Children Take to the Streets in Guanajuato

Walking the Guanajauto streets brings unexpected rewards, like accompanying an Estudiantina made up of secondaria students from Monterrey. I was so taken with their music that when they stopped at Plaza Allend I ran ahead to Cafe Tal and brought the leader a cup of Tal coffee.

One morning about a week later, I came uon a parade down Paseo de la Presa, young students holding colorful banners with messages (in Spanish) like "Save the Planet" and "Love and Peace." They tied up traffic along this main street for almost half an hour but ni modo.

Twice Up Paseo de la Presa

A week ago, I walked up Paseo de la Presa, a wide Guanajuato street only 200 years old, spending a relaxing afternoon just looking and taking photos. Three days later, I walked up it again, this time with a friend who had grown up in a house on the Paseo. She told me that house had been built about 125 years ago as had most of the houses we passed. She knew exactly what family had lived in each and usually still had family members living there. She explained the houses were built by people whose money came from a boom period in the mining industry. The patio with its well maintained garden is in a house currently owned by the University of Guanajuato where it maintains an offfice for its retiree organization. Incidentally, the Governor's Palace was built only 50 years ago although it looks older. The OXXO store opened about a year ago.