Christmas is over and Day of the Kings has passed; friends have returned to the States, while others have arrived. All the Holiday revelers (mostly chilangos from Mexico City) have gone home or back to work and school, and our sleepy little town--well not really--is back to normal.
It hardly seems possible that it can be 2015. As with the years before, however, we will quickly adjust and soon it will seem the norm.
Susie Packed To Go
Early New Year's day we said goodbye to our good friend, Susie Morgan, who returned to her home base of Boone, NC after spending a month here with us.
We miss Susie, especially our afternoon talks on the terrace, margaritas in hand, watching the sun set over the town.
After we saw her off in her airport van, we walked over to one of our favorite restaurants, Cumpanio, for a great New Year's Day brunch. This restaurant/bakery serves delicious food and incredibly good baked goods--the croissants are as good as anything you might find in France (at least we think so), and their pies, cakes and cookies are the best in town.
Mart and Bob In Our Apartamento
Mart & Bob, longtime friends, who shared with us our trip to San Miguel last year, have returned. We are happy to have them here again; they are great traveling and touring companions and are always interested in exploring new things.
In addition, many evenings, the dominoes come out--and we are keeping a running score to see who is the 2015 champ!
One Set Of The Three Kings
Christmas doesn't end here in San Miguel and all of Mexico, until the Day of the Kings (January 6). We anxiously awaited the day, having heard that there was a nice parade and that the city provided gifts for the children. The parade consisted of several flat bed trucks on which children were dressed as characters in Biblical stories. Our favorite was "The Sacrifice of Isaac"--a little guy lay prone before a fake fire; all the while waving to the crowd as the truck passed.
We got sidelined by a King's Day celebration at a nearby church, attended by a couple of hundred people from the neighborhood. It was interesting to watch, especially as the crowd headed by three men dressed as the kings waited outside of the church for the priest to come out and bless everyone with holy water. Inside worshipers prayed the rosary as each king presented gifts to be placed on the altar.
Perched To See The Kings
Thinking that this was the town celebration we waited for the crowd to exit from the church--only to learn that this was not the official celebration but only a local happening.
The Official Three Kings
During our wait, we entertained ourselves, though, handing out chili lollipops to all of the kids (and an occasional adult) going in and out of the church. That was fun and we quickly handed out the more than 150 suckers we had brought with us.
One Happy Family
Finally realizing that this was clearly not the official Three Kings Celebration, we decided to head to the Jardin to see what was happening there. By the time we arrived, much of the action was over but we were still able to see the "official three kings" who were posing for pictures with excited kids and parents.
Meanwhile the Mayor (who, BTW, is very handsome) was distributing toys, giving giant plastic trucks to the boys and plastic baskets filled with plastic food to the little girls. All the children dutifully lined up to receive their gifts. Clearly, the boys got the better part of the deal.
We continue to meet and make new friends--that's one of the really nice things about San Miguel. A few days before the Day of the Kings, we hosted Eddie and Elma at our apartment for dinner and dominoes. They have a wonderful and interesting story. Eddie was born in Nueva Leon, Mexico but went to the US when he was 14. His father had abandoned the family and Eddie, after goat herding for his grandfather, left Mexico to support himself and his family. He and Elma met picking tomatoes in the fields of the Central Valley of California. She too was 14 and the daughter of migrant farm workers; when not in school, she and her siblings worked in the fields with their parents.
Eddie and Elma eventually married and raised three daughters, all of whom have graduated from college and have families and successful careers. Eddie now supervises labor operations on the same large farm where they met 42 years ago; like us, they look forward to coming to San Miguel in the winter months, enjoying all the activities and interesting things going on in town.
We had met them briefly last year, but got to know them a little better this year. Incidentally, Eddie is a great dominoes player, having learned to play in the "cantinas" when he was a very young boy. Elma had never played but caught on quickly. Unfortunately for us, they have returned to the States. Eddie is still working and needed to get back.
