San Miguel de Allende

We scrambled to get out of town on Friday and headed north through the high plateau, a major agricultural zone in Mexico. We saw beautiful weather - passed through a hail storm, watched a lightning storm in the distance. We ended up here, in San Miguel de Allende, at the Casa Crayola.














We visited our friends Zoe and Oscar, their 3 y.o. son Marlow & 1 y.o. Clio. Zoe's an artist from NY and Oscar's an artist from Mexico City. Marlow & Clio are characters from San Miguel.



















The cathedral (google it for some really spectacular photos) and clocktower dominate the town square.










San Miguel is protected by the government, so no high rises here. But they do have a Starbucks, and it's a very popular destination for Americans.

Colonial era church near Puebla

Last weekend in Puebla Xavier & Marco showed us some of the colonial churches in the area. They took us to Tonazintla (hope I got that right) where stopped along the road to try pulque, the fermented drink made from agave that has been a part of life here for centuries. It’s the ‘beer’ equivalent to tequila, which is distilled from agave. An acquired taste, but let’s just say it gets better with each sip…

The indigenous people who built the church here under Spanish ‘supervision’ used their own plastering techniques to create the very ornate interior. They were freer here with their own figurative style than in the 'fancier' church in Puebla, which is gilded in 23k gold so bright our photos didn't come out. Xavier told us animal blood was mixed into the plaster slurry resulting in a much stronger paste than one using only water. This stucco is then applied to wood undercarving to refine detail and hold paint or gilding. The exterior of the church is tiled, the interior carved, stuccoed and polychromed.









This is the interior dome - so chock full of detail it hurts.









But the details are so sweet they kind of hurt too. And try to take yourself back 300 years and imagine how these images, this spectacle, would have felt.

Puebla

We went to Puebla on Saturday. It's the 4th largest city in Mexico, a colonial beauty with several universities, a beautiful central square (zocolo) and lots and lots of churches. Our new friends, Xavier, a gallery director and Marco, an architect showed us around. (Thanks for the introduction, Joe!)



The town is very photogenic. This is taken from inside a church, with the statue of the patron saint in the doorway.


Charming, huh? Puebla was the first city the Spaniards built as a planned city; they usually tore down indigenous temples and built around them.


The zocolo is the town center in every way. The night we were there the Poblano soccer team played in the semi-finals; I think they lost but that didn't stop the fans from showin' lots of love in a big rally here.

Some pictures of the 'hood

The oval park in the center of La Condesa, Parque Mexico, is always full of people. These little benches are dotted throughout.
















La Condesa has a lot of great Art Deco architecture. Check out the shapes of the panes in the windows, and the beautiful colors.








The neighborhood is beautiful in part because of the mix of architectural styles. This grill work is typical.

What earthquake?

We heard there was a small earthquake here a few hours ago but we didn't feel it.

Here is a link to our new friend Jim Johnston's website where he writes about Mexico City. We went to dinner Wednesday, to a really fun cantina, and Jim mentions it here. But the best part is that he posts a copy of the paper placemat on all the tables. You have to see to believe...

25 Things About Me xico City

1. No stop signs
2. Lots of dogs, not much poop
3. Great metro, 20 cents gets you anywhere
4. There are no white people on the metro
   
5. Colonia Condesa (where we stay) is the most beautiful neighborhood in the world
6. The language school, grocery, gym, and tons of great restaurants are all within 5 min walk
7. If you ask the landlord to get the apt cleaned, he does
8. Lots of things cost as much as in the US although wages are much lower
9. If you ask the landlord where to get a work table for your studio he takes you to 3 stores to find one
10. Art supply stores are totally old-school: paint & pencils in this one, paper in that one
11. Mangoes and pineapples taste better
12. Tacos really taste better
13. In places, Condesa is almost like being in the woods but with streets and buildings.
14. The systems are broken but people make it work anyway
    
15. Lots more couples make out on the street
16. Anita, a friend 0f a friend we met in NY lives 2 blocks away
17. Jim & Nick, also friends of friends, also just a few blocks away
18. Beautiful inn where Joe & John will stay this weekend is right around the corner
    
19. If you aren't careful you'll never leave the neighborhood
20. Legal pads are hard to find but spiral bound notebooks are plentiful
21. Maybe 5% of the people are still wearing face masks, mostly waiters (mandated)
22. Maybe 5% of the guys have mohawks
    
23. There's anti-bacterial hand gel in every store and restaurant and you're supposed to use it
24. If you ask for directions on the street you'll get them, and they may even be right
25. Things move slowly, cars don't
    

The apartment

The apartment gets more like home every hour. It's funky, a little more like camping than we had imagined. But cozy too and will be a perfect spot for us.

We're just a few blocks from the school we'll start on Monday, very near a beautiful park, lots of restaurants. It's sort of like Soho and the West Village combined, but with lots of trees.

Steve's studio has this arched doorway. But it doesn't have a work table. Yet.

Bienvenidos

We're here! The flight was smooth, the weather's good (cool, may rain, not humid), the apartment is charming (a little like 13th Street) and we are happy. Still figuring out the internet at the apartment, so this is sent from a net cafe. That means our skype phone is off line until we get hooked up.

More soon!

Welcome!

We're putting this blog together so we have an easy, central spot for our family and friends to get news about our trip and share some of our adventures.

We'll be leaving for Mexico City on Friday, May 15th and returning to NYC on Tuesday, June 30th.