This Thursday, September 29, 2011 we are heading out for a 5 month trip. Our first stop will be the beautiful city of Saltillo,Coahuila, Mexico. Saltillo is about a 6 hour drive north of San Miguel. Our plan after checking into our hotel is to visit the museum of woven multi-coloured sarapes.
http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/920-saltillo-mexico-color-culture-and-colonial-charm
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Monday, September 26, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The ruins and the magic of Jerez
On Saturday, August 27, 2011 we decided to explore areas around the city of Zacatecas. Our first destination is about 1hour and 15 minutes south of the city an ancient ruin called La Quemada La Quemada grew into the largest pre-Columbian settlement known in southern Zacatecas. Its original name is unknown; it was christened La Quemada by the early Spaniards who found evidence of a great conflagration. On our arrival we watched a short movie about the area and what little information is known about the indigenous people who built the ruins in the area.
The beautiful museum has a scale model showing more than 50 terraces and about 1 km2 of constructions. Occupied from about 200 - 300 AD, its population peaked after 500 AD, before the site was abandoned about 1000 AD, 1000 years ago. The residential elite lived on the edge of the hills. We then found a volunteer guide to take us through the site. Once at the site we had no idea how large it was and in the essence of time we realized we could not see the entire site today. Our guide was wonderful he showed us all the highlights and discussed how they believe the city was built and what certain areas were used for. We have visited many different ruins in our travels. This one was very different and interesting.
Our next stop was about 30 minutes down the road to the town of Jerez. Mexico uses a category for beautiful, special and historical towns called Pueblo Mágicos. The town of Jerez is truly a very beautiful and magical place. Our first experience was looking for a place to eat. When I asked a passerby for a recommendation she not only told us of a wonderful place but also took us there. The restaurant was called La Palma. There specialty is Burritos. As the waiter took our order I noticed the tee-shirt he was wearing. I asked him if they sell them. The shirt had the name of the restaurant and on the sleeve was written Jerez Pueblo Mágico. He went in the back and called the owner and said I could buy one for 60 pesos ($5) if I come back in 1 hour. No problem, we walked around the town and visited a small museum, the center park area, the theater and different buildings taking photos. This is a lovely small town with a lot of pride. About a 1 hour and 30 minutes later we returned to the restaurant and not only was my shirt there but a free one for Elenita and then a gift which was a small ceramic boot with the name of the restaurant from a fair this year. One of the many reason we love this country: The People.
The beautiful museum has a scale model showing more than 50 terraces and about 1 km2 of constructions. Occupied from about 200 - 300 AD, its population peaked after 500 AD, before the site was abandoned about 1000 AD, 1000 years ago. The residential elite lived on the edge of the hills. We then found a volunteer guide to take us through the site. Once at the site we had no idea how large it was and in the essence of time we realized we could not see the entire site today. Our guide was wonderful he showed us all the highlights and discussed how they believe the city was built and what certain areas were used for. We have visited many different ruins in our travels. This one was very different and interesting.
Our next stop was about 30 minutes down the road to the town of Jerez. Mexico uses a category for beautiful, special and historical towns called Pueblo Mágicos. The town of Jerez is truly a very beautiful and magical place. Our first experience was looking for a place to eat. When I asked a passerby for a recommendation she not only told us of a wonderful place but also took us there. The restaurant was called La Palma. There specialty is Burritos. As the waiter took our order I noticed the tee-shirt he was wearing. I asked him if they sell them. The shirt had the name of the restaurant and on the sleeve was written Jerez Pueblo Mágico. He went in the back and called the owner and said I could buy one for 60 pesos ($5) if I come back in 1 hour. No problem, we walked around the town and visited a small museum, the center park area, the theater and different buildings taking photos. This is a lovely small town with a lot of pride. About a 1 hour and 30 minutes later we returned to the restaurant and not only was my shirt there but a free one for Elenita and then a gift which was a small ceramic boot with the name of the restaurant from a fair this year. One of the many reason we love this country: The People.
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| City park Map of Zacatecas |
Monday, September 19, 2011
Zacatecas
On Thursday, August 25, 2011 for our 4th wedding anniversary we decided to drive to the city of Zacatecas in the state of Zacatecas. This was a 4 1/2 hour drive north of our home in San Miguel de Allende.We left at 8:45 am and arrived in Zacatecas at about 1:15 pm. It was a beautiful drive through mountain roads with large amounts of Joshua trees. Our hotel was right in the heart of the city. After we checked in we walked over to the tourist office and got some suggestions on how to begin our exploring. We first went to a lovely little restaurant for a simple lunch.
With our suggestions we took a taxi to the highest point of the city where there was a cable car you can take over the city. This is were we started our exploring.
