Monday, 10/2/17 in SMA

I'm finding it very hard to stay current with my photos.  I'm writing this on Oct. 6th and I've only edited my photos through the 2nd.  Oh well.  Here's what I've got:

There is a lovely hotel in our neighborhood and we discovered that they serve a terrific breakfast.

Hotel lobby

Guest rooms.

Look at these trees!  I think the flowering one is a Mimosa.

Waiting for  breakfast I played with my table tripod  and used  the volume control on my ear buds to take the photo.  Pretty cool!

Next we took a walk around the neighborhood.

We met this gentleman walking around the neighborhood.  He and his wife moved here 4 years ago from Orange County, California.  He is a retired architect who now enjoys painting.  He invited us to see his garden.

This is in the back of his home with a balcony overlooking the garden.

Scenes from the garden.

 The top floor is his artist studio.

We spotted this sign in the neighborhood letting everyone know where they came from (Manhattan) but where their loyalties are now.

For every adult there seems to be at least 1 dog.  There is a cute shop on our street that keeps all the perros well groomed.

 We went for a late lunch/early dinner at the CarneVinoGrill and met an expat named Carla.  She has obviously been all over the world.  After dinner she invited us over to see her home.

We took a cab that went a very winding route.  Then we walked down a very narrow alley and I began to think maybe she was going to kill us but then she opened a gate and I was amazed at where she lived.

At the restaurant

Past the gate in the front garden looking at the front door.

Part of the garden.

Day of the Dead art in the garden.  You will see a lot from this holiday, which is huge, in  SMA and throughout Mexico.  I admire the acceptance of the reality of death.    I hope to learn more about the tradition while I'm here.

The living room. 

The sitting room.

Dining room.

More Day of the Dead art

Kitchen scenes

It seems everything is art.  These are the stairs to the bedroom level and on up to the roof deck.

Views from the deck.

Renee and Carla having a toast.

As we were leaving I initiated myself into a club well know in SMA but no one wants to join - The Fallen Women of San Miguel.  While taking photos and not watching where I was walking, I missed a step and took a nose dive right on to my nose.  Managed to mess up my glasses (good thing I always travel with an extra pair) and my face.  Feared I had broken my nose - lots of blood, it really hurt - but only bruising and scraps.  For the next few days I will be scaring children.  The funny thing is all the adults look at me and say "Oh, you fell.  It happens a lot around here."  Guess it's a good thing I did it on my first day and got it over with.  Also, so thankful to have Renee with me.  She kept me from panicking. This explains why you never see women in spike heels.

Let's hope Day 2 doesn't end badly.

Apartment in San Miguel de Allende

I love the doors in SMA and here's mine.

Thanks to internet shopping, I found this terrific apartment outside the historic district but an easy walk.  Here are shots of my temporary home.

It's a duplex and a garage.  My landlady lives in the other side and the upstairs.

Living room with  fire place that  also open in the master bedroom.

Dining area.

Renee doing KP in the kitchen.  Overhead lights are really a skylight.

Master bedroom

Master bedroom with fire place

Master bath

Guest bedroom

Guest bedroom with electric fire place.

Small patio off guest bedroom

Guest bedroom bath

Court yard off living room and master bedroom.

 Lime tree in court yard

Large poinsettia tree

Mystery tree

I've never seen a white cactus before.

All in all, a lovely place to spend a couple of months except....

it takes all of this stuff to wash fresh vegetables and fruits and you can't drink the water.  Oh well.

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico - Day 1

In 2004 Renee and I spent a week in San Miguel de Allende.  I've been wanting to return ever since.  I 'm staying for two months and during this time some friends will be coming down to join me.

Not a bad job of packing.  Yoga mat and knitting on top.  Portable drug store in green bag (us old folk require a lot of meds to keep us going plus hair goop, etc.) and everything else in the blue bag.






















This was Renee's first trip by plane in a very long time and I was very proud of how brave she was.

We arrived at National Airport very early.

First leg of trip was to Houston.  I was concerned we wouldn't make our connections because of the distance between gates (of course they were not in the same terminal) but United got a cart for us and we were whisked to the departure gate with plenty of time to spare.  Also the flight was delayed because the Frist Officer showed up late.  A nice reminder of the Latin American attitude toward time.

There are numerous flights into Guanajuato State so you can avoid Mexico City.  Once we landed in Leon, our reserved shuttle service was waiting for us.  The drive to San Miguel (SMA) took about 2 hours.







After settling into our apartment, it was time to find our 1st SMA restaurant.  This place is known for being a foodie paradise.  We stayed in our neighborhood and found a delightful little place that definitely caters to the locals.

Don't let the $100+ prices throw you.  The exchange rate is 1 dollar = 18 pesos

Just a little hole in the wall but with a lovely patio.

Photos taken in patio.

Walking home I took lots of photos of scenes in the neighborhood.

Our street

Our neighbors are not afraid of color.

Just a block from our apartment is a lovely neighborhood park.  There are bricks in the sidewalks indicating residents have made donations to the creation of the park.

I'm curious about who gets the herbs growing here.

Lovely  rosemary plant.