Ah! The long awaited vacation. I walk around with at least one Spanish phrase book in my bag and try to have conversations with the locals. What a nice break! The only thing is that I have the uncontrollable urge to proofread menus. Font sizes, spelling, colors, accents missing, punctuation, capitalization! It’s a good thing that Wil bought me a “worry doll”. Now, I seem to worry less. The margaritas here are great too.
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My worry doll / Wil and me with a bird’s eye view of the city.
San Miguel. A great place for a great escape. It took us at least 14 hours to get here. Once at the Mexico City airport, it was a 3.5 hour bus ride to the city of Queretaro, followed by a 1.5 hour shuttle trip to our final destination. We are staying at a bed and breakfast a short walk from the main plaza square, El Jardin. Our hostess is Maricela Campos Hernández. Two websites do Maricela’s guest house justice. You can see her place for yourself here: http://casamaricela.com and http://www.casamaricelas.com. Maricela’s home is very clean and the authentic, Mexican meals (two per day) are wonderful. Maricela is also very patient. She speaks to her guests in Spanish. If, after a short time, they still don’t understand, she repeats what she has said in English.
We spend our days wandering about, marveling at the architecture. Check out the dome of La Parroquia, and the town’s favorite restaurant for hot chocolate and churros, San Agustine.
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The Templo de la Inmaculada ConcepciĂłn and San Agustine Restaurant, with hot chocolate and churros “to die” for.
It wouldn’t be hard to walk 10 miles a day here, except that it gets very hot from around noon until about 4 pm. I thought you might enjoy seeing the ceiling mural in The Centro Cultural Ignacio RamĂrez, which is just a short distance from El Jardin. Check out these two small donkeys, laden with delivery bags. This is a far cry from the usual courier service one sees at home.
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Ceiling mural in The Centro Ignacio RamĂrez and two donkeys making deliveries.
At night we retire to the rooftop to read or chat. I think that Maricela’s home has the highest rooftop and the best view around. It’s breathtaking on all four sides. Here you can see the famous church, La Parroquia. Locals are accustomed to the constant sound of church bells which, sometimes, seem to ring all through the night.
Another diversion is El Jardin or the town square. In the evening it’s not unusual to see several mariachi bands performing, a band stationed on each corner of the square, all playing at the same time. It would seem that they are in competition with each other. Perhaps they are. Travelers and locals, alike, pay to be serenaded. Earlier in the day, a less experienced, larger band, performed in the square. I laugh and say that they sound like mariachis in training.
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Rooftop view of San Miguel and mariachis in training.
So, for the next few days, if you’re trying to reach me, you’ll have to call Darryl at the office. I’m sipping margaritas and proofreading menus in San Miguel!
¡Adiós!