Guanajuato

And now another set of photos from the mountain town of Guanajuato, another UNESCO World Heritage site. If you can believe it, I'm still drawing a blank as to what exactly to talk about, but there is a great short description of the town here a the UNESCO site if you're interested.

We only stayed a few days, the prices are higher than we're used to. Since everything was both full and expensive, we ended up staying in a really nice little place just since it was the cheapest thing available to us on those days. Way more money than we're used to spending, but it was so nice to sleep in a really comfortable bed and have a nice bathroom, and the location was unbeatable. We were right in the heart of the historical area, just a couple blocks from the city center, but somehow it was peaceful still.

Anyway, here are some photos to help me describe it:





These are photos taken by Ryan from the rooftop of our hotel. We basically had a 360 view of the city, it was incredible.


These little streets reminded me of Europe. Some of them were just like Venice and I kept expecting to see canals where the tunnels are.

This is the Alhondiga, the site of an important even in the Mexican war of independence. I was mostly taking a photo of the most gigantic flag I have ever seen, but the building is an actual destination. I can't explain it very well in my own words, but here is a bit from a book that describes what happened. Its not pretty, but its a big part of the history:

"Built as a granary, turned into a fortress, and now a museum with artefacts from the pre-Columbian and colonial periods. When Father Hidalgo took the city in 1810, the Alhondiga was the last place to surrender, and there was a wanton slaughter of Spanish soldiers and royalist prisoners. Later when Hidalgo was himself caught and executed, along with three other leaders, in Chihuahua, their severed heads were fixed, in revenge, at the four corners of the Alhondiga."
-Footprint Central America & Mexico Handbook

The market! Lots of food, and strange little trinkets. Lots of candy, shot glasses, dolls...Such a cool collection of weird things.

One of the many quiet little squares. These reminded me almost of Paris with the fountains, trimmed trees, and curly metal benches.

This is us at the top of the stairs at the University of Huanajuato. There was a cool view of the city behind us, but with our aim, this is as good as it got. I think it turned out ok, even without the whole view in the background :)

Market food!

One of the main squares in town.

The square close to our hotel full of restaurants, mariachi bands, street vendors. One night when we came out, a mariachi band was playing music, singing and walking the streets, and behind them was a huge following of locals half singing along. They looked like pied pipers, playing with the crowd and prancing through the streets. Another night, a band was playing in the gazebo in the photo below this one, and groups of elderly couples danced banda and cute little numbers with each other all night long. One group of gringos tried to dance also, laughing at themselves, until a local woman came up and started to teach one of the men how its done.

Here's where the dancing took place later.

The view from the doorstep of our hotel.

Another picturesque street corner.

Our whole experience in Guanajuato was charming. It won't come as a surprise to you that I was sick one day, Ryan a little too, and we had to stay in bed that day, but it was still beautiful and we're so glad we made the time to get up there. I will definitely have that on my schedule if and when I ever come back down here.