In San Miguel

Alejandro and I spent our three-day weekend in San Miguel de Allende, a picturesque colonial city located 170 miles to the northwest of Mexico City.  Its historic center has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It has become a popular retirement location for expats from the U.S., Canada and Europe with an estimated 20,000 foreign residents here.  San Miguel was twice named the "best place in the world" by Travel & Leisure magazine.  The city is charming, but let's be honest.  "The best place in the world"?  Really???  The hype has led to a boom in tourism and unbridled growth.  Even locals complain that the changes have not been for the better.

This is the second time that Alejandro and I have made an excursion to San Miguel de Allende in recent months.  We were also there last September.  Both times, our first evening there was not very pleasant, and we had to scratch our heads over the city's "best place in the world" designation.

Our hotel for two nights was very nice.  The Hotel Real de Minas is located along the avenue coming into the city and is about a 15 minute walk from the center of town.  Unlike the over-the-top luxury hotel where we stayed the last time (only because Alejandro had hotel points he had to use), this place was more to our taste.

After settling into our room, we headed out and walked to the historic downtown as night fell upon the city.

There is no denying the beauty of the town square with its historic buildings illuminated at night.

The pseudo-Gothic tower of the parish church of St. Michael the Archangel is the city's most famous landmark.  The church was built in 1880 by an indigenous bricklayer and self-taught architect who was inspired by postcards that he had seen of cathedrals in Europe.

 Also facing the plaza is the house where Ignacio Allende was born.  Allende was one of the martyrs of the Mexican War for Independence.  After Mexico won its freedom from Spain, the town's name was changed from San Miguel el Grande, to San Miguel de Allende in honor of its hometown hero.

As lovely as the historic center is, it is jammed with tourists, not just foreign visitors but also Mexican families taking a weekend excursion.

We walked around looking for someplace to eat.  The restaurants either had long lines waiting for a table, or they looked too ritzy.  We finally ended up at a place that served a very mediocre meal.  The same thing happened the last time we were here.

While we were in the restaurant, it started to rain, even though this is the dry season, and the forecast did not call for any precipitation.  The last time we were here, on our first night we were caught in a downpour and we were soaked.  This time we waited out the rain at the restaurant.  When it appeared to have stopped we started back to the hotel.  However, it started to rain again, and we ducked into a bar and had a drink.  Finally, we made it back to our hotel without getting too wet, although walking on the slippery cobblestone streets and narrow sidewalks was a challenge.  It seemed as if San Miguel does not like us, having greeted us twice with rain.

However, just as on our last trip, the following day was much, much better.  As I mentioned earlier, we had been invited to San Miguel by a couple that we know, Al and Stew, for a "tamalada", a meal of tamales.  It was February 2nd, the Feast Day of Candelaria, and tamales are traditional on that day.  Their home is a beautiful "rancho" located in the countryside outside of the city.  The view from the terrace of the house is spectacular.

There were a large number of guests at the "tamalada".  The majority of them were people from the U.S. who are now living in Mexico.  Some live in San Miguel, others drove in from Querétaro about 60 miles away.  We had come the farthest of any of the guests.

At the bottom center of the photo, is Barbara, a blogger from San Miguel, whom we have known for many years.  I also met Al and Stew through Al´s blog.  Both "Babsblog" and "El Rancho Santa Clara" are on my "Blog List" in the right hand margin.

We had a delicious meal of homemade tamales.  The tamales are wrapped in corn husks and steamed.

It was an afternoon of good food and good company in a beautiful setting.  It certainly made up for the less than stellar evening before.  Thank you, Al and Stew for a great afternoon!

More from San Miguel de Allende to come...