Mexico (8) - Northern Central Highlands

After almost two weeks we leave San Miguel de Allende and move on to Guanajuato. The town is known for its art festival (Cervantino) which takes place every year in October. So we are here at the right time but we are not alone. 

In 1559 silver was discovered and during the next 250 years the „La-Valenciana Mine“ produced 20% of the world wide silver. According to this the old buildings from the colonial times are magnificent and let us adumbrate the glory of the past.  There is much to explore in the labyrinth of the steep and narrow streets with cobblestone pavement and a funicular lead to an overlook with a wonderful view over the city. For the night we secure ourselves tickets for an opera in the “Teatro Juarez” a gorgeous building which was erected between 1873 and 1903. The ensemble is made out of a guy from Russia on the piano, a soprano from Croatia and a Tenor from Italy. Interesting enough they sing in German language with Spanish under titles. It`s not really our music trend and so we leave in the break. Nevertheless, we could see the theatre in all its beauty and this was really worth it. 

Slowly we feel a bit saturated from all the colonial buildings throughout Mexico`s cities and are a bit uncertain how to proceed. However, with Patzcuaro we drive again to a colonial town which are by the way all named “Pueblo Magico” but here we are kindly surprised. The village looks very authentic with only a few tourists around and the town picture is different to what we have seen so far. The local market is huge and we have a lot of fun to walk around and watch the colorful surrounding. Also worth visiting is the former Dominican monastery an extensive building with eleven picturesque patios.  

From other travellers we`ve heard about Charly a Swiss guy who lives close to Atotonilco and runs a Gourmet Restaurant and also has a possibility to park an RV. We are cordially welcome and the food is indeed excellent. We feel like holiday on a farm. Valentin is a friend of Charly and the General Manager of the local flour mill and he invites us to a private tour on the next day. The mill is huge and grinds more than 100tons of wheat per day and we get a good impression about the process flows. A day later Brittni and Josh join us who we know already from San Miguel de Allende and we spend cheerful evenings together with Tequila, wine and beer. Charly also arranges a visit in a cheese factory near-by and in the Tequila factory of Atotonilco. The days pass by quickly and but at some point in time we must push along. With a heavy heart we say Good-Bye to Charly and to Brittni & Josh who now move on to South while we go North. 

We drive to Villa Corona on a large RV Park with a joint water park. Every morning we take a bath in the warm thermal water of 38 degrees. Apart from that we practice sweet idleness in our hammocks and watch the Yoga and Acrobat workshop who takes place every year at this location for two weeks with international participants. 

After one week we are relaxed enough for a visit of Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico. The RV park in the outskirts of town has seen better days and is in a really poor condition. But we want to do city sightseeing and not hang around and so it`s ok for a few days. The local bus to town takes more than one hour and costs us 60 Cent. The historic city center with the old colonial buildings is beautiful and really worth visiting. We make a tour with the sightseeing bus and visit the cultural institute and the government palace with the huge paintings from Orozco. A part from this we walk over the various markets and enjoy the surrounding. 

The days from end of October and beginning of November are totally under the sign of the “Dia de los Muertos”, the day of the death. Therefore, we go to the small but touristic town of Tlaquepaque on the next day where we can see already some presentations for the upcoming celebrations. 

After this we have already enough from the mega city and would like to have it cozy and warm in Puerto Vallarta at the Pacific coast where 35 degrees wait for us. But what we experience there is then part of the next blog. Until then enjoy reading and watching the pictures, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram. Hasta Luego.

And finally a few nice snapshots

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