Life in San Miguel de Allende

 October 26, 2021 - October 28, 2021

Yesterday’s rain stopped sometime during the night, and it was quite chilly on Tuesday morning.  We had cereal and blueberries for breakfast.  We have noticed that the fruit here is exceptionally good, especially the avocados. 

It’s good to have goals in life. So our goal on Tuesday was to purchase some margarita glasses at the Mercado de Artisansia.

one of the streets we walked down 
on the way to the Artisans Market

There are about four blocks of colorful shops
lining each side of the walkway.

The shops range from t-shirt and souvenir shops ...

to colorful pottery shops...

to hand tooled leather shops...

to shops of culturally significant items...

and fine silver jewelry shops.

Unfortunately, the shop with the glassware was not open.  I guess we will have to go back soon.  I did purchase some sterling silver hoop earrings and a colorful shopping bag. Bob purchased a braided leather belt and a brightly colored ceramic outlet cover. We had lunch nearby at the Santa Anna Cafe located in the back of the library.  We will definitely eat there again!

The cafe was in a lovely courtyard.

What a beautifully presented Cobb salad.

While we waited for our lunch we were
treated to a mini concert when this musician
stopped in to play the guitar and sing.

On the way home Bob snapped this
picture of me with my
garish (Bob's description)
new shopping bag.

Before breakfast I took a long walk around the Guadeloupe neighborhood where we live.  I discovered a walkway that goes along the "river" (it is very dry right now and hardly looks like a river), crossed the river on a footbridge and returns on the other side.  

We decided to have lunch at what is becoming our favorite Cafe, Hiebra Santa - Chocina del Sur. Then we returned to the Artisans Market to purchase our Margarita glasses.

The charming little bar area at
Hierba Santo.

My lunch of Tacos Dorados which is
chicken tacos with vegetables and broth.

We put our new Margarita glasses to 
good use at happy hour.

I took another long walk on Thursday morning before I started the laundry. That turned out to be a mistake as the maid comes on Thursday and she uses the washing machine to wash all of the sheets she changes out.  It worked out though as I tried not to take up much hanging space so she could have room to hang the bedding.  Our plans were to have lunch at a restaurant named Chill SMA which supposedly opened at 1:00 pm so we stopped by the cafe nearby to have a coffee and some fruit tarts before we did a little grocery shopping.  Another gringo came into the cafe as we were finishing our coffee and we struck up a conversation.  Low and behold he was a previous renter of our very apartment. He talked about his three years in SMA and gave us some tips as we related some of our adventures.  It was fun making the connection and I’m sure we will see him around the neighborhood. After getting our groceries and wandering around the neighborhood we set out to find the restaurant.  That turned out to be frustrating.  After searching for awhile we located the restaurant by looking up and recognizing the restaurant from pictures on trip adviser. Unfortunately, it did not open until four so we went home and had some snacks while we waited for 4:00 pm.

We walked by another
beautifully painted doorway.

Another fascinating mural

It turned out that the wait was worth it.  The open air seating area on the second floor was delightful and the food was unique and tasty.

The open air sitting area of Chill SMA

The view from the restaurant was great.

My next blog will feature the Dia de los Muertos celebration in San Miguel.

Thank you for reading my blog.

 October 22, 2021 - October 25, 2021

As of Friday we have been in San Miguel for an entire week.  I must confess that I do not feel at all competent in using Spanish, but I do continue to try.  Most people are very understanding and helpful, but I’m sure it is as frustrating for them as it is for me when there is a total lack of communication. Basically, we did our errands on Friday.  We found a locksmith to copy our house keys and found two great markets very close to our apartment. We didn’t need to purchase much, but it is good to know where we can get all of the basics closer to home then the Mercado Ignazio Rameriz or La Comer supermarket. 

A house we passed on our walk
has a beautifully decorated doorway.

I passed this interesting sculpture on my walk.

And another sculpture using the
same techniques was close by.

That afternoon I registered for a two week course of Spanish language lessons. I’ll start on November 1st.  The lessons include two hours of instruction each day and a 1.5 hour cultural tour of San Miguel on Monday and a Music session on Wednesday.  I am very much looking forward to my class.

I also researched the celebration of Dia de los Muertos in San Miguel.  Apparently when a large number of expats moved to San Miguel they began to celebrate Halloween and in an effort to preserve the Spanish culture in the area the city began to promote the celebration of Dia de los Muertos.  It has become a great festival here lasting three days. The belief is that on November 1st the souls of the younger dead relatives return to earth to visit their family and on November 2nd the older souls of the dead do the same. So the days are not a celebration of death, as some believe, but a celebration of family and respect for lost loved ones.  We are looking forward to the experience.

