Wednesday, February 10, 2010
While snow closed down the DC area, and a cold front moved into Florida, we flew via Dallas to the city of Leon, Mexico. Undoubtedly because of the swine flu, we had to fill out a form declaring we were healthy, and pass a computer monitor that showed our body temperature. An SUV with cold beers was waiting to drive us the 1-1/2 hours to San Miguel de Allende in the Mexico Heartland. Passed through a dry rocky landscape, then forested hills before driving into the mountains. The car had to back up the street of the hotel, because it was blocked at the main square end. We checked into Hotel Posada Carmina, with our room just off a small courtyard.
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| Kent in hotel courtyard |
In the room, two bottles of water labeled "Cecelia & Drew Wedding" awaited us, along with a note inviting us to dinner with the bride's family.
Since rain was predicted for the rest of the week, we decided to do a bit of sightseeing while the sun was out. Right outside the hotel door, we could see the towers of the Gothic parish church,
La Parroquia.
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| La Parroquia towers |
Originally built in colonial style in 1683, the church was given a facelift in 1880 by self-trained mason Ceferino Gutierrez who was inspired by postcards of French Gothic cathedrals.
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| La Parroquia |
(Since he didn't know what the back of a Gothic cathedral looked like, it was done Mexican-style.)
The clock tower of San Rafael stood just beyond
La Parroquia,
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| San Rafael clock tower |
and they both faced the main plaza of
El Jardin ("the garden"). A darling little square with fountains,
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| El Jardin fountain |
a gazebo, wrought-iron benches and pruned trees.
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| El Jardin |
Nearby, a Starbucks!
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| Starbucks |
Next was the
Templo de Inmaculada Concepcion (Church of the Immaculate Conception), with its dome that Ceferino Gutierrez modeled after the
Hôtel des Invalides in Paris.
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| Church of the Immaculate Conception |
We continued walking the cobblestoned streets of San Miguel
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| Kent in a little plaza |
until we reached the Casa Cardo, a hacienda rented by the Tanaka family.
Kent knew Stuart from their high school days in Japan, where, although they attended different high schools, they became golfing buddies. Later after college, Kent & Stuart shared living quarters, and Kent was there when Stuart met his wife Cheryl. Kent & Stuart have kept in touch, and whenever travels took one near the home of the other, they would plan a golf outing. Stuart & Cher's oldest child, Cecelia, was marrying Drew, whose parents live half the year in Portland, OR and the other half here in San Miguel. Thus, we were here for the wedding. (The legal ceremony was performed in New York City where the couple currently reside.)
Casa Cardo was well-appointed, fully furnished with a grand piano, stained glass, and etched glass lighting fixtures.
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| Casa Cardo lamp fixture |
There was an inner courtyard
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| Inner courtyard |
leading to a study and one bedroom, and three bedrooms lined one side of the main courtyard, which also had a small pool.
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| Main courtyard |
A veranda led to the living areas and kitchen.
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| Veranda |
We had cocktails on the rooftop terrace, and dinner of a local-style chicken soup and fish tacos.
Sonja practiced applying wedding make-up on her big sister, Cecelia.
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| Sonja and Cecelia |
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Another beautiful day!
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| View from hotel window |
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| Main courtyard of the hotel |
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| Door to the hotel |
Most of San Miguel was like this - doorways in flat walls led to beautiful courtyards.
Today was our day to sightsee. Casa de Allende (the house of Allende) was the birthplace of Ignacio Allende, a War of Independence leader and hero.
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| Casa de Allende |
It is now the regional museum - a school field trip destination.
We explored inside
La Parroquia -
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| Prayer charms |
here the robe of a statue is pinned with prayer charms and photos.
In the Church of San Rafael, a near life-size sculpture group of the crucifixion on Mount Calvary.
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| Near life-size crucifixion scene |
Another peek at
El Jardin.
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| El Jardin |
A few blocks farther brought us to
Templo de Tercado Orden (Church of the Third Order).
