The Parroquia San Miguel Arcángel
is probably the most photographed building in San Miguel de Allende—for good
reason. It is the most beautiful church I’ve seen in all of my travels. When
the sunlight changes, the colors of the stones change and a new photo is called
for. When it rains, the church changes color again and my camera comes out for
another photo. Of course, I can’t post all of them, though I’m tempted to show
every changing mood of this masterpiece.
There are so many amazing
buildings, doors, parks, and restaurants in San Miguel de Allende that this
article will be more of a collection of photos from our first two weeks here.
We love the architecture, the cooler summer weather, the food, the gardens, and everything
there is to explore so much that we’ve decided to stay another week.
The buildings shown below are
facing the Jardín Principal near the Parroquia, and create the center of
town.
During our walking tours of centro,
self-guided, I noticed that predominant colors used on many of the beautiful
buildings in San Miguel de Allende are various shades of orange and yellow. Though not typically my
first choice, the colors work well here.
I have often heard that San Miguel
de Allende is overrun with foreigners. We sure didn’t notice that to be the
case. Maybe because July is the month that locals take family vacations, the
vast majority of people we saw were Mexicans. Spanish was the preferred
language spoken in restaurants and on tours.
We want to take the Trolley Tour
of SMA, but the tickets sell out quickly. We have tried twice to buy a ticket
but arrived too late in the day and all were sold out. So, we went back to our
self-guided walking tour.
We enjoyed many parks and plazas, watched children
play basketball at the Parque Benito Juarez, saw the historic "Pemex Gas Station", and wandered the narrow
stone-paved roads. Some calles remind us of the streets of Venice, Italy, except in
San Miguel small cars and buses fill the streets. We especially enjoyed the streets
in centro that were closed to vehicle traffic so that pedestrians could wander
down the center of the streets.
As always, finding good
restaurants is an important part of our explorations. Hank’s New Orleans Café and
Oyster Bar has become a favorite. The Cajun food, excellent service, and fun
atmosphere keep inviting us back. One day, I began craving Chinese food and we decided to walk miles across town to reach Dragon Chino. I almost talked Jon out of going in
due to its appearance, but he insisted we try it as we had walked so far to
find it. We were glad we did—the food was delicious. They didn’t serve wine so
we ordered Margaritas and they were excellent, too. We’ll be back for their
spicy shrimp and chicken dishes!
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| Cajun-Style Calamari at Hank's |
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| Dragon Chino Restaurant |
We
have enjoyed the amazing weather here in San Miguel de Allende. It has been 80
degrees in the afternoon and in the 50s to 60s at night-- a very nice July climate.
Transportation around town is convenient which is important to us since we don't own a car. Who would want to drive in this city, anyway, where there is not a single traffic light and parking is a challenge? Roundabouts and driver courtesy keep things flowing, but it seems a little scary to me. We have a convenient
bus service into centro which we use almost daily for 8 pesos (40 cents US) per person. When it rains in the evening, taxis are easy to
find and Uber is inexpensive here.
We’ve decided to stay another week. We still
have plans to go to the Botanical Gardens, a yoga class, ride the trolley, and discover one or
two more restaurants. Look for one more blog article from me about this fun city in Mexico.
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| Gombos Pizza |
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Looks wonderful! But 50s-60s at night in July seems a little cool. How fast does it warm up during the day? We have other friends who just spent the month of July there and loved it.
ReplyDeleteThe weather is about perfect! Last night the low was 52, just right for snuggling under a blanket. By noon, it's in the 70's and by 4:00 or so it hits 78 to 80. So comfortable, especially without the humidity of the coast right now. This could become our summer home! We'll definitely miss the ocean while we're here, though. Have a good day, Emily!
DeleteTerry
by 11AM it is usually in the mid to high 70's. this is the case year round. once the sun is up it only takes a couple of hours for the temperature to reach in the 70's, even in the winter when it can go into the 40's at night.
ReplyDeleteWow, the weather is so comfortable. And year round? That's great. The only thing I'm adjusting to is the higher altitude. After living the past four years at sea level, the transition to 6500 feet is taking some time. I hope when we return next July, the adjustment will be easier.
DeleteThanks for reading and writing your comment.
Terry