San Miguel and Guerétaro..... A Tale of Two Cities.. ..and worlds apart.....

 

We arrived in San Miguel de Allende after a short bus ride from Guanajuato. We had gotten mixed messages from a number of locals and tourists about whether Allende, a UNESCO designated city, was worth a visit. It has a wonderful main plaza and church as so many of these cities do.



                                         Day and night shots...

San Miguel de Allende has interesting streets, sites and vendors...






 

                                       Balloon vendors are everywhere...

Unfortunately, within minutes  of getting off the bus, we were getting a crappy vibe about the place. While it is certainly a beautiful city, it is overrun with lots of gringos, beautiful people all thinking they are in the next, best place! 

Everything is very expensive and high end .... from hotels (most hotels quoted us from abt 1500 - 4000 pesos for a room - if we could find one) to food, coffee and drinks,. 

Finally found a room for 600 pesos. Slept with our clothes on because it was cold and damp, etc. While we did run into several people and had some good chats, there was nothing that made us want to stay.

Very disappointed, but just not a place we liked. Next morning, we left for Santiago de Gueretaro, south, and en route to Mexico City.

Queretaro proved to be a delight. The historic centro was filled with locals, market stalls, pedestrian walkways,  parks, squares, music and funky little bars, food places. We found a room at the Hotel Hildalgo - the 1st hotel built in Queretaro in 1825. It had all the old world classic eloquence of that era. Built around an open courtyard and on the plaza, it contained all the charm lacking in Allende. And only 740 pesos for a room that overlooked the walkway and steps from the main square. Stores, museums, churches etc surrounded the historico centro.

Shayne is standing in front of our room above the interior courtyard of this hotel.



               View of the pedestrian walkway from our little balcony.

This hidden gem has all the appeal that Allende may have had, but has been long buried by the northern migration of gringos following the herd mentality.

Sadly, we left after only a night, as we had hotel reservations in Mexico City. ... reservations are something we rarely do, as we generally just arrive in town, take a bus or taxi to the centro and look for a small, old, charming Mexican place to stay.

Queretaro is a gem, undiscovered by the tourist masses, rarely visited, apart from the independent travelers. We could easily stay longer and just enjoy the friendly vibe of real town Mexico.

.....while some may disagree, it would seem UNESCO designated cities are the kiss of death for what was once unique and innocent. It just encourages the hordes to descend and the upscale marketing that follows.....

Mexico probably has dozens of other towns, cities that deserve a UNESCO stamp, but thankfully don't.

Heading to the jungle next -  big, loud, beautiful Mexico city.

Talk to you soon!  Adios! S&Y

PS As we write this on the bus to Mexico City, it seems we've taken a major detour off the 4-lane freeway we had been on, and are on a back road cruising by open pit mines, lakes and towns.