By Lola
Well, if you don’t, half of humanity does. Or at least that’s what it seemed like yesterday. Wow. It was packed. And traffic sucked. I talked to some locals who conceded there was more of a crowd due to the Christmas holidays, but that San Miguel was no longer little and certainly not sleepy. And they’re upgrading the road from Querétaro to San Miguel to a four-lane road, so it’s bound to get worse. Interesting side-note: The road heading out to Querétaro from San Miguel is still called Camino Real a Querétaro, which means the Royal Road to Queretaro. Cool, huh.
However, nevertheless and notwithstanding, I can attest to the fact that San Miguel de Allende is as charming as ever. I would live here in a heartbeat, so I don’t blame all the ones who have jumped the border and landed here. The history, the food, the music, the artesanías, the books, the sights, the smells… Yep, this is still San Miguel. No amount of traffic, gringos in walking shorts and gringas in flowing Mexican robes with TENNIS SHOES can make me stop loving it. Hey, at least they’re all smiling.
Here are some random shots with a cheap camera on a cloudy day. It’s really hard to make this place look bad.
Yup, it’s impossible not to love San Miguel despite the arrival of Starbucks and the fake sightseeing trolleys. I was there last summer and cringed when I saw the new four-lane highway (The Royal Road to Ruin?) being built . It reminded me of the old saying (by whom I can’t remember) that it’s always best to visit a place before they pave the road.
How about that Starbucks? I couldn’t believe my ojos when I saw it! Pppptttt! I agree with that old saying, whoever said it.
San Miguel was much better before it made the Ex-Pat Top Ten and only a handful of gringos were there, mixing nicely with the natives and loving every minute of it.
But… it’s still magical, still lovely, still San Miguel.
hi lola and john
this is my first time here..on the board that is because i have been living in the san miguel area (dolores) since 1976…
the proximity of san mike to celaya, queretaro and the df pre-destined it to the status of party town… the instituto helped too, with a steady flow of transient population, young artistic, beautiful and socially liberal women and men coming and going ad infinitum made for a very attractive place for mexicans and foreigners… there is no doubt that the traffic has become unbearable not just in san miguel but in the entire country… i call it the chilangization of mexico.. the two lane road will alleviate the traffic for a time…ok let me try to post this and then i’lll attempt to continue..
Hola Rene! “Chilanguization” is right. My family moved from el DF to Querétaro about 25 years ago—now it’s become a “suburb” of that big city, with all the attending ills. It’s still a great place to live and I had a wonderful time visiting this Christmas. Families and friends get together on a regular basis, they haven’t forgotten that there’s more to life than work and TV. 😉