Cobblestones and Pretty Streets

Marc and Sue have a research company and are quite involved in a project right now and with the deadline looming, I am now doing my walking tours solo. Seems a lot of the social life here revolves around dinner out, so looks like I will be checking out the local restaurants most nights this week as they have kindly added me as a tag along each evening. It is a good way to meet friends and get to know the favourite eating spots.

My Casita - view from the kitchen

Let you tell me a bit more about my digs. I rented via the Home Away website (www.vrbo.com), which is an Air B&B like site. I had decided to rent a 2 bedroom as several of my friends and even adult children were planning to visit. As fate would have it, each one of my potential guests ended up having something else crop up and so I am on my own in this huge 2 bedroom apt. Lesson learned, don't count on guests coming, nor rent more space than I need in future.

My Casita - view into the kitchen

 

That said , it is a cute and colourful place and I am happy to be here. The casita is one of 3 sharing a private courtyard behind the big locked front doors. The other 2 are smaller with one bedroom each - both cute as a button and unoccupied this month. I am alone in this big casa. November is low season. Apparently it is hard to find accommodation for the Jan - Mar timeframe, unless one gets on it really early. Each of these 3 casitas are booked solid from January onwards. Many folks come back to the same place year over year so pickings are slim. If I decide to winter here next year I will have to get on it early.

I am happy to say that I am keeping with my plan to write until mid day before venturing forth to explore. Yesterday, my walk about focus was on making sure I could find my way around my area and to have a good look at some of the more local buildings and sights.

San Miguel is a city of cobblestone streets with both the sidewalks and roadways made of stone. I was amazed when I arrived at how rough the roads were for the taxi. The heritage minded folks are working to keep pavement out of SMA. The stone roads slow down the traffic for sure. One difference of note here is that cars will stop and let pedestrians cross mid street - something unheard of in Toronto. I am told that this is true only of drivers from SMA - not Mexican tourists up from Mexico City and I should check the licence plate before assuming a car will stop. I think it easier to assume they won't stop. The pace of life is so slow here that no one is in a hurry - even the drivers.

Cobblestone roads are really uneven.

Walking is a bit treacherous here as I was warned by Sue - she herself has had a spill when walking the streets. The uneven cobblestones plus the hazards on the sidewalk (uneven surfaces, narrow sidewalks and dark streets at night) make falling a real danger if one does not walk with face down to see what lies under your next step. Sidewalks are not as we would know them. They are little more than a raised bit of cobblestone at the side of the roadway, usually no more than a foot and a half wide and sometimes with holes bit enough for a foot to fall into. Last night, one of our dinner companions fell on her walk to the restaurant and the same night, on my way home, I saw another lady face plant into the road after she misjudged the distance of the step down on the sidewalk at a driveway.

SMA is known for the Instituto Allende, which originally was the summer home of the De la Canal family - one of New Spain's richest families and a prominent SMA family of the day and through the centuries following. The Instituto is located in an enormous complex, which the De la Canal family built as a retreat and hacienda. The old house is filled with various courtyards, a private chapel with colonial era frescos, modern art gallery and restaurant. In 1951, it was converted into an art institute which offers courses in silverwork, ceramic and Spanish, attracting hundreds of students each year.

Parque Juárez

I also checked out the Parque Juárez, which sits in behind and just to the east of the Instituto and the Rosewood Hotel (San Miguel's 5 star hotel and luxury townhomes development). The park was originally created in the 20th century, designed in the French style with wide walkways surrounding squares of formal gardens, fountains, reflecting pools and of course trees. This park was refurbished during SMA's 100th anniversary and now has a huge children's playground, Basketball courts and some exercise stations.

The view to the west looking down Pila Seca (street)

I could walk these streets and gaze at the view for a long time and never grow tired of it.

 

Behind each of these doors is a beautiful courtyard. You need to look closely to see which are homes and which are businesses.

 

This is the view from the doorway inside the boutique hotel which is the door sitting at the left foreground in the picture above it. Streetside homes and businesses are unassuming and understated. Beautifully simple with an artistic flair based in colour and elegant design.

 

The hotel courtyard features a lemon tree and greenery and is so inviting. This is a very typical sort of view you see if the doorway is open and you are able to look inside.

