On Friday, Rose and I went straight to Mercado Hidalgo (in Guanajuato) to get a new umbrella because the one I brought was shot. We walked around el Centro and kept on running into classmates, which was pretty fun. Rose and I were trying to find a good place to buy flan. After trying a terrible 50 cent flan (you get what you pay for) we opted to go to a restaurant and try their flan (seen below). I forget the name of the restaurant, but it is located directly across from Teatro Juarez. Their flan was about 5 USD and it did not disappoint- I am not a huge flan fan, but this was awesome flan!!
On Saturday, Rose and I woke up bright and early to meet with our classmates and take a bus to Dolores Hidalgo. Dolores Hidalgo was the place where Father Miguel Hidalgo did his famous Grito de Dolores on September 16, 1810, Mexico's Independence Day . The town changed their name from Dolores to Dolores Hidalgo in honor of the founding father. Since 2010 is the bicentennial year for Mexico, Dolores Hidalgo is getting ready for the big celebration- they even have a countdown going on right in front of the main church (seen below).
In the jardin across from the church are ice cream vendors. However, these are not your ordinary ice cream vendors!!!! Oh no, Dolores Hidalgo is known for their unique ice cream flavors like chicharron y cameron, cheese, mole, tequila, rose petal, avacado, peanut, as well as some more tame flavors. (The last time I was in Dolores Hidalgo, I tried cheese, mole and avacado- and trying those flavors once was enough for me). This time I tried angel kiss, elote and arroz con leche. I settled for a scoop of elote, a version of corn on the cob.
We hopped back on our bus, which took us to some hotsprings. Despite the rainy/overcast weather, I was excited to go swimming. However, I was under the impression that my friends here are fair-weather swimmers, and I didn't want to be the only person getting into the water. Luckily, there are 4 girls in our group who were also on a swim team at one point in time or another!! The water was very warm, and many of the pools were covered in domes. I cannot remember the name of the natural hotsprings now (I'm thinking El Escondido sounds right). Nevertheless, it was a very interesting place to go swim. While we were having a blast in the water, it started to rain again...and we changed really quick so that our belongings wouldn't get soaked.
After a 20 minute bus ride, we arrived at San Miguel de Allende. San Miguel de Allende is a very popular place for retired Americans to live or visit. Some of my friends were questioning me before we got to San Miguel (and Dolores) about what the city was like. I had told them that San Miguel was a lot flatter than Guanajuato. Apparently San Miguel's gentle hills were not flat enough for Josh, which I thought was pretty funny. We checked into the Hotel Real de Minas, showered, and met everyone in the hotel hallways to grab dinner. We walked from our hotel to el Centro, which took about 15 minutes for all 20 umbrella-carrying of us to walk single file down the narrow sidewalks. The group split for dinner, the majority of the people eating at a certain restaurant, while I ate with Eliana, Rose, and Holly 2. (I should note that Holly 2 is called Holly 2 because her roommate, Holly 1 was in Guanajuato for Summer 1- super confusing, I know, but #2 is not duragatory in any means!) I was super exicted for my milanesa (seen below)...which came with fries (I've been trying really hard not to eat American food for fear that I would become homesick).
After dinner, Eliana joined the rest of the group while Rose, Holly and I walked to the artisan market and got some loot (2 crosses and a hand-painted picture frame, if your name is Ashley). Time flew, so the three of us walked back to el Centro (where we walked past some of our friends taking a taxi back to their hotel). We watched a drum and bugle corp perform, walked past a showing of the famous Guanajuato film festival, and went inside the Church of St. Michael the Archangel. We had previously tried to go inside the church, but there were weddings and quinceneras preventing us from entering earlier. Finally, on our way back to the hotel, the three of us stopped by an ice cream store. Holly had blueberry, I had some thing with caramel, vanilla, and chocolate chips while Rose had calletas (oreo cookie). All three flavors did not disappoint!!! We walked back to the hotel where Holly showed us videos of her hobby, West Coast Swing (which is pretty awesome, I highly suggest you look it up on YouTube).
On Sunday, Rose and I woke up around 8am to meet with the group for breakfast. Okay, now I have to say, chilaquiles are yummy. I haven't had them in soooooo long, and the hotel's breakfast food was divine. Kyle sat with Holly, Rose and I, and we had a very interesting conversation on Whale Wars (random, I know). We had an hour to kill before the bus picked us up, so I started blogging and looked up the hotel's rates: 967 pesos for one night in a double or 75 dollars. The exchange rate is very off, so I am assuming Americans get a discount???
It would have been nice to spend more time in San Miguel, but I had a wonderful weekend, and I cannot wait to start my 4th week!
Hi Ashley, I'm just catching up on your adventures! It sounds like a great time...and I love the pictures of all that yummy food!!
ReplyDeleteYou're having a incredible experience and we are jealous! See you soon!
Terri and John Castiglia
Haha! The food is the best part! Rose and I try to taste all of the delicious dishes!! Whenever people want to go out to eat, we always have suggestions! :)
ReplyDeleteI'll be back in Sacramento for two weeks before school starts, and I would love to catch up with you!