Santiago de Queretaro, Mexico

Our first evening, the plaza in front of our hotel
was filled with families as it was a Sunday.
 A band played in the Plaza behind the Hotel.

The Gran Hotel takes up a full city block and the
19th C building has been very modernized. 

 

Our flights from Dallas were to Queretaro so we decided to stay two nights there at the end of our trip and see the city. Our hotel, the Gran Hotel de Queretaro was formerly a monastery and sits between two major plazas in the central part of the city. The Spanish city was founded in 1531 when a battle was fought between the Spanish and their allies, the Aztec region Otomi, against the local Otomi and Chichimecas on the hill considered sacred in pre-Hispanic times. The latter were winning when a total eclipse of the sun scared them into surrendering. The Spanish claimed they saw an image of Saint James riding a white horse and carrying a rose-colored cross. He became the patron saint of the city as a result.

The Plaza at the rear of the hotel with the Temple of San Francisco de Asís in the background.

Queretaro is considered one of the the cradles of Mexican Independence and much of the credit is given to Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez. She was the wife of the governor at the beginning of the 19th C and used her prominent position to gather intelligence for the rebels. We were told the story that during her imprisonment in 1810, she managed to smuggle out important information through a rolled up paper fed through the keyhole to Miguel Hidalgo, "Mexico's Paul Revere", who rode his horse to warn the insurgents. He rushed to Dolores, where he gave his famous cry for independence. 

The church of La Santa Cruz where the battle occurred and Saint James "appeared" It was the site of the Collegio de la Propagaacion de la Fe, the first missionary school established in the Americas. From there missionaries such as Junipero Serra set out on foot to establish missions as far away as California. We visited several of them in Arizona.

We took a tour of the city in a replica of a Model Ford and heard these stories along with the later tale of Emperor Maximillian I of Mexico who was defeated at the Siege of Queretaro, took prisoner, and sentenced to death by firing squad in 1867. An Austrian archduke, he was persuaded by conservative Mexicans with the help of Napoleon III to establish the Second Mexican Empire in 1864 - it was a short reign!

We had lunch at the Hank's restaurant under
the portico at the Gran Hotel and it was so 
excellent, we came back for dinner. Funny to
have Cajun food in Mexico but great.

Our guide and vehicle for a trip around the city

A small section of the aqueduct

The most prominent feature of the city is the enormous aqueduct of Queretaro, consisting of seventy-four arches, each 20 meters wide with an average height of 23 meters and over 1 mile long. It was built between 1726 and 1738 at the request of the nuns of the Santa Clara Convent to bring clean water to the residents of the city. 

Our table at Hank's after dinner.

Small kiosks selling souvenirs line the parks
and pedestrian streets.

A view from the old city wall

This is a fast growing city and has the 2nd highest GDP per capita in Mexico basing it's economy on IT and data centers, aircraft manufacturing, call centers, etc. - plus a rapidly growing wine industry. This has resulted in high levels of migration from other parts of Mexico. The population is over one million now. We looked out from the old city walls at miles of suburbs and commercials centers in all directions. We covered a fair amount of territory inside the historic district but we only had one full day. On Tuesday we flew back to Dallas/Ft Worth, reclaimed our truck and drove back to Baby. We'll spend two nights at the Shady Acres RV Park before heading west to Abilene State Park. We need a day to do laundry, shop and clean up. 

All the parks were beautifully kept and landscaped - one feature we saw throughout the old city was the sculpted trees.

There seemed to be a church every other block of various sizes. They all belong to the State but maintained in most cases by the church. The constitutions of 1857 and later 1917 separated Church and State and limited the power of the Catholic Church. 

San Miguel de Allende - Part Three

Doreen, Dale, Joanne, Heather & Scott

Jeanette, Alan, Heather & Scott. After this picture we struck up a friendship with the fellow on the left from Guatemala. It's easy to meet people in the Plaza!

Corridors lined with art and sculpture wind around the former factory.

We spent our third day at the Fabrica de Aurora at the edge of the city.  What used to be a textile factory today houses canvases, sculptures and artisan products of great artists that live in San Miguel. The factory was an important engine for the labor sector in the textile market from 1920 to 2004 when a number of local artists started the first workshops in there. It's an enormous place, a warren of studios and galleries of all kinds. Remnants of the factory, photos and machinery remain and everything is built around it. 

You can get a feel for the number of galleries!

The chair below is woven plastic and stunning.

The art is so varied. 

There are two cafes as well, both inviting. We chose one in a flower filled courtyard and enjoyed various sandwiches and salads. 

After a refreshing nap back at our villa, we walked down town again to attend a recorder concert in a church. Seven recorder musicians played a large variety of pieces from the 16th C to today. They used an amazing variety of instruments from bass to soprano versions. Several of the performers sang along to some of the pieces. It was great. Afterwards we walked through town to one of Alan and Jeanette's favorite restaurants, Hecho,  and had dinner with their friends John and Doreen and their guests Dale and Joanne. The former bought a house here several years ago and are now permanent residents. They lived in Saudi Arabia for many years and Doreen (Cumberford) wrote a book about her experiences that I plan to read, "Life in the Camel Lane".

