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| Our trusty comfy van we spent over 20 hours,
800 miles traveling in with six friends into the heart of Mexico. Put
your finger in the middle of the map of Mexico and that's where we went.
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| Mexico's new toll roads are clean, empty,
well-lit, full of emergency phones and grazing-animal-free. They are
expensive, but the views are priceless, especially at sunrise.
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| Friends Angela, Eric, and Lisa waking up as we
near Guanajuato. We left P.V. at 1 am Jan 31st to get into town and
rest up for New Year's. It was a long long drive and we were hoping it
was worth it.
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| Angela trying to make sense of one of the two
road maps we had, neither of which agreed where the roads in Mexico are.
We took a few detours along the way. Six navigators -- who knew we'd
get lost.
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| Michael sleeping during his off-drive-watch.
Note we are wearing sweaters! A refreshing change from the 80+ degree
temps of the coast. At the 5000'+ elevation we traveled, it was 50-70F
generally.
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| One of the many roadside taco stands we
sampled. It might have been the one that gave Sara a nasty case of
dysentery. She paid dearly for that taco a few days later.
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| Guanajuato IS lovely! The town was
founded in 1548 and is one of Mexico's national historic monuments, a
beautifully preserved colonial city. We swear we are in Europe.
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| Our hotel, El Meson de los Poetas, very
charming and a wonderful splurge for us for New Year's. Hot showers!
Flushing toilets! Oh how cruising makes you appreciate the simple
things in life.
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| Each room in our hotel is unique, each named
for a poet and artfully decorated. We wanted to spend more time in our lovely surroundings
the two nights we were here, but the town outside was calling.
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| A bed we don't have to do somersaults to get
out of! We admit we did spend some time here watching cable TV.
Can you believe we watched X-files...in Spanish?
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| Flowers and sunshine outside our window in
January is one of the many many things we love about Mexico.
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| Sara, Michael, Eric, Lisa and Ben in an underground bar starting New Year's
Festivities. Fantastic drinks, food, music, friends and a magical
setting -- a New Year's to remember forever.
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| Recovering from the previous night on New
Year's Day at one of Guanajuato's many outdoor cafes.
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| La Parroquia church and Plaza de la Paz.
Just one example of the stunning Spanish architecture and beautifully
manicured gardens of Guanajuato.
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| Teatro Juarez, dedicated in 1903, was an
opulent product of Guanajuato's late 19th-century affluence due to the
area's bursting silver mines.
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| In the Jardin de la Union, a beautiful
meeting place surrounded by cafes, churches, beautiful hotels, lush trees
and gardens. A nice place to rest.
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| A peek into Guanajuato's marvelous underground
tunnels. These stone tunnel-roads snake for seemingly miles underneath
the city. Quite an eerie thrill to drive through!
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| Another view down the under-city tunnels.
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| Riding up the "Funicular Panorámico"
to view the city from above.
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| What a view! Here is Guanajuato seen from
the hilltop. It's even more beautiful from above with a million
colorful buildings and houses packed in this little canyon.
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| Happy tourists.
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| There is not a straight, level walkway in this
whole town and we love it.
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| Father Hidalgo de Costilla's head hung from
this hook from 1811 to 1821 after being executed for starting the Mexican
War of Independence here in Guanajuato. His three other cohorts hung
from the other three corners, all heroes today.
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| Miles and miles of agave fields line the road
back to the coast. We drove through the small town of Tequila just to
say we were there. There is so much to see inside the great land of
Mexico, we know for sure we'll be back.
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