Subject: San Miguel de Allende
Hello Everyone,
We've been in San Miguel de Allende for a couple days now. I was right, we love it. It's bigger than we imagined it to be with a population of 140,000. It's quite spread out but the central, charming part of town isn't all that large and it's super beautiful and a great place to walk. I actually got lost there yesterday for about an hour! But it was ok.
I could take a zillion photos and never capture the charm of the place. All the shops are beautiful with amazing displays of the work of Mexican artists and the varied wares that never cease to amaze me. Flowers everywhere, unusual ancient doors, wonderful balconies, arches, churches and windy cobblestone streets. It's quite charming plus super clean and no stray dogs!!
Apparently, this city is second only to Guadalajara in the number of Americans that live here full time. We met a few today and they have been living here for twenty-five years. The climate is part of the draw....it's never super hot or super cold. The altitude is about 6,200 feet and the area looks arid with not a lot of vegetation growing in the surrounding hills.
Mike and I both needed some work done on our hair so we made appointments at a shop on one of the main drags in town. A haircut for Mike and a trim and foil weave highlight for me. We went yesterday and the lady was so nice and did a great job on both of us. The total cost was 405 pesos - about $35! The last weave I got in Hawaii cost me $150 - opps! Mike didn't want to know that. Anyway, the cost of labor here is so cheap. I may go back there on Tuesday for a pedicure while the gettin's good.
We're staying at a place that is fairly near the main part of town. Only smaller rigs can fit - we barely got through the gate. It's a tennis club and they have clay courts which are really nice. There is only room for about six or eight rigs here and there are only three including us right now. The bathrooms are the best we've ever had in Mexico and the showers are hot and the water is pure....it's amazing. And it's not the most expensive place we've ever stayed so we're feeling pretty good about it. There is a church right outside the gate and they ring bells all the time. There is also a clock tower that chimes all night but it sounds pretty. It doesn't really keep you awake but you certainly hear it if you happen to be awake.
We were going to take the camper to Guanajuato, which is about fifty-five miles away, but have decided to stay here instead and take the bus there tomorrow. It's supposed to be one of the most charming of all the Mexican colonial cities. It, along with San Miguel, are both National Monuments. Seems like most of the inland cities we've visited are! They have all been beautiful and we hope to do more of them on our next trip to Mexico.....whenever that is.
So, I'll probably do another of these emails tomorrow or the next day before heading North.....only about a week before we hit Texas!
Aloha,
Gayle (yeah, he's sleeping) and Mike
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