Rosie and the Operator are here in San Miguel de Allende! The end of our journey in Mexico. We have six days to explore it together before The Operator goes back to work and Rosie then stays here on her own for the next 28 days.
This was another big drive from Oaxaca, on a very good, quick, boring road. As we skirted Mexico City, the head of the mighty mountain Pico de Orizaba peeked out of the clouds in the distance. Standing 18491 feet tall, this is the tallest mountain in Mexico and North America. She is a stunner alright and made Rosie feel a little homesick for her own look alike mountain.
After 8 hours driving pretty much straight through we arrived on the outer ring road of town and this road took us straight to our casa within minutes. No town to traverse through first, not even a wee peek of what to expect or a sneak preview. This will be interesting….Rosie always feels nervous, hoping she has made the right decision to stay here.
We were told by The Property Manager who we were meeting on arrival, to park in The Mirador Carpark and she would meet us. Our GPS took us straight there…and it was bedlam!
The carpark was a layby with 10 parks…all full….the road was narrow, so many cars double parked, so many buses coming along the road and tourist trams dropping off 25 people at a time. The place was swarming, it was 3pm, it was a Friday and it was hot, hot, hot.
There is no parking on the road itself outside our Casa as the road is too narrow. All we could do was follow suit, double park with hazard lights flashing and wait for a carpark to open up….which was what half a dozen other cars were also doing.
Rosies beady eyes were scanning….The Operator was positioned on the right side of the road to turn into a vacating car park….we were inching forward….waiting, waiting….there said Rosie! Backing lights! The Operator indicates to take the park. A car across the road indicates too….’no way Jose!’…. yells Rosie and starts gesturing that the park is ours. Our cars were nose to nose….no one was giving up this park….The Operator was ready to sacrifice the rental and the other car was of nicer quality so he begrudgingly conceded after abit of a….I am going to say it…Mexican Stand Off. Lol. Knuckle touch and we are there. Parked. Not sure how legally or for how long we are supposed to be there as there was no signage, which will be our defense.
A Mirador is a lookout point, this was the highest point in the city, it has a beautiful 180 degree panoramic view over the whole city and is quite a tourist attraction.
Right, first things first. Lets go over and have a look at this view that everyone has come here for. Wowza, just wowza! Rosie was not quite prepared for this introduction to San Miguel. The whole town is laid out below her….and it is stunningly beautiful. The soft pink Parroquia with its tall pointy spires is the star of the show and the rest of the town just radiates colour and adventure out from that. In the distance is a hazy ring of mountains and the flat grey of the lakes.
The Property Manager phones us, she speaks perfect English and has arrived at the Mirador as well. Hola, lets go and have a look at the house. We leave our bags in the car for now….she assures us we can park here as long as we like and nothing will happen….OK?!
We walk down the narrow, dusty, footpath, roadworks are happening further down the road and the dry dust is choking as the cars drive past and billow the clouds up. The traffic is close to us and we squeeze around power poles.
50 metres from The Mirador is the door to the casa set along side the footpath. It is a narrow, brown, wooden door giving nothing away regarding what is behind it.
The Property Manager opens the door and it is like stepping through the wardrobe and into Narnia. It is literally another world behind that door.
There are three properties through this doorway that belong to the owner, an American lady who rents them all out via a private website and Airbnb. The first set of steps going down in the hallway lead to Casa #2 – they are below us. We keep walking through the hallway to the next set of stairs.
Still standing on the street level landing these are the stairs (right) down to our front door. Above my room is the sun terrace for Casa #3.
This is my front door at the bottom of the stairs. To the left of the fern in the foreground is the beautiful courtyard area, shown on the next picture below.
With the door shut the traffic noise is dampened, trees are growing up through the open courtyard, the soft tinkling of water is heard from a wee fountain, art works line the walls. This courtyard is open to the elements and has no roof. The stairs going up in the courtyard lead to Casa #3 sun terrace which is above my room. The door to Casa #3 is at the back of the courtyard.
Lets go into my room, Casa #1 called Casita Ruby. Our jaws dropped again when our door was opened. It was just what Rosie wanted. The room is nice and bright and airy with little direct sunlight getting inside which keeps it nice and cool.
Our Casa is built on the same slope as The Mirador and our view is just as stunning over the town. Our terrace is huge and beautifully shady from a perfectly positioned neighboring tree and it is just amazing.
Oh go on, did I show you the view over town from the deck? You can either refer back to the Mirador photo or check this out…..Rosie is never going to be tired of looking at this vista.
The room is never hot and is always nice and cool, especially when the temps reach 28c in the afternoon, no air conditioning is needed or installed.
I have a wee kitchen prep area….not big enough really to cook a meal….but Rosie has none of those intentions at the moment.
The bathroom is quite stunning….not sure if it feels Mexican as per more Morrocan with the star lighting and the tiling. The shower sure has a great view and is totally private. It is a little piece of paradise.
Lupe is the housekeeper, she services the room everyday and Juan is the gardener, he comes twice a week. Both speak not a word of English.
The casa does not have parking. We were keeping our car as we wanted to go out and about outside the town and visit some other places nearby. The Property Manager said she would ask at the office where the closest parking lot was as she didnt know the area to well. The Operator said he would take a walk up the road as he thinks he passed an open section with a hand written parking sign on the fence.
The Operator transferred the bags whilst Rosie poked around everywhere in the Casa, oh yes, I can get used to staying here….mind you it does look like a steep walk home. Right, lets go find a car park.
The crowds at The Mirador hadnt waned, if anything they were getting bigger, sunset was on the cards and this was one of the places to see the spectacle as the sun dipped behind the mountains casting its fiery red glow over the city. A small market to the side of the Mirador was adding to the crowds as well.
We walked on further up the road, to a scruffy vacant section with a half fallen down 6 foot chain link fence in the front. A thin horse grazes the very sparse greenery and a group of guys are sitting drinking, in the shade, under the only tree, leaning against a ute.
As we walk into the yard, Rosie hangs back, this is guy negotiation time. The Parking Lot Man speaks perfect English, why is The Operator always so lucky. The Operator negotiates a really good rate per night, I wonder if that had anything to do with The Parking Lot Man being blazing drunk? We paid in advance and bet amongst ourselves that The Parking Lot Man would have drunk all that away by tomorrow. Good for him, he also showed the Operator where to buy the cheapest beer from in this neck of the woods.
We walked past the crowds at The Mirador and watched the first of many beautiful sunsets from our own private viewing terrace.
It was truely magical. As the light was softly fading we wandered down the hill into town to check out our surrounds. This town is just as beautiful in the dark as it is in the daylight. I cannot wait to show you around tomorrow.
