Mexico - Next We Go To San Miguel (March 23 - 26, 2016)

Mexico - Next We Go To San Miguel de Allende (March 23 - 26, 2016)

So leaving Mexico City we head south for 3 hours and arrive at San Miguel de Allende. 

It is a charming town with a cathedral in the center 

of the old part of town. 

We stayed at my niece's home in a nice gated community that was a 5 minute taxi ride into Old Town. 

We spend our first evening in Old Town and seeing the sights. 

There are many "bands" there. They are not mariachi's in the town. These gentlemen dress in their local colored suits. Some are green, some are purple or navy blue. 

We followed a band that walked the streets of San Miguel and sang local songs and the crowd sang along. It was great fun!

There was a center plaza in town with beautiful trees, 

park benches 

and a gazebo. There were many vendors selling everything from a type of creamed corn and herbs, 

a tortilla with meat and sauce and beans. Yum!

I liked the tall man and woman puppets 

near one of the bands. 

They sold "coronas" which is spanish for "crowns" which were made out of flowers. All the girls were wearing them. They represented the crown of thorns that Jesus wore.

I loved this pub sign called "La Sirena Gorda" which translates to "the fat mermaid". Funny, huh? 

There were many colorful shops and booths.

These are actually raw garbanzo beans.

We saw a procession of the last few days of the life of Jesus Christ. Here, young girls in pretty dresses throw flower petals and stems onto the walkway representing the laying down of palm frowns on the roadway before Christ. 

Here are Roman soldiers marching in the parade.

 

Here are representations of a Roman who flogged Christ. Men were carrying heavy crosses in the parade. Some were barefoot. Many were wearing crowns of thorns. They take this very seriously. I brought down Easter candy and bunnies and chocolate eggs and the children had not seen that before. They do not sell Easter candy in the stores. Easter is a religious experience here. 

 

This, I believe, is a representation of Mary, the mother of Jesus but it might be Mary Magdalene. 

 

Home fronts and stores were decorated 

in purple flowers and ribbons.

 

I have to end with this funny picture. It reminds me of Knotts Berry Farm where you can sit next to a gold miner bronze statue. But in this case, it is a bull!

Next, we are on to Guanajuato.