Today, we finally got to explore our final destination on this trip, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico! After 36+ hours in the making (and a very long drive from Mexico City last night through winding roads), we’re so happy to be here AND very happy that it lives up to its excellent reputation as a beautiful, easily walkable town.

By way of quick orientation, San Miguel de Allende is located about ~4 hours north of Mexico City in the state of Guanajuato (Guanajuato city itself is 2 hours west of here and I sadly had to cancel my tour as a result of our delay; Guanajuato is known for being the birthplace of the street taco and for its many silver mines). The city itself is a UNESCO heritage site largely due to its architecture and relevance to Mexican independence (more on that in tomorrow’s blog, as we’re visiting the nearby town of Dolores Hidalgo!).

We started our day off right with chilaquiles and Mexican pastries (mine was a sweet bun with jam, while my husband got a chocolate concha). One thing we’ve already noticed in San Miguel de Allende is that there are so many more varieties of chiles in use than we’ve tried in other regions – the breakfast chilaquiles were served with a sauce made from chile cascabel, which we’d never tried before (delicious!).

After breakfast, we walked the ~15 minutes or so into town, stopping quickly by the Mirador (“viewpoint”) above town to take in the beautiful view.

Half the fun of this town is just taking in the sights, the vividly painted streets, and the beautiful murals (as well as the lovely Christmas decorations given the holiday season!). The juxtaposition of the desert plants and Christmas decor is really striking (and really well done throughout town).

On our way into town (along what we thought was a footpath but is actually a street used by cars as well!), we stumbled upon the beautiful Capilla de la Virgen de los Dolores. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open, but it set a nice tone for the remainder of our exploration. This was also the first place we saw a piñata, which are used during the Mexican Christmas celebration as part of a tradition called “Posadas” (the 7 points of the piñata apparently represent the seven deadly sins that were “broken” as soon as Mary and Joseph found a place to stay (with the birth of Jesus, of course, representing breaking free from these sins; I’ve also seen interpretations that the person ‘breaking’ the piñata being blindfolded represents faith defeating said sins).

From there, we continued to wander down the sloping streets into town. I really loved the festive decor – in some areas, there is papel picado (the brightly colored, cut out paper decorations) similar to Oaxaca, but most of the town as these lovely strands with silver stars. This region is known for its silver mining, so this is a nice local touch!

First up, we arrived at the Templo de San Francisco, one of the oldest religious sites in the region. The current church was finished in the 1770s, but the site itself was used for religious purposes for nearly 200 years before that (I couldn’t find a good English source, but the Spanish sign suggested the site was used to convert the local Chichimeca indigenous people to Christianity as early as 1540). I loved both the decor and the lovely wooden doors.

From there, we continued to wander the main square towards the famed Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel at the center of town.

The Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel doesn’t disappoint – it has a beautiful pink facade and is absolutely stunning from all sides.

Inside, I really enjoyed the murals (above). The Iglesia de San Rafael is located right next door, so we ducked into it as well.

In the main square, the “Quiosco Picorete” was decorated with a lovely nativity scene. I was also interested in the Krampus (?) type statue that was nestled across the garden from the nativity scene – I couldn’t find any additional documentation online about what it represents, other than the 7 deadly sins (a common theme, it seems).

From there, we headed to one of the few museums open on Tuesdays, the Casa de Cultura Banamex – Casa del Mayorazgo de la Canal. It’s situated in a gorgeous historic building and includes a variety of exhibits that span contemporary art (including a lovely exhibit from a Japanese artist) and history (I especially enjoyed the exhibits on leather-working and children’s toys).

The art was beautiful. LHS below are paintings by a Oaxacan artist featuring a variety of contemporary themes; the remaining photos are an exhibit by a Japanese artist, including some beautiful pottery.

The children’s toy exhibit was lovely, with a variety of toys, including painted horses, dolls with traditional attire, and a lovely doll house in the same architectural style of many homes in San Miguel de Allende.

My favorite exhibit was focused on the ranching culture that formed the original basis of San Miguel de Allende’s economy. Both the painted art and the leather-work – especially the incredible saddles – were gorgeous.

