There has been a lot of bad press about Mexico recently–deaths, violence, immigration legislation: most of it negative. In spite of these issues, which are in some instances horrific and polarizing, there is indeed some parts of Mexico where one can walk around at 10 PM on the streets, enjoy gourmet cuisine, feel safe and not become sick, a far cry for how Mexico is regularly portrayed. San Miguel de Allende (SMA) is a colonial city in central, high desert Mexico that has a % of US ex-pats residents and long-term vacationers, that along with the native Mexican population, support and create a thriving city that we have now visited 3X, each of the last three years. This time we left on a Monday and returned the following week on Thursday–a restful and decompressing time of buying pottery, artesanias (local art), eating some great meals–both gourmet and simple, and just walking a lot of street miles, pounding the stone sidewalks enjoying some shops and local things to do. (PS—as you open the photo links below, my suggestion is to click on the first photo and then just view the photos in sequence, as there is more than one page of photos in some).
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We stay at a very cool bed and breakfast, Las Terrazas, that is carved into the hill, containing three small casas, along with a main house where the proprietors live. Below is the link to their property, along with my photos of it. The owners are American and one of the two, Greg, used to work for Domaine Chandon several years ago in their management team.
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One of the interesting aspects of SMA, a city without stop lights and asphalt, are the doors, which often are ornately the center of a very basic façade, to reveal what is beautifully lurking behind the doors. To give a sense of the doors, as well as the houses that lie behind the doors, are some photos below that I took. The doors are from various random shots about the town, and the inside shots are part of a weekly ‘house tour’ that is offered by bus—we do it each time we visit to appreciate the décor, the art and the views from many of these homes:
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One restaurant we always visit is Ik-Etznab, located in a large glass tree house near the small town of Santa Rosa.
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As I told the chef Ivan, if we could get him to LA, SFO or NY, he would compete with some of the best and newest, as he is creative, thoughtful, reserved but so talented. A treasure that is yet to be discovered but the many:
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We then did our usual just up the windy road to Santa Rosa Mayolica, where some of the most beautiful hand-made pottery is created. The prices listed in the web link below seem quite high, as purchasing in person is far cheaper, plus you can leverage the exchange rate and buy in peso, then ship the pottery back:
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After Santa Rosa, we always head to the towns of Dolores Hidalgo to buy talavera, as well as the nearby seat of the state and also capital of the same named, Guanajoto. The mummy exhibit outside the main city is very unique:
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It is said that the 4th time to San Miguel Allende is often the last time, as many seem to finally give in to the temptation, buy a home and stay put–god, I am nearly there!
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Next year will be the 4th trip, unless of course the Dr Mrs and I go again before the end of 2010! Thanks for visiting our trip.