Dean and I are in Guanajuato now. What an amazing city! It's like an old Italian hill town, located in a valley, high up in the hills north of Mexico city. We have the good fortune of staying in the home of some friends (who are now at our place in Seattle). It's a gorgeous home built inside the ruins of a 400 year old hacienda.

Yesterday was our first full day on our own here. We spent it exploring the old town, taking the funicular up to the monument to El Pipila (the young miner who helped storm the Granary and win the first battle of Mexican independence), and then visiting the Alhondiga museum (gawd those Spanish colonist-silver miners and Jesuits were cruel to the native people here).

Last night we had a wonderful dinner at Frascati off the Jardin Union. We had a table with our own little balcony above the street, where we could watch all the activity going on below: university students in medieval garb doing minstrel shows, mariachi bands, street mimes, vendors selling corn on the cob and other treats. It was quite a bustle of activity. Afterwards we were able to stroll the grounds for a while and mix with the crowds. So fun!

A few more pics:

El Pipila monument.
Such troubadors!
The steps outside the University of Guanajuato
One of H & A's wonderful folk art mariposa and sirena figures at the hacienda.