The Day Where the Lights were much too Bright!

Saturday, was the day after the wedding. I woke up around 8:30. The plan was that we would get up early, go to the Hot Springs outside of the city, and then go to the Pyramids, before going to visit Rae and Bill at their home. All of the family and most of the close friends were going to meet there so that Bill and Rae could show us Aurora, the art studios.

So I crawled out of bed and went downstairs to get breakfast. By this time I was sick of eggs so I had Tostada Francis (French Toast). It was very delicious!

I was nearly finished eating when Jim and Karen came downstairs. We went over the previous night and complained that the other three weren’t up yet!

Caitlin and Bre came down next. Caitlin was fine, but Briana came down with dark sunglasses on and she said, “It’s so bright in here.” It actually wasn’t very bright in there. The poor thing. We all laughed at her.

Melissa came downstairs next and asked us what the plan was. Oh Mom.

After everyone had breakfast, we gathered up our bathing suits and Luis called two taxis for us. It was then that we found out that the pyramids were on the opposite side of the city than the springs. So sad.

The hot springs had some pros and cons. The pros were that the place was beautiful, and the hot water really soothed my muscles! Too much dancing! The cons was that it was crowded in the pools, the pools were modern and not much different then the pools in our backyards at home, and there were way too many young children! Then there was ‘the cave’ a doom of rocks on top of a pool at the hot springs. The enclosed area made for extra warm hot springs, but the acoustics in the cave were poor.

When we first arrived it took us a while to figure out where the changing rooms were and where the locker rooms were. We spent a long time walking around. Caitlin and Bre did not appreciate this. Eventually we were successful!

After about two hours we had enough! I probably would have stayed longer, but I thought there was still a chance that we could see the pyramids.

Pictures at the Hot Springs. Oh Hangovers! 

After the hot springs we went back to San Miguel. We did a little recouping at lunch and we got ready to go to Rae and Bill's. My sister and mom were taking an extra long time to get ready so the rest of us left without them! Karen, Jim and I had taken the cab to Rae's house to drop of Carrie the night before. So Karen and I remembered that the gate was black, but I also remembered something about a red color, which turned out to be the color of the house. It was very easy to get to her house. We took the same street that the plaza is on and walked in the opposite direction. It is only a few blocks away. It took longer, because we didn't want to walk past the house.

When we arrived there were some people already there, but not too many so we gave ourselves a tour. The house is very cute, they also have a maid and gardener come during the week, lucky!

While there so many people asked how Briana was feeling, because of the prior night. Not good of course! I made her drink half of a monster in hopes that it would help. I had fresca minus the tequila! I wanted to look like I was drinking, but I didn't want to drink. The house was starting to get crowded so we sat in the backyard. It was so pretty and nice out that I wanted to be out there anyway. With all of the people coming into the house it was starting to get hot.

Below are two pictures of the yard.

After about thirty minutes, I started wondering out loud if Caitlin and Melissa were lost. They knew less about where the house was than we had. Directions aren't Melissa's strong suite! So we took turns checking the street for them. Eventually, Carrie wrangled them up. Then it wasn't long before the rest of the guests arrived. There was a moment when a cab was going to be called for some of the people that have trouble walking, but a few of the visitors had cars and were happy to bring those people.

 

Aurora was not far from the house maybe another few blocks. Carrie told me that the Aurora Factories, used to be the place that people made Muslim blankets and shawls, but the business fell when China started mass producing them for much cheaper. So now that factories were an art gallery. They still had some of the old weaving looms from before though.

 

I really liked all of the art. I was one of the first to arrive so I got to look at a bunch of the galleries as well as Rae and Bill's. I wish I had enough patience to be a great artist. I sometimes get an interest to paint or draw, but it doesn't last too long. About as long as it takes me to draw one piece, that isn't nearly enough practice to be great at it! 

 

Karen took a picture of me in a red phone booth! And she really liked a few of the paintings, but Jim said they didn't have any green, so they didn't buy any. 

