Trip to San Miguel De Allende

The first weekend of Cervantino is underway and I have watched the amount of people and shops douple in a couple of days. I decided that I was not ready to be around this many people yet, and after the first big free show in the park I would hitch a ride with my friends from Guadalajara who were heading to San Miguel De Allende. I needed to check out the school that I am planning to go to for silver smithing, Instituto Allende, and just get a feel for another mexican town I will be living in. We set out the next afternoon because our night did not end until 6am the next morning. There was to much good dancing and conversations to head to bed any earlier. During Cervantino, especially during the weekends, the steets and bars are packed until 4am. Any street you take you can find amazing mariachi music, tradicional musica de Nayarit, or a free circus act in a bar or cafe. There are free shows throughout the day, and into the night in different plazas and expositions throught the month. I new that leaving the city for the weekend, I wouldn´t miss much since the festival is 3 weeks long.

The drive to San Miguel took about 1 hour and it was beautiful. Green hills dotted with rocks and cactus and a few houses, took us through a few tiny pueblos, and then into gorgeous San Miguel.





San Miguel is a side of Mexico I did not know existed. With the entire city layed out in obblestone streets and colonial, European style chuches and homes that have been kept in tact from when they were built in the 17th and 18th century. The main center of the town is swarming with tourists throughout the night and day and is quite an outstanding sight. La Parroquia, the current parish church of San Miguel is unique in Mexico and the emblem of the town. It has a Neo-gothic facade with two tall towers that can be seen from most parts of town. It is one of the most photographed churches in Mexico. While the outlying areas of the town and municipality have changed over time, the historic center remains much as it was 250 years ago. I found San Miguel to be gorgeous and very artistic, but in my short visit it did not win my heart over the outstandingly unique and magical town of Guanajuato.