Our Vacation To San Miguel de Allende, MX--Photos & Links

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.

These were most certainly worth saving! The shots of the doors are beautiful, and now that I see what you photograph when you go to Mexico, your own decor at Casa Murray makes a lot more sense. Cool, man!

We just returned from San Miguel last week and I have to say, it’s a big disappointment that all of the Mexico violence affects perception about the safety concerning places like San Miguel, which was in my view as safe and comfortable as it has been in the past. No worries about traveling from the airport, no violence in the city itself, still friendly and the same as past years. It’s just a shame that a place that holds this kind of charm, with the high caliber of dining with choices like Ik-Etznab (which was firing off again–we ordered 14 different entrees as the price fixe option has been removed for now) and Sollano 16 (known also as The Restaurant, which is still offering it’s Thursday burger night–killer again with the salmon burger). Below is a link to some photos I took, with some family shots intermingled since the link went to some family people, too.

In the end, this is a helluva town, affordable, safe, with so much culture, art and fine dining (and local cheap food too, which screams flavor), I would not hesitate to recommend San Miguel Allende again.

PS–since food is such a big attention piece of many on this Board, I have added a link to Ik-Eztnab’s website and some photos of our lunch below. While you can find some from last year’s trip in the links originally above I made last year, the one below shows what they are up to now. As I keep telling the chef, if we can get this kind of a place into the OC or LA area, I am sure he would do well. This guy knows what he is doing and he is so young still. FWIW, and you can see this in their website, the restaurant is built in a glass tree house.

http://www.ik-etznab.com.mx/english/home.html

Thanks for reading.

Just a quick announcement back to those of you who follow the Travel Forum here…my wife and I spent XMAS and the New Year in San Miguel again. 11 days. It was again safe, clean, the food kicked ass as the handful of fine dining places continue to execute splendidly and we also discovered a couple new traditional mexican cafes that did very well and god awful cheap prices. The peso/dollar exchange is for us the best is has looked in the past few years and so the whole experience is very affordable. The weather was very So Cal-like, doing a 75/45 high-low thing each day.

If any of you want to have some recommendations, some advice or guidance about going to this beautful colonial Mexico place, send me a PM and I am happy to offer you some data points. We plan now to go 2X a year and I am looking again already for something in late Spring. Great place.

Happy new year.

Frank,

Been following your posts with keen interest, been wanting to go here for years. Glad to hear it is safe as my sig other is still a little afraid to travel south of the border. I will send you a PM soon to get further info from you.

Tom

Serge, I spent some time on the phone this week explaining some of the details to Tom and I hope he can make it out to SMA soon. As we talked about on PM, hit me back if you decide to go so I can give you a deeper dive on restaurants, transportation and other aspects to the trip.

This last trip of nearly two weeks left me with what finally I have realized is a bit of a travel hangover. The place as so relaxing this time, and even back to work now almost a full 2 weeks, I am only finally getting readjusted to the stress of So Cal and the job. This is a real sign for me that SMA is a place that really allows one to forget, which is what I think a vacation is really at best supposed to create.

Had dinner last night at the bar at Franconi’s at the Orange Circle and turns out the bartender is from Guanajuato, Mexico which is very close to SMA. As you know I am having a little trouble convincing mi sposa to make the trip, well I think he was able to convince her. His family was of Spanish descent and reminded her that that portion of Mexico is very much like the Old Country of Spain, very colonial with a European feel.

So I am in booking mode before she changes her mind. I know her and I know she will love it as soon as we arrive. Thanks again Frank for the chat the other day, I will keep you up to date on our plans/itinerary. I think he convinced us to rent a car so we can visit his city as well, sounded very enchanting as well.

You still planning a trip Serge?

Looks like we are going 3/28 - 4/1. Cant wait.

Tom, are you going to stay at Las Terrazas? I still also think you can blow the rental car idea out and use my private car driver solution. It’s probably cheaper and you don’t have to drive.

Anyway, if you want to talk more again, I am happy to help. Glad to see you got it over the goal line.

Yeah I think you are right about driver, rental would just sit parked most of the time and really driving down there doesn’t sound too fun.
Did you guys hear the Pope is coming to SMA for Easter? I definitely need to schedule around that!

We did Easter in 2011. The procession from the church through town was really beautiful. Great time to go and the weather is great.

We just returned from 11 days in San Miguel, arriving back last night. Once again, the town is safe and remains such a sweet, relaxing and welcoming place. There are enough pictures in my link above from one of the previous trips so that gives you a sense of things. Should you be looking at the idea of traveling there, shoot me a PM and I am happy to answer questions. FWIW, I have nothing to sell and I don’t work for the Tourism people!

This is such a beautiful, unique, cultural and extremely affordable vacation, we have now been 8 times and should be planning another visit soon, I hope.

We went to SMA a couple years ago and absolutely loved it. Can sure understand why you’ve been there 8 times, Frank. I would love to go back.

Hello everyone. My wife and I just got back from San Miguel, where we stayed a total of 11 days. The city, the dining and the safety all remain in really positive terms, and with the exchange now of Peso to USD at 14:1, the value is really terrific.

If anyone wants help with trip planning or has thought about going, PM or email me. Having now been a dozen times over the past 5 years, I am very comfortable with the topic.

FWIW, two things have occurred recently that have/will spotlight the city.

1. The Conde Nast review. Conde Nast Traveler Names San Miguel De Allende #1 and Hotel Matilda # 2 in Mexico

2. Top Chef. The finale this year was shot in San Miguel and will be aired in February. The chef at Sollano 16/The Restaurant will be on the judging panel. FWIW, we have eaten at this place many times over the past 5 years, most recently 3X in the last 2 weeks and it remains rock solid, and could stand up to anything here in Orange County.

PS–here a few links to Dropbox that show some photos we just took on the trip, a mix of food and city things:

Just trying to be of help.

Awesome Frank!

Thanks. As I said in a previous pm, SMA is on my short list of places to go.

Frank: I have very similar feelings…this is a place I really want to visit. Looking forward to seeing it as the setting for the “Top Chef” finale.

Cheers!
Marshall

This week’s episode had footage at the end where you saw the church and also the main jardin, ala the downtown square. I suspect next week is when you will see much more. My wife was giddy last night as the show ended, as the images they showed we are very familiar with now, and we are quite attached to the city emotionally, too.