There never seems to be a dull time in San Miguel; there is always a concert, play, movie or street concert to sample and enjoy. Making new friends and acquaintances seems to be so much easier here. We enjoyed the holidays--especially learning about the different Mexican customs and celebrations, but the town really was overrun by tourists during these last couple of weeks, so it was incredibly nice when it returned to normal after the 6th.
It was sad, however, to see the giant Christmas tree in the Jardin dismantled on January 7th and put away for another year.
From our rooftop patio, under a red umbrella, taking in the
warm breeze and gazing at the fantastic 17th century San
Francisco church’s dome and steeple, we can reflect on living in San Miguel de
Allende (SMA) for a while.This is a
lovely place with which it is easy to fall in love after, say 24 hours.
It is called the City of Fallen Women because of the
hazardous cobblestone streets, very narrow stone sidewalks and numerous holes
in both which are never marked by orange cones or come with any warning.Thus, many women you see have casts, braces,
canes, etc.You really have to watch
your step.
To find negative things like that to say is kind of
difficult. SMA has been designated a
World Heritage Cite by UNESCO and is quaint and photogenic.It is often called “The Magical City” and it
is.The natives are very proud that
Conde Nast voted it the best place in the world to visit last year, and
this year several publications named it the best place to visit in Mexico.
Magic, who can explain it?Being here you feel happy.Life
is beautiful.The pace is slow, the
weather is fantastic, there are many cultural events to take part in, people
are friendly (expats in particular) and the Mexicans are so very sweet and
polite.Even the beggar in front of our
door, Rudolfo, wishes us a good day when we disturb him to go out or come
in.Of course having a beggar at your
door takes some getting used to, but it’s all in the life here.Live and let live.
Right next door to us is a green grocer with wonderful
produce; very fresh and tasty.We have
to soak all fruits and vegetables in microdyne before cutting or eating them,
but that is no big deal.Next to the
green grocer are the coffin makers—old men tapping away daily—who also sell
handmade beeswax candles for about 50 US cents, which they carefully wrap in
newspaper and scotch tape closed, stopping their work to do so.
Next to them is a small grocery store which has just about
everything we might need:dry goods,
dairy, deli meats and cheeses, and household necessities:It’s like having a huge pantry
downstairs.Prices there are pretty
inexpensive—what we might pay $100 US for comes to, maybe, $40 US here.And they take credit cards.
Next is a “carnitas” shop:A tiny hole in the wall where a man roasts a small pig daily and sells
the meat.It is delicious!After that a few "tiendas" selling watches,
used TVs and other electronics, kids school supplies and another green
grocer.And last but not least, a great
butcher shop. Around the corner is a small liquor store where, Mario, the owner
always greets you with a big, warm smile and lots of advice about wine,
tequila, etc.
Throughout SMA there are shops filled with colorful artisan crafts
and clothes, objects made of tin, brass or silver, hand made jewelry, masks,
antiques, etc.Each one seems to beckon
you to come in.In addition there are
many, many tiny restaurants and some huge ones, bakeries, candy stores, ice
cream shops—all wafting out the most wonderful aromas. Life doesn’t get much
more convenient in terms of food, drink and window-shopping (or wandering in to
look at the variety of goods sold).
For entertainment, we check the daily listings in the local
paper, Atencion, which has a pull-out section in English and Spanish
listing the day’s offerings.Normally
you can choose from 15 or so activities: from lectures, films, art gallery exhibits,
museums, tours, language classes, music, dance presentations, spa offerings,
exercise or yoga classes and on and on.Also featured are restaurants, homes for sale, which are fun to look at,
and volunteer opportunities.What a
cornucopia of stuff to choose from.We
sometimes exhaust ourselves doing too much.
Today we had a fun breakfast Christmas celebration with
Larry’s language class.The teacher had
the students write notes about one another and it created a good feeling to
hear each student read the nice things his fellow students (and teachers) said
about him or her.Better than exchanging
gifts!
