Regresamos a Guanajuato...

From the 8th through the 14th of March 2005, we visited León, Silao, and Guanajuato in the state of Guanajuato, México. The main reason for our journey was Corona Rally México 2005, but of course there was much more to it than that. Everyone was great; the Rally Travel group we were with, and especially all the people we met along the way. At the Arrancado Ceremonial on Thursday in the theatre district of Guanajuato, the mayor of the city of Guanajuato especially thanked the people of Guanajuato for making this possible, and while one's mileage may of course vary regarding things spoken by politicians in general, he was completely right---the people we met were absolutely lovely. It was indeed a severe case of I LOVE EVERYTHING.

With that in mind, here are some photos from Wednesday, 9th March 2005, where we spent some time on a walking tour of the historical district of the city of Guanajuato, which is the capital of the state of Guanajuato. This is without question the most touristy thing we did, but it was still fascinating---so much so that the photos won't do it justice, no matter how good they are. As always, click on these thumbnails to see a larger version of each photo.

Here is the entrance to the Museo y Casa de Diego Rivera. Aside from some early works of his, you can also see his cradle if you go inside; this is his hometown, after all.

Here is one of the many cobbled streets we walked along. The genesis and growth of the city was mainly influenced by two things: the silver mining industry and the Rio Guanajuato. What you see when you walk the streets is largely a result of these two things. There is a large maze of underground tunnels where much of the automobile traffic goes, but cars and people alike walk and roll in the narrow cobbled streets, taking turns. Gorgeous, definitely something to keep one in decent shape, and not a place you want to be if you're handicapped.

Here is a stage where the estudiantinas from the Universidad de Guanajuato often perform, amongst other visiting theatrical troupes from around the country and the world. Our guide told us that it gets craziest in this area in October, when the Festival Internacional Cervantino is going on. This city is all about the Cervantes love; one of the museums we visited (no photos or videos allowed) was in fact the Museo Iconográfico del Quijote, which used to be a private dwelling but became a museum housing works based on the story of Don Quijote in the late 80s. It's an amazing collection of Quijote-related works from around the world and throughout time, in many different media, and I can't even begin to tell you how breathtaking some of the works were.

Here is another view off to the side of that stage. There doesn't seem to be a bad view in this city, to be honest.

We also stopped in the Callejón del Beso. One thing the page linked in the sentence before this one doesn't mention is that apparently the big issue Carmen's father had was that Luis was incredibly poor. Also, if you're a couple and you visit this alley, it is allegedly incredibly good luck to kiss there and incredibly bad luck if you don't. Though with the legend being what it is, I'm not sure exactly where the good luck comes in. =)

Here are some images of the outside of the Museo Alhóndiga de Granaditas. It used to be a granary in the late 18th century, but became instrumental in México's battle for independence. In 1810, rebel forces stormed the granary where supporters of Spanish rule had barricaded themselves. This victory was short, however, as later that same year, four of the leaders of the independence movement were beheaded and had their heads hung in cages from hooks at the four corners of the outside of the granary to serve as a message to all other would-be supporters of the rebellion. The hooks are still on display, though the building is now a museum of history. Down the street from where we stood is now a gigantic market, which you can sort of see in the second photo.

Somewhat fittingly after that, our guide took us in a cable car up the mountain to visit the statue of El Pipila (and look down on the city of Guanajuato from above, after having wandered around in its streets for a few hours). Why fitting? El Pipila (Juan José de los Reyes Martínez) broke down the door to the granary, thus allowing the rebels entrance. Here are some photos from the cable car trip, as well as one of the statue of El Pipila.

Finally, while this photo was taken looking out at the parking area near the statue of El Pipila, it's really more representative of most of the cars we saw while we were in the state of Guanajuato. There were tons of things we don't get in the US, but I'd say at least 80% of the cars we saw were VWs. Also a fair amount of Opels rebadged as Chevys, some Mercedes A-classes, several Seats, some Peugeots and Renaults, many Mercedes busses and trucks, a couple of MINIs (apart from the Red Bull one, which I'll post photos of at a later date)...and some Hyundai we don't get here, either. What astounded Spaz most of all was all the Mk I VWs we saw that were in unbelievably great shape, as you can sorta see in the photo below. We expected all the old-style Beetles, because México didn't stop building (and selling) them until a couple of years ago---but we hadn't expected the deluge of Mk Is.

This concludes the most touristy portion of our trip. Succeeding photos (and .MOV files) of Corona Rally México 2005 shall be posted in the following days; watch this space. Also watch Joe's Garage, as he took even more photos than I did. You may want to give us both time to sort and post them all, though---we took an awful lot. Did I mention it was an absolutely brilliant trip? Because it really was.