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.

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