Yesterday we left the house at 5:30 am, took a flight from JFK to Mexico City and then another flight to Querètaro where we were picked up by a shuttle van for the 90 minute ride to San Miguel de Allende. 15 hours total in transit.
The second flight was as the sun was getting low and gave me a view of a spectacular variety and quality of clouds like none I'd ever seen i know cloud pictures from a plane almost never come out, but I had to try because they were so unusual. We were just at the foot of the mountains where the clouds pile up and the angle of the sun brought out the layers of clouds with the ground below
We finally arrived at what would be 9:30pm NYC time, pretty wiped out, but pleasantly surprised to be welcomed into the Tres Fuentes Hotel, located in the old part of the city which is beautifully preserved. Like many of the old buildings here, the only thing you see from the street is a wall and a large “porton” door, but once inside you are admitted to a series of rooms which surround a large central garden and gallery
Our rooms open to the courtyard itself. It’s quite grand, though in a sort of elegantly distressed way.
We got settled in and Linda and I headed off for a stroll into the Centro in search of supper. Any remaining questions we had about whether the long trip was worth it were soon dispelled. The nighttime is quite magical here with cobblestoned streets and shades of gold and terra cotta, many lit with lanterns (unclear yet how much of the latter are left over from Christmas and how many are permanent.
We ended up in the square in front of the Parroquia, the cathedral at the center of the old town. There was a mariachi band, various food vendors and other stands, and many people enjoying the evening air while a church bell tolled the hour.
Unfortunately it was so late that most of the restaurants had closed, but we were able to find a late night spot with wine and simple food. La Hija. Need to research whose daughter she is - looks pretty scary, but the place was warm and welcoming.
Once hunger was satisfied, we realized how beat we were and cabbed back to the hotel where unfortunately they had decided to do nighttime repairs to the cobble stoned streets outside, forcing Max to switch rooms in search of a night’s sleep. Sad because her digs were even more elegant than ours, but she says the quiet and smaller and therefore more easily heated room, was worth the downgrade.
