I recently returned from a two week trip with my family to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We (my partner Andrew and I, and our daughter Elizabeth) chose San Miguel de Allende (SMA), because my friend Cari had mentioned six months earlier that she and her husband Eric and daughter Chloe were going to be spending some time there in the summer, and would we care to join them? Our daughters are one year apart in age, so it seemed like a great opportunity for some fun! The girls kept each other company, and between us four adults, we were able to get ample time to relax, explore the area, watch the kids, and even take turns going on a date night! We stayed in an Airbnb, which was another great experience for us, having booked through them two times previously. One of the great things about SMA is that it's only a three hour flight from LAX! So easy! We were picked up at the Leon airport by a recommended shuttle company, Bajiogo, and it was an 1 1/2 hour drive to SMA. The roads are good, the ride was comfortable, only the excitement and anticipation about the arrival to a new location was the hardest part!
This is what we were greeted with upon our first morning waking up in SMA. We arrived in the dark the night before, so hadn't been able to really see our adorable house we would call home for the next two weeks. The house is located in the hills above the town, so had an incredible view!
We were excited about our house, and more excited to take a walk down into town. There were many cool things and views to see along the way. San Miguel de Allende is a colonial city, and is known for its beautiful doors, and unique door knockers. This hand was one of the first ones we came across. We were to see it many times again on our trip.
This was one of the ways to walk down into town.
We would see beautiful things like this along the way:
And this church, La Parroquia, in the town square, or El Jardin:
Needless to say within the first few minutes of our walk, I was already enamored by San Miguel de Allende. Its buildings, its views, and the numerous amount of friendly people we encountered on our first walk down the hill.
After 15 minutes or so, we reached El Jardin, and were able to view La Parroquia in its full glory.
The intention of our walk this first morning, besides exploring the town, was to take Elizabeth to her summer camp, which was held at Liceo de la Lengua. She was in camp from Monday to Friday for the two weeks we were there, with Chloe. They learned and spoke Spanish, had outings to local markets, parks, and an orphanage, and played games and did arts and crafts. It was a great way for the girls to spend their mornings, picking up some local culture, while we adults would either sleep in, have a long breakfast, explore out of the way places, or just have a quiet morning to ourselves.
Here Chloe and Elizabeth with their teacher Juanita on the last day of summer camp:
In the afternoons, the girls would usually swim in the pool for hours, until we dragged them out, practically by the toes, or the threat of thunder and lightening, and eventually rain, shooed them out of the pool.
June is the start of the rainy season in San Miguel de Allende, but this didn't effect our plans very often. Usually the rain came in the late afternoon and evening, and sometimes on into the night. Although sometimes it was hard to handle being chased out of the pool by a storm Elizabeth swam 12 of the 14 days we were there. However, her she is crying in this photo, and standing in the rain, longingly looking at the pool. Oh, life's disappointments. We coaxed her inside eventually...
Coming up in Part 2, our visit to Guanajuato, the museum of the Katrin, and more doors!