Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato

For the past 35 years, Guanajuato, about 1 hour 15 minutes away by express bus, has held an annual 3-week Cervantino festival featuring music and cultural shows in their wonderful historic venues. It is named in honor of the author Miguel de Cervantes and there are numerous Don Quixote statues around town. We went with two other couples to experience a taste of this year's programs.

The happy group (P&B, Yolanda & Victor, Larry & Stephanie)

The invited country this year was China so there were numerous Chinese programs to choose from. We saw a clever and sophisticated silhouette puppet show by the Shaanxi Folk Art Theater with a raucus (to my ears) musical accompaniment. Later that evening we saw a Chinese musical and acrobatic display from Xi'an, featuring lots of fancy drumming, gongs and colorful costumes. These and many more shows were free to the hardy willing to come early but we bought the right to actually sit in chairs. The musical show was outdoors at night, surrounded by the striking monuments of the city.

My favorite program, held in a church in the hills above Guanajuato, was a concert by the vocal quartet Arveiros. The solemnety of the music in the gold-encrusted nave of the church was moving.

The real star of the trip was Guanajuato itself with its altogether different atmosphere than our San Miguel. It is a university town so there are lots of young people, especially at night when the traditional singing and drinking begins. It also has sidewalk cafes that I miss in San Miguel. The whole city has a much more European feel with plazas and cafes in hidden corners as you climb the hills.

We spent the night so had an extra day to explore the markets and plazas before we took the express bus back to San Miguel.

A trip to Delores Hildago

Today we actually got the car out to drive about 20 miles to Delores Hildago, a town about the same size as San Miguel that is famous for it's colorful Talavera pottery. On our way out of town we stopped by the home of a woman who was selling some of her household goods. She was selling a beautiful hand woven and embroidered patchwork Guatemalan bedspread or wall hanging as it clashed with her color scheme. We fell in love with this cloth and, as you have seen, not much clashes with our decorative scheme. Here are a few shots of our guest room with it's new look.

Our drive to Delores took us through miles of wild sunflowers lining the road. We were looking for a chest for our living room to hold a TV and the other stuff that goes with it. There are a few places in Delores which create furniture from recycled antique wood and at first we thought we would do that, but finally settled on a carved new wood one to be built to Bryan's specifications. Here is a shot of the style of painted carving we ordered. I'll let you know in a couple weeks how it turns out.

On our way out of town we stopped at a roadside carnitas BBQ place and sat outside enjoying the meal and the view of Mexico passing by. Wish you could have joined us.