 

I could post 2,000 pictures like this one and each uniquely beautiful - yes, actually 2,000! According to some literature I was reading there are 2,000 doors in the historical part of SMA with 2,000 courtyards behind them!

This is SMA's Pocket Theatre which has 2 - 50 seat screening rooms and features original language art movies with English subtitles with 6 screenings a day. For 10 pesos you get admittance plus a drink and popcorn. Today I will go get a tickets for Saturday to see Amy, a documentary about Amy Winehouse which was showing at TIFF this past Sept. Looking at the building's facade you can scarce tell it is a movie house.

 

The Jardin Prinicipal - a meeting spot in the plaza opposite the Parroquía

I arrived at my meeting place for tonight's night out for dinner - a bench in the Jardin Principal facing the Parroquía. Marc and Sue had invited me to join them for dinner with friends Jacques and René - a long married couple from Montreal who have sold their home and are moving down full time and Daryl - an American woman originally from Atlanta who is a full time resident. We went to a place which is a bit on the high end for SMA but the dinner, Salmon Limoné, was excellent. Dinner with 2 glasses of Chilean merlot was 365 pesos ( ~$30) with tip. I shall have to relook at my budget as my allocation for dinners out will clearly be insufficient if I am to be eating out just about every night! My preference is to eat more at home but it is nice to get out to meet people, so will need to relook at my budget to see how many nights out I can afford.

Day 4 ended with a leisurely walk home and yes, it is safe for women to walk alone at night, at least in this part of town. Hasta luego from San Miguel!

 

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Getting to know SMA just a Little Bit

Café Monet - where I had breakfast on my first morning

Café Monet - where I had breakfast on my first morning

Yesterday afternoon Marc and Sue took me for a bit of a walking tour followed by dinner with a friend. I had spent all morning writing, and felt keen to get out and see more of the sights. We met at the Café Monet and before heading up the street took at look at the little barrio (neighbourhood) behind the main street.

The streetscape is captivating in old historic town center.

There is a little hidden laneway, just inside the "Aldea Arches" which leads to the Life Path Centre, a yoga/Tai Chi Meditation Centre/Boutique Holtel. The Riconada de la Aldea, as it is called, is filled with wall murals and gardens, a few galleries and some wonderful home facades.

The streetscape is vivid and interesting in the old historic town center.

 

A wall mural on "Riconada de la Aldea"

After touring the little laneway we wandered around the small rectangle that is Santa Cruz (street) and enjoyed a parade of beautiful homes which comprise the small La Aldea Arches Barrio. The weather was perfect even a bit hot (not complaining) and the one cloud in the sky made a very picturesque statement.

A wall mural on "Riconada de la Aldea"

San Miguel is known for its beautiful doors - I was told there is a coffee table book one can buy. It will be hard not to fill this blog with pictures of the beautiful fronts of houses I see on my walks. The historic centre of the city is quite regulated - the colours are restricted to the Browns/oranges and yellows which are in keeping with the district. You won't find any fast food joints - businesses are also restricted.

Next, we wandered up Zacateros (street) wandering in and out of shops and galleries and winding our way up the street to the Templo de la Immaculada Conception, which is both a church and a cloistered nunnery.

The fabulous tree in the garden at the Church of Immaculate Conception

From there we strolled - from now on my "up" will refer not to north/south but to real up/down, since this is a hill town and that makes more sene - up to Hernandez Macias (street) and into the Bella's Artes cultural/arts centre. There are arts classes and lectures here as well as permanent rotating exhibits. Here I saw an amazing wall mural - really a whole room mural created in 1948 by David Alfaro Siqueiros.

 

Afterwards we continued on to a street named "Insurgentes" and to the Biblioteca Pública (library). The library is one of the main centres of social activity and houses the small Santa Ana Teatro as well as lounges, a big projects room bustling with all sorts of activity from language instruction to crafts. We stopped at the library courtyard café for a coffee. Yes, there are also books here - English as well as Spanish. It houses one of the larger collections of English language books and DVDs in Mexico, second only to the one at Mexico City. Films are shown and lectures take place In the Teatro and most cost only 60 pesos. I earmarked Fri at noon to go see the film "I'll see you in my Dreams", which I had wanted to see at TIFF but could not get tickets.

