Tag Archives: Photos

San Miguel de Allende, Writings

End animal suffering — one clinic at a time, that’s Rosey’s Wish

Some invitations are just too irresistible, like this one: Come join us out in the campo as we sterilize about 50 dogs and cats in the little community of San Antonio del Varal.

How could I say no to that?

The invitation came from Donna Lynes-Miller, the lifeforce behind Rosey’s Wish, a mobile veterinarian clinic on the front lines of the effort to reduce the number of abandoned and feral dogs and cats in San Miguel de Allende.

San Antonio Del Varal is a bit more than a half-hour away from, and a pleasant century or two behind, the city of San Miguel de Allende. An easy drive down the highway toward Queretero, and a sharp left onto a hard-packed dusty road that ends at the rancheria.

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photography, San Miguel de Allende

To market, to market … this holiday we go

Every Christmas season, Mercado de San Juan de Dios is turned into a Winter Wonderland.

Well, pretty much minus the Winter part.

Let’s say it transforms into a Christmas Marketplace, without all the messy snow and sub-zero temperatures.

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Reviews, San Miguel de Allende, Uncategorized, Writings

Bob’s really good day

Behind me, fresh rainwater surged down Calle Terraplen like a full-blown arroyo wash. The rain beats a staccato rhythm on the roofs of curbed cars. I was inside Hotel Hacienda El Santuario’s nearly empty dining room, chilly but dry.

On the small table before me was a hot cup of black coffee and a curious but tasty postre of cornbread topped with ice cream, caramel sauce, and chopped nuts.

Not more than 20 feet away, through the archway into the open-air courtyard, pianist Javier Garcia-Lascurian and cellist Guillermo Sanchez Romero were working their way through a heart-rendering version of Saint-Saëns’s “Le Cygnet” (The Swan). Huddled along the barely sheltered walls of the courtyard sat the hardiest classical music audience I’ve ever seen. Some had umbrellas up to supplement the scant coverage of the eaves.

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photography, Reviews, San Miguel de Allende

Fireworks one day, serenely beautiful concert the next — the holidays have arrived in San Miguel

If the Christmas season got off to a banging start with the tree lighting and intensive fireworks display on Friday, the holiday was elevated to a serenely beautiful level on Sunday by a concert featuring organ and brass instruments in the Templo de la Tercera.

The concert was under the aegis of Chorale San Miguel and completely underwritten by arts patrons John and Joy Bitner. That’s right, some people give fruit cakes for Christmas, the Bitners throw open the doors to an ancient church and put on a concert of mostly classical music for free.

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photography, San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel lights up the sky — and the Christmas tree

The shining tin stars are stretched out above the cobblestone streets. The fairy lights hang from the trees, and the poinsettias fill the garden. Storefronts are decked in holiday apparel.

And tonight, the community Christmas tree was lit amid a splendid fireworks display.

Feliz Navidad, from San Miguel de Allende.

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photography, San Miguel de Allende

Happy Revolution Day: A brilliant future marches right before our eyes

Revolution Day was on Thursday. As with all things annual and important, San Miguel de Allende celebrated with a parade.

Now, you would think that a parade that celebrates the Revolution of 1910, which finally freed Mexico from the oppressive rule of Porfirio Diaz, would be thick with militarism — squads of soldiers, combatants in arms, cannons, tanks, uniformly dressed squads marching in precision to martial cadences.

But it wasn’t.

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photography, San Miguel de Allende

Ending the day doing some good and losing at Loteria, grateful for it all

When the Latin America Relief Fund holds a benefit for ABBA House at the Mask Museum (once or twice a year), you come for the good cause and stay for the sunset.

To me, the second-floor balcony offers one of the prettiest views of San Miguel de Allende. Everything seems in scale — the towering church spires, the luscious blooming flowers, the sweeping mountains on the horizon. And the sunsets.

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photography, San Miguel de Allende

Some lively Catrinas for the Day of the Dead

I must say, the Dia de Los Muertos parade was spectacular this year. It felt more like a parade than a very compact promenade. As it has in the past.

If you follow me on Facebook, then you’ll find nothing new here. I posted all these photos right away to Facebook, and it has become one of the busiest and best posts I have ever hosted on my page.

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photography, San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel’s ‘Grand Desfile de Danzas’ for the ages

For more than a week, San Miguelians have been parading and dancing nightly in celebration of the Feast of Saint Michael. When it’s your namesake, you go all out. Right?

And on the last day, you put it all together in the “Grand Desfile de Danzas Locales y Foraneas” — the Grand Parade of Local and Foreign Dances.

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photography, San Miguel de Allende

Ride on! Ride on!

Today’s celebrations of San Miguel Arcangel only theoretically started at 3 a.m. They have been running non-stop for the past week here in San Miguel de Allende. All through last night, the sounds of music and fireworks drifted over the moon-kissed night skies from all directions.

At 3 a.m., the Alboradas converged on the plaza in front of the Parroquia San Miguel de Arcangel. These are the colorful giant twirling stars — one of the happiest sights you’ll see as processionaires dance and twirl their way into the square with marching bands and mohigangas in tow.

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