San Miguel de Allende, October 2016

1- San Miguel de Allende is a beautiful city 2- The Rosewood Hotel

3- La Parroquias 4- Dia de los Muertos 5- Shrines and Offrendas 6- Makeup 7- Parade!

8- Flowers 9- Doorways and Courtyards 10- Oh the Food!

San Miguel de Allende is smack in the center of Mexico and is a hilltop town over 6000 feet in elevation. It came into being in the mid-1500s, showcases beautiful colonial architecture and is often on best-cities-to-visit lists. Hear the many cathedral bells ring, get amazing pictures at each turn but always wear comfortable shoes to deal with the very rough cobblestones. Fly in to Leon airport and then drive an hour and a half to get to the city. We just chose the top rated shuttle from Tripadvisor and it was easy peasy.

The Rosewood Hotel is gorgeous and walking distance to all the sights. The Rosewood has a hopping rooftop bar good for drinks and basic food with a stunning view! The included breakfast buffet was lovely and happened to have the special pain de muerte (a sweet bun) served only during the Dia de los Meurtos week!

The adjacent square is called El Jardin, is surrounded by trees shaped like marshmallows and is where locals hang out. In the middle of town local families set up shrines for their departed. Some altars were for public figures or for all those lost in bicycle accidents or for the loss of freedom.

Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is the 24 hour period where dead relatives can cross over to visit their families. Families decorate the graves with offrendas or offerings of flowers, small sugar objects representing what they liked while they were alive, photos and plates of their favorite foods. Families come and spend the whole day at the cemetery, have picnics and enjoy the mariachis. The cemetery day is November 2nd.

It's fun to get your Dia de los Muertos makeup done by one of the many talented locals set up in the middle of town. It's very popular, so make a reservation if possible.

The main Dia de los Muertos Parade is on November 1st and begins at the Rosewood Hotel and follows a Mariachi band thru the cobblestoned streets to the Parroquia in the middle of town. More and more people join in as you go. As a parade participant you give out candy to the children watching along the streets. Everyone dresses in black, has their face painted and dons either the oversized Catrina hats or a flower wreath. The Rosewood Hotel has a package that includes a cocktail hour, dinner, hat, basic makeup or access to professional makeup artists (extra $15). It started at 4pm and went late. This is not Halloween, there are no other costumes and this is the only dress up day.

Flower crowns are available in town as well as other makeup artists. Bring your own clothes – we didn’t see any places to get those kinds of things.

Doors, doorways, hidden courtyards and luminous light; no wonder this is an artist’s town. A fair amount of expats enjoy the dry, warm weather, take art classes and eat the fabulous food.

The food is wonderful and not expensive compared to the US. My pescatarian daughter had an easy time finding plenty to eat. We did a food tour with Taste of San Miguel and it was so filling and delicious! As an added bonus learning about SMA history and culture rounded out our visit..

Shoot an email to: doug@plazatravel.com if you have any questions or want more details about this, or any of my other trips!