No Room at the INN

Wow, people love to visit San Miguel.
There is a great deal of activity here in San Miguel over the holidays.
Tonight is New Years Eve and I think everyone has decided to celebrate it here.

I popped into town today to get some pictures of the mounted police that they like to trot out for weekends and holidays.  Trot out, get it! Sorry !

Mexican Mountie!

The main plaza is packed, as you can see. Then they proceeded to start  building a stage for this evenings festivities, very organized.

Packed!

I have been impressed with how well they have been dealing with ALL the traffic, and when I say traffic, I don’t just mean cars, you have to add bikes , scooters donkeys, horses, and horse drawn carriages. Even then they come up with traffic you wouldn’t expect.

Traffic

For example, below is a picture I took a little before 9 AM this morning out a window facing the rear of our home,  now that is a unique way to jump a traffic jam!

Arriving in Style!

I hope to catch some photos this evening to share with you later.

Have a safe and happy New Year!!!

Christmas Lights and Sights, San Miguel de Allende

The other night I went for a walk around the Jardin in San Miguel with my camera to catch some of the colour and sights of the season. I would like to share that with you, no write-up this time, just a few pictures.

The Christmas tree in between the Parroquia and the clock tower that gives Calle Relox it name.

Poinsettias glowing white against the backdrop of green turned almost black by the lateness of the hour

Cars slowly driving by though light strewn streets

Please have a very happy holiday, where ever you are!

Calendars & New Kid on the Blog!

 

Hello all

for those of you who haven't found her yet, Shannon has started her own blog.
Please check it out and leave some kind words in the comments for her.

http://www.rat-race-refugee.com/

In addition she has been going through my photos and has put together calendars , mouse pads, mugs and such. Check out the links to the Calendars and pass them on!

If you want things in time for Christmas order now!

Keep tuned to this channel, in the new year, I will be making some major changes!!

 

Patzcuaro Calendar

A Year in Patzcuaro, Mexico Calendar by Mexico_Memento

 

 

San Miguel Calendar

A Year in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, Calendar by Mexico_Memento

Now and Then

 

Just a quick note today.

One of the things I love about the colonial highlands of Mexico, is you never really know what you are going to run into. Saturday morning, walking around with my camera, I round the corner of the Jardin in San Miguel and there sitting in front of a 300 plus year old church is an assemblage of 80 off road vehicles.

 

Contrasting Now and Then

Seems I have stumbled across the starting line for the Rally Raid Bajio 500, a cross country race running for 3 days in the area.  Me, I am just jealous of the parking spot they found. Parking can be a challenge here. LOL

 

The Best Parking Spot in San Miguel!

A Nave in Nurio

So, continuing  on our drive that we started last week. After leaving Pomacuarán, driving for less than ten kilometers we roll quietly into Nurio. The sign at the entrance to town is the only street sign there, as everyone in town already knows where everything is, and rarely does anyone else stop. Those that drive through truly do not know what they are missing.

The somewhat colorful entrance to Nurio!

Luckily it only takes a question or two of the locals to determine the location of the church. While it didn’t happen in this case, I have often found getting directions on the ground from locals in Mexico can be highly entertaining. It seems that culture is such that they don’t want to disappoint, so even if they don’t know what the appropriate directions are , they will come up with some for you anyway! In cases like this it is often helpful to ask a few people and see if there is a consensus of option. I admit I have often been tempted to pull up to a group of people in some out of the way village and ask if I am headed in the right direction for Acapulco!

Templo de Santiago Apóstol in  Nurio

 

The church sits behind one of the ubiquitous fig trees that seem so popular in so many of the town squares here. It is  more massive and weightier than the painted churches in Pomacuarán and Tupataro, significantly more imposing, a deep dusty peach color with streamers trailing out from the window above the door.

Rich Colors and Gold Leaf

The entrance, with deep  colors, make Nurio stand out from the other painted ceiling churches in the state. The rich enameled paint  and the gold leaf make the clear statement that this is a step beyond the typical folk art of the region.