Saturday morning was cool and by the time I ventured out at 10:00am it was only 56 but the high is expected to be 79 by the afternoon.  I do enjoy this climate. I walked mostly for exercise, but I also took some photos and purchased a few necessities.

It is difficult to pass the Perroquia
and not take a photo.
It is just so impressive.

The decorations for Dia de los Muertos
are already being displayed.

 

Legend has it that marigolds attract the 
spirits of the dead and they are 
always included in decorations.

Costumed and made up ladies are called catrinas.
This is a model of one. Notice the marigolds.

In San Miguel charming small cafes like this one
 are plentiful. This one's door opens right
on the narrow sidewalk.

At 11:00 am the football game between Penn State and Illinois kicked off.  At half time Penn State was leading 10 - 7.  But, unfortunately, after nine overtimes Penn State lost 16-18.  Bob was very disappointed. 

After breakfast on Sunday I continued my habit of taking a long walk for exercise.  Mid morning here is perfect for walking.  Although I can’t walk at my usual fast pace because of the cobblestone roads and narrow sidewalks it is revitalizing.  Today I didn’t even need my maps app to find my way home so I feel like I am getting acquainted with our immediate neighborhood.  Today, I located the brick oven pizza cafe and an additional bodega. 

A recent photo of my granddaughter Claire:

Apparently she is happy with her hat on,
but her mom told me she really
doesn't like them.

and my grandson Acen:

He is a jujitsu champion.
Can't wait to see his trophies.

Acen being silly with his mom when
she visited him at school for lunch.

Monday was our first rainy day here. Believe me our car needed to have the dust washed off.  We ventured to the La Comer area.  Our plan was to have lunch at a nearby restaurant but after driving in circles for awhile we decided to head to La Comer Supermarket and have lunch at their cafe. Our lunch consisted of Hamburgers and water which cost less than five dollars.  The hamburgers were not great, but it kept us from being hangry while we were shopping.  We took our time walking up and down the aisles looking for specific items, but also just looking at what was available. We purchased several household items which our kitchen lacks as well as resupplying our groceries.  As before shopping and carrying everything to our apartment and putting it all away was exhausting.  Are we getting old or is shopping in a foreign country just exhausting?

Thank you for reading my blog.

San Miguel de Allende

 October 19, 2021 - October 21, 2021

On Tuesday we decided to take it easy. I climbed to the roof top to start the laundry and then we took a walk down the street next to our apartment with our cameras.  

Everywhere we look there is an image to capture.

An intricate mosaic on the side of a building

Almost every house has a beautiful display of bougainvillea.

There was a huge mural dedicated to 
the pandemic experience.
I captured this small part.

A beautiful window decorated with tile.

This is what we have to walk on in this historic town,
cobblestone or sidewalks of 18 - 24 inches.

We were happy to see this medical 
facility just steps from our door.

Back at the apartment, I climbed to the roof again and hung our clean clothes on the line to dry. Bob had created a sauce for the pork chops we had purchased on Sunday.  I heated up the sauce, cooked the pork chops, steamed asparagus, and made a salad.  Once the pork chops were almost done I poured the sauce over the chops and continued cooking them.  The meal was terrific!  We liked the sauce so much that we decided to save the leftovers to use with the fish we had marinating in the fridge.  By the time lunch was over most of the laundry was dry. Previously, I thought it might be a difficult task to do laundry this way, but it was actually enjoyable.  Maybe we won’t hire a laundress to wash our clothes in the future. We then had an afternoon latte at the local cafe.

Such an inviting spot

 I wanted to get a little exercise so I walked to the Perroquia (the iconic church on the main square of Centro San Miguel).  

La Perroquia towers over the town square.

The square is surrounded by shops, banks, cafes, and other businesses with a lovely park in the middle.  Many people were taking advantage of the shade trees and relaxing on the benches in the park. I couldn’t resist looking through a few shops and purchased a white cotton Mexican style embroidered top.

  The mornings here are quite cool so on Wednesday we decided to wait until lunch to venture out.  We stopped at Hierba Santa - Chocina de Sur again for lunch since their menu was authentically Mexican.  I had Panuchos (pictured below) and Bob had Mole Verde con “Tamal Negre” which we were told has no translation.  Both were delicious.  

Fiesta banners blowing in the breeze.

Waiting for my lunch

My lunch was delicious!

We wandered down the street toward the Parroquia and the center of town taking our time to peruse shops and buy some pastries for tomorrow’s breakfast. We stopped into the Starbucks on the square for coffee and relaxed in their lovely courtyard. 

We had visited this Starbucks and
courtyard on our visit several years ago.

Some recent photos of Claire that Rachel has shared with me:

Claire needed her Mommy that day.

Such a cutie!

