A visit to Guanajuato and the Festival Cervantino

I had the fortunate opportunity to visit Guanajuato, Mexico a couple of weeks ago with a friend who has family there. For several years she has been trying to get me to go during the Festival Internacional Cervantino, a wonderful three-week gathering that celebrates all types of performing arts from all over the world. They run the gamut from well-known artists to street gypsies who show up hoping to earn a bit of money and join in on the fun.

My friends and I arrived on a Thursday afternoon and after enjoying the view from our hotel's rooftop patio...

...decided to stroll through the town. Guanajuato is a shopper's paradise and offers everthing from little closet-sized shops to simple outdoor stalls to full on warehouse markets.

After a day of shopping it's always a good idea to indulge in a simple snack to regain one's strength:

We were way too busy to watch much TV, but I did catch what I think might have been the first episode of Corazon Salvaje. The kid who plays Ivan in Un Gancho al Corazón plays the young Juan del Diablo. Unfortunately it was too early in the plot for Eduardo Yañez, but Felipe Sanchez did a great job of playing the poor, tortured youth:

One night we went to see a salsa concert, the Willy Chirino band. It was great fun but the highlight was when El Hijo del Santo showed up! The entire crowd yelled Santo! Santo! Santo! and he waved to the crowd. He was pretty buff.

One of our favorite pasttimes was just walking around town enjoying the narrow, steep streets and colorful houses.
















Fueled by Pepsi:




But our very favorite pastime was eating. There was a traditional breakfast provided by our hotel, sometimes a second lighter breakfast at our friends' house, lunch, snack, dinner, then usually another meal after midnight.

You could eat on the street:




In the market:




It was all good.





Our friend's daughter attends university in Mexico City. She came home for the weekend, followed by her boyfriend and his adorable friends. One night they took us to a club, taught us to salsa, and we danced until 3:00 a.m!



Of course we got hungry and had to stop at the 24-hr. taco stand on the way home:





One day we toured some museums and lucked into a craft gallery grand opening that was serving free food (highlighting traditional dishes) and Mezcal generously poured by a local beauty:



Satan and his son were there:



In addition to outdoor concerts, chorales in cathedrals, street acrobats and troubadors, we enjoyed a Brahms symphony in the Teatro Juarez:



Our friend Jane moved to GTO 28 yrs ago. She was married to the Trombone player (a local guy) and they have 2 kids but he left her for a 19 yr old oboeist who joined the air force and dragged him off to Colorado so they could be close to her parents who are pressing them to have kids. Recently Jane got married to the French Horn player who is originally from Detroit but who has been in GTO for 30 yrs. Jane and her husband know all the gossip about every musician in the symphony which made listening to the concert that much more interesting.


On our last day there people began setting up their Dia de los Muertos stalls to sell candy:


And we walked up the highest hill for one last look at Guanajuato:





Salud!!