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.