We were expecting our weekly maid visit on Thursday. By lunch time the maid was still working on the other apartments so we decided to leave for lunch and ask Beto (the apartment manager) to warn her about the cats.  We walked in the direction of the Ignazio Rameriz Market looking for a cafe for lunch.  We stumbled upon Classico San Miguel on Calle de la Luz.  I had a breakfast item (vegetable chilequiles) which consisted of mushrooms, spinach, and an egg all in a sauce.  I ate this delicious mixture in tortillas with avocado, tomato, onions, and beans.  Bob had beef enchiladas.  We continued on to the vegetable market which lead us through a marvelous Mercado de Artisans.  I’ll have to go back and spend some time there picking out a silver bracelet.  After we purchased our grocery items we walked toward our street, but finally  we caught a cab home.  Our maid had left by then leaving a fresh clean fragrance in the apartment.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Our first few days in San Miguel de Allende

October 16, 2021 - October 18, 2021

A good night’s sleep restored our sense of adventure.  After much needed showers in our tiny bathroom (only complaint I have about the apartment) we walked to a cafe just a few doors down from us for a delightful breakfast.

This cafe is only half block from our apartment.

My veggie omelette was artistically presented.

Bob is waiting for his breakfast.

Next stop Ignazio Ramirez Farmers Market.  The walk turned out to be more strenuous than we had anticipated, but the market was a great introduction to our new location.  Much like similar markets in the US there were individual stalls selling produce, flowers, meats, eggs and various other items. The challenge was paying for the items we chose.  By the end of our shopping I think I was getting the hang of it.  Unfortunately Duolingo has not taught me numbers higher than three so I was relying on what I remembered from my high school Spanish which was over 50 years ago. We were both tired from the walk and the shopping and grabbed a cab for the trip back to our casita. We purchased lots of fruits and vegetables but still not enough items to create a meal. I went to a few other shops for household supplies while Bob rested.  When I got back we were both ready for lunch.  We tried to find a restaurant nearby that had gotten all five star reviews on Travelocity but to no avail.  Back at our street we noticed Gabos Pizza Restaurant just two doors away from our apartment.  Since we didn’t have lunch until 3:00 pm we relaxed for the rest of the day.

This salad was as delicious as it was beautiful.

Sunday morning was grocery shopping day.  We decided to drive since we would be buying so many items.  We used my phone maps app to get to La Comer Market.  We missed quite a few turns and the trip took us much longer than we had expected.  The store was huge with groceries, household items, clothing, etc.  Shopping in a foreign language is not easy. We left with 5038.13 pesos ($251.90) worth of groceries and alcohol.  Considering that we had almost no food and no alcohol at the apartment I think our bill was very very reasonable. We lunched at Gabos Pizza again.  I had Sopa Azteca and a spinach crepe while Bob had a hamburger with potatoes and a salad.  Everything was delicious especially the mango crepe we had for dessert (this might be turning into a foodie blog). Grocery shopping and lugging it all up the stairs to our apartment completely exhausted us so we spent the afternoon watching American Football.

The cats seem to be adjusting well to their new temporary home.

The nighttime temperature early Monday morning was 41 degrees, but it warmed up to 75 by the afternoon.  We had two places to visit today.  The first was an old muslin factory that had been repurposed as a series of galleries and studios for a multitude of artists .  We had visited Aurora de Artists when we were here ten years ago but there were many new artists displaying their creations.

The wall that runs down the street we live on
 is completely covered in murals.
This one greets us every time
we leave the apartment.

Another mural on the wall

Horses galloping on the wall is one of my favorites.

A statue of a rearing horse graces the lawn
of the Aurora Artist  Galleries.

A unique "Day of the Dead" statue 
is displayed in the gallery hallway.

The grounds of the Aurora are representative of the local climate.

Our next stop was lunch at Hierba Santa - Cocina de Sur. I had their delicious chicken tacos served with fresh and lightly cooked vegetables with a hot broth poured over everything.  Bob had Sea Bass cooked with a sweet/ tart sauce and bananas along with a salad.  Both dishes were artistically presented.  

There is unique artwork everywhere you look in SMA.

This sign helped us to locate the
restaurant that we couldn't
find yesterday.

A mariachi statue stood at the entrance
to the small street lined with shops
that had the restaurant
we were looking for at the end

The outdoor seating area was decorated with 
"Day of the Dead"  fiesta banners.

The dessert of hand made ice cream was a
delicious ending to our meal.

Lastly we proceeded to our final stop - The Mercado de Artesanias, an arts and crafts market.  Everything in the market was created by local artisans.  Since we were getting tired we flagged a taxi for the trip back to the apartment.  

I think we need to learn to limit our outings each day to prevent becoming over tired and burned out.  After all we will be here until the end of March.  

Thank you for reading my blog.