Trip to Guanajuato

This is the underground road that I arrived on and later walked through.


Preparing to get on my bus. This was the lady passing out our lunch.


More of underground road system. It´s hard to catch in a picture.



I finally made it to Guanajuato and my trip was great.

I was very proud of myself when I left my hotel this morning in a cab for the bus station at 7:45am for a 9:00 bus. I actually thought Ginger would have been happy with me too. I got there one hour early but when I tried to purchase my ticket they said that the bus was full and I had to wait until 11:15am. I was a little concerned about spending over 3 hours in a bus station but manage to use up the time having a nice breakfast, a cup of coffee from a nescafe machine and using the internet cafe at the station.

When I finally boarded the bus at 11:00 it was quite nice. They had a lady dressed like a flight attendant handing us each a bag with a lunch in it. We were able to choose our own beverage to put into the bag. The bus really was first class. The seats were huge and we had nice foot rests so we could lay down.

I sat next to a man that I thought didn´t look very friendly. I was wrong. He turned out to be quite interesting and quite helpful. He was an older mexican man. He moved to the United States when he turned 18 to San Jose California. He moved there because he wanted to learn english. He worked in the cannery and got a working visa. Because he had a working visa, he was drafted into the Korean War. Lucky for him by the time he finished his training for the army, the war was over. He was stationed in Washington state and 2 years in Alaska. He loved it. After that he moved to Mexico City and worked for the company 3M for 30 years and retired to Guadalajara which he believes is the most beautiful city in Mexico. He lives in Guadalajara and his wife lives in another city Leon, which he was traveling to. She is taking care of her mother who just had a stroke a year and a half ago. He visits his wife for 10 days every month. After I got his life story, he shared much travel advice with me that was very helpful. He also pointed out interesting things along the way and told me the history.

I decided on the bus that I was going to treat myself to a cab to my hotel. I always take city buses but thought I would splurge the $4.00 on a cab. When I left the bus station, there was no cab waiting for me but there was a city bus waiting for me. I took it and it was quite easy and left me 2 blocks from my hotel. I had to climb tons of stairs to get to my hotel. When I arrived the hotel owner said, ¨Hi, Anna, we´ve been waiting for you¨ even before I introduced myself. It´s a nice hotel but very strange architecture. I must take pictures and post them because I don´t think I can describe the stairways and the hallways. It´s a little like a friendly, weird, pretty maze.

I forgot to mention that the bus ride was a little like riding a ride in Disney Land. They have underground streets and we would go into these very old tunnels. It was really cool.

I stayed at my new hotel, Casa Bertha, just long enough to get a map and get walking around the city. The city reminds me a little of Momarte in Paris (is that what it is called? the area near Sacre Coer? it doesn´t look right). They have cobblestone streets, with outdoor cafes, street artists and musicians.

I ate dinner in a restaurant that had a fixed menu. I couldn´t understand what any of the food was so I stood outside with my spanish dictionary and tried to look up the food. The waiters were trying to help but couldn´t. It was funny and we were all laughing. I finally settled on a soup and a dinner. I just pointed to both and hoped for the best. The soup in my dictionary translated to gourd soup. It was really good and I thought I had had it before but couldn´t figure out what it was. After I finished my meal, the waiter tried to tell me my choices for dessert. We were laughing and I finally asked if I could just have a look. He said yes and took me into the kitchen. I think the chefs liked it and it seemed to be the first time they had someone previewing what they were going to eat. I selected a nice looking thing called carlotta which was a vanilla pudding layered with crackers or something. It was sweet but good. They served it over a little chocolate sauce. After my meal, I went out to the street and was copying down the name of the soup that I loved. The waiter saw me doing it. I told him that I loved the soup but I had no idea what it was. He told me to wait. He went into the kitchen and came back out to the street with a zuccini. So that solved that mystery.

Now I´m walking around the streets. It is quite pleasant here.

Rather than downloading pictures. I will send you the link that my friends sent me of their pictures. I will add some of my own later.

Take a look:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/mexico/523680-guanajuato-mex-place-frogs.html