Thursday, December 22, 2011

New Photo-Gallery: Mexico Guanajuato

The new Photo Gallery with pictures from Guanajuato is on-line. There will be more added soon, come back and re-check. Hope you enjoy it!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Guanajuato; Museo de las Momias

Not your usual Holiday posting: A couple of days ago I have visited the Museo de las Momias in Guanajuato.  The interesting thing is that the bodies on display here are not really all that old, nowhere close to the age of ancient mummies in Agytian mueseums for example. 

On a cementry here in the city of Guanajuato a body will typically lie for 5 or 7 years, should the family decided not to pay for an extended period, that is when the graves will be cleared. Since the climate is dry and the bodies stored in their grave with practically no oxygen they mummify within this short period. There is no other treatment it is just the circumstances. Kind of a spooky place. In the 70ties the bodies were just standing in a room, directly accessible. Unfortunately tourists started breaking pieces of taking them home as souveniers. Many years later a proper museum was established and the bodies are now displayed behind glass. 

Should you be in Guanajuato and decided to visit the mueseum follow the well marked signs from the town center to the west. This is about a 25 to 30 minutes walk from the the center (Jardin) of town. Should you be driving it is marked as well, however the way is different and shorter should for pedestrians. Parking is available in front of the museum. 






Friday, December 16, 2011

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

O.K. officer...

...I do understand that I am only 14 and not supposed to drive yet, but as you can see, I put my two younger brothers on the back seat where they belong. And I promise I would have acted that responsibly too, even if our car had a passenger seat. You are right, we are all not wearing our seatbelts we traded them in at the wrecker against break shoes in the front. Can’t have everything – gotta set priorities!
Seriously Sir, look at our car and you will know we put safety first and keep it in outstanding conditions. Don’t you think I should get away with just a warning this time?



Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Guanajuato

I have left the beautiful City of SanMiguel de Allende last Sunday and drove to Guanajuato. I have decided in order to sort out the confusion in my brains after the four week course in Spanish to attend another 2 weeks of classes here in Guanajuato.

San Miguel is sending me off

The former capital of Mexico is remaining the capital of the State Guanajuato. It gained importance and wealth in the early days of colonial times through the mining right in the surrounding mountains as well as the greater area around the city. Today the entire center of town is an UNESCO world heritage and under protection. Traffic flows partially through the cities narrow streets and to a big part through a network of tunnels that cross under the city in all kind of directions. They are all one-ways and some cross over each other underground or have actual underground cross roads. Initially they were constructed to protect the city center which lies at the lowest point of the valley from flooding during rainy season but soon after their use has changed and more and more of them were built. Some are narrow and dark and allow only passenger cars due to height restrictions.

on my walk to school

I stay on the only campground in town, Merrill RV Park. I will post coordinates for you later on, as it is everything else than easy to find.

on my walk to school

As in San Miguel de Allende I love walking to and from school. Observing all that happens in the morning hours in the streets makes it sometimes challenging for me to be in school on time. As when I was a little kid I sometimes get taken away by just looking at all, everything and everyone that is happening around me. It’s almost like I can’t get enough of all that action. The dealers in the streets pile up their veggies in the hopes of a successful business day. Mothers and fathers bring their kids to school and people whistle in order to stop the bus that has just left the bus stop without taking them aboard. The bus stops again in the street and loads the passengers while all the green-white taxi caps are honking their horns like there is no tomorrow.

on my walk to school

Got to get to my homework… soon there will be more.

Saturday, December 10, 2011