Ceiling Detail

As we progress into the church, we can see that this is not just another day in Nurio, but a fiesta day, probably with the word “Saint” in the title. Elegant fabric drapes down from the ceiling to the sides of the church, with flowers everywhere including a mosaic of flower petals and other foliage running down the aisle in the center of the church. I am assuming that they don’t put this sort of show on for every visitor. but I could be wrong.

The Nave, All Dressed Up

Below is the photo I took of the sign by the church, with details in Spanish, English and Purépecha dating the painting in the church to 1639. Hey, if you have no idea what the difference is between a nave and a narthex, then check out this website for handy reference that helped explain some of the details for me.

Inside your Church

Painted in Pomacuarán

Welcome to Pomacuarán!

Today we are on the road to visit the church at Pomacuarán. Another back road adventure in the Mesa Purépecha of Michoacán. We found this village the first time we went to Cocucho to get the big pots that they are so famous for when we lived in Patzcuaro.

The Church at Pomacuarán

We arrive in the village, with the sky a dramatic blue contrasted with the clouds floating by at a leisurely pace. A great day to take pictures. Like many of these villages that lie off the beaten path, Spanish is a second language here, while most , if not all, speak Spanish, you hear a great deal of the Purepecha language throughout this region.
At the ”shoreline” so to speak, of Spanish and English, you get Spanglish, I wonder if there is a word for the combination of Spanish and Purepecha?

Pomacuarán Painted Ceilings, Reminiscent of Tupataro

Hey remember our visit to Tupataro? You can see that post here: The Church at Tupataro.

What does the Tupataro have to do with todays trip? The uniquely Michoacán painted church ceiling, not that painted ceilings are uniquely Michoacán, just ask Michelangelo,  but the style of the painting is very traditional of the folk art here, or perhaps it just seems so to my untrained eye.

Ceiling Detail

So, as we have started to visit more churches with painted ceiling, our next stop will be the beautiful church in Nurio that has received attention from the World Monuments Fund, so check back next week for another painted ceiling.

Cold Facts on San Miguel de Allende.

Before we moved to San Miguel, we had visited here quite often.
Whenever we would talk about where we lived in Patzcuaro we would regularly hear..
”Patzcuaro…..It’s SOOOO COLD there”
Well , last week, no wait….
last month, no…..
okay, I started this post at the end of November. I have been very bad about keeping current, but that will be changing with the new year!!!!

We had a cold snap like nothing I had ever experienced in Patzcuaro.

What Jack Frost Touches, Dies!

Note the splash of green in the lower left where the larger tree shielded the smaller.

The temperature dropped to –8 Celsius and combined with the wind that night it made for some cold feet on the tile floor. But it also made for some very unhappy plants.

The tree in front of the house got the worst of it,  leaves turning brown and brittle.
Throughout the yard, plants are dead or dying back, to start over (hopefully) when the temperature permits.

I am already seeing some colour popping out amongst all the brown in the yard. I am taking this not as just a good sign for the garden, but perhaps an omen of the year to come and our new adventures in our new home!

Rebirth!

I Have a Mountain of Books!

 

One of the things that I really disliked about living in Mexico , when we first moved here, was the lack of book stores. I missed Chapters.  For those of you in the States, Chapters is Canada’s large chain book store.

I missed digging through piles of old books in used stores on Granville Street.
Sneaking out to Point Grey to see the latest science fiction in at the White Dwarf bookstore. Be careful not to trip over the basset hound wandering the store.

When we moved down here we brought a small trailer for our belongings. Well, for what was left of our belongings, as we sold, gave away or threw out 90 percent of our stuff. Just keeping clothes, computer, a few sentimental things and boxes and boxes of books.

When I got my kindle, I was very happy. I don't really buy hard copy books anymore.
But......
I still cant bring myself to get rid of all my old books. Old books are like old friends.

Right now I have boxes of books still to go through to pick which ones will go in the book cases of our new place. Yes, there are still some that I will be throwing away. Anyone want 6 books on how to use a 4 year out of date version of Photoshop? Let me know before the garbage truck gets here!!

Then this morning I came across this Canadian artist. Perhaps I should turn my old books into a new hobby!

So head on over to visit Guy Laramee, and be amazed, I know I was.

http://www.guylaramee.com