Eat Well, Be Well, Live Well

You might be wondering where the food photos and recipes are, but along with wildlife, traveling is most decidedly my other great passion. As it happens, my family has done a lot of traveling this summer, and we’ve been lucky enough to visit some historically-rich and beautiful cities.

If you missed my post on Florence, please check it out here. Otherwise, take a minute or two to get at least a little familiar with the small but incredibly gorgeous town of San Miguel de Allende which lies 274km northwest of Mexico City. I had heard about it for years, and now wonder why I didn’t go sooner.

My husband travels to Mexico regularly for his work, and although it was very last minute, the kids and I booked to accompany him since it was the same week as his birthday. After spending a couple days in Mexico City, we hired a car to take us to San Miguel de Allende. It was certainly an adventure… Google Maps said the drive would take 3.5 hours, so we all looked forward to a little scenery, and a dip in the pool of our hotel when we arrived. Seven hours later… Yep, the predicted 3.5 hours turned into 7 hours. There is only one road between the two cities, on which a truck carrying some sort of fuel (gas or oil) crashed and spilled its highly flammable cargo. And unlike in the U.S., Mexico does not have a rapid response system set up to deal with such things, so they closed the only road between the two cities for hours. Based on the reports of others, it would have taken 10 or 11 hours that day, but we took matters into our own hands, and asked our driver to go off road in order to skirt the closure. Please be advised: this is not recommended!! When you leave the highway, you drive on narrow, unmarked dirt and rock roads through “rancherias,” which are entirely unpoliced areas considered very dangerous–particularly at night. We only took this desperate measure because we were losing our minds parked for hours on the highway, and because the SUV we were in happened to have “protective properties.”

Seven hours later we arrived in San Miguel de Allende, which is hands down one of the most beautiful towns, if not the most beautiful town, we have ever laid eyes on. Narrow cobblestoned streets are lined with buildings painted with rich colors of the earth–terra cotta, saffron yellow, burnt red. You see exquisitely-carved doors everywhere, and magical courtyards abound. Throughout the center of town you see Spanish colonial architecture, which greatly adds to the beauty of this small town. (In addition to being one of the most affluent cities in Mexico, San Miguel de Allende lays claim to the start of Mexico’s independence from Spain.) Beyond its physical beauty, the historic town boasts a thriving arts and cultural scene, and the food is phenomenal. In fact, the food is quite fancy, serving dishes similar to what you find in high-end NYC or San Francisco restaurants only using local ingredients. We actually bemoaned the fact we couldn’t find and didn’t have time to just eat some good and simple enchiladas or other “traditional” Mexican fare.

Another surprisingly aspect of the town was how lush and green it was. In fact, the entire area was incredibly green. It’s the rainy season now, but we were told it is green nearly year-round. And the rains come just in the afternoon for an hour or two–just enough to water all the vegetation and clean the sidewalks and streets. Very efficient.

One thing is certain… We will return to this memorable little town soon.

Happy sightseeing!