The photo was taken on December 12, 2023, from the balcony of the home of friends. If you look closely, you can see the tall Christmas tree and decorations in the public square.
Tag Archives: travel
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.
Continue readingIt’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.
Continue readingSan 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.
Continue readingStar 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.
Continue readingBreakfast 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.
Continue readingCatrina 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.
Gallery: The walking dead are nothing if not punctual … when it comes to a parade
Who ever heard of a parade starting on time in San Miguel de Allende? Well, ALMOST on time.
Last night’s official parade of the dead got off within 20 minutes of its announced time of 6 p.m. By our standards, that’s awfully good. And it caught a lot of Catrinas and Catrines by surprise.
The first band and mobs of gaily dressed skeletal creatures were out of the gate on Cardo like it was the Kentucky Derby and not Dia de Muertos. All of a sudden, a hundred bystanders with iPhones and Nikon cameras were scrambling down the Ancha to get ahead of the parade.
Continue readingDeath becomes us this time of year
Marigolds are everywhere in San Miguel de Allende this time of year. They are like a homing beacon for our departed loved ones. It is how we let them know we welcome their spirits back for a short visit. It is how we let them know that we have not forgotten them.
The marigolds are on ofrendas — the altars we build to remember our deceased loved ones and family. They are in our parks. and other public gardens. They hang from door frames of businesses and homes.
This year, the spirit of Dia de Muertos seems to be embraced more than ever. The list of events in hotels, restaurants, public squares, and cantinas is staggering. Everybody is in on the action and it seems to be working. The visitors are swarming to the city.
Continue readingThinking about Jimmy Buffett and Paradise: ‘I am still me, it’s the island that got small’
In counseling the British writer Robert Graves on a possible move to Majorca, Gertrude Stein called it “a paradise – if you can stand it.”
And that is as good an explanation as any of the complicated relationship many people have with Jimmy Buffett. The man sold a brand of paradise. Millions bought at least some version of it – be it a beachy lifestyle, the music, a devotion to margaritas, Hawaiian shirts and sandals, sportfishing, sailing, and all the Margaritaville bars, retirement communities, casinos, resorts …
Buffett wasn’t the first to turn a lifestyle into a commodity but few seem to do it better. Maybe Donald Trump. These days you can be a cradle-to-grave Parrothead with apologies toward none. More than anything, we worship success and if a guy sells a million records or makes a million dollars, he will find no shortage of admirers.
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