There are many hidden treasures in Guanajuato, narrow alleys just wide enough to squeeze through, artisan shops tucked into unseen corners, street food vendors and entertainers, not mention the mosaic of colors and textures. Included in the mix are the roaring diesels of buses that seem impossible to fit, yet manage to squeeze through places hard to believe.
Birthday serenade
The afternoon rains lasted a few days, but were then followed by smoky days and evenings, as farmers across Mexico began burning their fields for spring. In fact the time we've been in Mexico has been colored with haze and smoke. Many vistas remain hidden as the nation seems to be in a constant state of smoky blue.
Street food was plentiful, as were restaurants of all sorts, but our favorites were outside the Mercado where we always felt so loved and welcome...
Random weirdness - never figured out the dude in the black hoodie. He checked out our bikes and stayed around entirely covered. Maybe he was just shy...
Guanajuato is known as a good spot for learning Spanish, as it is a destination relatively few American tourists go. The school we chose was Escuela Falcon, a small, busy, but laid back learning center. The plan was to take an hour a day for two weeks to get some basic skills and build off that in other classes further south. Group classes were $45 US per week for an hour a day. Kim and I qualified as a group and our maestro was Pavel, a civil engineer with his own business. We met daily and when I asked why he taught in addition to running a successful company, he said he really loved to teach. It also kept his English sharper being able to hear it from students.
Pavel - maestro of Spanish language, ingeniero civil
We enjoyed the course and though at a 1st grade level, it did help very much. Comprehension has improved though conversation has a loooooong way to go. It kickstarted our minds and that was what I had hoped for.
If you visit Mexico, the one constant you will experience, aside from exhaust fumes, will be dogs. They are everywhere at all times, on the tollways, highways, roads, streets, alleys, restaurants and rooftops. Many times a day you will face them while riding, always when least expected. Spending time in the cities we've noticed some characteristics of them however. The rooftop dogs and dogs in yards tend to be very aggressive and vicious, while the thousands of dogs running the streets seem quite happy and laid back. Understandable, but what struck us was the number of pit bulls running the streets. Neither of us like pits due to experiences with them in the US, and I'll admit late a at night when alone in a street and seeing three of them loping towards us kicked up the adrenaline many times. What's really interesting though, is the street dogs, pits included, seem to be absolutely unaggressive. It seems the dogs reflect the laid back personalities of the citizens of Mexico, instead of the aggressive attitude seen in the US. It's been a real interesting experience indeed.
Dolores Hidalgo is a town roughly an hour from GTO so a ride was planned for the day, also as an excuse to ride the tunnels out of town. Dolores Hidalgo is the town where the active revolution against Spain actually began in earnest. Manuel Hidalgo was a priest in the small town, who organized or inspired a peasant revolt where 10,000 farmers began a march on Guanajuato, the rich mining center where the Spanish elite ruled.
This group of farmers was known as the "Insurgentes" and they eventually took the city, finally dislodging the Spanish soldiers and rich families from a fortress established in the town's granary, the "Alhondiga". History says a lone miner, "Pipila" carried a huge slab of stone on his back like a turtle shell to protect him from the bullets as he carried fire to the front door, burning it down and allowing the peasants to storm the fortress. Bullet and cannon marks still cover the Alhondiga in Guanajuato, now a museum.
Anyway, the road they took to Guanajuato also happens to be a great motorcycle road.
Leaving GTO
We rode high into the hills and the winding road was fun to ride, eventually dropping us down into the town of Hidalgo and the inevitable hot, stop and go, one car at a time pace through the packed streets trying to find the main plaza. After a detour to the wrong church tower, we eventually dog paddled our way to the main one and got off the bikes seeking shade.
Folks had mentioned that Dolores Hidalgo was known for ice cream and it was true. Almost every vendor in the plaza sold it one form or other. We couldn't resist and it felt great to cool down and watch the folks and fiesta of life on a Sunday afternoon.
As we've traveled, our routine has been to find the plaza, unwind and watch the activities in each town. It is sort of a comfort to know that every place you go, there will be at least one central location to park and relax while seeking a place to stay for the night. And the entertainment, though always the same - vendors with balloons, trinkets, pork skin, elotes, gorditas, etc - is always different.
Lunch at the mercado of course - BTW Coke is the answer to everything - digests questionable food, kills bacteria, dissolves grease and cholesterol clots, you name it... actually we have found it to help keep our stomachs in line tho
The ride back in the setting sun through the mountains was fun, albeit never boring with the random cluster of goats running through little towns, or wishy washy dogs on the road as you approach.
