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.

Our Drive to Mexico - 2

 October 12, 2021 - October 15, 2021

Our appointment at the dealership in Jackson was for 9:00 am.  Consequently, we had to get an early start to drive the 60 miles east.  The service department got right to work and had our valve replace and the car ready to continue our trip by 10:00 am  We made it to our hotel in Greenville TX by 5:30 pm. However, our room on the third floor did not have a working air conditioner so we were moved to a suite on the second floor.  By that time we were both exhausted, hungry, and grouchy.  We fed the cats and headed to a nearby Mexican restaurant for a good meal.  Full tummies helped our mood and we returned to the hotel in much better spirits.

Wednesday was a long day as well. We passed by San Antonio and Austin on our way to Loredo TX. We had several tasks to complete before crossing the border on Friday. Bob gathered all of the paperwork needed for entering Mexico  with a car while I visited the Cambio (money exchange) to convert our US dollars to Pesos. I tried out my Spanish a bit but I wasn’t very good. I'll just have to keep learning and keep trying. 

I got up at 4:30 am so we could get to the immigration office early. We got to International Bridge 2 by 6:00 am and came to the inspection area. I guess our rooftop carrier looked suspicious and we were stopped. The inspector went through everything in the back section of the car and asked for us to open the carrier. He went through some luggage and then said we could continue. It took us awhile to find the immigration office but once there we sailed through the stations until the last one. We had inadvertently included an expired registration form. I went out to the car and searched through our glove box until I located the current form and went back to the station to get our car permit. We left the parking lot a little uneasy about where to go but got on 85 south heading to Monterey some how. Our gps was not working and the internet connection was spotty until we got out of Nuevo Laredo. The route we had to take was simple but dealing with kilometers, Spanish, and pesos for tolls was not so simple. We finally made it to Matehuala where we checked into Las Palmas Midway Inn (4 stars) at 3:00pm. The cats were about at the end of their patience with traveling as was I. We relaxed for a bit and caught up on our blogs before we went to the hotel restaurant for a well deserved dinner. Our appetizer was quite interesting and delicious. It contained cactus flowers.

Friday was our last day on the road. We are all tired of this trip and were discussing flying next time we decide to come to Mexico. Believe me, it would be less expensive, and probably less traumatic for the cats and Bob and I.  Our thinking about driving was that the cats would be more comfortable and we could take more stuff.  Probably a mistake all the way around.  

Although we woke up early we waited until the cafe opened at 7:00 am to have breakfast before we started the final leg of our journey.  The breakfast was delicious especially the fresh fruit.  We got on our way around 8:00 fully expecting to be in San Miguel de Allende (SMA) by lunch time.  Unfortunately, we ran into two very lengthy back ups and didn’t make it to our apartment until 2:30.  

This is the view from the entrance down the 
hallway to the bedroom. 

It is an eat in kitchen with great appliances.
It has a six burner gas range and a large fridge.

Bob is at the desk in our sitting room.

The opposite side of the sitting room

The walls are decorated with Mexican art.

Our bedroom is spacious and bright.
Although we do not have windows
we have skylights everywhere.

You can see how limited the clothing storage is.

We unloaded the car and I started the unpacking process.  I’m sure we will move items around as we find better spots to store them.  The apartment is bright and spacious, but with very little storage.  I’m sure we can purchase a few items to help with the storage. 

In the middle of unpacking Lola escaped and ran into our neighbors apartment and hid.  Fortunately our neighbor is a nice and understanding person.  She didn't complain at all as I ran back and forth through the apartment trying to catch Lola.  Finally I cornered her and carried her back to her new home for six months.  Lola seems to be a bit traumatized by our move to SMA, but Kali seems happy as can be.

We were exhausted by 6:00 pm, but I volunteered to walk (7 minutes) to a cafe nearby to purchase a pizza and bring it home for dinner.  One thing I found out on that walk is that the cobblestone streets and narrow side walks are somewhat difficult to walk on and will take some getting used to.

My next blog will be about settling into to the SMA experience.

Thank you for reading my blog

Our Drive to Mexico - 1

October 7, 2021 -  October 11, 2021

After completing our final packing of the car and readying the boat for engine work we loaded the cats in the car and started on the road to Salem, VA (our first stop). Lola was a bit traumatized by the car ride and remained huddled on the floor of the backseat for the entire trip, but Kahli enjoyed looking around and sitting on laps. Hopefully, Lola will get more used to the car. Even though we only drove for four to five hours I was exhausted by the time we settled into hotel.  I apparently under estimated how much energy it would take to load and unload the cats and all of the extra paraphernalia they require and our own necessary clothing and toiletries items. Since we didn’t want to leave the cats in the hotel by themselves we ordered a Papa John’s pizza and relaxed in front of the TV for a bit.  

Kali is obviously the more adventurous of our two cats.

Since we had a long day ahead of us on Friday we left the hotel at 6:30 am.  Lola seemed happier about being in the car and Kahli was her usual adventurous self during the trip.  We traveled through the beautiful mountains of western Virginia and southern Tennessee. We didn’t see much fall color but it was refreshing to see so many healthy trees.  Our trip was uneventful until we were about 30 miles from our destination of Jackson, TN where we endured an hour long delay on route 40 west due to a truck accident (at least that is what it appeared to be once we passed the scene).  The hotel in Jackson was old and run down, but we were happy to be there and settled in with the cats.  Again we ordered dinner to be delivered, this time it was from a Chinese restaurant just across the street.  

One of my text messages that night included 
this photo of my granddaughter, Claire.

On Saturday morning we packed up early as Bob wanted to be settled in our hotel by 3:00 pm for watching the Penn State vs. Iowa game.  As soon as he turned the car on the check engine light came on; proof that the most meticulous car maintenance does not prevent engine trouble along the way.  We drove directly to the local Toyota dealer and waited outside the service bays until they opened at 7:30 am.  The service manager had our car checked out quickly and reported that the problem was a valve in the emission system that needed to be replaced.  Of course they didn’t have the part in stock and couldn’t get the part until Tuesday morning.  After exploring some other options (the car was drivable for a few days) we opted to get a hotel close to Memphis and then return to Jackson on Tuesday to have the repair done. I think the break from driving everyday will do us and the cats some good.  We watched the Penn State vs. Iowa game. It was heartbreaking to see Penn State loose after dominating through out most of the game when their starting quarterback was injured and left the game.  The score was 20 - 23.

On Sunday we decided to do a little exploring of Memphis.  The cats appeared to be happy and safe in the hotel room and we left them there for a few hours.

Our first stop was the iconic Peabody Hotel for the march of the ducks.

The duck Master is explaining the history
of the hotel and the ducks.

Two of the ducks that marched from their rooftop home
to the fountain in the lobby.

You can read the history of the Peabody Hotel and their ducks here: https://www.peabodymemphis.com

Our next stop was Beale Street.

We stopped here for a lunch of gumbo, fried catfish, and all the fixings.

There was music everywhere!

We were there during the day, but I can just
imagine the spectacle of all of the colorful
neon sins all lit up at night.

This sign speaks for itself.

We passed this sign as we were leaving Beale Street.

I captured these images on the walk back to our car.

An alley we passed on our way home
was lined with colorful murals.
The message in this one caught my eye.

The architecture of the city was a
quaint mixture of old and new.

On Monday Bob filled out the paper work for our Mexican Tourist Visas

 and for our Mexican car insurance on line.  After a nice lunch we 

copied our documents for Mexico and spent the rest of the day enjoying 

our mini vacation from our road trip.

Thank you for reading my blog.