The other evening we strolled through the streets with
a“posada”:A flat bed truck with children portraying
Mary, Joseph and an angel in a palm strewn setting.Behind the truck strolled musicians playing
the same song over and over and over with small children behind them singing
the song over and over and over.Then
came the group of adults completing the procession.
From some rooftops people threw bags of
candy.The posada represents Mary and Joseph
looking for an inn (posada).It finally
comes to a stop at one of the churches in town, which is prepared to serve hot
chocolate and have huge piƱatas for the kids to burst.
During the day a couple days ago, there was a procession of
heavily feathered, Aztec-dressed Indians dancing rhythmically to the beat of
several drums.Brightly dressed and
masked people followed, each with a long robe and a big tall hat.Who knows what they were to represent, but it
was colorful and interesting.
Music is almost always in the air, from mariachis to what
they call "estudiantinas" or tunas—bands consisting of mostly stringed instruments(not as blaring as the mariachis) who play
and sing wonderful Mexican folk music. Last night we stumbled across our favorite group, Tuna Real, serenading a bridal party. We have not seen them as much this year as last, but when we do, we always enjoy them.
We attended a lecture about Mexican music where the teacher
went through each decade since the 40’s enumerating the changes in musical
styles.The traditional has now been
replaced for the young by US music since it is so ubiquitous.Kind of sad.
Another lecture we found interesting was about migrating
monarch butterflies which winter in a small town close to SMA, some of them
coming all the way from Canada, and all of them female.We learned that the males die immediately
after mating with the female who soon lays 200-400 eggs and then takes
off.
This afternoon we plan to see a movie in the “Pocket
Theater” which serves a drink (alcoholic or non) and a small bag of popcorn
with each ticket.Tonight we will go to
the local performing arts theater and listen to a Cuban quartet.
A stroll through the Jardin, or central plaza, is always a
treat morning, noon or night to see families enjoying themselves:kids often chasing pigeons, parents often
buying plastic toys for toddlers to pull around, young people smooching, and old
people (like us) resting.Sometimes
there is dancing in the gazebo in the center of the park.Always there is someone or some groups
playing music of some kind.It is a
great place to relax and people watch. This time of the year, there is a beautiful "nacimiento" or manger scene with live sheep and goats.
As the bells chime now, it reminds us of the primary sound
in SMA.Bells, bells, bells, bells,
bells, bells.(E.A. Poe must have been
here.)With over 36 Catholic churches
and a few monasteries, someone, somewhere is very often calling people to prayer
or chiming the time of day.Religion is
very important here and people are very respectful of the church.
We went to the central market the other day and found a
huge, flower filled altar-like tribute to the two most recent popes.As people walked by, even tiny children, they
would stop, bow their heads and make the sign of the cross.
Well, you may be able to get a feel for
SMA. It is surely worth a visit and we
would love to show it to you. Our
friend, Susie Morgan, has been here since the beginning of December and has
said, “You know, coming here I felt like I was coming home.” It is that kind of a place!
At the end of November, we returned to Mexico City for a fun-filled and busy weekend in the Mexican capital. Getting there involves a four hour bus ride, but fortunately bus travel in Mexico can be very comfortable in a first class bus, with reclining seats and a video to while away the time.
During our last visit, we found a hotel, El Ejecutivo, that was comfortable, affordable and just a five minute walk from our friend Carole's apartment--a recommendation for those thinking of visiting the DF.
Carole had wanted us to come early enough on Friday, to be able to visit the Tamayo Contemporary Art Museum. She had visited it earlier, and intrigued by an exhibit, "Infinite Obsession", featuring a Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama, she wanted to make sure we saw it. We are so glad we were able to do so.
Kusama was born in Japan in 1929 but by the mid-sixties was finding the Japanese art world and culture restrictive and anti-feminist, so she moved to the United States where she felt the climate and art world were more open and welcoming. (One of our favorite quotes from the author is "discovering polka dots was so freein
Carole & Sue
Much of Kusama's art is focused on the naked human body, and she uses the penis in a lot of her works. It sounds strange and is hard to describe, but in person it can be amusing, thought provoking, and certainly makes you smile.
