San Miguel de Allende

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Wow, how time flies, and it has been a while since we have blogged! After returning from Pie de la Cuesta, we spent a quiet couple of weeks here in DF, catching up with school, Linda is busy doing her International Bauclareate accreditation as well as some tutoring. There is such a demand that even I have attended a few tutoring classes with other teachers, and after Easter may take on some tutoring myself. However, I seem to have no trouble keeping busy looking after everything else that needs doing.
Then, Friday, Febuary 25th, off we went to San Miguel de Allende, about 4 hours Northwest of here. Stephanie, a young teacher at ASF, and her husband Alex, a webpage designer, joined us for our excursion. We left right from school, meet up at the metro and caught a 4 p.m. bus. I had gone to the North station a couple of days before to scope out the trip to the station as none of us had been there before, and purchased the tickets. Four and a half hours and a detour later, we arrived and joined an American lady who was meeting a friend at a 350 peso a night hotel. Seeing as we didn't have any reservations anywhere, we figured we might as well check it out, and found that it was a clean, beautiful, quiet hotel in an ideal location, just a couple of blocks from the Zocalo. We settled in and then went for an evening stroll. A city of about 80,000 people, San Miguel has a large Canadian and American population who spend winters there. We found it unusual to hear English being spoken in restaurants and on the street. We found the city to be exceptionally clean, the people very friendly, and the scent of flowers greeted us on every street. On Saturday, we strolled and shopped, and then visited the Cactus Conservation Area that Linda had visited with her school children back in November. Sunday saw us on the Turibus for a city tour, very informative, and then, after a great brunch, more shopping and strolling in the sunshine. We found San Miguel very clean, friendly, and with the large expatriate community, the local paper even published in both Spanish and English. San Miguel has been the setting for movies, and has a large and active arts society that keeps many retired people active. Later we were off to the bus and we were back home by 8PM and got ready for school and the market on Monday morning.

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Photos

Class of 2010
Linda's classroom on Valentine's Day

San Sebastian Hotel
courtyard, lovely, many flowers in San Miguel de Allende

Don Quixute
ornament in the courtyard

Courtyard
We were even able to play cards in the evening under the lanterns

Church Garden
a few blocks from the Zocalo, another church, with a garden and fountain of course

The Cathedral
Heart of the city, in front of the Zocalo

Ornate Facade
notice the pink color

Miniature of the Cathedral
Actually shows better than trying to capture with a photo

Side Street
boganvilia climbing the walls, they were all over the city

Another Hotel
we checked out the terrace at another hotel for another weekend visit - roof top

Rooftop terrace
overlooking the city, the weather was spectacular, about +27 and 15 at night, very comfortable

Zocalo
There were many people taking advantage of the sunshime

Fun in the Zocalo
Many people gather for the music, vendors, and activity that happens in the Zocalo

Cactus Conservation
incredible variety of cactus, they've had no rain since October

More cactuses
The grounds were very different than when Linda was there in the fall, this is a catus fence

Sunset
Was beautiful over the cactus

Light Show
I hope this goes through, an example of how they light up the buildings for their Saturday night show

Overlooking the City
View from a vantage point at the edge of the city

Comments

[Bob and Nancy]

WOW
You both must feel like you are in "heaven". Much better than you even imagined everything would be?? Sorry we missed you when we were in Guayabitos. Hopefully we can reconnect this summer--about the end of August as we are in Amherstburg for July and back mid August.

[Joanne]

Spectacular
Love the pictures and captions ... beautiful down there ... let me know how your trip to switzerland goes ... luvluv

[Mallory Hamre]

Hola
San Miguel de Allende looks like a very lovely place. Love those cathedrals!!! Really enjoying your blog! When are you back in Saskatoon next?

[Rob B]

Wow what a beautiful city. How did the northerers find this place. What makes it a winter place to stay. Looks like a great excursion. Keep having fun and exploring. Have a beer for me.