The next morning we finally felt acclimated enough to climb up to the Mirador viewpoint above us. It turned out to be closer than we thought but it was steep. As Alan had promised, the view wasn't that different from our rooftop deck, but the streets up and down were very photogenic. When we got back our housekeeper Veronica was already starting to cook lunch. She alternates making breakfast and lunch, and today was a lunch day. On the menu - a meatball soup, meatballs made of beef in a vegetable soup with tortillas. Delicious! We followed that by a nap and then another walk into town to look through the shops and finally get into the Cathedral. Outside Scott couldn't resist buying a little wooden donkey from a street vendor with an adorable little boy. We spent some time listening to two mariachi bands, sometimes in competition. They don't play for free - people hire them. Later in the afternoon we had a pastry and cappuccinos at Campanio, sitting at the open window and enjoying people watching. There are a lot of beautifully dressed non Latino and Latino women in this town! 

Saturday was a lovely day. We walked around again in the morning and then went out to dinner at a beautiful roof top restaurant next to the Cathedral. The food was delicious and so were the marguerites!  Afterwards we walked over to the central plaza and ran into our new friends, Doreen, Dale and Joanne. It's a small town! So tomorrow we head north to Queretero, where we'll stay two nights at the Gran Hotel in the historic district. But that's for my next post.

Alan, Jeanette and Scott at the concert

Six of the seven musicians made my camera
frame (from my seat)

This artist's gallery was my favorite

A book about the artist Manolo Cocho, an 
example of his work is on the left.

There is a lot of fantastic whimsical sculpture on
display all over the center. 

The "gradual" route up to the Mirador viewpoint

The view from the top

Looking down the "steep" route - the picture
is very deceptive - it was much steeper in 
reality

Looking up - we had to use the railing!

The Cathedral has many chapels, one large one in the bell tower and other small ones off this main room

These Maracchi players are for
hire

In this case by a family to celebrate their daughter's
birthday. Everyone in the crowd came up to hug
her and sometimes for a brief dance.

From our seat watching the musicians we could
look across to the Cathedral

Scott couldn't resist this woman and her little son
selling small wooden donkeys with dried flowers.

Jeanette and Veronica

Walkabouts in San Miguel - Part Two in Mexico

 

Many of the walls are covered with bouginivilla
or vines cascading from the roof tops.

Iron balconies are draped in flowers and pots with
others line up on the roofs. 

Some of the streets, like this one leading up 
to our villa, are so narrow that when a car
passes you have to hide in a doorway!

Street vendors are everywhere - here one selling
hats. 

We've been doing a lot of walking here. To be honest, mostly the downhill and level sections. Scott and I cheat and take a taxi back up to our hillside villa. Between the altitude and the cobblestone streets we get plenty of exercise! Our first full day Jeanette and Alan took us for a tour around the central part of the city. 

Church of the Immaculate Conception

The interior was very beautiful

Looking up into the dome.

The Oratorio de San Felipe Neri

The Iglesia de San Francisco

There are a lot of churches, one seemingly around every corner. But this is known as an artist's colony and no surprise as there is a gallery on every block downtown and outside. The Esquela de Bellas Artes or El Nigromante was founded in the late 1930's by American artist and writer Stirling Dickinson and Peruvian artist and writer Felipe Cossio del Pomar. It is housed in the former Sisters of the Conception convent and is still vibrant today. This and other art institutions began to attract American exchange students who came to live here or later to retire. It also houses art exhibits, classrooms for all the arts and music. 

Jeanette appears to be holding up the ceiling
when photographed through the metal sculpture.

One room dedicated to the unfinished mural by
David Alfraro Siqueiros.

 

One hall of the old convent is dedicated to a mural by David Alfraro Siqueiros, along with students from the art school, but it was never finished. It features a metal sculpture that takes an unusual photo when you squat down and photograph through it at a friend. Another great place is the Biblioteca Publica which serves as the community center for San Miguel's large foreign population. The library was founded by Helen Wade, a Canadian, who wanted to reach out to local children. The library has a cafe, sponsors tours and prints a bilingual newspaper. It also sponsors educational programs for local youth including scholarships, donations of school supplies and free English and computer classes for children.

Vibrant murals cover the walls of the huge
Bibliotheca. 

Another whimsical mural there.

There is a concert hall as well

And a big children's library

I love the thousands of doorways throughout the city leading into homes and shops. When they are open we can peak into the private courtyards and of course, enter the commercial establishments! I'll end today's post with a few photos. There is still at least one more post before we fly back to Texas.

Here a glimpse into a private home

Probably a small hotel, formerly a private
residence

And a intriguing shop

Here a simple home is adorned by a mural

Lots of bougainvillea but since it's the dry 
season, rather dusty

Another glimpse into a private home!