We were intrigued by a number of installations in the exhibit, especially one in which she used mirrors and strings of small, spherical lights to create a sense of the infinite. The lights cycle through a range of colors that changes the effect and affect on the viewer. Like we said, hard to describe, but very interesting to experience. If you have the opportunity to see Kusama's art, don't pass it up.
Saturday was devoted to the New York Metropolitan Opera's "Opera in Cinema" presentation; Carol and we are big fans of the "Live in HD" broadcasts. When we are in Denver, we try not to miss one. There are several venues across Mexico City offering the operas, but Carol prefers the Auditoria Nacional, a huge venue that can seat more than 10,000 spectators. One of the best reasons to see the opera at the Auditoria Nacional is that each performance is preceded by a lecture by Sergio Vela; we have attended two of his lectures and Carol and Fernando (a friend of hers who writes reviews for Auditoria National) do not miss them. Erudite and knowledgeable about opera and music in general, his lectures add a whole new dimension to the performance. Fortunately, his Spanish is so clear that, even for us, the lectures are worthwhile.
For this performance of Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", the auditorium was about 1/3 filled. We all enjoyed the performance--comfortable seats, giant screen with easy to read subtitles, and great sound. Intermissions are punctuated with interviews with the principal singers or a look backstage, adding to the overall impact of the performance.
These broadcasts really make opera accessible and affordable, and the Met is of course one of the world's great opera companies.
Our Sunday was completely different but equally diverting. Carol and Fernando are aficionados of the Corrida, or Bullfight; they attend almost all of them offered in the Plaza de Mexico, the world's largest bullfight ring, and invited us to accompany them.
We know little of the sport and ritual and would not probably attend on our own, but going with Carol and Fernando makes it a real cultural and educational outing. Bullfighting is, of course, a controversial activity and many are adamantly opposed to the sport. But it is also a sport, rich in cultural history; and watching the matadors or toreros risk their lives in a one-on-one match with a 500 pound bull is intriguing and often thrilling spectacle.
On this Sunday afternoon, we watched the inaugural appearance of a 20-year old Mexican man whose father and grandfather before him had been matadors--he was awarded an ear for his skill, bravery and ability to control the bull, a nice and hopefully propitious start to a long career.
The other matadors were a Spaniard and a Mexican, both veterans. The Spaniard was awarded two ears--at the insistence of the crowd--after his third bout--his first two bulls having proved to be not very good fighters. We enjoyed our afternoon at the bullring; and were among very few gringos in attendance.
Sue, Carole & Fernando
We are so very thankful that our trips to Mexico have enabled us to meet and get to know our now good friend, Carole Reedy. Mart & Bob, who have known Carole for more than 40 years introduced us last year, but we feel like we have been friends forever.
She is a wonderful host and tour guide. She loves Mexico and especially Mexico City--so much so that she became a Mexican citizen last year. She is always up for a visit from friends and even friends of friends. Her birthday and our 44th wedding anniversary coincided with our visit this time; it was a great way to celebrate and reconnect. Thanks Carole!!!!!
After our wonderful afternoon at the Corrida, we finished up our day at a new restaurant on Reforma, El Diez. una parilla argentina, or Argentine Grill, we feasted on an incredibly delicious arrachera (marinated flank steak), french fries or papas fritas, and a great, but inexpensive bottle of Malbec. Highly recommended for meat lovers. A perfect ending to a perfect day and weekend.
We are back in San Miguel de Allende and are planning to stay for the next several months. The transition, except for a snafu with our checked bags that was rectified after three days, has been pretty seamless and trouble free.
Day of Dead display
We arrived on Saturday, November 1 (Dia de Muertos.) Seeing all of the adults dressed up like skeletons going to a masked ball and the children in their "Halloween" costumes was fun, but it seemed to lack of the spontaneity and levity we remember from last year. Others have commented on the same to us. We are fearful it is being taken over by the ex-pats and other foreigners.
