FLASHBACK FRIDAY: DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

I guess it's true. Some things never do change, as evidenced by this post I wrote about eight years ago! Same story, different names.

FLASHBACK

 

OUT MY WINDOW AND ON MY TABLE

First I spotted this out my desk window, just a couple of days ago...

two little foxes cavorting around our almost empty water tank.  Unfortunately, I could never catch them together in the same photo.

And then, this morning? Rain, glorious rain! Filling up that tank and, hopefully, our bone dry creek.

Do you see our little yoga fox? Every  time Calvin passes her, he pats her on the head and says "Hehwo Fox!"

A perfect day to stay inside, enjoying the steady pitter patter of raindrops on our metal roof , while working on my next "folk art" journal page, wouldn't you agree?

We are not catholic, but we do love our trips down to San Miguel de Allende, where La Virgen de Guadalupe is the Mexican queen -- the mother of the hungry, ill, unemployed, and everyone from singers and soccer players to politicians and taxi drivers. I loved seeing her image everywhere we went, because each one was unique to the artist who created it. Mine will be a conglomeration of them all!

THIS OLD TRUNK

When we moved back to Dallas for a few years in the late 90s , my sisters got me hooked on "Friday Nights at the Auction House" as a new form of entertainment. The place just happened to be owned by two brothers we went to high school with, and was more of a social event than a serious shopping endeavor. I did, however, manage to snag a few treasures over the years. One of my favorites was this old trunk -- a trunk filled with mystery!

It looked like it had been made long, long ago, by someone who was heading off to a new life in a new land, with all their worldly possessions tucked inside. I was fascinated by the amazing hardware...

and the fact that it had several religious images glued inside the lid -- perhaps something their mother put there, to protect them on their journey?

At first it had pride of place in our living room, as our coffee table, but my hubby has never really shared my passion for rustic beauty. So, with each move and each addition of newer, glossier stuff, it got relegated to ever more obscure locations, until it finally ended up out on the porch, filled with Hubby's gardening stuff. So sad.

Anywho, this week I decided to start on another project from my new Folk Art Fusion book by Heather Galler. This one was to be based on Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Only, her image didn't really look anything like the ones I remembered from our wonderful trips to San Miguel de Allende, so I decided to gather some images and just do my own thing.

I had just spread all of these out on my work table, to ponder over for awhile, when I spotted Hubby opening that old trunk on the porch. Some flash of color grabbed my attention and drew me out there to take a closer look, since I hadn't been inside it for 10 or 15 years. Guess what I found?

Our Lady of Guadalupe, of course!

After doing a little research on Wikipedia, I discovered that the most famous phrase relating to Our Lady of Guadalupe is, "Am I not here, I who am your mother?"

No wonder she was plastered inside this trunk!

EATING ONE'S WAY THROUGH SAN MIGUEL

There are so many good places to eat in San Miguel de Allende that it's hard to know where to start. For those who fear getting traveler's tummy, perhaps I should start with the rule of thumb that our hotel owner shared with us on the first day: Avoid all street food, and fresh produce from any market unless you soak it in the special solution that you can get from any pharmacy. However, if a restaurant is upscale enough to accept credit cards, it probably has a good filtration system too, so it's safe to have the water and drinks with ice. And we did. Quite a lot of them, in fact. She also recommended keeping a few Pepto Bismal tablets in your purse, and take one a day if you feel any rumblings. We did that too.

So, what were some of our favorites? Well, there was Cafe Martin, and La Mezcaleria, which I told you about in previous posts. Then there was this beautiful courtyard restaurant called Caza de Diezmo, on Calle de Jesus.

We especially enjoyed the owners' two little dogs, who had matching dresses.

There was the place we stumbled upon at 9:30 one night, when we didn't want much to eat - just a taco really, but not one from the street stalls (see rule above).  It was Don Manolito on Umaran. El Toro marks the spot.

Then there was Restaurante Pueblo Viejo, also on Calle Umaran, where I introduced the girls to the joys of Molcajete meals.

But, if you were to take a vote, I suspect everyone's favorite would probably be La Posadita, the rooftop restaurant with the killer view of La Parroquia.

Frozen Tamarind Margaritas!

Watching a wedding parade down below.

Fiber Woman and I loved the chicken and goat cheese with poblano sauce!

Just make sure you are there at sunset!

 

COLOR-MAD MONDAY: ALLEY ADVENTURES

One thing new I discovered, on this last trip to San Miguel de Allende, is that there are secret pedestrian passageways scattered about town -- shortcuts from one section to another. Our hostess at Casa de la Noche put us onto the first one, which led directly from our hotel up to the area around La Fabrica Aurora. Not only are they a much safer and cooler way to traverse on foot, they are like falling down the proverbial rabbit hole. You just never know what color-madness you might find there!

Heading into the passageway near our hotel.

Coming out, after many twists and turns, at the other end -- on the street leading to La Fabrica Aurora.

Then there were other spots I discovered on my own...

and with The Muses.

And, you know me. There's nothing I love more than falling down a color-mad rabbit hole!

TRUE ADVENTURE GALS

By the fourth day of our San Miguel adventure, it was time to split up and do our own thing. I could walk all day, and often do. What I don't like is climbing. My short legs just aren't built for it. So when three of the gals decided to go off on a pyramid climbing adventure, I opted to go explore the outer regions of San Miguel on my own -- areas I never made it to the last time.  Of course, now that I think about it, of the three adventurers who did go to the pyramids, one has legs even shorter than mine, one was already scheduled for a consult with a knee-replacement specialist even before this trip, and the third still wears an ankle brace from a horrific tennis injury years ago. So I guess I have no real excuse. I just hate climbing.

If you are ever in San Miguel de Allende, and want to do some pyramid climbing yourself, the group to go with is Albert Coffee Tours, and be sure to include the optional lunch afterwards. Apparently Coffee, a university professor who actually worked on the excavation, really knows his stuff.

I think our gals enjoyed the lunch afterwards -- all local and traditional and served in a cafe owned by Rossana Quiroz Ennis -- even more than the climb. Especially those custom-printed tortillas! Rossana has a PhD in Cultural Astronomy, and was able to tell them all about the sun, moon and stars, as seen and understood by the pyramid builders themselves.

When we all met up at our courtyard table back at the hotel, the adventure gals passed out tiny twigs for us to chew on, which they were given at the end of their meal as a breath refresher and digestive. It was kind of like chewing both grass and pop rocks at the same time. All I have to say is...

it must be an acquired taste.