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| Templo de Tercado Orden |
Next to that was the
Templo de San Francisco (Church of St. Francis) with its ornate Churriguersque facade.
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| Templo de San Francisco |
Plaza de Allende contained an equestrian statue of Ignacio Allende.
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| Plaza de Allende |
Next the markets.
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| Chayote |
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| Prickly pear cactus pads |
Then the
Mercado de Artesanias (Artisans Market).
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| Punched tin lanterns |
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| Hand-embroidered items |
Our next stop was the
Biblioteca (library) that carries books in Spanish and English, and has an intimate courtyard cafe.
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| Biblioteca courtyard |
A couple of artists
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| Artists at work |
were painting the
Oratorio de San Felipe de Neri (Church of St. Philip of Neri).
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| Oratorio de San Felipe de Neri |
Passed the
Teatro Angela Peralta (named for the Mexican soprano who gave the first performance here),
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| Teatro Angela Peralta |
where high school students were gathered.
In
Bellas Artes, a branch of the
Palacio Bellas Artes in Mexico City, there was an exhibit of decorated petit fours.
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| Petit four as art |
The
Bellas Artes courtyard gave us a great view of the dome of the Church of the Immaculate Conception.
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| Bellas Artes courtyard |
Our lunch included tortilla chips with
pico de gallo (chopped tomato, onion, cilantro with a bit of lime juice) and a spicy brown salsa, and cantalope and cucumber topped with cayenne.
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| Lunch extras |
Our main entrees were Cecina (a marinated beef left to dry in the sun) and Molcajetes (served in a heated bowl made from basalt, which kept the food simmering) with fish.
We detoured to Casa Cardo to get information on my tour to the Monarch butterfly preserve, only to learn the tour was canceled.
Continued through the shady Parque Benito Juarez, where a large flower and plant sale was in progress. Found the Lavaderos Publicos (public laundry), where one woman was taking advantage of the spring-fed laundry tubs.
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| Lavaderos Publicos |
Climbed a steep hill past the Casa de la Cultura with its clock tower,
to reach the Church of El Charro, before heading back to our hotel for showers and a siesta.
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| Casa de la Cultura |
That evening we went to dinner with Cheryl's Rockford College (IL) friends at
La Posadita, only a couple doors from our hotel. At night it was too breezy and cool to eat out on the rooftop terrace.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Since I was not taking the all-day tour to see the Monarchs, we found other things to do. And the weather was holding out - no rain! Made an appointment to see the Mask Museum, and walked, or rather climbed, there.
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| Tamiko climbing the hill |
The Mask Museum is the hobby of the owner of a bed & breakfast, and it contains over 500 masks. You could not photograph in the museum, but you could in the shop where he sells his overflow masks!
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| Tamiko in the mask shop |
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| A favorite! |
The bed & breakfast was filled with Mexican folk art, and had fountains and courtyards.
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| Bed & Breakfast courtyard |
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| Stairway niches for more masks |
Next we went on a hunt for tickets to a concert of a tenor singer, thinking we would join the Rockford College group early that evening. No tickets to be found at five diferent locations including the church where the concert was to be held.
Cobblestoned streets of San Miguel, and a mounted police officer.
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| Mounted police on cobblestoned street |
Finally we visited
Instituto Allende, a college of the arts that also offers Spanish courses. Toured their galleries. There was a beautiful courtyard,
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| Instituto Allende courtyard |
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| Instituto Allende Mural |
and a restaurant and coffee bar.
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| Instituto Allende coffee bar |
Back to the hotel for showers and a siesta, before going to a restaurant in town for the Welcome and Rehearsal Dinner.
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| Drew & Cecelia (she is wearing one of her creations) |
Open bar cocktails with a three-man band for entertainment.
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| Musicians |
Later, a lone guitarists played as we had dinner.
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| Dinner set-up |
After dinner, there were more drinks at the Sunset Bar on a rooftop.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The rain had held off for the entire wedding stay!
As we were leaving, saw this man with his firewood-laden burros:
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| Burros in town |
Goodbye, San Miguel!
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| San Miquel de Allende |