Our Apartment
View from our Terrace
Before leaving San Miguel last year, we searched for a place for our stay this year, and we feel fortunate that we found a great one-bedroom apartment right in the heart of town. Our rent covers all utilities, cable and Internet, and weekly cleaning so we feel it is a good bargain at $742/month. There is a small grocery store, two green grocers, a butcher, and a liquor store within half a block of us.
Small but very comfortable, the apartment includes a living/dining room, kitchen on the first floor and the bedroom and terrace on the second floor. Though small, we do have room for visitors and there is an open invitation. Winter nights can be chilly, but most days are bright & sunny with incredibly crystalline blue skis.
Larry at the Biblioteca
There is much to see and do in town, and in the two weeks we have been here, we feel like we have done and seen a lot, although many might think it is a rather leisurely existence. Larry has signed up for a Spanish language conversation class for an hour each day; Sue is studying on her own for now but is keeping her options open.
Monday nights we are attending a Spanish language lecture series offered by a local language teacher, Javier. He is very knowledgeable about Mexican history, culture and current events, and he speaks so very clearly and precisely that we both are enjoying this learning opportunity.
We have signed up to tutor some teenagers in English three days a week, at the Biblioteca Publica (a library founded by the expat community some sixty years ago and dedicated to serving the entire San Miguel community.) Our first class will be later this week--wish us luck!
Gil Gutierrez & Friends
There are so many restaurants that we almost certainly will never be able to sample all of them. We have returned to some we remembered fondly from last year, like Hecho en Mexico and our favorite Pizzeria.
Last Friday, at the invitation of our friends, John & Martha Birney, we dined at Mi Casa--a restaurant located in the Instituto de Allende and featuring the music of guitarist Gil Gutierrez. He was joined by some Cuban musicians, and it was a truly memorable and delightful evening. We hope to return regularly.
Organic Market
Other activities have included visiting the Saturday Organic Market and participating in the Audubon Society of Mexico's monthly bird walks. The latter was great fun. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and the walk took us along the banks of the river Loja.
Bird Walk
Along the River, Loja
Our expert guides are armed with binoculars and "scopes" that make seeing the birds a lot easier--we spotted a number of exotic species, at least for us, including Vermillion Flycatchers, Phoebes, Keskakees, Cara-Caras, several variety of egrets as well as mourning doves, warblers, kingfishers, jays, and ravens.
We joined the Society and look forward to their monthly "walks." It was especially nice to have an opportunity to see the countryside outside of town.
Weekend at the Jardin
San Miguel, in addition to a lot of US and Canadian expats, attracts a lot of Mexican tourists from Mexico City and other larger nearby cities like Queretaro, Guanajuato, and Leon.
On weekends, the Jardin, or main plaza, is filled with people--milling around, looking at the Parroquia and other local sites, eating at one of the many restaurants on or near the square, and buying souvenirs and other gimgaws.
Music is a big part of the experience, and at any one time, there might be two or three competing Mariachi bands or singing groups playing or performing.
One thing that we have enjoyed this time is the friendliness of the expat community. The local Mexicans are almost uniformly polite and helpful, but without a thorough mastery of the language or some other intro to the community, it is hard to integrate--but perhaps with time.
Barbara on her Terrace
The expat community, on the other hand, seems to be very friendly and welcoming. Already we have met and socialized with a number of individuals and couples.
Attending a play or concert or dining at a local eatery is not unusual to get involved in an extended conversation with the strangers seated next to you. It is always great fun to exchange stories about how and why you have come to San Miguel.
The Language School, El Liceo, has been another great outlet and a way to meet others. Last Saturday evening, we were invited to the home of one of Larry's classmates, Barbara and her husband, Dave.
Last year, while on a vacation to Mexico, they visited San Miguel and within three days bought a beautiful home just outside "El Centro" or downtown, and decided to settle there permanently. They returned home to Seattle, sold their condo, retired from their jobs, and now are making a new life for themselves here in this lovely Mexican city. It's an easy life with great weather, an interesting culture, and a cost of living probably half of what one experiences in the USA.
