Doors And Knockers Of San Miguel De Allende

I have always been interested in doors and consequently have built quite a few. However, the doors in this town have blown me away. Try picturing walking the narrow, solid walled, coble stone streets of this historic city and the only indication of what lies behind these walls are the doors that invite you in or maybe not. Some are elaborate, some very old and still functioning; some dilapidated but still elegant and attractive, at least to me. So set back and enjoy "The Doors and Knockers of Old San Miguel"

Music, Color and Sunshine

Music, Color and Sunshine



This guy with this Harp like instrument comes into the Internet Café every morning and fills the room with the most relaxing music you can imagine. The Holler needs one of these.

This wonderful Bronze Sculpture of a Mariachi greets visitors to Chapala. A fitting tribute to the many musicians that constantly entertain the many visitors and inhabitants of Chapala

The common method of fishing here in Lake Chapala is by nets. These fishermen provide a steady supply of wonderful, fresh, affordable, fish to the community.

The Malecon (seawall) where we walk in the mornings, is some what disserted this time of the day. However, it fills up every afternoon and on Sundays it is a constant source of entertainment.

We heard drumming and mosied over a couple of blocks to witness this parade of amazing feathered costumes, performed by indigenous people. Don't know what the parade was all about but the drumming and dancing lasted all afternoon and way into the night.

Don't have a clew of what these Masked Hotties were doing in this parade but they could sure "shake that thing"

Even the children took an important part in this amazing parade

Amazing feathered headdress. The brilliance and detail of these elaborate costumes were breath taking.

I hope that you can imagine the brilliance of these elaborate headdresses. At first I thought them to be Pheasant feathers but never heard of a four-foot pheasant tail feather.

This shot gives you a little more detail of their costumes. I am sure that these shots do not do them justice. We piled into bed at 10 pm and the drumming and dancing was still going strong

Wally and Sue took us to their favorite Botanical Garden just up the hill from their house. The grounds were pristine and extensive. Following is a series of shots of cactus, don't ask me the names of them, just enjoy the beauty.

San Miguel boasts a population of two hundred thousand. I am not convinced as it retains a small town flavor. From the lofty outlook of our town house, one can see many Cathedrals all date back to the mid 1500's

The Majestic environment of these immense Cathedrals is very humbling as intended.

Even the doors are gigantic and they have inspired a series of "The Doors and Knockers of San Miguel de Aliened" which will be coming up soon. Hold on, not that kind of knockers, I mean Door Knockers. However they have plenty of the other kind as well.

Street beggars are fairly common, however not imposing. The locals say that it is an industry and not to worry about them. But I am an easy touch and always managed to come up with a few pesos, but not with out a photo. I came across one and only had a fifty-cent coin, which I offered along with a photo. She indicated that it was not enough and wanted a dollar. Oh well what is a dollar. I am easy.

Just one of the many highly skilled paintings found through out the city.

OK this one got a dollar. But I loved the color combination and her ability to extract the extra money.

Sue had Spanish classes till 1pm so on many mornings, Wal, Barb and I went exploring the local mountains and with out a local map, which we tried, again and again to find, with no luck. Oddly enough we could get a map of the neighboring State but not one for here. It was almost more challenging and fun with out one and Wal always had a way of finding water, like a horse in the desert. What a fisherman.

I call this "Shovel Art" look closely, these mask are made from discarded shovels, way cool

Bare with me, I just could not resist one more Cathedral Shot. Built in
1550, WOW.

This shot was taken form inside the house that Wal and Sue had rented and shred with us. Very tasteful contemporary architecture and no mistake on the placement of this window. What a view.

Sorry about the previous statement. This is the woman the demanded the Dollar for the shot. Love it.

I will close this session with one last shot of our most precious host and long time friends, enjoying just one of the outrageously wonderful meals together. I know that the meals were good and perhaps it was the wonderful host that made it so satiating. Stay tuned for the Doors and Knockers of San Miguel.

Trip To San Miguel

Barb and I just returned from a two-week stay with dear friends, Wally and Sue up in San Miguel de Allende. A real precious time, filled with old memories, amazing walkabouts, Great food, Art everywhere. San Miguel, is in the mountains and dates back to the early 1500's, so, many of the buildings that you will be seeing are over 500 years old. I am starting with a colorful shot of the Sun and Moon (to catch your attention), so sit back and enjoy San Miguel, as seen through the lens of my camera.



San Miguel is a five hour, pleasant, buss ride from here at Lake Chapala. We can guarantee you that these busses are loaded with all the amentias and much more pleasant than any plain ride that you have ever been on. Very spacious comfortable seats that recline almost to a horizontal position, air conditioning, a bathroom and a place to serve your self coffee and tea, clean windows, movies, and smooth ride. So set back and enjoy this trip.

San Miguel fell into an economic depression around the mid twenties. Land and buildings were abandoned and readily available. Much like the So-Ho story of lower Manhattan. So the Artist picked up on this fact and moved in. The government took notice and built a big beautiful Art University here and thus the story unfolds. Art, Culture, entertainment of all sorts, diversity, and pleasure. Ahh, life is good.

This place was selling art from found objects. Wally was particularly
Interested in this rather unique motorcycle. Although we did not have time to get it running, he allowed that brother John would have it going in no time.

Wal figures that this one would be much easer to get going but may be a little more challenging to handle.

San Miguel was founded for its rich silver deposits. The Spaniards had a way of figuring this out way back in the mid 15 hundreds. You can only imagine how the Silver Art/Craft has developed in the past 500 years.

This magnificent cathedral was constructed in the mid 15 hundreds when this settlement was just a simple little mining town. Apparently the Spanish Conquistadors could see that this was a major location and built things to last.

This is the front Door of the Cathedral, just to give you a little glimpse of the magnitude of this structure. By the way, San Miguel is all about Walls and entrance doors. Following will be a Blog just on the Doors and knockers of San Miguel.

Just one of the amazing meals and camaraderie that we shared on our visit.

Another Mystery, We came across this ancient foundation during one of our mountainous ventures. Anyone's guess.

We occasionally came across an abandoned building that for some unknown reason was passed by in the new renovation/development.

Narrow streets, side walks and alley ways is what it is all about here in San Miguel, we just happened to be staying in a beautiful home on this alley way.

A pleasant return home after a fulfilling day. The pleasant soft lighting of these narrow cobble stone streets are pleasure in themselves.

Barb and I collected a few of these Bark Paintings, years ago. I was overcome with the beauty of this one for a mere twenty dollars. Sorry, over budget.

I have figured out that one way of keeping things looking ole is to employ Old methods. It is easy to imagine that this old paving method has been used for hundreds of years. What a great way of preserving the past.

An invite from Wal, to climb the mountain behind us, for a spectacular view of the city, proved every bit the worth of the arduous ascends.

This 30-inch pipe delivered water from the head of this canyon, to San
Miguel, for over one hundred years, which ended in 1970. It is hard to imagine the engineering involved with this incredible fete, let along the pain and suffering by the men that built it.

This stone dam, lies at the head of the canyon that we walked up.
Constructed around 1870 it was surely an Engineering marvel as well as the 30-inch pipe that delivered the water to San Miguel for over one hundred years.

Thought that I would leave you with a sampling of the Doors of Old San
Miguel. My next blog will be a collection of my obsession with the Doors and Knockers of San Miguel