Guanajuato

This past weekend Kristine and I traveled to Guanajuato, a state located about 6 hours north of Cuernavaca. We left early Friday morning and made our first stop in San Miguel de Allende where we visited a Cathedral. It is the only Cathedral in all of Mexico with Gothic architecture (picture located on flickr). San Miguel is known for it's beauty. Next we stopped in Dolores de Hidalgo where we visited the Cathedral in which the "Grito de Dolores" was given almost two hundred years ago. This is the event that marked the beginning of the Independence. We also visited Miguel de Hidalgo's house. He was the leader of the Independence movement until his death in 1811. We strolled around the city while enjoying some "Beso de Angel" ice cream. Here we are at the above savoring every last bite. =)

We finally arrived in Guanajuato in the evening and decided to rest up for the next day's journey. We began our adventures early the next morning. Our first stop was another Catholic Church. We visited the church because it was constructed with the profits of the silver mine that we also visited. I am continually awed by the amount of effort that these churches must have taken to construct. Inside they are absolutely gorgeous and there is so much gold. I'm still learning about Catholicism and I'm hoping that by the time I leave here I will have grasped a clear understanding of the religion.


We then visited one of the first silver mines established in Guanajuato. We were able to go down into the entrance of one of the mines and it was really neat. They had some hard hats at the entrance that we could use and Kristine and I decided that it would be fun to use them. Who would have ever thought that you actually needed it! I seriously was going for fashion when I put that hard hat on but by the time I exited the cave I was glad that I had chosen to use it. I followed Kristine and Carlos into the cave, all of whom are shorter than I. Carlos is probably a whole foot shorter and so he just walked through with no problem, but as for me, every 5 or 6 feet or so I would bunk my head on the ceiling. My head felt so heavy with the hard hat but had I not wore that hat I may have had some serious injuries. (hehehe.....) Here is a picture of me playing around with one of the tools that miners used to use. Poor Carlos, we asked him to take so many photos of us, and sometimes we felt silly being silly in pics. I'm sure he was relieved when his duty ended in the evenings.

We also visited the Museo de la Alhóndiga de Granaditas, where most of the Españoles were killed two hundred years ago. Now it is just a museum that contains most of the history of Mexico, but it was neat to think that we were standing where the Spaniards had taken refuge a couple hundred years ago. Here Kristine and I are standing near the replica of the bell that initiated the start of the Independence in Dolores. The original is actually located in Palacio Nacional in Mexico City. I'm hoping that Kristine and I will have the opportunity to return and see Diego Rivera's murals.

In addition, Kristine and I visited the House that Diego Rivera lived in until he move to Mexico City when he was eight. It is now a museum and contains many pieces of his artwork. I really enjoyed this museum. I think I tested the patience of Kristine and Carlos who wanted to go at a more rapid pace.


After a long morning of visiting museums, we enjoyed a pleasant meal together in the center of town. Later, Kristine and I departed for the Mercado, the town market. We spent hours wandering around looking at all of the different things to buy. It was so neat. After our adventures without Carlos, we returned to the hotel where we played in the pool and got ready for the "Grito."

At 9pm we headed to the center of town to dine. After finishing our meal we headed over to the main plaza where the Grito was held. There were sooooo many people but it was so cool to actually see the grito take place. After the shouting there was a celebration of fireworks. I don't think I have ever been so close to fireworks in my life. But it was quite an experience, and one to remember!

On Sunday we were granted the privilege of sleeping in. After breakfast we took off for the Mummy Museum because I really wanted to go. Kristine wasn't so interested but she had planned to hang out at the mini mercado there. We spent forty minutes driving around town in search of the museum. Carlos said he knew where we were and how to get there. In a book that I read recently it said to just let men figure it out, them them find their way. I would have rather stopped to ask for directions but I wanted to be supportive of his determination to find the museum without help.

We finally arrived to find a huge line and to be informed that we had not been supplied with adequate funds for our trip and if I wanted to go inside I would need to pay for it myself. Well, that would have been fine, except that I had spent my money on gifts the previous day. Since Kristine and Carlos were not going to enter I decided to check out the market with Kristine and be on our way back to Morelos. On our way back we stopped in Querétaro which is where the conspiracy started. We returned to Cuernavaca in the evening. I had a lot of fun on this trip and I learned soooo much, too.