San Miguel de Allende, Pueblo Magico

After spending time here for over a month (a long stop for us) it was time to move on. It's been great making new friends and re-connecting with old friends. At long last we were able to meet Terri and Mike Church face-to-face. They are the authors of the book Traveler's Guide to Mexican Camping which is known as the Bible and an invaluable guide to the majority of RVers in Mexico. We had an enjoyable lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, and they also joined us for some great music at a club where our friend Rick plays. Wonderful to meet them, as well as so many others we met in SMA.

As usual we enjoyed walking around town, peering into doorways and admiring the architecture.

We were lucky to be in town again this year for the big plant and flower show at the Parque Juarez.

We viewed the mural at the Cultural Center Belles Artes or Central Cultural Ignacio Ramirez "El Nigromante" that was started by David Alfaro Siqueiros in the 1940s but never finished. He was a leading Mexican Muralist, along with Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco. Siquieros had a colorful history which included leading an attack on Trotsky's house in Mexico City. More information about him can be found here.
We took our friends Bill and Sandy from British Columbia and Richard and Brenda from the Yukon to view the unfinished mural. Very cool and intriguing to try to figure out what the finished product would look like.

The Parroquia is one of the most, if not the most, photographed and painted churches in Mexico.

A few years ago we were able to watch as it was cleaned from top to bottom. This year we happened to glance up and see the lights at the top being changed. It looked a little scary, but the waiter at our rooftop restaurant assured us that it was being done by professionals.

 

Many of the buildings in SMA are very old and undoubtedly require a great deal of maintenance. Interesting to watch these guys cleaning and dusting one of the giant doors.

 

 

This fine looking  RV belonging to Susie and Gary from New Mexico came into San Ramon. Seeing double?

 

 

 We always enjoy our time in SMA and know why it's a World Heritage Site, Pueblo Magico and National Monument.  Of course we shall return.

Atotonilco

 

Galeria Atotonilco is a very impressive art gallery located just north of SMA. Ordinarily the gallery is open by appointment only, but last Sunday there was a special exhibit open to the public. The gallery is spread out over 2 large buildings, including the one seen above which is also the home of the gallery owners.

 

 

The gallery has an incredible variety of arts and crafts from all over Mexico. It seems that just about every state was represented with works from local artisans. Our friends Antonio and Ericka accompanied us and they, too, were amazed. Ericka commented that she wanted to thank the owner for his demonstration of respect and love for her country. I agree.

 

 

One of my favorite art forms, Trees of Life, were featured at this exhibit. Several can be seen above. Traditionally the Tree of Life is a tree sculpture featuring Adam and Eve with the tempting serpent, but the artform has expanded to themes including Day of the Dead and other local folk art themes. The Trees come from several different areas of Mexico. Some of them are very intricate and of course are priced accordingly. The ones in the photo above are colorful but not terribly intricate. The one below is a modern depiction.

 

 

The entrance to the house part of the gallery with more museum quality art

 

 

and a large sculpture of a praying mantis. One of my favorite pieces of Mexican art is a praying mantis from Oaxaca that I bought a few years ago. It's not quite as big as the praying mantis at the entrance but very similar in design.

 

 

Following our visit to the gallery we made our way to the Sanctuary of Atotonilco, which is a World Heritage Site.  The main feature of the church complex is the Mexican Baroque mural work on the walls and ceilings of the church. Because of the vivid mural work the church is often called the Sistine Chapel of Mexico. People still worship at the church, and it attracts as many as 5,000 visitors per week. Once again it's very difficult to impart the scope of what we saw through pictures, but hopefully the photos that follow can give a rough idea.

 

Looking toward the altar, murals cover just about everything

 

Close-up of the ceiling
 

Very elaborate altar of the Virgin of Sorrows

Brian, Antonio and his son Andoni walk past the church entrance
 

It's always amazing to see the inside of the Mexican churches. Many are plain or fortress-like on the outside and exquisite on the inside. We have commented several times that no two are the same. They all are unique in their own way.