 

After a while, I took Briana to sit outside at this little cafe, because it was hot in the galleries and I was a little depressed that I couldn't afford any of the paintings! We chatted a bit. Then, we decided we wanted some ice cream, but we didn't have any cash and they didn't take cards. So we went inside, to get that and Caitlin came back outside with us. We attempted to order our food in Spanish. Caitlin and I got smoothies and Briana got chocolate ice cream. I think it was the only part of the day that she wasn't extremely exhausted from the night before. 

 

Right when we brought the smoothies and ice cream, we found out that we were going to a ranch/hotel outside the city called Avers for dinner. Well shoot. Most of the people got put in a van for the ride there, but we took two taxis, we shared them with Bill, Lucas and Darren.

 

Here is some pictures at Aurora the first is a picture of clouds that Karen said she thought were really pretty. I took a picture of them, because she will probably want to remember them later. 

The Birds was very pretty. It reminded Caitlin and I a little of New Hampshire. Basically anything that is green with big trees and a lake or pond will remind me a little of New Hampshire. We were of a mixed group. Some of us didn't want too stay long because they were exhausted, some wanted to spend their last night eating jicama tacos, the rest of us didn't really care what we did. I was one of the latter. 

 

There was about 50 people all at table on a doc near the pond. The seven of us, including Carrie, were mostly on one end. Darren and Lucas, are taxi buddies, were also sitting near us. William's cousin was sitting beside Melissa. I'm not sure all of the people sitting next to Karen and Carrie however. I had two glasses of wine and ate ten quesadilla tapas! 

 

The night was fun. We ended up staying the entire dinner, even though the power went off, and it rained for a bit. Jim, Darren and Lucas were having an interesting discussion about physics and art! I tried to follow, but I was also listening to my Mom and Bill's cousin talk about what time we needed to get to the airport and about my Dad's health!

 

After dinner, we all returned to San Miguel in our cabs! We still had two bottles of wine from earlier in the trip and because it was our last night we decided to drink them. We were going to sit on the roof but it was too cold. So we sat in the common area. That was fun too. It was a good to talk and sit with everyone. We recanted the night before, and had a nice time. When the wine was gone Caitlin and Melissa went out to get those jicama tacos. 

 

I was full from the quesadillas and wine so I went and packed up what I could, and I got ready for bed. I was sad that we were leaving the next day, but the vacation was great, filled with adventure, humor, chaos and family! 

 

I don't think I will recant the trip back to Phoenix. However, Briana, Karen, Jim and Carrie stayed in San Miguel and extra day. I will try to interview them about what happened so that I can write a post about that.

 

Other than that, I think that the next post I will copy my grandfather's log. I also received a journal from his father, my great grandfather Ernest, of his trip through South America. I think I will see about adding those logs as well. In Ernest's journals I saw a few lists of his tour around South America. I think one day I would like to follow in that path on my our tour! 

 

My next trip is to New York and New Hampshire for an Emery Family Reunion, not the official one in Canada, just the immediate family one. I want to blog that, but it could prove to be tricky! After that I am going on a Mexican Cruise with three of my girlfriends. I don't know about the wifi, but I will keep a hard log of that to post after.

Friday Night - The Wedding

First, let me tell you about what happened before the wedding! It is normal for it to be very stressful when getting ready for a wedding. Let me tell you, after this, I probably won't be stressed out again, until my own wedding!

I took a shower first and then my mom. We were waiting for our hair to dry a little before we tried to style it. So I painted my toe nails, horribly! As I was plugging in the hair dryer, I noticed that the television went off. I asked my mom if she did it and she said nope that she thought I had. Then, it occurred to my mom. The power was out!! At first, we just sat there looking at each other. What a time for the power to go out! It better come on soon.

Before, I went downstairs to investigate, Caitlin yells from the bathroom. She asked us what we had done. The water was off too! She was in the middle of her shower and soapy! So, I went to investigate. Sure enough the rest of the B&B's power was out, but Luis our B&B manager, and by night star Peruvian drummer had stepped out for a bit. I knew the woman that cooked breakfast were around, I could hear them, but I didn't see them. I went upstairs after a while to let everyone know that the power was off in the entire place. After which my mom went to investigate. We found out later that it was a scheduled out for that part of the city for maintenance. A little warning next time!

