Trip of Giants - Guanajuato

---

Another quiet day ahead of us. This time we do go to the Macrocentro Deportivo, the large sports complex just down the road. Like tourists, we decide to walk down the windy road with no footpath, skirting the drains and small tracks. We imagine the locals driving past thinking {crazy tourists}. At the ticket booth, we are met with a barrage of spanish, then luckily a lady is leaving and offers to translate for us. Seems the pool is only for members or classes. There is a nice rock climbing structure outside but you need equipment to use it. So we pay the $5 each for entry and the kids play at the decent sized playground.

At first there are only a couple of kids there, then what must be a class of kids aged around 8-11 shows up, noise and all, and engage Joseph in constant questioning about his name, where he's from and how old he is. Of course he loves all the attention, and plays T-rex with them (apparently no translation needed, only required to say Aaarrrrgh!). Liam meanwhile hangs around with another much quieter boy.

A short walk back up the hill {crazy tourists}, and into the pool. In the pool Joseph starts chatting to Eduardo, a boy about 13 years old. They talk about the latest movies, schools, where they've been. Joseph starts taking after his grandpa at this point: he adopts a mexican accent when responding to Eduardo!

By 3pm we've had enough of sitting around, so catch the bus this time only $13, strange, and walk back along the avenues to the Museo y Casa De Diego Rivera (Museum and house of Diego Rivera). It is interesting, showing Diego Rivera adopted a range of different styles of painting. I preferred his depictions/ reproductions of old Mexican indian stories such as the Creation of the Mountains. There was only one mural of his in the house, that he is known for, so we didn't get to see the more well known of his work.

We make a booking with Ofelia's for 6pm, then carry on walking around. Ky spots a funky coloured shoe stall and tries on a pair. The owner is from San Miguel de Allende and is selling his shoes in Melbourne through a lady, Kathy, who saw them on the internet and came all the way over to get stock! The owner also confesses that he is getting married and asks us whether Australia would be a good place for a honeymoon! Of course we say yes.

We carry on looking around, peeking inside a couple of churches also, and Liam hunting for a wrestling ring to put his little plastic wrestlers in, but by 5:30 we decide to just go to the restaurant.

It is to be recommended. Separate dishes were given for the table, the usual nachos with chilli sauce, and a surprise for us: a bowl of jalapenos. Tasted better than the bottled kind we get back home. I had a steak, forget the name, began with Arr- . Tasted fantastic, and was served with very tasty refried beans, guacamole, some orange thing that may have been a type of crumbly cheese, and a little bowl of mozzarella cheese. Chuck that in a tortilla with a few jalapenos and you're in heaven! Ofelia's had american-style kids dishes, so Liam had the nuggets and Joseph the burger, although both dishes weren't quite the standard of our typical equivalents. Ky had a Milano pollo (Milanese chicken, ie shnitzel). Total bill only $336. We left a $50 tip.

After we continued walking for a bit, finding icecreams in a shop for $13 each, then back into the Mercado Hidalgo for Liam to find his wrestling ring. He did, for $55 a good sized wooden one. We also bought some Guanajuato shirts for $50 each, then outside where the taxis were plentiful and back to the hotel where the boys had another swim.

---