Trip to Guanajuato - Days 7 and 8

Day 7 - Tonala

We left San Miguel de Allende about 10 am and spent most of the day driving to Tonala ( an eastern suburb of Guadalajara). We stopped there to shop at the famous artisan market which is held only on Thursdays and Sundays each week.  Since this was Wednesday afternoon about 3 pm, the hotel Hacienda del Sol was almost fully booked -- we took the last 3 rooms in the hotel!  We could not get regular size rooms so we  paid more for larger rooms -- $550 pesos per night. (about $44CAD).

The bonus at this hotel is their large indoor parking lot.

After booking in to our rooms we went for drinks, then browsed through the stores on the main street before heading to dinner at Rincon del Sol (their specialty is Chiles en Nogada -- poblano chiles stuffed with meat and served with a walnut sauce topped with pomegranate seeds).

Margarita time at Rincon del Sol

Day 8 - Back to Lo de Marcos

After breakfast, we shopped at the market in Tonala for a couple of hours. This market spans many streets with vendors selling ceramics, carved wood, candles, glassware, furniture, metal crafts, etc. We went for lunch around 1 pm and then hopped in our cars for the return drive to Lo de Marcos.

It took us an hour to cross through Guadalajara (the second largest city in Mexico).  We drove toll roads most of the way back, arriving in LdM about 6:30 pm where we stopped at Carolina's restaurant for dinner before returning to our home in Savage RV park.

All in all it was a wonderful trip.

Trip to Guanajuato - Day 6

Day 6 - Stopover in San Miguel de Allende 

We drove on our own toward  San Miguel de Allende, stopping in Santa Rosa at the ceramic facility to purchase some items the group had seen the day before.

Next stop was La Gruta Spa hot springs, La Gruta has three outdoor pools of varying degrees of hot water, fed by thermal hot springs. The hottest of the three is accessed down a long (well-lit) stone tunnel of water into a dome shaped cave with water dripping from the stone ceiling and a waterfall, fed by the springs. 

Unfortunately La Gruta was only open to 5 pm each day so we decided we would not have time to spend a couple of hours there and have time to shop at the market in San Miguel.  The group voted to go shopping.

We booked into the Real de Minas Hotel on the outskirts of town about 2 pm.  It is a beautiful hotel with all the amenities plus secure parking.  The cost was $1070 pesos ($89 CAD) per night for a room with a king size bed.

After booking into the hotel, we hopped on a bus that took us to the town square where we could shop at the market.  The bus cost us $5 pesos each (about 40 cents CAD).

San Miguel's streets are narrow, with very narrow sidewalks and cobblestone roadways which can be a challenge for some to walk on.

The market had a mix of pewter items, clothing, food, silver jewellery, etc.  We found the pewter items to be about 1/3 the price of the same items sold at the Tonala market!

After shopping, we stopped at Mamma Mia's for drinks and dinner.  Wonderful homemade pasta and excellent ambiance.  Many thanks to Rigo for recommending this restaurant!

Walter, Jan and Dale

beautiful lantern lighting as dusk approached

the evening was cool -- note the propane heater

Trip to Guanajuato - Day 5

Day 5 - Driving tour to Delores Hildago and San Miguel de Allende

We booked into our hotel for an additional night at the same nightly rate as the special package deal. 
Rigo offered us this driving tour for a total cost of $3000 pesos for the 8 of us!

Our first stop was Museo Exhacienda San Gabriel de Barrera.  Built at the end of the 17th century, this was the grand hacienda of Captain Gabriel de Barrera, whose family was descended from the first Conde de Rul of the famous La Valenciana mine. Opened as a museum in 1979, the hacienda, with its opulent period European furnishings, provides an insight into the lives of the wealthy of the time

the Roman garden

a stained glass window seen from the cactus garden looking back at the wall of the Roman garden

one of the themed gardens

a calla lily in one of the 17 gardens

a view of the estate home

note the archway between the 2 rooms -- it might have been 5' tall!

