Tour of Colonial Mexican Cities
With ElderHostel to Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, and Querétaro
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Guanajuato
Neither of us had heard of Guanajuato, but it is a very interesting city, well worth a visit. It's a mining town in a narrow valley and was the site of the first battle of the Mexican war of independence from Spain. The city's name derives from an Indian phrase meaning "hill of the frogs", so frogs are prominent in the town's iconography.
These frog statues are in a park at the entrance to the town.
A few street scenes:
There was a fiesta on the Friday that we were
there. Hundreds of street vendors were selling Easter favors,
many of them made of eggs.
Neither of us had heard of Guanajuato, but it is a very interesting city, well worth a visit. It's a mining town in a narrow valley and was the site of the first battle of the Mexican war of independence from Spain. The city's name derives from an Indian phrase meaning "hill of the frogs", so frogs are prominent in the town's iconography.
These frog statues are in a park at the entrance to the town.
One of the interesting
features of Guanajuato is the subterranean street. First they
covered over the river, then they built a road over the river, then
they built bridges and buildings over the road, creating the
subterranean street. I don't know how long it is, but it's long.
Carole bought gifts at the
market:
San
Miguel de Allende
We stayed at a hotel (barely) within walking distance from the center of town.
We stayed at a hotel (barely) within walking distance from the center of town.
Some views of San Miguel:
From San Miguel we made field
trips to Atotonilco and Dolores de Hidalgo:
Querétaro
Querétaro is a sizeable city. We were in an urban hotel, close to everything. One of the sights in Querétaro is the aqueduct, no longer in use:
Querétaro is a sizeable city. We were in an urban hotel, close to everything. One of the sights in Querétaro is the aqueduct, no longer in use:
Other things to see in
Querétaro include the convent where Maximilian hid from the
vengeful Mexicans, the theatre where he was tried, and the hillside
where he faced the firing squad.
From Querétaro we
visited the town of Bernal, beneath a big rock.
