Tuesday, November 4, 2008

San Miguel de Allende



In the travel guidebook that I've brought with me, "Let's Go Mexico," the very first line of the entry for San Miguel de Allende is this: "You're as likely to see greying hippies as mariachis in this diverse town...." Greying hippies? Hey....who you calling a greying hippie? I'm a BALDING hippie!! They must have been looking over my shoulder.

Last night I stayed at the Parador San Sebastian....a very pretty local place. The rooms are set around an open courtyard on two levels. I sat in the courtyard at a wrought iron umbrella table and had a picnic lunch. A brilliantly colored flowering vine climbed up the wall. I had a big room, with high ceilings and 1930-ish furniture. The windows in the room had colonial wood shutters set into alcoves in the wall. A (non-operating) fireplace in my room. Clean white tile bathroom. For $29, though, a bit pricey for Rod!! So today, I moved to a guesthouse just down the street (it's $19....ahh, better). I really the owner lady. We chatted yesterday and then again today when I checked in. She corrects my Spanish. That's a good thing! She also showed me one of the two apartments she has to rent (they're currently occupied). A neat place with a little kitchenette, private bath, and a balcony overlooking the street. All for about $300/month. Intriguing...

By the way, have I recently mentioned how much I like NOT WORKING? Just getting up and NOT having to go into the office is a treat!

A glimpse of San Miguel--
I had breakfast in the local market, a place stacked to the ceiling with fresh fruits and vegetables of every kind, butcher shops,and stuff. Great smells, a riot of color everywhere. I wound up having breakfast at a little stall. Sat at the counter. Only a half dozen or so stools. Right in front of me, they squeezed a big glass of fresh, fresh orange juice. Whatever you do, stop drinking that junk in cartons from the supermarket. Whatever that is....it ain't real orange juice. The stuff this morning was ambrosia! And I had them make me an egg sandwich. All for about $2.75...such a deal. On leaving the market, I stumbled onto an altar set with an offering. This is Day of the Dead time, remember. I asked one of the vendors what it was about. She said each year at this time, they set out offerings to honor those of their former co-workers in the market who had died. It looked like a pretty tasty dinner, in my book. Several hefty plates of dinner, dessert, a beer, and........a bottle of Pepsi. I bet the Coca-Cola Company will be plenty disappointed to find out that ghosts prefer Pepsi.

Hasta manana