The other side of the arch

Queen Elizabeth slept in this room on her last visit to the Guanajuato area

a window on the stairway to the second floor

dining room

The Music Room:  Looking to the left is the ladies' seating area

Looking to the right is the mens' seating area in the Music Room

more gardens!

grass growing in the domed roof of the estate home!

Our next stop was at Santa Rosa to visit a ceramic facility.  Santa Rosa is located part way along the highway from Guanajuato to San Miguel de Allende.  There were 6 artists hand painting beautiful scenes with hummingbirds, butterflies, flowers, grape vines.  The ceramics were fired 2 times before the glaze was added and fired once more.

lots of pottery in the process

this bathroom sink has not been glazed yet

the kiln is seen at the back of the factory

a finished product on display outside

While we were allowed to take photos in the workshop, none were allowed inside the store/warehouse which was packed with all sorts of ceramic items. The photo above was taken just outside the front door of the store and is a good example of the artistry these people have. Much more sophisticated than other ceramics in Mexico.

At Delores Hildago, we stopped for lunch. The city was founded in 1610. It is known as the "cradle of independence" because at this place on September 16th, 1810 Father Miguel Hidalgo called for independence and freedom We visited the historic home and statue of Hildago.  The elevation in this town was 6,480 ft. The current population estimated to be about 55,000.

the statue of Father Miguel Hildago

the church of Father Hildago located at the town square

Our final tour stop of the day with Rigo was at San Miguel de Allende. It was founded in 1542 but was not ranked as a "city" until 1826.  San Miguel is situated at an elevation of 6,200 ft and is another city of very narrow streets. The current population is about 140,000.

San Miguel de Allende viewed from the lookout

Trip to Guanajuato - Day 4

Day 4 - English walking tour

We found an English-speaking tour guide (Rigo)  who offered to take us on a walking tour for 1 1/2 hours for 100 pesos each.  (about $8 CAD).  We started the tour at 10:30 am and finished at 3 pm! During that time we toured through many streets visiting the Opera House, the home of the revered Mexican artist Diego Revera, and the Grainery Museum along the way.  Rigo explained about the influence of the Jesuits, the Conquistadors and the eventual revolution.

The Opera House (Teatro Juarez):

The construction on this building started in 1872 and was finally completed in 1903!  The facade is crowned by bronze statues of the Greek muses.

The interior of Teatro Jaurez is very elegant. It is the only theatre in the country that has conserved the original furnishings.

looking up at the ceiling and the chandelier

our tour guide Rigo with upper and middle class seating in the background

The lower class were assigned to the top balcony area...called the `chicken wings`

We walked along many of the downtown streets passing various statues along the way.

The walkway on right was the original street in town

This pathway is part of the original Camino Real...Kings Highway, the route to/from Mexico City to ship out the silver and gold and receive supplies. It was only wide enough for horses and donkeys.

The city is very well maintained, with lots of colour. Note the narrow streets and alleys, seldom level, and seldom straight.

A Bed and Breakfast place located in one of the narrow alleys

186 steps up to the entrance to the University. 

 The origin of the university goes back to the Jesuits founding the College of the Holy Trinity in 1732. In 1828 it became property of the state government and was renamed the State College.  In 1945 it received university status.

note the electrical boxes situated in the broken cart in this square!

Kissing Alley

We also visited museum in the Grainery (Alhondiga de Granaditas). The construction of the grainery lasted from 1798 to 1809.  It was used as a fort in 1810. This is a very important landmark in the history of Mexico as this was the site of the start of the revolution of Independence. Here the fabled Pipila wore a large stone on his back and crawled to the huge door to set it alight. The Spanish inside where then overrun by the peasants.

Later in the day we headed to the large Mercado Hildago.  The building was originally built to be a train station but the ground was too uneven in the town to lay tracks so it is now used as a huge indoor market!

Some late evening photos taken from the roof of our hotel:

A peek at the roof of the Teatro Juarez