After our ride down we walked a few blocks to see the city below the ground. Zacatecas is a old mining town and they have made the old mines into a tourist attraction. There are some places where we were between 500 and 750 feet below the streets. We were with a small group and had a wonderful guide. At the end of our tour there was an underground bar.
The bar was truly amazing. After having a cold drink in a cold place we were ready to ascend to the warmth of the sunlight. We had to wait a little while for a train to take us out. This was the only way we could exit.
After exiting we explored the surface streets of the city looking for a restaurant to have a special dinner. We received some recommendations from locals and after checking them out we decided on a quaint place in a very nice hotel. We explored and then rested. We walked over to the restaurant around 7:30 stopping at times to listen to street musicians. When we get to the restaurant and sit down we are the only ones there. Elenita said thank you for reserving the entire place for our anniversary. We had two waiters, the cook and a maitre d' take care of us all night.
After a great meal and fabulous service it was time to go to sleep and look forward to the next day.
Friday, August 26, 2011 in Zacatecas. We decided to take the tourist trolly around the city. Afterwards we walked around the city shopping and going to museums. The first museum was a mask museum which was donated from a private collection. This was an incredible place displaying masks used in indigenous ceremony's throughout Mexico. Later in the evening we went to an Italian restaurant that again was amazing food especially for the price and quality. We were falling in love with Zacatecas, the people, the food and the beauty of this wonderful city. I believe if the city was not so far away from everything I could live here.
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| Lunch |
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| The Hill |
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| City Views |
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| The teléferico |
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| A beautiful woman at the bar |
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| Waiting for the train |
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| Finally in the sun |
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| The salad |
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| Cooking Elenita's steak |
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| The special dessert |
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| It was wonderful |
After a great meal and fabulous service it was time to go to sleep and look forward to the next day.
Friday, August 26, 2011 in Zacatecas. We decided to take the tourist trolly around the city. Afterwards we walked around the city shopping and going to museums. The first museum was a mask museum which was donated from a private collection. This was an incredible place displaying masks used in indigenous ceremony's throughout Mexico. Later in the evening we went to an Italian restaurant that again was amazing food especially for the price and quality. We were falling in love with Zacatecas, the people, the food and the beauty of this wonderful city. I believe if the city was not so far away from everything I could live here.
One of the things we discover when we arrive in Zacatecas was that this weekend was the end of a two week jazz and blues festival. Tonight after our wonderful dinner we walked over to the Jazz festival and paid our 50 pesos ($4) and for the next 2 1/2 hours we listened to some beautiful music. The setting was lounge like with little tables were one could order inexpensive drinks. The music, the environment, the people were all fantastic. One of the major differences from were we live is we would have paid 200 to 300 pesos ($15 to $25) for this quality of music. We had a great day that ended with a great evening. Tomorrow we are going to venture out and see the country side around Zacatecas.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Introduction
Elenita and I met in 2005. We were married in August of 2007, in November we moved to San Miguel de Allende in the heart of Mexico.
In 2008 we purchased our house in San Miguel. Just outside of the central area but walking distance to everything. Wow what views we have.
In the beginning our traveling consisted of two guided tours. Our first was to the state of Chiapas. We visited the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas and the Mayan ruins of Palenque. Our next trip was to Copper Canyon in the the state of Chihuahua in Northern Mexico. Both trips were very beautiful places and our leader David Rico was amazing.
In 2009 we decided to drive back to northern California for Elenita's son's graduation and then to southern California for a wedding. Our drive along the pacific coast of Mexico took us through the states of Jalisco, Nayarit. Sinaloa and Sonora. We visited the beach city of Mazatlan, the beautiful colonial town of Alamos and then the beach town of San Carlos.
In the winter of 2009/2010 our weather in San Miguel was bitter cold and miserable. In January of 2010 we decided to go to the beach for 10 days with another couple. With recommendations from friends we discovered the southern part of the state of Jalisco, Barra de Navidad/Melaque. Driving around the area we fell in love with this part of Mexico as well as the town of La Manzanilla just 20 minutes north. In March of 2010 we spent a month at a friend's condo in the city of Manzanillo about 1 hour south. We realized how much we loved the beach and made reservations for the following January in the small town of La Manzanilla.
In November of 2010 we traveled to the state of Veracruz with wonderful friends Dick and Trish as traveling partners. We visited many different areas of the state including the city of Veracruz. We stopped in the city of Puebla for three nights in the beginning and it was wonderful.
