242 San Miguel de Allende

Sunday 13th October 2013
Miles Today  227 Total 24,742


Our usual slow start and we left the hotel at about 12noon. It was along ride with the only stop being at Walmart for some shopping and for fuel.

Most major junctions had street sellers taking advantage of the traffic lights.

Traffic laws are a bit more lax here.

The western influence is still here.

 The foliage was pretty amazing and the cactus' were everywhere.

This 'tree' was about 9 feet tall.

This will look fabulous when it blooms.

..as will this one.

There were horses everywhere. It was wild west all over again.

VW beetles feature prominently here. The old models were made under license till 2003. They were built to lower trim and emission standards than the European models to allow sales to the lower income Mexicans.. A total of 21 million were made over a 50 year period.

Anything goes here...

We eventually arrived at around 5pm at our pre booked Best Western Hotel. It is a fantastic place and like going back in time.
I had been practicing my Spanish whilst driving along, and in my best accent told the reception I had reserved a room and our name, that went well, but then Ray asked where the laundrette was and the guy quick fired back an answer.  We both looked at each other and I explained we only had a little Spanish, to which he replied, Okay and proceeded to tell us directions in perfect English.  It made us all laugh, but at least we tried.  We actually do understand more than we speak, but when they talk it is like they are running a Usain Bolt hundred meters. 
We had sore buts so chilled out for a bit and when darkness fell we walked into the town center.

Our room, simple, tidy and quaint.

The courtyard outside our room.

It was fantastic, as it was Sunday the streets ware filled with locals mixing with tourists and the town square had a fantastic atmosphere.

The Cathederal

A covered courtyard where we had dinner at Mama Mia's

We had a  lovely meal and a bottle of wine, but when the bill came, they had charged us for a much dearer bottle with a similar name.  We are naturally suspicious types and it was only because Ray had worked out what we should pay, that he checked with the waiter.  It is only a word of caution, but this is quite popular with American tourists and if they are doing this with all of the visitors, it is an easy way to make a few extra bucks.  It is very easy to get sucked in with the music, atmosphere and good food.  We had checked on the internet and the advice on tipping is much the same as that in America, 15% or more if warranted, needless to say, they missed out on this occasion.

....and as per usual. A bar we found on the way home.