 

Links for more information

Galeria Atotonilco

Sanctuary of Atotonilco

 

San Miguel de Allende, Settling In

We've gotten settled in to our spot at San Ramon, just over a mile north of San Miguel de Allende - SMA. There isn't much to choose from around here in terms of RV parking with all the hookups, so we're happy to have found a spot.

Last Monday was a holiday commemorating the birth of General Ignacio Allende, one of the great leaders of the Mexican Independence Movement. There was a parade in town which we missed because we chose to attend a brunch and watch Obama's inauguration. Oddly enough we were in SMA four years ago and watched the inauguration here as well.
Although we missed the parade we did see some of the band performances, which were fun.

 

The jardine and surrounding area was nicely decorated for the occasion. After looking around we met Les, a fellow Mexico RVer who has moved to SMA full time, and had a nice chat.

 

That evening we returned to the jardine to attend a concert by the Orquesta Sinfonica  and Chorus of the National Defense Secretary, which was followed by an impressive fireworks display.

 

 

One day an RV with a variety of stickers pulled into San Ramon and we had a very interesting talk with the people traveling in it. They are from France, and have traveled all over the world, from Africa and Europe to Tierra del Fuego in South America and are now heading for Alaska. Very adventurous to say the least and they've had some fascinating travels. Their RV has stickers from places they've been, which caught our eye right away.

We continue to enjoy roaming the streets of SMA, going to the local markets or tianguis,talking to people, and taking lots of photos.


Interesting figures on the balconies during the day

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under the spotlight at night

Along the walkway at the town market

Watching the world go by

San Miguel de Allende

As always, it's wonderful to be back in San Miguel de Allende, SMA. It seems as though we never have enough time to spend here so this time we hope to stay for a month. I'm sure we'll find more than enough to keep us busy.
We love the architecture and cobblestone streets

the central jardine and Parroquia

and the little courtyards we sometimes get to peek into..

We're looking forward to the next month and will be posting more of our explorations. Brian has a long-standing history here, and while he sees the changes that have occurred over the past 40+ years he's still enchanted by this place and so am I.

Here's an overview map of where we are

 

and our route from Roca Azul near Jocotopec to San Ramon Hotel and RV Park in SMA

 

Roca Azul to La Piedad

La Piedad to Irapuato

 

Irapuato to San Ramon in San Miguel de Allende

It was just under a 240 mile drive.

Fiesta Charra

Before leaving the Ajijic area we attended our first Fiesta Charra. It was a benefit exhibition featuring local children and adults. We saw several different traditional Mexican folk dances performed by the Ballet Folklorico Xicantzi, each featuring different costumes and steps.

The costumes and performers were delightful and representative of different areas in Mexico. This young lady was performing her dance on top of an inverted pot or urn, something we hadn't seen elsewhere in our travels.

There were local young men performing lariat twirling feats. The young man in the photo below is dressed in traditional Charro clothing.

 

This young man performed most of his routine on and with his horse.

 

 

The main event was an equestrian ballet routine performed by the escaramuza female drill team Las Margaritas de Guadalajara. Escaramuza translates to 'skirmish'. Skirmish teams don't have a specific number of members but generally consist of eight women or girls. This group consisted of young girls, some of whom didn't look to be much older than 7 or 8. In order to participate in tournaments there are strict guidelines and regulations regarding their horses, saddles, and dresses. Members must be able to control their horses with great skill, as their skirmishes require perfect coordination among all members of the team.

 

 

The routines were fairly complicated, and their timing had to be just right during the skirmish. It was very impressive!

 

 

There are some interesting videos of escaramuza skirmishes featuring more team members and elaborate routines. The following links should be able to convey what my still photos can't .....

Las Margaritas Escaramuza with 40 team members

Las Margaritas Escaramuza with 8 young girls, similar to what we saw

 

The day wrapped up with an exhibition of trained Freisian and Andalusian horses, along with some other dancing horses.

 

 

The horses were beautiful and well-trained, but the treatment they received from their owners was questionable. When we saw the liberal use of spurs on some of them, we decided it was time to go. Other than that, it was a fun event.