Since cutting out an article some  ten years ago of two flowered and color washed cities, all I knew was that  someday I would go to Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende.  Someday came last December 1.  Coming from the airport in our taxi and out of one of the long tunnels that criss-cross the underground of Guanajuato, we were face to face with a very tall stone wall ( the back wall of of Church of San Diego de Alcantara).  Our driver, without warning, stopped his car,  pointed to the stone walk on the side of the church and declared, “Your hotel, La Posada, is that way, through the garden.”  In a blink of the eye and with no more ceremony, we were on the curb and on our way.  With all bags in tow, as if in a musical theater production, we were swept along through this city that pulsates.  Through the bustle of pedestrians, the promised garden, into our hotel, up a long curved stairway to our room, down on our bed with a plop and a “Whew!”.  There we were.  Guanajuato!

After a few minutes of numbness and refocus and a glance around our room, and in our best walking shoes, we were on our way to see the city.  We set out to do what we did for the next ten days–pound the streets of Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende.  (#1 very important point: Take comfortable shoes that are good for walking).

The city of Guanajuato is an old colonial town that is both quaint and cosmopolitan.  A World Heritage Site, it owes its richness to the silver and gold that were found in the surrounding Sierra of Guanajuato Mountains and that brought an onslaught of Spaniards and wealth.  Because it is in a narrow valley, the streets are narrow also and not always available for vehicle traffic.

There are underground tunnels used by both vehicles and pedestrians that were built to manage the flooding that occurred in the valley before dams were constructed.  The architecture is colonial; the buildings are of pink and green sandstone.

Where there aren’t narrow streets with their equally narrow sidewalks,  there are the legendary alleyways that call you to enter, or stairways that wind up the steep inclines and through hidden neighborhoods.  The city has aged with grace and if you find the old buildings crumbling in parts, you find beauty there, also.

If you turn to your left after leaving the Hotel Posada Santa Fe and walk just beyond the garden, you will come to an arcade that leads you into a plaza.

There are many plazas in the city, but this was “our” plaza and we would pass through it many times, later to buy breads at the little bakery or fancy little chocolates made on site at a chocolate boutique.

From the plaza we walked up hill and at the next corner appeared a church, Templo de la Compania de Jesus, which truthfully, was to be my favorite of all the other churches in Guanajuato and San Miguel.                 . 

 We looked at each other, we looked up at the high gothic ceilings of the church and we quietly stayed for a long time.  Guanajuato had taken a hold on us.  In this church began a habit I formed in this trip, even when alone.  It is nice when you have been on your feet all morning, distracted with so many things, to enter into one of these churches and to stay for a while….to sit and be quiet with others who are quiet, also.  

Further up, but not far from this church, we came to one of the life lines of the city, the University of Guanajuato.

 

 This is a university town and much of its energy is generated by the students.  The long stairway and the streets surrounding were alive with movement and we were told that they were the graduates from one of the schools departments.  Up another street and then a turn to the left and we were led to another street where the same students were parading past the Basilica, down the hill toward us and past us.

Again we climbed up, past the Basilica and once again found La Jardin (The Garden) and home.  Our first adventure out and about in Guanajuato.