On December 31, 2010, we left San Miguel for our month in La Manzanilla. Our first stop was in the Lake Chapala area, the little town of Ajijic to celebrate New Year's eve with one our favorite groups, The Tallboys Band. On January 1st we headed to La Manzanilla. This was a wonderful month of relaxing, walking on the beach every morning and exploring. We discovered small quaint little beach towns along the Jalisco coast. This is becoming one of our favorite locations. Our plans are to visit every winter. After our month we drove north to Puerto Vallarta and spent 3 days in the city eating at wonderful places and visiting. We took a day trip to the town of San Sebastian about 1 hour east of Puerto Vallarta. We then pick up a friend who wanted to drive back with us from Puerto Vallarta. We stopped along the way at some northern beach towns and then ended up in the town of Tequila for the night. The next day we arrived back in San Miguel to beautiful weather.
We have spent many days visiting Mexico City over the last four years. Of course our favorite B&B will always be The Red Tree House. |We have discovered some less expensive place also so we can go more often. Mexico City is a beautiful cosmopolitan city with many different types of restaurants. The neighborhood of La Condesa will always have a place in our heart.
Also, being music lovers we have gone to some wonderful concerts:
In 2008 we went to the city of Querétaro to see Juanes.
In 2009 Carlos Santana played in the metro area of Guadalajara.
In 2010 we saw Paul McCartney in Mexico City.
We have traveled to many different places around Mexico. We have gotten to know our neighbors in the state of Querétaro very well. We have seen some very beautiful places and hopefully we will continue.
We are learning how much we enjoy traveling around Mexico.Our future goal is to write about our adventures and share them with anyone who wants to know more about this beautiful country.
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| Our wedding day |
In 2008 we purchased our house in San Miguel. Just outside of the central area but walking distance to everything. Wow what views we have.
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| A view from our roof top |
In the beginning our traveling consisted of two guided tours. Our first was to the state of Chiapas. We visited the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas and the Mayan ruins of Palenque. Our next trip was to Copper Canyon in the the state of Chihuahua in Northern Mexico. Both trips were very beautiful places and our leader David Rico was amazing.
 |
| Palenque |
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| A view of Copper Canyon |
In 2009 we decided to drive back to northern California for Elenita's son's graduation and then to southern California for a wedding. Our drive along the pacific coast of Mexico took us through the states of Jalisco, Nayarit. Sinaloa and Sonora. We visited the beach city of Mazatlan, the beautiful colonial town of Alamos and then the beach town of San Carlos.
In the winter of 2009/2010 our weather in San Miguel was bitter cold and miserable. In January of 2010 we decided to go to the beach for 10 days with another couple. With recommendations from friends we discovered the southern part of the state of Jalisco, Barra de Navidad/Melaque. Driving around the area we fell in love with this part of Mexico as well as the town of La Manzanilla just 20 minutes north. In March of 2010 we spent a month at a friend's condo in the city of Manzanillo about 1 hour south. We realized how much we loved the beach and made reservations for the following January in the small town of La Manzanilla.
In November of 2010 we traveled to the state of Veracruz with wonderful friends Dick and Trish as traveling partners. We visited many different areas of the state including the city of Veracruz. We stopped in the city of Puebla for three nights in the beginning and it was wonderful.
On December 31, 2010, we left San Miguel for our month in La Manzanilla. Our first stop was in the Lake Chapala area, the little town of Ajijic to celebrate New Year's eve with one our favorite groups, The Tallboys Band. On January 1st we headed to La Manzanilla. This was a wonderful month of relaxing, walking on the beach every morning and exploring. We discovered small quaint little beach towns along the Jalisco coast. This is becoming one of our favorite locations. Our plans are to visit every winter. After our month we drove north to Puerto Vallarta and spent 3 days in the city eating at wonderful places and visiting. We took a day trip to the town of San Sebastian about 1 hour east of Puerto Vallarta. We then pick up a friend who wanted to drive back with us from Puerto Vallarta. We stopped along the way at some northern beach towns and then ended up in the town of Tequila for the night. The next day we arrived back in San Miguel to beautiful weather.
We have spent many days visiting Mexico City over the last four years. Of course our favorite B&B will always be The Red Tree House. |We have discovered some less expensive place also so we can go more often. Mexico City is a beautiful cosmopolitan city with many different types of restaurants. The neighborhood of La Condesa will always have a place in our heart.
Also, being music lovers we have gone to some wonderful concerts:
In 2008 we went to the city of Querétaro to see Juanes.
In 2009 Carlos Santana played in the metro area of Guadalajara.
In 2010 we saw Paul McCartney in Mexico City.
We have traveled to many different places around Mexico. We have gotten to know our neighbors in the state of Querétaro very well. We have seen some very beautiful places and hopefully we will continue.
We are learning how much we enjoy traveling around Mexico.Our future goal is to write about our adventures and share them with anyone who wants to know more about this beautiful country.
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