Prague surprised me. I didn’t know much about Prague, and I wouldn’t have included it in our itinerary, except that Maricela’s sister had spent a semester there during her college years and often spoke highly of it. So we included a two-day stop there, and we’re glad we did. There is so much history and beauty here!
Everywhere you turn, the architecture is beautiful in Prague
Soon after we arrived, we did what we generally do upon arriving in another country, find an ATM and withdraw some local funds. Prague is a big city so we had no trouble finding an ATM. I requested the equivalent of about $300 US, and the machine asked if I wanted to select what denomination bills or if I wanted to take the default denominations determined by the machine. I didn’t think much of it and selected the default. Unfortunately, it dispensed one large bill worth nearly $300! Our next stop was to find a place to eat. Before being seated, we asked at a restaurant if they would have change for our $300 bill, and they did, so our problem was solved.
We signed up for a walking tour that we found on the Experiences section of the AirBnB site and the guide did an amazing job. Read the captions on the following photos for a few random facts shared during our tour.
Originally, this statue was named, “Statue of liberty”. It was renamed by the communists as “Statue of a woman holding a torch while riding a lion”, a name so long and meaningless that it is assumed people will ignore it.The designer of this tower failed to depict any poor people. As a result, he was given the death penalty. Another designer, of a nearby church, faced a different fate – his creation was so magnificent, the authorities blinded him so that he couldn’t create a similar, competing masterpiece for another locale.The towers on this church are known as the Adam and Eve towers. Eve is the slightly larger one on the right. The church was completed in 1251 AD.Just to the right of the center of the photo is a statue of stylized flames. It was made to remember a man who set himself on fire and ran around the square to protest the rise of communism. His family didn’t want to memorialize him so much as they wanted to remember his ideas. Prague castle is said to be the largest in the world. It took 1100 years to build, from 820 to 1929, and was built in many different styles.
From Philadelphia we went on to New York City. We drove to where we would be staying, at an AirBnB in the South Bronx, with a plan to leave the van parked there for the week and relying on public transportation. For the most part, this worked out fine. I had checked with the AirBnB host in advance regarding the parking situation, and they said there was “plenty” of free street parking in the neighborhood. What they didn’t mention is the parking restrictions – one side of the street was restricted from 9-11 am on Tuesdays, and the other side on Thursdays. So we had to move the van (i.e., search for parking) several times while we were there. However, despite the density of the housing, there seemed to be relatively more parking available than in Oakland, CA, where I worked for many years. My theory is that car ownership is expensive and inconvenient in New York City and there are a variety of public transit options available, so a smaller percentage of people own cars.
We parked our van and relied on public transportation
I am not a city person. I grew up in the suburbs in Southern California, and then as an adult I have spent my life in the suburbs of the San Francisco Bay Area. I have worked for many years in Berkeley and Oakland, which are very urbanized, and while I enjoy the culture, the restaurants, museums, and the constant buzz of life in these cities, my real comfort zone is back home in the suburbs. Surprisingly to me, during our week in New York City, I found it to be very, what I call “liveable”. We met neighbors near our AirBnB in the Bronx, we found every type of food imaginable, we felt like we could get around to anywhere we wanted via public transit in a reasonable amount of time. We were impressed by the overall quality of life we experienced during our week in New York.
There is so much to see in New York that we didn’t even consider trying to fit everything in. We took our time visiting places we were interested in – the Metropolitan Museum, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, the World Trade Center / 911 Memorial, Wall Street, Battery Park – and did our best to enjoy ourselves, without rushing through everything.
A beautiful, early spring day in Central ParkTwo days later, Central Park was covered in snowBrooklyn Bridge, without showing the crowdsA rose is placed on the names on the individuals’ birthdaysNYC High Line ParkAmazing building projects in New York
Part of the reason for creating this blog was to share snippets of life in Mexico that many Americans would not otherwise be aware of. For the most part we are not traveling to places where American tourists would normally visit. For example, we have never been to any of the coastal resort towns. San Miguel de Allende is a bit of an exception to that, as it does have a sizable expat population, but it is still less well-known than other places.
We had an amazing time visiting San Miguel for the weekend. We enjoyed great food in small cafes, three full days of cultural events, and, dare I admit it, a few trips to Starbucks for the first time while we’ve been in Mexico!
We look forward to a return trip to San Miguel de Allende in the future.
These Mayan performers climb to the top of the pole, wrap ropes around and around the pole, tie the other end of the ropes to themselves, then slowly descend to the plaza below. One member of the group remains seated at the top playing music while the others descend.
