Guanajuato

We move on …

Our next stop in our fast and furious tour of the Silver Cities/Colonial Cities is Guanajuato and we get there again by bus – our favourite mode of transportation - a 4hr ride. Once we arrived our taxi driver spoke excellent English and lived 8 years in Chicago. He returned to his home town because all he did in America was "go to work, go home, got work, etc and on Sunday washed clothes and shopped for groceries." Yup, he has it pegged right. The only difference is that some have to do it, others choose to do it.

Guanajuato, a colorful vibrant city set amongst the mountains,

 up and down the mountains

 colorful

 every usable inch 

is a Historic/Colonial City (part of the Silver Cities designation) within a modern city with definite boundaries between the two. It is nestled in a river valley amongst the mountains with major silver mines being it's claim to fame. The most amazing thing to me is the history of the river. The river ran right through town in a tunnel and one year it flooded the tunnel and up into the town to the height of 8 feet. The residents of the city, being minors and innovative, decided to do something about it. They dug another tunnel below the first tunnel and rerouted the river, leaving the original tunnel dry. They now have a road tunnel system under the city with areas designated for parking. The river continues to run under the city in the 2nd, deeper tunnel with only minor flooding one time into the original tunnel to a depth of 3 feet that lasted only a few hours. 

As well as being the seat of the fight for independence in the early 1800s, it is also an university town. The town hosting 5 universities and close to 23000 students living here. They live, play and go to school within the historic part of town where our hotel/hostal is located. When we arrived at the hotel what a surprise we had waiting for us - not a room but an actual apartment/suite. Very bright and cosy and roomy.

 our bedroom

all for the price of a room with a bathroom!

But there is always a downside to everything -- and here was no different. Our bedroom wall was backing up to the backside of a bar/club that had live blasting music from 3pm to 3am at least. So we ended up moving to the honeymoon suite - all pink and fussy. 

Guanjuato is an university town and we were staying within the historical local which is also the university local. The liveliness and busy-ness of this environment was awesome. No matter where you would go there would be something happening. Free concerts in the plaza, 

free examples of the Tunas and their unique brand of dress and music, 
statues in every open space, 
cultural events,  Theater,
dancing, 
walkway and callejons,  and of course the churches on what seemed like every corner. 

This was also Don Quixote and Diego Rivera country.  
And then there was a tram to transport you up the mountainside to the statue of Father Miquel Hildago, the Father of Mexican Independence. (He torched the gates to allow entry)  
Imagine our surprise to find walking tacos: a little different than those we experienced on RAGBRAI. These ones had chips, large, local niblets of corn, a form of sour cream, white cheese, juice of one whole lime, nacho cheese, and chili pepper or any combinations of the a/m ingredients.  
And of course, the ever present Starbucks.

One evening we were walking through various small streets and came across a square that had dancing in it. The difference here is that they are all Tercera Edad (senior citizens) and boy could some of them move. Found out later that they actually had lessons every Friday night and that some were going to enter a dance competition in Mexico City in the new year. In the video, the couple on the right (black and white striped shirt): the woman has had a stroke and her partner had all the bouncy moves and no hesitation in dancing with her.

Touring Morelia & surrounding areas

The next 2 days of our time in Morelia was spent on organized tours, one of Morelia and then one out in the campo. We were fortunate in that we were only 4 the first day and just ourselves the following day. 

Morelia Tour group with guide

<->

Some of the things that we saw on the tour of Morelia we had already experienced on our own walking tours the previous couple of days. But we also saw things that we wanted to see but as yet, hadn’t seen.

*Took a driving tour up into the hills around Morelia to the mirador where we could see the town as it is nestled in the "mountains". The area around the mirador has built up in a little more than 2 years to a very modern, expensive town that is autonomous from Morelia, yet is within the boundaries of.

 a cloudy day still.

*Revisited with a running commentary, the aqueduct which no longer functions but remains an impressive sight at one end of the Historical Centre on the Camina Real… 

 
the end of the aqueduct in town ...
  

~as well as along the pedestrian walkway to the aqueduct
    
    houses also got into the event in a big way

  
~at one end of the Pedestrian walkway there is a small park dedicated to the mayan people with replicas of their great works

 

*found the callejón del romance, where women would sit while the men would saunter past, hoping to meet the love of their life and ultimately wed ...

 a very short alley actually

 success plaque

 betrothal fountain

 people are still living in the houses lining the alley

It is amazing how much one can learn from a tour guide, even after reading your guide book. They are a world of knowledge. In Mexico it appears that, to become an official tour guide, one must go to school, learning not only the history but also the flora and fauna of the country and continue to keep abreast of current affairs and developments. 

At times the sun came out during our tour and I vacillated between jacket on/jacket off. The nice thing about that however was that we had nice hot water when we returned to the hotel, instead of the rather tepid morning shower water. YEAH!!!!!!!!

The next day we were picked  up once again by Lorenzo and we headed out of town. We chose initially to do the historical tour but Lorenzo put his head to the task and we ended up with a little of everything.

~ an opportune stop at a campo cemetery to see how they do El Día de los Muertos.

 

oddly enough, they also carve pumpkins

Bumping down a quaint off-highway road, through what could only be described as the wooden furniture capital of the world, we come to a very old church (what else?). But this time we get the history and small trivia along with the tour. As well, Danny is introduced to some more Michoacán native food as well.

very reminiscent of the old mission churches

... then a stop at a finch overlooking a very impressive valley but first a ride over a dirt road filled with more potholes than road space. Met by an eternal, stand-alone mariachi band...

  the garden is full of various art but he is my favorite

Then the chair manufacturing capital of Michoacán:

Then on to the city of Santa Clara de cubre - yes the copper capital yet there is no copper left in the surrounding mountains. What they use or re-use is the old copper wiring and pipes that they actually receive from the governmental agencies. Here we did buy a souvenir... a basket to be used as a bread basket and a small frying pan to be used to fry eggs in. (Clean with lemon juice and salt por favor)

 the city monument. Yes  copper tub

took a tour of how they make copper things

 Danny trying to show his strength

 not as easy as it looks

And yes, all copper:

And yes the churches, but this time gilded in copper:

Walking along a road, do not be surprised to see alternative forms of transportation. When this man saw my camera, he stopped and posed without being asked. I swear, he did!

Then on to the lake and Patzcuaro, another historical, colonial town. This one taken over by the artisans  

The travel back to the city was uneventful and tomorrow is another day ....