Actually there are quite a few small theatres tucked away in little spots, seating only 20-30 people in the ahistorical district with jaunt a little cardboard sign in the window advertising what is on for the week. For 10 pesos you get a drink and popcorn and a movie - and some good ones in English. I wonder if these movies are bootlegged copies given the price!

Next through the Plaza Civica and on to the Mercado Ignacio Ramírez - the market. It reminded me of St Lawrence Market in Toronto. It was just closing as we arrived and we only poked around the beginning of it - it goes on for streets and streets. I will have to go back there to have a real browse.

The last stop of our walking tour was the Plaza Principal and the Parroquía de San Miguel Archángel, which I had seen on my first evening during the Day of the Dead celebrations. The pink stone on the gothic spires looks amazing as the sun sets. See the section on the Parroquía in the San Miguel Article from WIKI:

Day of the Dead Continues

View from my front door into the private courtyard.

Yesterday was a mixed bag. I started to carve out my day - the morning for writing, afternoon and evening for sightseeing and social stuff and odd chores. I am using the Spanish definition of afternoon - it starts about 1:30 or so... Before that I will write. Good plan and followed to the letter on my first full day here. I am full of enthusiasm for my new digs and my month of writing and exploring.

 

There was not a bit of anything to eat in the casita, as I had not found the energy or time to pick up even the makings for coffee yesterday, so the first order of business was going out to breakfast. The recommended spot - Café Monet about 10 minutes amble down the main drag a few blocks from my place. It was bustling, it being still Day of the Dead - oddly, this day is 2 days long. The café was homey with a living room like space at the front with two big comfy couches on either side of a large coffee table which had been commandeered by several couples as all the tables were occupied. About a dozen or so tables were filled with mostly grey haired Gringos with a few Mexicanos wandering in now and again to have a quick coffee at the bar. It looked like mainly seniors here in "SAM", the short for San Miguel de Allende used by the locals. I guess I will fit in just fine.

 

Rather than hog a whole table to myself, I hoisted myself up on a bar stool and sipped my coffee at the counter at close range to all the action. Quite the coordinated effort. The barista (or is it baristo as in the Spanish masculine form?) brought forth lattes and café Americans non stop. Oddly, I asked for a café con letche and the Mexican barista replied "a latte" - I guess the clientele here are more Anglo than Latin. Anyway, the place lived up to the recommendation. Behind the coffee station was the kitchen, almost hidden from my view by the huge espresso machine. It occupied the centre of one side of the café,protruding into the dining room tucked behind a serving counterlike a stage in a theatre. All staff were working non stop moving quickly for table to coffee station, to serving counter with great efficiency. I had a latte and an excellent simple cheese omelette and paid only 75 pesos with tip ($6). I think this café is considered one of the better ones for value. It just may become my go to breakfast stop.

 

 

I headed home with my travel mug filled with coffee, ready to spend a few hours writing and enjoying my quiet casita on my sunny little terraza. Before long, I had posted my first blog and felt pleased that all was progressing as it should.

The equivalent of the BBQ chickens I often buy at my local grocers at home.

 

Looking good and at $6 a couple of bucks cheaper than at home.

At 2 pm my helpful friends arrived to take me on another walking tour (this time focused on shopping) and to go to the bank machine, cell phone provider and the "MEGA", a huge grocery and department store. We walked up the main drag for several kilometres as various restaurants and shops were singled out for mention - too many for me to remember but for sure in time I will get to know. Seems like I will not want for places to spend my money.

People streaming into the cemetery for day 2 of the Day of the Dead celebration

As we walked up the street (or maybe down - I still haven't got the north/south orientation ingrained into my internal GPS), we passed the entrance to the large cemetery. Day of the Dead is a serious business here. The obligation to visit one's dead relatives is felt by a large segment of the population if the crowds were any indication. I have been reading more about it in the local English language newspaper called "Atención". Seems Nov 1st is to honour dead children and Nov 2nd is to honour deceased adults. I guess there were too many graves to visit in one day so they had to expand the holiday to 2 days. It is an interesting holiday and cultural study. Go here to wiki for more info.

