Guanajuato city. Part 2

The second day we visited the Regional Museum of Guanajuato, Alhondiga de Granaditas. Once outside, I sketched the East wall of the museum looking down the street where the clock tower and part of the roof of Hidalgo Market can be seen. I let the bright colors of the houses  that look like they are hanging from the hills to contrast  the market. This is just a sample of how all houses in downtown Guanajuato look like confetti. The market was a French style train station built with iron in 1910, the year the Mexican Revolution started.

I packed my stuff and just few steps (like 20 steps literally) walking East the same street, I unpacked my stuff again because I found a lovely old house I fell in love with. I didn't realize why did I like it so much until now, that I'm writing this lines. The building was full of life. It had many plant pots hanging from the verandas with bright flowers and several cages with different birds. The intense yellow color paint, was covered in dust, yet the decoration made the building shine. The Museum and this house are one block apart exactly on the same street, yet the street names are different. 28 de Septiembre St. for the museum and Pocitos St. for the house. Funny thing. It's one of those odd things that happens in this beautiful country and drive tourists crazy! Click here to continue part 3.



Guanajuato city. Part 1

We went to Guanajuato city in Mexico, with no plans in mind, just to rest. We were so tired we didn't want to make decisions, we thought  we would let the local people to tell us where to go and what to do, that would save us time and energy. We asked for one of the best restaurants in the city to treat ourselves. They sent us to a French style restaurant just across the Juarez theater. Next to our table was a huge window and this was the view.

It was very obvious what to do next, a view of the city. For that, we went to the top of one the hills using the funicular. There was a great view of the city up there, also there was a monument of Pipila. A man that became famous for his act of courage during the War of Independence in Mexico. He had the idea of carrying a big stone on his back to protect himself from the bullets and  burning the wood door to enter the Alhondiga de Granaditas and kill the Spanish people hidden inside this building. 

Later that day, having a cup of coffee, a couple of art students held a conversation with us. They told us to go to the roof of the University of Guanajuato to the astronomic observatory. So we went. There was an astrophysicist who kindly showed us the stars in the telescope....for free! He showed us Mercury, Double Cluster in Perseus, which it is at a distance of 7,600 light years, the Orion Nebula, and finally Jupiter and three of its four visible natural satellites, the forth one  wasn't visible because it may have been in front or back of the planet, he said. I raised my sketched book to locate the stars to sketch them in the right proportion, it was dark, so I tried to be as precise as I could.

Great day for no plans. Click here to continue part 2.

The untouchable telephone.

I just watched the film The Boxtrolls. Funny, so well done. Besides my very brief review, I have to say I feel like one of them. I'm a Boxtroll. They collect old stuff to create other things. I, on the other hand, don't create other stuff, but collect old stuff. I'm visiting my parents and staying at the house where I lived so many years. Among the things I found was this old look telephone from the 70's my parents had in the living room. This was one the untouchable items for us kids. The poor telephone was replaced by a newer model, those digital tone ones, and it was abandoned in a utility closet. I found it, removed the dust, asked if I could keep it, granted. The untouchable phone is now clean and is MINE. It belongs to the foyer of my house, on the table. A new friend for the miner lamp and the coal iron. Yes, it's like a trophy, but more than that, it's an object that will remind me of my childhood every time I see it........sweet.