
Like the swallows to Capistrano, we seem to find ourselves always returning to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. For the past decade and more, it has been a happy place for us–blue skies and mild temperatures; the nicest people you can imagine; and lots to see, do. More often than not, we are joined by Mart & Bob Larson. (The picture above is of a 3D mural of the town in one of our favorite restaurants in SMA: Il Castello. Great pizza and other Italian dishes.)



For the first time longtime friends, Patrick and Lenore, joined us. Sharing San Miguel with them made it all the more fun. We three couples–Mart & Bob; Lenore & Patrick & us–first met in a cooperative preschool in Alexandria, VA, more than 40 years ago. Believe it or not, from our first reunion in SMA, it felt like we were taking up a conversation that we had just had just left off the day before.
Of course, much of what we saw and did involved eating & drinking, and we seemed to end up with a surfeit of photos of us arranged around one table or another–talking, laughing, and eating.
If we are lucky, a visit to San Miguel also means getting to hear and enjoy one of our favorite bands–Media Luna, which we have followed over the last ten years. This video features them performing Volare or Nel blu dipinto di blu.
The band is lead by the Cabrera brothers, Caleb & Jair; usually when we arrive, Caleb welcomes Sue with a smile and hug, calling her his abuelita (grandmother). Of course, being the consumate showman he his, he has a number of abuelitas, but it always lightens Sue’s heart to see and hear him once again, especially when the group plays Tears of Joy.

On one of our last evenings in town, we were invited to dine with our Spanish teacher and now good friend, Mario, and his partner, Carlos, at their apartment just outside of town. While visiting with them this time, it dawned on me that Mario has been doing his best for the last ten years to teach me Spanish.
The best that can be said is that I am now somewhat conversant, an accomplishment, but still far from fluent. The photo below is of all of us at La Jamaica, a restaurant in the neighborhood of Los Frailes, not far from their home. So much of life in SMA happens en aire libre.

This year Sue and I decided to finish up our Mexican sojourn with a week’s stay in Mexico City. If you haven’t been to Mexico City, you owe it to yourself to see and experience this world class city. With over 22 million inhabitants and nightmare inducing traffic, it can be daunting, but it is well worth the time and effort of a prolonged visit.
Of course, we are fortunate in having our friend, Carole Reedy, as our host and guide whenever we do visit the city. Even though she has shown off the city to many, many friends and visitors and hosted us any number of times, she never seems to tire of visitors or of showing off her adopted hometown.
This year she joined us for:
A three hour “turibus” of the city: a good introduction to the history and cultural highlights of Mexico City, although you can get ensnarled in the city’s legendary traffic!



A visit to the newly created “Museo Vivo de Muralismo, featuring Diego Rivera’s Story of the Mexican Revolution in murals:




(Did you notice that the model for the young woman handing out guns to the poor is Frieda Kahlo? I didn’t.)
The National Anthropology Museum:



Just outside of the Museum you can witness an amazing Voladores show by indigenous people from the state of Vera Cruz.
Mexico over the last two millennia has witnessed the florescence and decline of many extraordinary empires and city states including the Maya, the Olmec, the Aztecs, and many, many more.
The museum in its many halls and exhibitions provide a glimpse of the wonders of their arts and cultures. It would take days if not weeks to see them all. This visit we concentrated on the Teotihuacan sala and a traveling exhibition, Amazonia.

On past visits, we have often stayed with Carole, but as we were staying for a week (fish and friends smell after three days), we rented an apartment in the Roma Sur neighborhood on Cibeles Circle. Cibeles was a Roman goddess of fertility who is usually depicted in her chariot pulled by two lions. The Cibeles sculpture in our neighborhood is a replica of one in Madrid, Spain and was a 1980 gift from Spanish citizens living in Mexico.
This time of the year, Cibeles circle, like much of the city, is full of blooming Jacaranda Trees! And what a delightful area in which to stay, with its variety of shops and restaurants, yet blissfully quiet and peaceful. So peaceful, in fact, that every night we were able to sleep with our apartment windows wide open. The panoramic view from our 11th floor studio was ever changing and mesmerizing. We particularly enjoyed watching the steady traffic of planes taking off and landing at the MC International airport.





We are now back home, weary but safe and sound in Denver. How fortunate are we that we have had the time, resources, and health to experience this trip and the many others we have enjoyed over the years, but it will take us a while to rest and recuperate–as they say, “we are not as young as we used to be.”