Caitlin was still waiting in the shower. So I told her to use the water bottles by the sink in the bathroom. The water bottles were free, and at least she wouldn't be soapy. At first she resisted, hoping that the water would come back on. However, when my mom came up to tell us that the power wasn't on, but there was water in an empty room downstairs, Caitlin warmed up to the idea. I think she used a hand towel with the water from the bottles, because I used it later that night to wash my feet and it was still wet. I told her that it was her first sponge bath.

She came up with an idea while my mom was downstairs, in the other room. That we get dress and do all of our make up. Then we take what we absolutely need to do our hair to the venue and get ready there. It was a great idea. We would just go early! Although, it took a while to convince Mom to do so. We eventually left, with one straight iron, a blow dryer, mousse, hair spray, two brushes and a curling iron. I was really embarrassed because my hair was already starting to dry, and it was very ratty when I left the B&B. However, I think most of the people looking at me were wondering why I was dressed up so much so early in the afternoon (about 2).

We took a cab to the venue. There was no way that we could walk in our shoes because the streets are cobbled and it was more than a long walk. We'd basically walked there the day before when we went to the park and then to the Art Institute, so we knew it was too far in heels.

At the venue the bride was still getting ready, so the three of us used the bathrooms downstairs, the girls and the guys, to get ready. The guys bathroom didn't have a mirror, so Caitlin blew here her hair dry. My Mom used the mirror to finish her hair. She probably could have gone the night without styling her hair because it already looked good, but she has to be a mirror hog! I started my hair looking at what mirror I could. I eventually switched places with Caitlin and she with my mom. I used the towel dispenser as a mirror! She used the mirror to curl her hair.

At one point Briana had finished taking pictures of the groom's family and the bride's family wasn't ready. So she came and was able to help me with my hair. So in the end I didn't need a mirror. What an experience!

Anyway, after we were finished we brought all the hair gear up to where Rae was getting ready. They had opened a bottle of champagne which was great. I really needed a drink. So I had a half of a glass. Sadly, guest started to arrive early and Rae didn't want to be rude by taking family pictures with everyone waiting on them. So she said we could do them later, although it didn't happen in the end.

When she was finished we went back down to the main venue area. Rae had to go down a special set of staircases, but the rest of us took the normal way. There were so many people by that point. I think there were a few hundred there, and there were more coming in. The bar was already open, so Jim and I had a glass of white wine; Mom, Karen, and Caitlin had red. Then we mingled with everyone.

The great part was after the previous two nights we knew some of the people there! So we were able to talk to some people we knew and meet new people.

I also spent some of this time taking pictures of Briana, while she was taking pictures. I thought if she was taking the photos then there would be no photos of her! So I made it my mission to take pictures of her at the wedding. Because she was taking pictures I decided that taking pictures of her taking pictures would best reflect her experience.

After about twenty to forty minutes of mingling Karen let us know that the wedding planner wanted us to sit down--in hopes, that if the family took their seats that the ceremony would start. It didn't work at first (some of us even managed to get another class of red wine) but eventually it did. During the ceremony Karen, Jim and I took turns taking pictures with Carrie's camera. I was worried my hands were shaking too much at first. However, I think her camera takes better photos of people when they're moving than mine, because I got some great pictures in the end.

The ceremony was great. WILD Uncle Bill was tastefully funny and Rae was striking. The minister spoke in Spanish and English. This was good because many of the people there were from San Miguel and native Spanish speakers. It was also good for me to hear it in Spanish because I am trying to learn the language. I try to expose myself in many ways Although, I find it very difficult; I think sometimes the thought makes it even more difficult though!

The ceremony took place in on a sunlit platform inside of a pool. It was very cool. The flower girls, Williams' grandnieces, threw their flowers in the water! So pretty!

After the ceremony everyone went to this outdoor stadium thing. For a while everyone took turns getting delicious tacos, drinking and talking. I was in line for tacos three times, but I only ate four tacos, one time I was in line getting food for Carrie.

By that time Briana was able to relax more, so she had a glass of wine. Which, was the start of The Night that Caitlin and her Accomplices got Briana Drunk aka The Best Night Ever! Sometime between the tacos and before the puppets (More later) Karen found a drink that everyone liked. I thought it was like a Margarita. It was one part tequila, two parts fresca (sprite) and lime. I think by the end of the night the total was two for me, and about two dozen for Karen, Melissa, Caitlin and Briana. I only had two and then I switched to Victoria, a dark beer I like.

