San Miguel de Allende

We were not unhappy on Monday morning to hop on another luxury bus for a short hour-long trip to another nearby colonial city, San Miguel de Allende.  What a pleasant contrast: San Miguel was practically deserted (in fact, we were the only guests in our lovely hotel, Villa Mirasol, both Monday and Tuesday evenings.) We had not even planned to visit San Miguel originally because of its chi-chi reputation as a town overrun with well-heeled ex-pats, but Erin urged us to reconsider, and we are so very glad we did.  And indeed, there are a lot of rich ex-pat American and Canadians and rich Mexicans as well, but San Miguel is still a magical city that enthralled and delighted us—so much so that we plan to end our stay here in Mexico with a return visit to the town, with Erin and Jeff hopefully joining us.

What’s so magical? Much of the city’s colonial architecture has been preserved or restored—and although there is a lot of new construction happening, most of it fits in with the ambience of the city.  Guanajuato’s buildings are awash in colors—red, orange, yellow, brown, white, lime green, and many shades of blue, as we noticed from our funicular ride.  San Miguel is much more muted, with somber reds and ochers predominating. The streets in the old part of town are all cobblestoned—but unlike other old towns that we have visited, the streets and sidewalks are well tended and maintained.  Like Tuscany, the light in San Miguel seems different—you almost want to believe that in such light, anyone could be an artist.  That sounds fantastical, but it is true.

One reason that we want to return is that with a town like San Miguel, you need time to walk around and to discover and savor it ambience, spirit, and history, and, at the end of two days, we felt that we had just scratched the surface. Tuesday, for us, was something of a once in a lifetime day experience.  It began with a nearly two-hour hike through the Jardin Botanico.  Located just on the edge of town, this garden is dedicated to the preservation of the native plants of the central Mexican highlands—the number, variety and beauty of the cactuses, succulents, and other high desert plants located in the garden almost defies description.  Every turn in the path seemed to bring another surprise and delight—we truly regretted having only allotted the morning for this activity, although the day fortunately proved to be full of delights and fun.

The Jardin Botanico's vortex with Sue invoking  some of its healing powers.

After the garden, we took a taxi (taxis are ubiquitous and inexpensive in the town) to the Fabrica Aurora, an old textile plant that has been converted into an art and antique center.  (For our Alexandria VA friends, think Torpedo Factory with a Latin flair.) We loved looking at the various shops and studios and had a great al fresco lunch, which again included Cheladas—our new favorite warm weather drink. After lunch, we returned to our hotel for a rejuvenating siesta, because Erin had advised us that we had to end our day by watching the sunset over the city from the terrace of the Rosewood Hotel.

The Rosewood is located such that from its terrace, you have a wonderful, almost 360 degree panoramic view of the city.  As the day ends, the sun sets, and the twilight descends, the street lights begin twinkle on and San Mguel takes on a truly magical air, enhanced for us by margaritas and tapas served by a staff of delightfully kind and courteous meseros. It was an enchanting way to end an enchanting day.

It's hard to capture, but San Miguel, especially at sunset, is truly a magical place.