DAY 7
Today I did some sight seeing in Guanajuato. I was feeling a bit lazy this morning, so I had breakfast and coffee about 30 feet from my room. You can find some pretty good French toast here in Mexico, as well as coffee when it is not the Nescafe.
First I took a walk around so I could see everything in the daylight.
This guy seemed quite happy, and who wouldn’t be if they had green shoes and a blue guitar?
I visited the famous Callejon Del Besso (alley of the kiss). The legend is that a high class family lived on one side and common miner on the other. The two fell in love and would exchange kisses from the balconies. Now, if I was that close, I think I would have exchanged more than just a few kisses.
I visited the market that was really quite tame compared to some others I have seen in Central America, but very interesting none the less. You can pickup almost anything here. I just got a few postcards for grandmas. Grandmas love getting postcards!
Do you need any chicken feet…or, perhaps some sweaty meat???
Next, I took a long hike out to the Museo de las Momias (mummy museum). The mummies are exhumed from the cemetery if surviving relatives can not pay the upkeep fees. In the soil here, it only takes 5 years to become preserved. Some bodies are cremated, while others are put on display here and around the world. Only 1% or 2% that are exhumed are display quality.
If you do not wish to see a picture of a mummy, please close your eyes and scroll down. I just took one, and maybe shouldn’t have. I think some may find this interesting as I did. If seeing one picture from the museum makes you come down and see it for yourself, then it was worth it.
Equally bizarre, was a horror show exhibit connected to the museum. It had some large holograms, torture devices, and horrible looking chastity belt.
It was taking the long walk back to el centro when I saw this.
I stuck my head in and was coaxed in by the barber. I figured what was the worst that could happen!
I took a seat in this old school barber chair, and he asked how I wanted it. Confident in my Spanish I answered “Solo tress pulgas”. He looked at me like I was crazy. My mind raced over the sentence I just said. I had attempted to tell him “Only three inches”. I soon realized he has no idea what an inch was, I needed to use centimeters. Then I also realized that I had the Spanish word for inches terribly wrong. When I said “Solo tress pulgas”, I had asked for THREE FLEAS! To summarize Pulgas = fleas, Pulgadas = inches, don’t ask for things in inches in a country that uses the metric system!
We had a good laugh, and he went off to sharpen his scissors on the door step. He said “this will take lots of sharpening”.
This is the best $2.50 haircut I have ever had! Ok, this is the only $2.50 haircut I have ever had, but a darn good one regardless! Here is the handsome devil in the hotel after a shower.
I was starving after all of this activity! I headed back to the market for some grub. There were lots of venders. I tried to pick one with the pretty girls working, as well plenty of locals eating. The cooks and waitresses wave their menus and shout to bring in the crowds.
This girl looked very sad, after they didn’t bring anyone in.
I tried to cheer her up by going to her place, but they didn’t have what I was hungry for. I did get a smile out of her with my messy Spanish though! I wanted to try some Birria. Birria is chili seasoned lamb that is smoked then steamed and served in a broth. I found a girl that had some, and it was delicious!
After lunch I found lots of activity in the plaza. There was a bike show going on today. These young guys were doing some crazy jumps on their regular bmx style bikes. These bikes didn’t look suitable this type of use, but they were doing it. Also, the riders wore minimal safety equipment!
This young gal was in love with one, or maybe all, of the jumpers. She was gushing over all the boys. It was funny to watch her try to catch the jumper’s eyes.
The day was coming to an end quickly. I took the funicular (incline railway) up to the monumento a el Pipila for the sunset. The views were fantastic!
I had some street tacos at the top, took the funicular back down, and saw some music in the plaza.
It was a great day in Mexico! I finished it off with a beer called Noche Bueno before bed. This beer is high in alcohol content, and made for a good night’s sleep.
Stay tuned for day 8 when I check out a retired gringo’s dream town.