Right, so after most of the people were done eating tacos, although they stand was running all night, two giant fifteen foot puppets came on to this stage. One was in a wedding dress and the other in a tux. There was a person in each one, but they only controlled the legs. The rest of the puppets just moved on it's own. I have a few pictures of them because they are hard to explain.

I had never seen that at a wedding before, but Rae told me it was traditional. A good thing we noticed about them was that they kept people dancing on the dance floor! Now for an Emery dancing at a wedding is not a problem. If we are terrible at dancing, like I am, we will still dance! However, at many Emery weddings it doesn't take long to realize that we are sometimes the only people that like to dance. This was not the case for this wedding. Everyone was dancing.

Between dancing of course we were also talking with people and meeting new people. I meant one guy that was originally from Mexico, but is now from New York. He asked me where I was from and I said Arizona. He said, "Ew that's all desert not pretty." I didn't know what to say to that. At one point of the night he asked to take a picture of Caitlin and I because we were pretty. How encouraging!

Jim and Nigel exchanged email addresses because Katie's camera broke earlier in their trip while she was taking a picture of a photo call The Finale. They had were having trouble exchanging emails so I made Briana help her Dad. Mission Accomplished!

There was also a photo booth inside where people could put on different costumes and take pictures. We took around six. I made everyone do a picture where we were turned around and wearing glasses and masks over the back of our heads. I think Rae should use that one for the family wedding photo!

During the dancing people were able to give a toast to the bride and groom. For a while it was mostly William's family talking. They out numbered us. Besides we left our toast-giver in Phoenix! Eventually however, Melissa and Karen coerced Caitlin to give a speech. She didn't know what to say at first, but Darren helped her out by giving her some lines to string her along. I think that helped her organize her thoughts!

The speech turned out well. Caitlin made some jokes about William and his family. She then wished them happiness. She didn't let the speech linger when she couldn't think of something else to say which left no awkward pauses!

After the speeches, the was cake, chocolate covered strawberries and fireworks! Amazing!

Then we were told that Rae and Bill wanted us to get people to start heading to VCs. That was easy enough. We rounded up a few people. Then, I put Karen, Melissa, Briana and Jim in the first cab. Apparently, they had a very loud car right that included many lols, lmaos and rofls. Did you know that Melissa and Briana are the same person? Not twins, oh no. They are the same person.

Caitlin, Carrie and I took the second cab to VC. A very quiet peaceful ride. I think we were talking about how drunk the people in the first cab were. I paid for both cabs. Sadly, though I only had a 100 pesos a 20 and a 50. I gave Karen my 50. The taxis were 30 and our guy didn't have change. It was a hassle trying to explain to Karen that I needed my change back. What was even more of a hassle was that Jim was shaking these heart maracas in front of the cab driver's windshield like he was preforming a ceremony to rid the cab of spirits! Huzzah for wizard Jim!

Finally, the cab was paid and we went inside. Caitlin and I went to get shots of tequila. I didn't want one, but she convinced me to get six for the table which we split. 

While there we met Trent, who is originally from Las Vegas and is sort of a PR guy for the VC. He spent most of the night dancing with various women in the club. He danced with Caitlin, Briana and I at different times of the night. He did a salsa dance. I spent most of that dance thanking Jen Jones' brother for dancing with me during Desiree's birthday. If it wasn't for that night I wouldn't have a clue on what to do, but because of that night I was able to get through the dance with only messing up once or twice. I even managed to loosen up and get in to the two step part! Also, just so I never forget I did this salsa dance to the song YMCA! I think that's badass! Caitlin is a much better dancer than I am so I bet she picked up the steps quickly, if she didn't already know them. 

When the shots came, I ended up not taking mine. I just wasn't in the mood for tequila. I was having too much fun watching other people get drunk! Carrie, Karen, Caitlin and Briana all had the first shot. Caitlin taught them out to lick, shoot, and suck. This is why Caitlin's name is in the title of the night while the rest of us are only accomplices.

