"I hope the weather improves for you," said Norma, our Airbnb host.
"I think business is slow because it's too hot," said Lucy, who owns the, not to be missed, Tazón de Barro, Comida vegan restaurant.
Disbelief made me speechless both times. Norma and Lucy have not been to Vermont.
Every day in Guanajuato City, it is sunny, dry, and in the 70s in the afternoon. At nighttime, the temperature dips into the 50s and 60s so we can have perfect sleeping weather. Norma may have been referring to a few nights that dipped to 48 degrees instead of 50°. Lucy thought it was too hot when the temperature rose from 72° to 77°.
Hola, buenas dias, or buenos tardes are usually uttered as people pass us by in the beautiful sunshine.
Some might criticise Guanajuato City because there is a lot of steep windy walking through alleyways no wider than an arm span. However, daily hiking while breathing air 6000 ft above sea level is good for us. We feel healthy.
We also visited San Miguel de Allende for a few days. It's a 90-minute bus ride from here and in the same state of Guanajuato. San Miguel de Allende has mucho galerias and many expensive artisan shops with beautiful things. Colonial houses, parks, and cobblestone streets are impressive. The expat population of 17,500 doubles in the winter.
Guanajuato City is a college town that attracts tourists for its history and beauty. However, the tourists tend to be mostly Mexican. Although Paul and I discovered a small friendly English-speaking snowbird community, we heard way more English in San Migual de Allende.
Enjoy Paul's video of Guanajuato City and San Miguel de Allende murals, music, and more:
Here are stills of Guanajuato City Murals
Here are the Museum awards for the most:
Interesting and inspiring:
The Don Quixote Iconographic Museum was my favorite because it has the world's largest collection of Don Quixote-inspired art. The original collection was donated by Eulalio Ferrer, who was tremendously impacted by the original book Don Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes in the 17th century. The museum contains Ferrar's original collection plus updated interpretations of the inspiring novel. Remember Man of La Mancha based on Don Quixote? It's one of Paul's favorites.
Relatable and interactive:
Casa Museo Gene Byron The wonderful thing about Guanajuato is that interesting history is everywhere. In the Marfil section of Guanajuato, we hiked down a horse path along a river with a long stone wall. We then stumbled upon the Casa Museo Gene Byron where we had a private tour for 120 pesos or about $6 for two. What a great museum to stumble upon. Gene Byron was born in Canada in 1910. She had a highly successful career as an actress until a life-changing visit to Mexico in the 1940s, where she studied muralists. Gene became a visual artist, eventually settling in Guanajuoto, where you can see her art on display in the ancient and modernized casa where she lived with her husband, also an artist. After Gene died in 1987, her husband Virgilio turned their casa into a living museum, meaning that in addition to the stunning art, crafts, and carvings produced by Gene and Virgilio, one can see new art on display and hear Sunday concerts. Paul gave the tour guide and me a little concert on the piano. The following Sunday, we went to hear a classical guitarist. We were then served delish guacamole, tea sandwiches, salad, juice, and wine while mingling with the small English-speaking community. Mystery: Certain events attract mostly English speakers. For more information, click here.
Best Gardens
Museo Ex-Hacienda San Gabriel de Barrera After imagining what it was like to live in this grand house, we toured the amazing gardens with worldly-influenced designs.
Morbidly fascinating:
Museum of the Mummies of Guanajuato You may have logically thought that Egypt has the largest collection of mummies in the world. Surprise, it's Guanajuato. In the Mummy Museum, there are 111 mummified bodies. I'm told there are even more than you can see in the museum, but 111 was plenty for me. How did this happen? There was a burial tax law enacted in the 1800s. If surviving family members could not pay the tax for burial sites, the bodies were exhumed to make room for other burials. The climate and soil conditions of Guanajuato provided for natural mummification. It's creepy. For more information, click here.
Some of you may remember Thing from the Addams Family.
In San Miguel de Allende, we saw Thing on someone's door:
Expensive art abounds in San Miguel and so does free to view and photograph mural art. You could get inspired just like Gene Byron.
Food
"I don't know if I'm hungry or I have a stomach ache," Paul said one day when we were still kids in the the candy shop of interesting places to eat. We then cooked more meals at home/Airbnb and became a bit more selective about eating out.
Tazón de Barro, Comida Medicinal
This vegan restaurant is fantastic and not responsible for stomach aches. Paul was persuaded to consider Guanajuato City as a winter escape by discovering a video of a Texas carnivore expat who claimed to not miss meat when he ate here almost every day.
Chef Lucy made us feel welcome with conversation and a gentle education about the benefits of a plant-based diet as we sat at a counter, along with seven other happy diners, around her cooking for us. She sometimes asked one of us to pop something in the convection oven in the corner. If you travel to this beautiful colonial town, please reserve a spot at Taźon de Barro because seats are limited. Give yourself time to enjoy a two-hour social and culinary experience. Stay tuned for videos and photos of the cooking class I will be taking with Lucy on making vegan Tamales. I can't wait!
Whenever I'm in a new place I enjoy finding the health food store with its local character. I have been a health food store enthusiastic since the 1970s when I would ask Mom to drive us the 10 miles from Morrisville, VT to Food for Thought in Stowe, VT where we would have lunch and bask in the atmosphere of bulk grains and vegetables. The Moosewood Cookbook by Molly Katzen convinced my meat, potato and iceberg lettuce eating parents to allow me to cook vegetarian dinners for them sometimes. Here in Guanajuato City, we found the cute tiny health food store where friendly staff even help me with my Spanish. Whole grain chewy sourdough bread, cookies, and the best water kefir I have every tasted have been highlights. The nice young man who makes the kefir was there last Sunday offering us tastes until we purchased the tamarind/ginger. Soon we will return the bottle and buy some more.
If you are ever in Guanajuato, you must go to:
Every day we work up a good appetite. According to my health app we have doubled our steps and many of them are uphill rewarding us with great views. Our lovely Airbnb is at the top of a hill with window views.
Hover for captions on the first four.
I love all the colors and trees and flowers and stones and interesting spaces and painted images-- so fun to be 'in Mexico...' thank you for sharing it all! I think my favorite is the bright orange house with brilliant red trim around the window, and the outside wall painted with garden flowers, and with a woman and young boy, painted in the garden, enjoying the flowers... love all those colors-- thank you! 🌹