San Miguel de Allende, A Colorful Experience

Although my original itinerary included San Miguel de Allende, I changed due to my useless hand.  I just couldn’t resist however and decided to take a one night side trip to this well advertised town.  I’ve  heard so much about this place from so many different people.  No question, it is very charming and has some notable differences from other places I have been to on this trip.  First, I heard a lot of English in the streets which is due to the high percentage of expats that live there.  There are definitely more hills around here than I had encountered in other places. Lots and lots of shops, many very high end, aka expensive.  There is definitely an artistic vibe to the Centro area but with limited time I didn’t get past that area.

San Miguel from the viewpoint

As in other places there are many churches in the Centro area.  The main church has a very unique design and is huge.  It was actually designed after a church in Cologne Germany.

Many of doorways are decorated.  Generally they are flowers and fake ones at that.  I did pass one that stood out - all the flowers were real. My guide said this is to tell people they are welcome in the shop or restaurant.

The one with fresh flowers

With my limited time I was basically stayed around the main square and over to the park.   Many, many shops and restaurants everywhere.  It is an interesting mix of people from the dressed to the hilt women in their high heels to the long haired grey folks kicking back and enjoying their freer lifestyle in Mexico. Here are sights around San Miguel:

Some of the incredible art on display:

The surprise for the day, I stumbled across another festival - this one the Day of the Conquistadors.  If I understand it correctly this is to celebrate the harvest and is a once yearly festival.  Drums, dancing and lots and lots of colour and feather.  All age groups were represented in the varios groups.  Apparently the different communities come in at different times and do a parade around the main square before going into the church.  This continues most of the day and just rolls into an evening of celebration with more music and fireworks.  Well actually the fireworks which sound like gun shots,  started in the late afternoon as I discovered on my ride to the bus station.  I smiled as I watched many of them performing in their traditional attire and cell phones tucked into those outfits.

I found San Miguel to be one of the more expensive towns that I visited.  For sure the cento has been greatly influenced by the numerous artists and expats who have taken up residence here. But yes it is a definite must on my list of places to visit for a tour.

My journey back to Queretaro proved more challenging than I had anticipated.  It was to be a simple 1 1/2 hour bus ride.  It started fine however soon traffic was crawling.  It was a sea of red tail lights ahead for close to 2 hours with the trip eventually taking 3 hours.  Arriving tired and cold, the air conditioner was on full blast, I called an Uber for an uneventful ride to my place.  Only after he drove away did I discover a missing bag, the one with my really nice new hat.  Uber is still trying to connect with the drive4 but I have given up hope!  I hope some one enjoys it as much as I had been.

And the tourism model is there to say hello and Adios!