Then we danced more. Lots more. Briana couldn't stop dancing! Dancing all over the place. On the stage, with the band, on the dance floor with strange hippy like woman, I'm not sure they were part of the wedding group, with Lucas, Katie and anyone else that was willing to dance with her. I taught her the fireman, but she didn't dance like that! She mostly danced about waving her arms around. She was very good actually at dancing, but you could tell she was very silly. She also danced with her Dad which was very sweet. She is the better dancer! I also, was trying to keep an eye on Caitlin who was being very nice to Lucas. He wanted to dance with her all night, up close, so I had to intervene more than a few times. He must think I have terrible manners and do not take hints very well.

It wasn't long before I took my shoes off to dance. It was risky because people did step on you, and the floor sometimes had weird metal things, maybe for plugs or stuff, that I stepped on, but it was worth it. Besides once the shoes were off putting them back on was pointless. They were already dirty and why make my shoes dirty! I made Briana take her shoes off too because she started dancing and stumbling too much! She protested when I took them off but once they were off she was back dancing around.

During the night, William played his harmonica which was very good! Karen took a video, but the sound didn't come out as well as it was live. There were also more speeches, and Caitlin and Briana took their second shot. This time it was Briana that was egging Caitlin on! The grasshopper learns well!

I left a little early with Karen, Jim and Carrie. I was having fun, but I knew we had plans in the morning so I wanted to get to bed. I didn't feel like I missed much. I found out however that Briana caught the bouquet! Uh-oh! She is my younger cousin by six years and she said that she isn't getting married until she's twenty-nine. I hope that doesn't mean I will be over thirty-five when I'm married. Does it count if I wasn't there to try to catch the bouquet? After that she danced the rest of the night with the bouquet. In the morning, I heard many people say that they were sure that she hit a few people with it while she was dancing. How sweet of her!

I think that was it!

Friday 3/9/2012 LOG

I was the first one to breakfast again! I had huevos rancheros! YUM! Friday was the day of the wedding. Bre had to be at the wedding venue at 2:30 to take photos. So we decided that we would go shopping again. Then we would go to the tequila store and then to ten ten pie for a beer.

First, our shopping adventure. Bre and Caitlin had a few things they wanted to see again, but they didn't buy anything! At the market my sister wanted to look at the cowboy hats again, and my aunt and uncle wanted to look at a part of the market we didn't see before. So, my sister and I decided that we would meet at the jardin at 12:15. I asked her if she meant the place with the trees that we cut funny. They are cut in little squares. We don't have anything like that in Phoenix. She replied, the place with the horse (statue). Which is actually the civic center. I said alright. So, I caught up with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin. They were almost finished with the last part of the market. I explained to them that we were going to meet my sister and mom at the jardin.

So we made our way over to the jardin. On the way, I said wait, Caitlin said that we should meet at the plaza with the horse. It wasn't really out of the way. We just turned up the next street. We arrived there are 1:05 and waited for Caitlin and my mom. And we waited. And we waited. I love watching people so this was a good chance to watch people at the civic center. However, we were worried about my mom and sister. So my aunt and I went to the hat shop because it was not far from the civic center. They weren't there. By the time we got back to the civic center, Caitlin and my Mom were just arriving. They went to the jardin plaza!!! Which is what she said, but that was not the plaza with a horse! What a mix up!

After everyone was found we walked to the jardin to go to Ten Ten Pie which has great fish tacos. I ended up getting steak and cheese tacos. They were very good too! The people that didn't get tacos however, didn't really enjoy their meals. We also ran into Katie and she sat to talk with us for a bit before we ordered. Then she went to take a wander!

Before the bill came Jim and Briana went back to the hotel to start to get ready. Caitlin and Melissa wanted to go to the tequila shop before they went back, but I wanted to get back so that I could shower before my sister and mom because they tend to take long showers! So after lunch Karen and I went back to the hotel and they went to the Tequila shop.

I will post about the wedding separately because I think it will be a very long post!

Thursday Night

On Thursday night everyone was invited to The Roof for drinks. We were the first to arrive. I ordered another margarita for my first drink, but then I drank dark beers after that. The wedding party rented out part of the bar on the roof. So, everyone was mingling and drinking before dinner.

