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