Sat 2/18: We survived the cold night with only one charley horse between us. Our guide Jose took us to the neighboring town of Dolores Hidalgo. We stood at the church where Father Hidalgo issued his Grito, a call to arms for the country's independence. I haven't mentioned that the churches we see are huge. We toured Fr. Hidalgo's former rectory; his wife and children lived in a house down the street. The town was busy on this pleasant afternoon. We saw two young women in their quinceanera dresses, celebrating their 15th birthdays. The last church we walked in was celebrating a funeral Mass, with just minutes remaining of the Mass. The deceased was a 68-year old woman full of cancer, we were told. Her husband in his plaid shirt, holding his straw hat, was standing by her coffin probably for the entire Mass. As guitar music played during the recessional, a sister-in-law carried a large photo of the deceased ahead of the casket, followed by the grieving family. Outside the church, five guitarists, one violinist and one trumpeter played a song promising the deceased she'll never be forgotten as the casket went into the hearse. The musicians, continuing to play songs, and the family followed the hearse into the street for the 10-block walk to the cemetery. We walked with them for one block. On our return trip to San Miguel de Allende we stopped at a former cotton mill, now a large art center with textiles, art, ceramics, furniture and more. We thanked Jose for the interesting day, had early dinner at a nice restaurant and enjoyed our walk to the hotel.
Sun 2/19: This morning our driver drove us about 80 minutes southeast to Queretaro in the state of Queretaro. In the afternoon, our guide Fernando took us out of the city, and we saw the 18th century 1,280-meter long aqueduct. We continued to San Sebastián Bernal to see the Pena de Bernal, a 433-meter rock monolith, one of the tallest in the world. The tourist town at its base was packed on this warm Sunday afternoon. A maybe 7 or 8-year old girl was playing the saxophone in one of the squares, a real prodigy. I hope someone discovers her soon. We returned to our hotel and walked the square. We're hoping to get a good nap before our driver picks us up at 0130 to get us to Benito Juarez Airport in Mexico City, a 3-hour drive. Anne and I both have flights around 0800. It's going to be a tough day.
We've spent two weeks in the center of Mexico, we learned a lot, met nice people, had very nice hotels, had excellent guides and drivers. We thank Kimkim Travel for arranging this tour.