 

After a bit more walking, I got a new sim for my iPhone with voice, sms and data and for a mere $35 which is less than I would pay inToronto. I had a lot to buy at the grocer's given that there was nada in stock at the casa but I was pleasantly surprised when the bill came to just over 1,000 pesos (~$80). A quick cab home for a mere 40 pesos and my chores were done!

Pan de Muerto - a speciality available on Day of the Dead

To conclude my day, I joined my friends for dinner at a small restaurant off a quiet side street near their home. The food was excellent and the steak perfectly cooked. The topic of conversation was things to do in SAM. That will for sure be something to cover in my next and also subsequent blogs - I am now seeing the clock and it is nearly 1:00 and time to go for a walk. I headed home full and happy having spent only around $18 and that included 2 glasses of wine! There are so many great restaurants and with prices not too expensive it will be hard to spend nights at home cooking. Typically, when at home n Toronto I seldom eat out, much preferring to cook my own food. I am not sure if it is the thrifty part of my soul or really that I prefer my own cooking, but my budget does not have a lot of dollars earmarked for eating out. Then again - I am on holiday - or am I? LOL- The old conundrum when you don't work every day is a holiday.

With that day 2 of my Mexican trip comes to a close. I have had no trouble sleeping. The mattress is comfortable, temperature perfect and the neighbourhood perfectly quiet. All is well in San Miguel.

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Mexico Bound - San Miguel de Allende

I owe an apology to those to whom I promised to continue blogging after I returned from my last trip. I thought it would be easy - the habit was entrenched to blog daily and I would just have to keep it up. Sadly, life just got in the way. Now I am on my next trip and back to my "Bucket List" blog as well as some other writing projects and I have fresh hope to continue with the "Toronto is my Town" blog when I return - at least that is the plan.

Yesterday, I flew to San Miguel de Allenda, by way of Dallas and Querétaro. I took an easy 1 hour Bajiago van ride costing 520 pesos (about $42 CAD) from there to my destination. I was happy, but starved and exhausted, when I arrived in the late afternoon at my rented Casita a couple of blocks from the centre of the city. The weather was sunny and warm, something best appreciated by someone who has left on a cold and dark November morning from a northern city. As I was walked through the casita and saw that it was everything the photos promised, I thought how wonderful this holiday is going to be.As an aside, I guess I shouldn't call or think of this as a holiday. Holidays are for working people, and I haven't set my foot inside an office in a full year. I was thinking of this as a bit of a writers retreat combined with travel to a new and interesting city and with opportunity to visit with and be shown around town by friends who have wintered here for the last 7 years. My friends Marc and Susan had suggested SMdA might be someplace I would enjoy and already I have to agree. I have some vague idea that I could possibly winter here also, although right now Spain is probably higher on the list of places where I think I might like to have a longer term stay. We shall see. The other reason not to think of this as a holiday is that I plan to spend 4-5 hours a day writing. Part of the equation for me to figure out if I am going to look for a job in January is seeing if I can establish myself as a writer, but not necessarily as a published writer - at least by January LOL. To be called a writer you need to spend a good part of your day writing - every day. To be a writer, I think you must write every day like it is a job and hope/believe that at some point something will be publishable. Mainly though, you must just write every day. If by January I am spending my days writing then I will have no reason (other than financial) to look for another job. I will have a job as a writer. Now back to San Miguel.

San Miguel de Allende is a smallish city about 3-4 hours north of Mexico City, in the central part of Mexico on the the foothills of the. According to WIKI:

"The main attraction of the town is its well-preserved historic center, filled with buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries. This and the nearby Sanctuary of Atotonilco have been declared World Heritage Sites in the 2008."

I am on my own in a two bedroom casita (more about that in another blog) but Marc and Susan live a 10 minute walk away. While I am used to travelling on my own, there is comfort in knowing that friends who "know the ropes" are not far away. After settling in, they came over to take me to dinner at a good medium priced restaurant around the corner from my place, Hecho de Mexico. It had been recommended by the chap who had shared the van ride with me to town from the airport. Both he and my friends agreed, consistently good quality and a nice mix of Mexican and American dishes. After I had stuffed myself with a great meal of rosemary chicken, sweet potato and creamed spinach washed down with a margarita, we wandered around the town for a bit of a night tour.