Note that we arrived the day before performances began. This pole, which must be at least 60 feet tall, was installed on the plaza the day before. They chipped a hole in the existing concrete plaza, inserted the pole, and mixed some cement to patch it up. Then they entrusted their lives to it!
Beginning their descent…Continuing their descent… Flying soloAbout to touch down
I gave some background on the celebrations in an earlier post. Here are some of the dancers who were participating. First there was parade that lasted at least two hours, with these and hundreds of other dancers performing along the whole route. They end up in a plaza near the cathedral, where some of the groups continued to dance for another couple of hours. This occurred all three days that we were in San Miguel de Allende. These performers are not looking for praise from the crowds of onlookers, they are truly passionate about what they’re doing.
Aztec dancersMaricela with dancers Maricela with dancerRichard with dancerRichard with dancers
Fireworks are very commonly used to celebrate here in Mexico. Here are photos of fireworks at the church in San Miguel de Allende. Some of the fireworks (like these) are designed to be a beautiful sight, and others are designed simply to produce a loud noise. The noise-making fireworks literally continued all through the night. Celebrations went on until at least 2 a.m., then started up again at 4 a.m.
Fireworks over the cathedral Fireworks over the cathedral
Each town in Mexico has a patron saint, and they celebrate with a big festival every year on that saint’s designated day. The patron saint of San Miguel de Allende is the archangel Michael (San Miguel). We visited San Miguel de Allende on the weekend of their big celebration. The festivities include many things – fireworks, parades, various traditions, special masses, etc. In these photos, you’ll see a small sampling of those attending a special outdoor mass honoring the cowboys and their horses. Hundreds of cowboys filled the main plaza and all the nearby side streets while the priest performed a complete outdoor mass. It was quite a sight!
Cowboys streaming into townChurch service especially for cowboysSide streets crowded with cowboys
We visited San Miguel de Allende this weekend, a colonial-era town a couple of hours to the northeast of us. It’s a town of amazing beauty, with its cobblestone streets, colorful buildings and the buzz of activity. I especially liked this one of a young girl taking a break from selling roses.
It’s hard to tell from the photo just how hard it was raining, but it was a downpour – nothing like the drizzle we usually see in the Bay Area. You can see that water is pouring from the downspouts – one nearby, and several others down the street pouring from the first and second floors.
You’ll also note the different architectural styles. Old, poorly maintained adobe immediately on the left; well-maintained adobes further down the street, and a few, much newer structures mixed in.
I just like this photo of our town’s church. The building is estimated to be from the late 1500’s.
It’s traditional in this part of Mexico to neatly trim the trees into gumdrop shapes or squares. I like how the trees and church look together in this photo.
There was yet another earthquake today. This one measured 6.1 on the Richter scale. That doesn’t sound so bad when the previous two quakes were 8.1 and 7.1, but those of you who have experienced an earthquake know that even 6.1 is pretty strong!
Today’s quake was again far south of where we are located, so no impact here. Hopefully the big ones are done for now!
We discovered that the roof has some leaks in at least one area of the house. On day one we worked late into the evening removing the clay roof tiles…
Evening view on the first day of roof work
Then we cleaned up and reinstalled the tiles, thus the new roof looks a lot like the old:
Reinstalled roof tiles
But it’s what’s underneath that counts. A new layer of plywood and water-repelling roofing paper should enable this refreshed roof to last for many years to come. It was hard work, but a good sense of accomplishment. We only did the two rooms in the center of the photo; we’ll assess the others later.
Closeup of new plywood underlayment along with water-repelling roofing felt
There was another large earthquake today. Thankfully, it was not near us and did not impact us. The earthquake hit about 76 miles south of Mexico City. It did a lot of damage in Mexico City, but we are more than 300 miles away from where the earthquake hit, so we did not feel anything. Our prayers are with the many who were impacted.
The house we are staying in is an old adobe, approximately 150 years old. There have been various additions and changes over the years, but overall it is well maintained and in good condition for its age.
Nonetheless, there are a few minor repairs we’re working on on the house. Starting with the foundation, where some of the old adobe is crumbling. Nothing major – just chipping away the loose stuff and then re-sealing it.
As with many cities and suburbs in the United States, the population grows over time and the cities and towns expand. Sometimes this causes “growing pains”. In our town, homes have been built along the main street beyond the paved section. It has actually been many years, but this section remains unpaved. When the rains come, this section essentially becomes a river, as there’s a gradual slope leading up into the fields. Here’s a photo of the road to our uncle and aunt’s house last week:
The road to our uncle’s house looks more like a river!
And here it is today:
A week later the road is dried up.
Most of the roads in town are paved, and the local people keep requesting that this section be paved, but so far they are still waiting. Until then, they must live with their seasonal “creek”.