We left Denver on October 18 and headed for the East Coast. As we have noted many times, it is hard to leave Bryn, Grant and Charlie. We had a wonderful farewell dinner with them the night before we left. It will be three months before we are back in Denver, and we know that Charlie will have grown and changed--but he doesn't seem to forget us, fortunately.
Our primary motivation for going East was to share a week at the Southern Outer Banks, more specifically Emerald Isle, NC, with some longtime friends. We like going to the NC beaches in the Fall--for us it is the best time to visit. The weather is almost invariably mild, the water remains warm, and the beaches are much less hectic and crowded. At Emerald Isle, we have found a lovely rental house, Breezy Cottage, that seems to suit us well.
Breezy Cottage
The gang, in part
It is big (six bedrooms) but not gigantic. It is perfect for eight to ten people to gather, but also provides a variety of spaces for quiet reading or napping.
Breezy has two decks, a screened in porch, a large dining area and a comfortable living room as well. It also has a great kitchen where three or four people seem to be able to work without getting in each other's way. It is so perfect, a number of us have committed to returning for another visit next October.
Bob & Mike
This year we were joined by Mart and Bob Larson, Mike and Marcia Mayo, and Blythe Tennent. We have known Mart & Bob for more than thirty years; our children were in pre-school together. Mike was Larry's college roommate; he met Marcia in their sophomore year, and all of us worked at the UNC-Chapel Hill Undergraduate Library together (where Larry and Sue met 45 years ago).
Blythe worked with Larry at East Carolina University and she and Sue were walking buddies. So we hoped we would all be compatible. Fortunately, the chemistry seemed to work incredibly well for the entire group. Missing was our friend Nan; house renovations gone amuck kept her from joining us.
Sue & Marcia
One of the delights was taking turns preparing the evening meals; it would not be exaggerating to say that a number of gourmet meals resulted, and certainly no one lost weight during the week. The wine flowed generously, a number of the evenings saw some pretty competitive dominoes games; Bob dominated the pool games among the boys, and all of us enjoyed long walks along the seashore.
Sun & water
When the tide is out, the beach is wide and flat making for easy walking. Only Sue was brave enough to swim-the water was remarkably warm and the waves were quite gentle. But sitting on the beach, with your face to the sun was an activity we all could enjoy.
Sunrise on Emerald Isle
Shells on the beach
Time seems to flow a little bit differently at the seashore.
At first, the days are languid, and you tell yourself that you have all the time in the world to enjoy each sunrise and sunset and all of the bright and sunny days in between--but then all of a sudden it is Saturday, and you are beginning to pack up and getting ready for the Sunday morning exit.
It was a truly idyllic interlude that seemed all too short--but knowing we will be back next year made the leaving not too sad.
NB: Mike is an author whose writings can be found on Amazon under Michael Mayo. His novel, Jimmy the Stick is "a novel of suspense" set in the late 20's and early 30's. It is a marvelous read and we highly recommend it and not just because we love Mike !
Maury starting his tour
Leaving the beach, we drove to Louisburg, NC for a very short visit with some other friends from our ECU days--Dru and Maury York. They have moved to this little town and bought and remodeled a small, but delightful house in the old part of town.
Part of Maury's job with Louisburg College is to work with the community to enhance tourism and welcome visitors. On the day of our visit, we were treated to Maury's inaugural Louisburg Tour--it was lots of fun learning about the town's very interesting history and architecture. Dru is an architectural expert and we enjoyed Maury deferring to her at times to describe what we were seeing as we studied some of the buildings on the tour. Our time with them both was delightful.
After an overnight stay with Mike and Marcia in their new house in Chapel Hill, we flew to Atlanta for a short visit with Larry's Mom and extended family. All seem well and it is always fun to see the grand nieces and nephew, catch up with everyone's lives and enjoy the beautiful GA countryside. Larry's Mom is 86; lives on her own and thankfully seems very healthy. Her life is full with church, volunteer work and family.
