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.