My arrival on Nov 1st was a lucky break as I got to enjoy the Day of the Dead Celebrations. This fiesta is to celebrate those who have died and though the celebration of ancestors it is also a celebration of life, heritage and family histories. People gather and remember and celebrate ancestors with friends and others in the cemelteries and public places in the city. The fashion awesome shrines on the streets and parks and at the cemeteries, where objects and remembrances are arranged with flowers as a tribute for the person who has died. It is not somber, but very happy and a true celebration, It is a bit of a goulish night, sort of like Halloween, as adults and children alike dress up in costumes, a little like zombies, minus the blood.

 

After a wander around town, exhaustion got the better of me and thankfully, Marc and Sue showed me the way home as I would not have found it on my own. Day 1 of my 30 day adventure and promise of great days to come!

 

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Madrid Sightseeing - June 30 & July 1st

My trip from Santiago, by the fast ALVI train was flawless and I arrived at the Chamartin RENFRE train station early in the afternoon. The train was absolutely full. I was very pleased to hear an announcement as we pulled into the station that the long distance ticket was also good for transfer to a local train. After enquiring at the information booth upon arrival I discovered that one of the local trains went to the city centre, the Plaza Sol, very near my hotel.

The hotel was quite adequate but a bit of a workout at 3 floors up from ground level. I guess I can't really complain though, it is clean and comfortable and even a tiny balcony to the street below- a pedestrian walkway. The area is really in the centre of everything. I enjoyed the many mines and street artists, particularly the Michael Jackson tribute artist who was performing below my balcony last night.

I was able to get out and do a bit of sightseeing on Tuesday and took a ride on one of the the hop on hop off buses, which for 25 EUR I think a good deal. For the money I got 2 days of transportation and a narrative describing sights over two routes, one 80 min long and the other 65 min long. I tend to do this sort of tour whenever it is available, to give me a good overview of the sights to be seen before I set out to see anything in more detail.

During my evening tour the bus had to divert as there was a massive demonstration going on, which had closed some very major roads as the demonstrators marched through the centre of the city. In fact the demonstrators chad marched over to the Plaza Sol by the end of the evening. I read afterwards that the demonstration was against a new law taking effect July 1st. This law would outlaw any public protests conducted around government buildings unless the organizers had previously received permission for the gathering/demonstration. I guess liberty and freedoms at in jeopardy everywhere these days, not just in Canada.

I spent the next morning doing the tour of the 2nd route and in that tour discovered that there was a building by the Neptune fountain, across from the Prada Museum, which had a special clock display at 12:00 noon. After the bus tour finished I headed over there to see (and hear) the action. It was pretty neat, after the bells range in the noon hour they played a little tune while figures came out on the balcony and danced around. After that, I headed for the Prada Museum, where they had a special Picasso exhibit. It was good to be in th A/c in the afternoon as temperatures again were peaking around 38 in the shade.

Plaza Mayor

The prettiest side of Plaza Mayor

Palacio Real

The Building with the special clock

Figures dancing at noon

The Prada

In a lot of ways Madrid reminds me of a Havana, but of course Havana has let all it's wonderful buildings deteriorate where Madrid has kept theirs restored and refurbished. Havana has a Prada street also, with a wide pedestrian walkway between the opposing lanes of traffic.

The Prada Museum

I spent a few hours wandering through the gallery admiring the art works.

Parque de el Retiro

Next I headed over to the large park which lies on the east side of the city centre. It was nice to be able to sit under the trees and admire the gardens. Everything was well manicured. No wild areas and every section of grass was surrounded by a small hedge, giving the effect of a great many rooms.

Even the trees were well manicured.

There was a large cement pond and boat rentals, under the watchful eyes of a statue of Alfonso XII.

Lots of water attractions, but no swimming.

You can see Puerto De Alcala just beyond the park. None of the city walls have been kept in Madrid, but all of the gates are still where they originally stood.

Palacio Cibeles

I am off home tomorrow morning. Thanks to the great transit system here I can get to the airport easily on the subway. I am off to bed now - I have stayed up much later than I normally do just to get this blog done. Once I am back to reality, there will be a dog to fetch and friends and family to visit and so it will be a few days before I blog again. But within a few days I will resume my Toronto blog, which has been sorely neglected for far too long.

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