Caitlin and Bre spent most of the night talking to each other. I was talking to many different people. One lady designs and makes hand crafted boots. She sells them for $1500. Another lady owns a tequila company and she lives in tequila Mexico. The majority of the people there were artists. I also met Paco, who is the nicest man in San Miguel!

Aztoea - The Roof!

At around 8pm, everyone went downstairs for dinner. The restaurant downstairs is different then the one upstairs. So, there were no Jicama tacos. I had this Majetaes with shrimp. It was like this big black pot filled with sauce, shrimp, onions, jalapenos, avocado and cactus. I dished out the pieces into a corn tortilla! It was so yummy. My sister had steak fajitas that she loved!

There was a live band downstairs and they were very good. They played something like Peruvian flute music. We found out later that the drummer in the band worked at the front desk guy at our B&B! He looked so different none of us recognized him!

Caitlin and Bre after dinner. Yummy food makes you happy!

Then, we were went to VC's a discoteca. When we arrive my uncle, aunt and cousin decided to head back to the hotel because the music was loud. My sister, mom and I went inside with Katie, Nigel, Lucas, Darren, and with Bill's brother's, Albert and John. Inside there was another live band. They played 80's hair rock. The bass guitar player was amazing. The most entertaining part was the singer. She was a great singer. But she also had so much energy. She ran around, jumped on tables, laid on the floor and kicked her legs in the air. All sorts of things! It was great! Caitlin, Katie and I danced most of the night. We got other people to dance too. Some people from out B&B were there too and we danced with them as well.

There was some confusion with the cover charge. So, eventually we left. We were going to go to another bar. So we went up to the jardin plaza. We stopped to listen to the mariachi music. It was good, but I am not familiar with that music. Bill's brothers tried to hire them to come to play at the wedding on Friday. Rae and Bill already have a DJ set up!

After that we went down the street, but Albert couldn't find the bar he was thinking of. We ended up at Harry's. My sister, Mom and I decided to head back to the hotel. It was getting late. And my sister has attracted the attention of Lucas. He is very nice and friendly. However, he is very aggressive. She thought it was better to call it a night so we did. 

Thursday 3/8/2012

I woke up first at Casa de Calleroni. I went down and had breakfast. Fresh fruit with yogurt, huevos rancheros with coffee. I sat and watched the other people at the bed and breakfast. I like to watch people. When I was nearly finished, my uncle, Jim, came down from his room to grab two cups of coffee.

It took some pictures of the outside of our BB:

Picture of Casa de Calleroni

Then, I went upstairs to change my shoes and get ready for the day. We spent the morning at the market. It was so amazing. There were many vendors selling everything you could imagine, clothes, toys, groceries, bike parts and much more. Caitlin and Melissa bought two necklaces while Karen bought two handmade rugs for her kitchen. Then, the three of them and Briana bought rings. I bought some postcards for my friends.

At one point a man was carry a huge thigh, leg, and hoof of a cow in the market. It was something I had never seen before. Briana was a little afraid. She said it was because her Dad said it was a snake. Clearly it was not a snake. Silly girl!

After shopping we went to lunch at a place across from our Bed and Breakfast. Rae said they had the best cappuccinos, but I had a frappe!

Pictures at Lunch:

After we put our shopping purchases away. We went up the street to the plaza. We took pictures of the church during the day. People were preparing for the Cuban festival. While we were taking pictures, Briana spotted William and his brother's John and Albert at a hotel balcony across from the plaza. She and I waved at them. Then, Karen also waved to them. They were a little embarrassed. I guess they thought we were two young girls waving at them. Which is not that strange, it seems like everyone in town knows William!

Church during the day!

Look you can see Melissa. 

Karen taking a picture of Bre and me!

I spy...Caitlin!

We ran into them on the street a little while later. We all laughed at the confusion. They were going to Ten Ten Pie! It has a patio on the street. It looks very nice. We will probably go there Friday for lunch. William suggested that we go to the park. So we walked down to the park. It was very pretty. It was also nice to sit after walking so far!

Taking a load off!

Probably a picture of me!