I can only imagine how impressive these pieces would have been when they were in use!

The textiles were also beautiful, although I wish there had been more description on how these pieces would have been used (and the significance of the colors, etc.). I also found the artists’ depictions of the cowboys quite interesting.

Of course, the museum also offers beautiful views.

Nestled along a side street is the Estrella de Latón Gigante, which again represents the long history of silver work and artistry in the region (I believe the smaller stars hung everywhere are the “mini” versions of Estrella de Latón).

Of course, the streets don’t disappoint as you stoll through.

Next up, we stopped at the Casa de Sierra Nevada hotel for a quick coffee – we had to try the tres leches cake, and it was adorably decorated like the Parroquia (including pink wafers!). They also have a miniature version of San Miguel de Allende stylized as a gingerbread village.

As we wandered, I loved the various murals and decorative mojiganga (I believe this is the right word for the gorgeous statues – apparently they’re often used during festivals and then placed in front of establishments when not otherwise in use!).

Of course, we had to sample a good variety of food. We began our food adventures with Tacos El Guero, which is truly a roadside, open air, street taco experience (and, sadly, all the way back up at the top of the hill near the Mirador, which was great for our step count, but bad for our morale). We tried the chicarrón, carnitas and ‘guisado’ tacos (guisado basically just means ‘stewed’) as well as a ‘guisado’ taco. They were served with fresh tomato salsa and a tomatillo / avocado salsa. They weren’t phenomenal, but the price was right and the proprietor was friendly.

We also passed one of the artisan markets, which was festively decorated.

From there, we headed back into town, down the winding roads.

We then ended up at the Templo del Oratorio de San Felipe Neri (ironically, I had just started saying that the area reminded me of the Plaza of San Felipe Neri in Barcelona, and what do you know!). Unfortunately, the temple itself wasn’t open, but it was beautiful from the exterior.

We then visited our second food stop of the day, Mama Mela, a true hole-in-the-wall restaurant specializing in 30cm burritos. We tried the rajas con papa (strips of poblano with potatoes and cheese) and cochinita pibil. We both opted for the salsa picante, which we learned the proprietor handmakes with ~15-20 chile varieties (depending on the type of salsa). It was legitimately fantastic and we’re hoping to go back to try additional flavors. I also had the agua fresca, which was a delicious herby / lemon flavor.

After that, we continued wandering and made our way past a beautiful tacos gorditos stand and the shopping district.

Of course, we enjoyed all the gorgeous decor!

After that, we waited in line for about 30 minutes at Saint Augustin for churros con chocolate (and a delicious carajillo, which is espresso, ice and Licor 43 shaken together). Unfortunately, the churros and chocolate weren’t as good as hoped, but it was a nice break.

After that, we figured we’d stop for a quick happy hour before dinner, ducking into the rooftop bar at Tunki by Handshake. The views were unparalleled, and they had delicious (fancy!) chicken wing lollipops with local beer (unpictured is the wonderful mezcal margarita).

For our final stop, we ate at newly opened hotspot Hacintto. It definitely had some growing pains (they didn’t quite seem to know how to layout the restaurant seating to accommodate the reservation group sizes and only seemed to have one copy of the wine list), but it was otherwise a great experience. The drinks especially were fantastic, while the food could probably use a bit of editing (but is already promising). We tried:

• The Chai Old Fashioned, which had a chai ice cube and kept getting more delicious
• The Green Negroni, which was standard but with a playful white chocolate garnish
• The duck tacos, which had a large helping of cubed duck and fresh arugula
• The mushroom tacos, which were steeped in chile de adobo and served with baby cilantro
• The “fish and chips” (pretty much what they look like; the jalapeno aioli was a nice touch)

Overall, the tacos each could probably use some type of acid and/or brightness, but the cocktails were fantastic.

After a bone-rattling Uber ride back up to the hotel on the winding cobblestone streets, we are prepping for tomorrow’s adventure to Dolores Hidalgo and the New Year’s festivities afterwards!