All paths in Guanajuato begin, then lead back to this one rather modestly sized garden, El Jardin de la Union.  It is a focal point of the city. Certainly it was the point that we began and ended all of our adventures in Guanajuato.  I don’t think I could write an account of our trip without a post of this  special garden.

Mornings in the La Jardin; starting out slow, just like I do.  We would start our day getting coffee and tea at the opposite side of the garden from our hotel with the local baristas. We brought our own local sweet breads and headed two doors down to the large space they had with tables for enjoying both coffee and watching the city wake up.  Every morning the citizens of Guanajuato are out with buckets and brooms giving the city a fresh start.  Still quiet and barely awake, with no semblance of the night before, locals would crisscross the paths on their way to work or to school.  It’s a fond memory starting our days in Guanajuato not encumbered with anything but just being there.

The shape of the El Jardin de la Union is a triangle.  There is the gazebo surrounded by ancient laurel trees planted in 1836 and pruned perfectly.    A broad path circles this triangle. On one side is La Iglesia de San Diego. Next to it is El Teatro Juarez, steps crowded in the evenings with students and onlookers.

On another side are the hotels with restaurants that pour out of the doors and onto the path, complete with tables and large umbrellas overhead. In the center of the garden in the late afternoon the mariachis arrive and tune up for the night ahead.  Iron benches are plentiful and circle around the center of the garden.  Friends and young lovers come here to meet.  Even the man who sells balloons will  occasionally take a seat.  

If you  sit on a bench or at a table you will most likely be approached by the women who makes little candies or the man who sells roses.  The mariachis may offer a song.  The university students, dressed as Spanish troubadours, will guide you in song through the streets.  So in the early evenings and into the morning, the garden is alive.  Several evenings we sat at one of the restaurant tables, drinking wine or tequilla and munched on guacamole and chips.  There was the Jazz Festival in front of the church on our last nights there.  What we loved most was the energy of the people that circled around and around, as colorful as any Macy’s parade.  This is El Jardin de la Union.  Young friends with arms locked, families with happy children in tow.