico?" You have to go to the Museum of Anthropology to find out!
The Egyptian pyramids at Giza were built around 2600–2500 BCE, whereas the Teotihuacan pyramids were built much later, roughly between 200 BCE and 900 CE.
Remember, click to enlarge!
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| Map of the inner ancient city. |
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The Pyramid of the Sun God and the Moon God were a mile apart, but still part of what was a large city that included over 100,000 people over a thousand years ago.
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| Walking that mile! |
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(As seen previously above)
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We saw identical 30 foot high gargoyl-like structures in the Museum of Anthropology, where they were better preserved and had the original colors. Cool to see them here.
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| View from a high spot. Beautiful! |
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Back in Mexico City enjoying a wonderful Mexican meal
after a day of walking about |
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This is in La Cuidadela, the artisan market
- it was chock full of all stuff Mexican! |
All the next photos are from the
Mercado San Juan - the largest traditional market in Mexico City - specializing in all things gourmet (which is a very personal term...).
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| Geoduck Clams (what?) |
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| An array of fresh fish |
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| A 100 ft aisle was dedicated to lamb |
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| Not your local grocery store in the US! |
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| Scorpions -not quite like a US farmer's market |
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| So much lush produce, herbs, spices and oddities! |
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Making our Grilled Marlin Tacos!
No kidding, they were the best! |
After a walk through Chinatown (there is a long and deep Chinese history in Mexico),
we headed to Palacio de Bellas Artes
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| So much of Mexican art is devoted to its revolution, finally enabling a democracy. What are we doing here in the USA? This is not a Dem/Rep question. It's more fundamental. |
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| Throughout Mexico City we observed city employees cleaning streets with these rustic brooms. No blowers. They cleaned the streets every day in this fashion. Others used buckets of water to wash away the detritus from the night before. |
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And then dinner out at a gourmet Mexican restaurant
"Mux" where we met the female chef and promised to share our experience on Instagram! |
After this wonderful gourmet Mexican meal on our last night in Mexico City, we met at the Bus terminal for our ride to San Miguel de Allende, where our friends Jim and Cynthia now live. It was a five hour ride, including a stop for an accident that held us up a bit, but it was a very relaxing ride with time to read and share stories. Below are our first sites of this lovely city.
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| They built the building around the tree! |
San Miguel de Allende is a beautiful colonial town. It has a large US expat population and is a Unesco World Heritage Site, added in 2008 for its well-preserved 16th-century Spanish colonial architecture and its crucial role during the Mexican War of Independence. The most notable structure is the new-Gothic
Church of San Miguel Arcangel (La Parroquia). The town was established by the Spanish in 1542, but has a significant recorded history dating back to 1100 BC.
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| Taken from our rooftop luncheon spot |
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Amazing architecture.
Greg is able to find French Baguettes anywhere! |
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| All scenes along our walk |
The town has become a favorite for US expats. Americans retire in San Miguel de Allende for its affordable high quality lifestyle, pleasant climate, rich history, vibrant arts scene, a large welcoming expat community, excellent private healthcare, and overall safety, all while being close to the US for travel to friends and family. The combination of cultural richness, modern comfort and lower living costs makes it an attractive destination for a fulfilling lifestyle.
City Market was like a Whole Foods on steroids. Fresh fish, great produce, wine shop, liquor store, pharmacy, restaurants all in one large building. It was great fun to compare to where we shop. Obviously, it is successful due to the expat population.
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| Fish counter |
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Very much like in the US except the bread and pastries were not covered in any way.
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| Ceiling frescos abounded in town |
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Above are from a Garden Center a few miles
from Jim and Cynthia's house |
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| A neighborhood walk to lunch. |
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Specialty cocktails. The white one is a
White Bloody Mary, delicious! |
| The view from the plane as we departed Leon, Mexico. | The white building on the peak is Cristo Rey del Cubilete, Guanajuato
We saw pilgrimage groups walking toward it from many miles away.
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| Be well |
Hope you enjoyed - we sure did! 'Til next time -
