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Published: April 28th 2008
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Kissing Alley
The famous legend! Where to start? My brain is so full of everything that happened that its hard to even begin. I did a lot of stuff, and it was packed full, so I'm going to separate it into two entries, mmkay?
DAY ONE: SATURDAY
Got up way too early, packed, and was of course late to meet the girls. We booked it to Suburbia, got on the bus, and slept for 2 hours. We got to Guanajuato, and checked into our hotel- so nice! Alexa and I were in a room together. I unpacked my stuff and we met in the lobby for breakfast- fruit, coffee, bread, tortas, meat, eggs, etc etc. so much stuff! But expensive. cleaned me out!!
Then time for a tour! We walked downtown, and it is so different from Morelia. First of all, it feels like there are more people even though its way smaller than Morelia. Also, so many tourists! I haven't heard so much English since America! White people everywhere, and of all ages, though usually not in groups as big as us (12). Also, unlike Morelia (Gringolandia), I didn't see a single American place, like Starbucks, Burger King, Office Depot, Wal-mart, etc, although someone
El Pepile
The giant statue of the independent fighter (I know thats not spelled right...) said they saw a Domino's. Its a super colonial town, with cobblestone streets and original buildings. Its all built on hills, which are supposedly shaped like frogs (ranas), hence the name Guanajuato. It was also one of the most important cities during the fight for independence- its where Hidalgo rang the bell and Pepilo burnt down the door to the fortress where the Spaniards were hiding from the people. We checked out that plaza, which is now a museum dedicated to artisans from the area (not just Guanajuato, but as far as Michoacan and Ouaxaca. We weren't allowed to take pics there, but there was tons of interesting stuff, like the art from pre-colonial times, as well as knives and guns that were used by famous fighters during the independence. There were halls dedicated to each era of Mexico- Benito Juarez, Hidalgo, Porfirio Diaz...
We left there to go see Kissing Alley, which has a cute/tragic/Mexican legend that a long time ago, a rich young woman and a poor miner fell in love because their houses were so close together. The alley narrows and narrows until only a stairway separates the two apartments. They used to meet on their
Ride up the hill!
So scary!! I thought we were gonna fall out. balconies and lean over to share a kiss- one day her father found them and forbade her from seeing him. She disobeyed (the guide says because she didn't listen to her father, not because of love or morals or anything) and kept seeing the boy. The next time the father caught them, he killed her. Somehow, this translates into good luck: if you go to the third step of the apartments and kiss, you'll have 15 years good luck. I don't really get it, is it you have a great love affair for 15 years and then get shot? Why would that legend give you good luck? ah well. There were lots of men loitering around offering to kiss you, and tons of couples coming and going and kissing. So cute. There seemed to be a lot more kissing in general in Guanajuato than in Morelia or other places I've visited so far, but I don't know if thats because its more toursity, or the people, or what.
Guanajuato is known for its silver- its why the Spanish stopped there, so there was tons of silver to buy. I didn't buy anything for myself, but picked up a few
View from the top
All of Guanajuato souvenirs for some people! 😉
After the kissing alley we visited a university, and then Diego Rivera's house--!! So cool. He lived there until he was 7, when his parents had to flee the state. Years later his daughter bought the house and turned it into a museum. The only original furniture are three beds and a cradle, but she bought other pieces to make it look as much as the original as possible. It is a HUGE house. His parents must have been super rich. Four stories and stretched all over! The museum goes chronologically, and is so fascinating. Its funny how we make these assumptions (or I do at least) that artists who are known for a certain style can only do that one style. But as we saw, Rivera went through every stage possible- started with landscapes (gorgeous ones of the Mexican countryside), portraits like the ones you see in English paintings (like, the virgin and child or something.) then he got into cubism and has a great painting that looks like a Picasso but also has a touch of the future DR that we're all used to... There were also sketches, color studies, still-lifes, nudes,
The Hook!
The Spaniards hung the heads of independence fighters in caged jars from hooks in the square!!! So creepy. portraits. There is a beautiful one of a shirtless indigenous woman bending over at a lake, surrounded by lilies, and another one of Frida Kahlo nude, with oddly disproportioned body- her legs are small and at the same time too large, her shoulders broad but her arms scrawny. She looks like the victim of the car accident that she was, yet at the same time strong and beautiful. Then, of course, we got to his "style", the muralistic Mexican history with a healthy dose of socialism. There were photographs of him and Frida, that were very cute- smiling and holding each other, and in one he's bending over her sick bed. I can't wait to see their house in DF!! And all his murals!! He was never invited back to paint in Guanajuato, his childhood home, so we didn't get to see any.
Next we ate a huuuuge lunch of
sopes. MMMM. So yummy! I also had a... oh shoot, i already forgot the word in English. Like a popsicle, but made with vanilla ice cream and coated in chocolate? Do we have a word for that? Its
paleta here.
Oh then we walked to the bottom of a huge hill and bought lift tickets- teeny boxes that we all stood in and it took us up a track like a roller coaster up into the hill. Dad would have HATED it. It brought us up to a mercado of sorts with lots of Guanajuato stuff to buy- frog stuff everywhere, and lots of silver.
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