After we went to the park, we took William's suggestion and directions down to the Art Institute! It was supposed to have more shops. Apparently, there is a 'side door' because the Art Institute we went to was a school! Defeated we settled for some helado ice cream, and then hoofed it back to the hotel to get ready for our night out!

Wednesday 3/7/2012 - LOG

 Crazy Morning! Traffic, detours and failed meeting points were all against us. However, we made it to the gate in time to get Bloody Mary's and Breakfast!

An hour into our flight everyone is relaxing. We are either sleeping or catching some zzz's. When we arrive in Mexico City DF we will take a bus to San Miguel de Allende!

We arrived in DF with some turbulence. Melissa wasn't too afraid! We got through customs quickly. Another stamp for my passport. That's 2 total! Do you get a stamp every time you visit a country or just the first?

We're taking a car not a bus to San Miguel. Francisco is our driver. My Aunt's friend Marie Franz made the arrangements. Francisco was very friendly and knowledgeable. He told us about DF, his family and the results of super tuesday! It was a long drive. My Aunt and mom were having trouble listening to the drive. Karen thought he said closet bitch when he said closest beach and spit bumps when he said speed bumps! My mom had trouble listening! Sometimes she would ask a question that Francisco just answered! Caitlin, Bre and I played Word Thread. What does liens and sloes mean anyway?

San Miguel is beautiful. We arrived as the sun was setting. The town is a historic center so the town has to look like it did many years ago. The buildings can only be painted certain colors like red, orange, yellow. There are 105,000 people living in San Miguel about 9,000 are citizens of Canada or United States of America.

The BB we are staying at is amazing. It has free internet! WE have a room on the roof it has a patio! There are beautiful views in all directions. Friendly service! Here are some views from our Hotel:

We got ready for dinner with Rae the bride, and Bill the groom. Some of their friends are went to. We went to the best restaurant in San Miguel. A taco stand. Bill took Rae to the stand on their first date. The tacos were the best I ever had. It was a little scary though because we were sitting in the street. Cars, buses and trucks drove by very close! Caitlin couldn't have any but she toughed it out!
Pictures at the Taco Stand:

Then we walked to the Plaza. We took pictures of the church. It was dark so I think only Bre got good pictures. I will post them later!

Pictures of the Churches at the Plaza

After that we went to "The Roof" for drinks. The view was also very nice. I had Tambien Margaritas! So good. We had a great time.

We met Bill's friends Nigel, Katie, Darren, Lucas, Sonya and Lawrence.

At the end of the night we had a bottle of wine on the patio of the B&B. We toasted to the wedding and to San Miguel.

What an awesome day, even though we spent most of it traveling!

LOG OF THE SAN MIGUEL

I've been packing, doing laundry, yelling at the television because House wasn't on, and thinking of a way to complete the travel blog this time. I have come up with a plan! 

Recently, my Grandfather past away. Upon his passing I found out that he liked to keep logs of various sailing trips because he loved sailing so much. He eventually typed out one of them which I was able to read. I'm sure he will be sorely missed at this occasion. Therefore, I write this blog -- in spirit of his passing and his enjoyment of logging his trips. 

I will try to use this blog in the same fashion in a sailors log. I'm not really sure on the rules. I only have the one log to go off of. It seems fairly simple. I need to list the "crew" and then write about the events each day. Sounds like a typical modern travel blog! So really the only difference between me blogging this trip and me not blogging the last trip, is that this time, I have a little more motivation to do it. My Granpa Bill Saegart. I hope that is enough!

LOG OF THE SAN MIGUEL

CREW: BERNADETTE EMERY

MELISSA EMERY

CAITLIN EMERY

KAREN AND JIM SCOTT

BRIANA SCOTT

CARRIE SAEGART

RAE MILLER

WILLIAM MARTIN

I may need to add someone later. 

Travel blog, take two

So, I guess I'm not very good at blogging on trips. Especially, trips with limited internet connections and no laptop! 

Ho Hum!

Well, I'm going to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico on Wednesday! So, I will try this again. Even if I only blog one day, it is one post that I can look back on in the future that will help me remember what my trip was like during that moment! Might not make the best blog, but it is nice for me to have. 

We are visiting my Aunt. She lives in San Miguel. We are visiting for her wedding on Friday!