Guanajuato and Dolores Hidalgo

Following is a condensed version of what we saw and visited in Guanajuato and Dolores Hildalgo. If you would like to see this slideshow; click on the current slideshow, click on My Photos and click on 'guan'.

*We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast in a house owned by Pita that had been in her family for 3 generations.  It was located behind the Teatro Principal.

*Guanajuato has the most colorful houses and buildings we have seen so far.

*The Callejon del Beso (Alley of the Kiss)--the daughter of a rich family fell in love with a common miner.  They were forbidden to see each other so the miner rented a room opposite and the lovers exchanges kisses across the alley.

*Museo de las Momias (Museum of the Mummies)--remains dug up in 1865 to make room for more bodies were preserved by the contents of the soil.  100 mummies are on display, it only takes 5 or 6 years for bodies to become mummified here.  Bodies continue to be exhumed if relatives can't pay $20 for upkeep fees.

*We were able to see bands playing in stadiums, plazas, restaurants, and streets.  There were small and large displays of acts in theaters, plazas and streets.  Living statues would come alive for 10 pesos ($1) and perform or let you take a picture with them.

*The Callejoneadas (Estudiantinas), a group of professional singers and musicians dressed in traditional costumes, begin about 8pm roaming the streets playing music.  A crowd gathers and follows them as they wind through the streets and alleys of the city until the wee hours of the morning.

*Diego Rivera's birth house where he lived until he was six, still has the original furniture and many of Diego's drawings and paintings on display.

*The Alhondiga de Granaditas is the site of the first major victory in Mexico's War of Independence.  It was a fortress for Spanish troops and loyalist leaders.  Miguel Hidalgo led 20,000 rebels in a siege on the fortress.  They weren't having much luck until a young miner, Juan Jose de los Reyes Martinez (aka El Pipila) under orders from Hidalgo, tied a stone slab to his back and thus protected from Spanish bullets, set the large gates ablaze.  The rebels stormed the fortress and took back the Alhondiga from the Spaniards.

*In Dolores Hidalgo, we were able to visit the Parroquia de Nuestra Senora de Dolores, the church where Miguel Hidalgo issued the famous Grito on September 16, 1810 at 5am in the morning.  This is the famous Grito de Independencia that Mexico celebrates every year on the 16th.

*I thought I would add a picture of classmates and teachers so that you all know that I am actually doing SOME work!  :o)

For pictures, click on this link:  http://picasaweb.google.com/regnor11/Guan#

Coming next:  Chivas vs. America--El Clasico de Clasicos in Mexico!