Guanajuato

Hidalgo was in a deep freeze.  It was such a relief to finally get on that warm bus to Leon, Guanajuato after 8 hours in the icy Pachuca bus station to be greeted by Francisco and Natalie in the wee dark hours of the morning.  I rarely know my next step after arriving in a new city.  This time there were no worries.  There are red carpets and there are platinum magic flying carpets.  Francisco and Natalie were still waiting for car repairs so they borrowed one from a trusting friend and arrived at the Leon bus station at 430 AM.  AM!  I felt like royalty.    

Everyone needed some rest but the next day was a holiday so we were off to Guanajuato, the city.  The things I've heard about this place have long put it on my list of my places to see.  It is practically legendary for its subterranean streets and impossibly narrow alleys.

I woke up for the first time in my life in a gated community with police on guard around the clock.  People can leave their bikes unlocked outside their apartments at night!

This giant grow light bulb is actually a water tower. 

There it is, magnificent Guanajuato.

We entered the city through an ancient tunnel.  So cool.

Every inch of this city is worth a picture but I did a particularly bad job with the camera that day, pointing the lens into the sun and at the pavement for some reason.  So, these pictures are all I have to show.  I promise seeing it for yourself will be much better.  

They still have modern convenience stores.  They just can't be too loud with their advertising.

Time for ice cream.

Francisco was the best guide ever.  Some guides, frankly, can be dull, full of dates and names that no one really cares about.  Not Francisco.  He always knew the points of genuine interest.

Guanajuato is a very literate town with an annual festival dedicated to Cervantes (Francisco's own family name incidentally) and a bronze statue of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.     

If I remember correctly, and I think I do, Francisco is pointing out a legendary figure who threw a torch that illuminated royal oppressors hiding in darkness so the revolutionaries could bring them to justice (kill them).  I think there was a legendary battle cry too that was something more or less like 'Get every last one of them'.  So, this guy was something between Paul Revere and Spartacus.  What was his name?   Ay, yi yi yi.  Hmmm.  Something like Pepe but that doesn't sound completely right.  Sorry, Francisco.  I really was paying attention.  It's just that I was overloaded that day with amazing beautiful sights.  Of course I took a picture but it came out as nothing more than a solar flare. Nothing to worry about though because we saw Pepe again, bigger than ever, before the afternoon was through.

Here we are at the steps of the university, one of the must see sights of the city.   After  seeing it in a few movies, I finally got to climb those stairs myself.  I really felt the burn in my thighs.

This is easily the best picture of the day.  It helped a lot to have someone else behind the shutter. 

In the picture below you can see one remaining iron spike.  According to Francisco, there were several of these along the length of the wall back in the day where iron birdcages dangled the heads of executed villains.  It must have made everyone happy to see the head count up there, except for those next in line of course and there was the added advantage that the smell wouldn't reach anyone going about their business below.  In that bright dry Guanajuato heat, they were likely dry as raisins in just a few days.

  

 

This place is extra super special.  There is a Romeo and Juliet  style legend about lovers of warring families simply meeting on the balconies on opposite sides of the street.  The balconies are so close that they could just lean forward and kiss. No doubt there are even racier versions of this story.   Now couples line up to take their turns to enter the opposite buildings and meet on the balconies for a photo op smooch.  Just kissing.  

 Now, believe it or not, that street doesn't end there.  If you gently nudge past all of the waiting couples you can actually exit on to another street at the far end but it gets so narrow, there is no way I could have made it through that final gap carrying my backpack. There is no way my backpack could be pushed through there, with or without me.  It's not a shortcut that everyone can enjoy.

As much as everyone loves this special city, Francisco explained that not too many people stay for very long.  It is fun at first but simple things like navigating the streets with grocery bags and getting gas delivered, not to mention the traffic jams of tourists, eventually wear you down.   I can see that.  I loved this place but well, you know, no beach.

  

For the grand finale, we rode something between a ski lift and an elevator for the panoramic view of the city.   

Yes!  It's Pepe again!  The biggest Pepe of all at the top of the hill with the panoramic view

Great day.  We were tuckered.  Francisco had the foresight to get us out of there before the mass exodus of other tourists clogged the underground exits.