As our time in Guanajuato wore away, we wanted to see a performance in the main theater, Teatro Juarez. It is a cornerstone of the central area near the garden, the steps always littered with people watching the street performers or just watching the constant throng of crowds. It's also the gathering place for the street minstrels of the city.
As it turns out, we were contacted by a couple from England I'd met very briefly in Alaska. Tibor and Anna were riding two up on an 1150GS at the time, and neither of us can remember where we briefly spoke, but they were in Mexico on the way south as well. I'd bumped into them at MotoHank's place after we'd returned from Alaska as they came through Texas. In fact, The Glimmer Twins had been at Hank's at the same time. It was quite strange to be at his shop when Fanda and Kaschka arrived, followed by Tibor and Anna, then a German man, Jens Becker. Jens had met The Glimmer Twins in South Korea. What a small world it is. Especially in Dilley, Texas. But I digress.
Tibor and Anna, Brit cits but from Hungary and Lithuania, rode to Guanajuato from Guadalajara to meet us and we were able to spend a day with them. Teatro Juarez had had a dance group we'd missed, but there was a performance by a soprano one evening that we all had the chance to see. It was an evening of songs by soprano Conchita Julian, who'd sung with Placido Domigo and others of the genre. Despite understanding none of the words, the passion and beauty of song is universal and the old theatre was a spectacularly beautiful place to experience it.
The next day Tibor and Anna had to leave, but it had been great to see them. Their journey to south America was to continue, however they were returning to Texas to ship the bike back for a period of time before returning in a few months. After language class, Kim spotted the soprano, Ms. Julian, walking with her entourage from a hotel. We stalked her briefly until they stopped for a while, then went up to tell her how much we enjoyed the performance. She spoke little English, but she was happy to speak with us, inviting her family and friends over to meet us. We ended up talking for almost an hour, her group embracing us and laughing, taking selfies and such. It was a lot of fun and we were invited by one of her benefactors to come with her to a photography exhibit in Léon. It was an unexpected pleasure and characterized the Mexico experience for us.
[IMG]https://photos.smugmug.com/Galleries/The-Trip-II-Mexico/i-KqzGTtQ/0/L/DSC06157-L.jpg[/IMG]
The days blended together, as did the nights, the evenings having a magical feel with the ever-present period minstrels singing in the streets. There are several groups of street minstrels who lead group tours around the city, walking through the tiny streets, singing and dancing. Since the tourists who come are almost all Mexican, the crowd is boisterous and jovial. One hears song and music echoing closer and further through the evening darkness of the city, and we followed along many nights just for the joy of it.
There are statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza throughout the city, the town having become the center of a worldwide festival in honor of the author Cervantes. It is a part of their culture and we happened to catch a random rehearsal for an open air stage performance in front of a church. A lot of fun.
The only thing we never enjoyed in Guanajuato, was the walk back UP to our apartment. For days we tried a few different routes down and up the hill, but the streets of the city are very limited and the walkways can literally be hundreds and thousands of steep, handmade stone steps. It's a beeotch. Our main route down and up was something we figured we'd beat in a few days as our legs and lungs got used to the altitude and the steep angle of the street. It didn't happen. Though my performance improved initially, the tooth infection got to me, methinks, as I just couldn't improve. That is, until one day when I heard some noise behind me on the uphill climb. I looked back to see two old local women in their 80's gaining on me. What really spurred me on however, was the fact that one was on a walker and the other had a cane. I suddenly appeared next to Kim who was on a steep stairway about 25 yards ahead, much to her surprise. All I could wheeze out was "Hurry, they're gaining on us" before everything went hazy blue in my pre-heart attack and stroke moment. Still, the exercise was great. I guess. Let's be honest, to be fair, one of the old ladies should have been carrying the other one. Just sayin'...
Our time to leave Guanajuato was approaching and it was with real sadness that we faced a final couple of nights and days, walking and riding as much as we could in the town. On our last ride through the twisty streets, we stopped to wait for a parking spot and were approached by a young guy and girl, obviously from northern climes. Indeed they were. Canadians, Jaeson and Coady, were on a year long trip to South America in a Volkswagen van. We enjoyed talking with them and met later for some live local music and a cerveza.
The day we left, we both said we felt like we could stay there and find a place to live. Guanajuato is a beautiful mix of life, culture and color. The original name was Indian, Quanax-huato, meaning "the place of frogs". Pavel told us the local saying was "a place where even a frog can become king". Hmmmm, so you're tellin' me there's a chance!