We flew out of the Atlanta airport to Mexico City on Halloween day. Our flight was uneventful until we arrived in Mexico City, and discovered our two checked bags didn't come with us. The airline and its employees (Air Tran/Southwest) were very helpful. The bags finally made it to us in San Miguel four days later. (In every life a little rain must fall.) We are now comfortably settled in San Miguel and are creating memories each day. Come visit and you can show up in our next blog !
We'll be back next year, ready for the next Bocce Ball tournament.
It seems that most of our posts are unremittingly optimistic and upbeat, but we have truly loved most places we have visited over these past two years and have usually enjoyed the places we have stayed, but our last sojourn in Denver was something of an exception.
Father/Son Twins
Visiting with Bryn, Grant and Charlie is always a delight. And Denver is definitely one of the places we like best, and it will be our base of operations henceforth, but a series of unfortunate events made our recent stay less than enjoyable.
Before leaving for Europe last spring, we made arrangements through AirBnB to rent a place in our favorite Denver locale, Brooks Towers--but very soon after we arrived in Europe we received notice that our host canceled our reservation, so we had to scramble to find another.
First Class Apartment--you can tell
We finally succeeded in securing a one-bedroom apartment, just off Colfax Avenue and not far from the State Capitol building. Who was to know that it was also Denver's skid row? Winos, drug addicts and all manor of street people wandered by and loitered on the steps during all hours of the day and night.
The apartment, itself, was less than desirable as well: a dark, semi-basement with gray walls and beige, dirty looking shag carpeting throughout. We quickly dubbed it our "Motel Six" apartment, and that was an insult to Motel Six.
To make matters worse, Sue got sick with an incredibly tenacious infection that eventually affected her kidneys and required three rounds of different antibiotics to cure. It kept her pretty much house bound for more than month. It was a most unpleasant interlude.
Cheeseman Park
On a more positive note, the apartment was just two blocks from Cheeseman Park, a great green urban oasis that provided a nice respite from our bleak abode. Larry tried to walk there every day when possible--and with Denver's nice weather, it was usually beautiful.
Erin at the Botanic Garden
Late in August, Erin returned from Pakistan (thank goodness!!!) and paid us a visit. She arrived pretty tired, but managed to rest and recuperate during a two week visit. This was definitely the bright spot in an otherwise downer sojourn (except, of course, for the upper of her sister and family--immediate and extended). Erin has now returned to DC and started her new State department assignment as a liaison to the Organization of American States.
Bryn and Sue with Chihuly glass behind
We managed to visit the Denver Botanic Garden several times; they are hosting an incredible Chihuly Glass exhibit that is bringing thousands of people to the garden. The glass displays and sculptures really glisten and resonate in the bright Colorado sun.
A Chihuly glass schulpture with wow factor in the Japanese part of the Botanic Garden
On the train at the zoo
For Sue's Birthday (October 2), Bryn and Charlie joined us for a trip to the Denver Zoo; Charlie is now of an age where he is really into the animals--we spent perhaps fifteen minutes gazing at a hippopotamus, long after the adults had grown tired and were urging him to move on to the elephants or rhinos. Of course, they too received a long study once we arrived at their enclosures. He really liked the Zoo train--especially riding with his Oma, while Mom and Opa rode in front of them.
Our favorite guy !!
But now the time has come for us to leave Denver for our next adventure. We are returning to San Miguel de Allende--we enjoyed this magical Mexican town so much last winter that we felt that we wanted to visit it again, this time for a longer stay, November to April. Some of our friends have already told us that they will join us for part of the stay and there is an open invitation to all of our readers...we promise you an interesting and fun filled visit.
We will of course miss Charlie and his mom and dad a lot while we are away, but he has promised us he will talk with us on Skype whenever we call. We surely hope so! We'll probably come back in January for a short visit to help celebrate his 3rd birthday, so maybe he won't forget us.
