Tag Archives: tourism

Colonia San Antonio, photography, San Miguel de Allende

Kids and combatants out in force to parade for Allende’s 255th anniversary

The city of San Miguel de Allende came out in force on Sunday to celebrate the 255th anniversary of the birth of Don Ignacio Allende y Unzaga, hero of the Mexican Revolution of 1810.

The city, through its Directorate of Culture and Traditions, has presented a slate of civic and cultural events in honor of the birthday that will culminate in a huge fireworks display tonight.

The most visible of all these events is the traditional Great Military and Civic Parade which started around 10:30 a.m. and marched through Centro, down Zacateros, up the Ancha, and terminated on Cardo.

(Click on any image to enlarge it.)

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San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel’s fledgling Operisima Mexico finds a glamorous new home in a garden of earthly delights

Rogelio Riojas-Nolasco, founder and music director of Operisima Mexico, reflects on the opera studio’s first year in front of Villa Puccini on the morning of their premiere performance here of “La Bohème.” The owners of Villa Puccini, John and Joy Bitner have opened their doors and hearts to the opera troupe.

The modest wooden door in the high garden wall opens into El Rio y La Paloma No. 2 in the distant and dusty San Miguel outpost of Los Frailes. Stepping through the portal feels a bit like Dorothy stepping out of Auntie Em’s farmhouse into Oz.

Behind this wall is indeed another world so unexpected and beautiful as to momentarily throw you off balance.

The path before you leads to a distinguished columned building in the Greek Revival style — now to become an opera house. To the left is a fountain with a sculpture of Hercules riding the back of a dolphin. In the distance, another fountain celebrates Dionysius. To the right is an Italian villa and beside it is a weighty and somber stone Medieval tower.

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photography, Reviews, San Miguel de Allende

Christmas Market (updated): Like sifting through holiday boxes in Grandma’s attic

Strolling through the Christmas Market at Mercado de San Juan de Dios in San Miguel de Allende is a lot like rooting through the boxes of holiday decorations in your grandmother’s attic.

Amid all the tinsel and strings of lights and shiny garlands and Manger figurines there is a lot of cool stuff that would look great on your tree or mantle or coffee table. Some of the designs look unchanged over the decades.

I’ll bet you could process the whole history of Christmas ornamentation in a walk around the Mercado.

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photography, San Miguel de Allende

It’s official: With lights, fireworks, and song, the holiday season begins in San Miguel de Allende

With the lighting of the Christmas tree and street decorations in Centro, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, the holiday season is officially in full swing.

Hundreds of residents and families watched as the Christmas tree was lit at exactly 8 p.m. on Friday. Cheers erupted but they were quickly drowned out by the traditional fireworks display. The city had setup long lines on the opposite end of the park to distribute tamales and beverages to the people.

Along with the tree, hundreds of thousands of fairy lights in the Plaza Principal’s jardin lit up, as did the strings of bejeweled tin stars that hang overhead on all the streets feeding into the plaza.

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photography, Rants and raves, Reviews, San Miguel de Allende, Writings

Free festival lets maestros take San Miguel’s ‘new’ 1875 pipe organ at Templo de la Tercera Orden out for a spin — and the public is invited along for the ride

After today’s concert in the Temple of the Third Order on Calle San Francisco, the maestro David Soteno Jimenez from Metepec in the State of Mexico had nothing but praise for the nearly 150-year-old pipe organ on which he performed.

“It is magnificent,” he enthused. “You see that it has only one keyboard and yet it has such a range of sound.” His one observation was that the stops that provide the keyboard its range take a bit of muscle to pull out — not an easy feat when your fingers are rolling a glissando down the keys.

He laughed as he mimicked a tug of war with the instrument, then showered it with more love.

Soteno Jimenez is the first artist from outside of San Miguel de Allende to “kick the tires” so to speak on the recently installed organ.

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photography, San Miguel de Allende, Writings

San Miguel is one giant living Christmas card

Walking Moppit the Philosopher Dog this morning and she was adamant about turning up Aldama as we left the main entrance to Parque Juarez here in San Miguel de Allende.

Normally we engage in a powerful battle of wills.

Moppit will want to go left when I want to turn right.

She wants to turn around and head home for a doggie treat while I want to press on for a few blocks more.

She wants to stop and sniff every pee-drenched corner when I don’t want to break the rhythm of my steps.

She wants to stop at Cafe Hortus for a croissant while I prefer walking over to Panina for a rosemary and raspberry scone.

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photography, San Miguel de Allende

Star light, star bright, see how you’ve survived into the morning light

A star fell from the heavens and landed in a pocket park in San Miguel de Allende,

Right behind the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel.

Crazy how people take such things in stride.

If a star had fallen anywhere else, people would have been looking for it on the five o’clock news.

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San Miguel de Allende

Angel in the wings: San Miguel Playhouse has a new home

But for the big hearts and amazing foresight of one Mexican family, a newly built structure in Colonia La Luz might have become another OXXO store. Instead, with a lot of help from a lot of friends, it will become the new home of San Miguel Playhouse.

The theater lost its home on Independencia when the owners of the property put it up for sale. With no lease on the property they have been occupying since 2014 and the threat of eviction hanging over their head, the troupe couldn’t plan a new season. As they say in the business, the theater went dark in May.

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photography, San Miguel de Allende, Writings

Breakfast by the Jardine

They’re mostly gone now, the visitors, the tourists. Swept away by a late-season burst of rain and the chill in the air. Out with the marigolds and Catrinas and jacked-up prices — “make hay while the sun shines.” In with the hint of calm and solitude, if only for an eye-wink.

It is quiet for a moment. The so-called high season begins shortly, as the first dusting of snow transforms parts north and the occasional residents descend for the winter rounds of social gatherings, fine dining, concerts, and art exhibitions.

People coming and going in San Miguel are kind of like seasons all their own.

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Colonia San Antonio, photography, San Miguel de Allende, Writings

Catrina grand finale

Don’t go looking for her. She is gone. I’m glad I stopped to make her acquaintance before heading next door to Cafe Murmullo to meet friends for breakfast.

In the time it took me to down waffles piled high with blackberries and raspberries with a drizzle of strawberry compote and two cups of chai latte, she was gone.

Women like that, so fickle. Here one moment, big hat and bangles. Gone the next.

Maybe next year. Same time, same place?

I will wait for her. Grateful for what little time we had together. (About five minutes this morning, to be honest.)

Meanwhile, the murals remain, of course. In the entrance to Instituto Allende on Calle Ancha de San Antonio 22. And they are beautiful. Are they not? Stop by and peek in the door. Murals are meant to be seen and appreciated.

Catrinas, too. But their time is short.

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