Ice Cream & Two More Tried and True Restaurants

I buy my cone from the vendors on Paseo de la Presa.

Truco 7, a Guanajuato favorite with Mexicans and foreigners alike, is a good place to go when you're not in a hurry. The harried waiters are always rushing but even so the service is slow, at least by Morthamerican standards. After all, Mexicans are there for morning coffee (11-1) or to share a meal (2-4) with family or friends.

I'm not a fan of the comida there but I like their chicken sandwich on a roll, perhaps accompanied by lemonade. Or the chicken Florentine, enchiladas or beef dishes. If you arrive at a busy time, you'll need to sit in the waiting room a while even thought Truco has at least four dining rooms.

To my mind, the food at Sabor y Arte but the service is still good. Another restaurant with the sane owner is Las Cruces on Sangre de Cristo. The comida there includes some of the best soup in town. The comida casera (home cooking) is popular with students. Best to go early, about two.

From La Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) to The Day of the Kings

Hi, faithful few. I don't know what happened to November but this month I'm only recently back from That Island We're Not Supposed to Visit.

Christmas Eve (called La Nochebuena in Mexico)is the big event of the season but fortunately the taxidrivers were working. I went across time for the annual extended family gathering at the home of the father of a friend. The first part of the event is a game of chance involving little presents. The second part, starting a little before midnight is a sumptous meal similar to a Thanksgiving dinner in the US.

First, the presents game. Each of us brought several wrapped presents. The coffee table was loaded with them as there were 15 people present - grandpa, his sister-in-law, my friend's family and her two brothers' families - all in all six young folks and nine older ones. We took turns rolling the three dice from a glass. A pair meant success meaning pick a present.

Lots of suspense as people looked at and sometimes fingered the packages. Was a big package better than a small one? Would a gift bag from a well-known shop enclose a present from the shop? But everyone recognized a wrapped chocolate bar, among the first shapes to be chosen. When all the presents had owners but were still not opened, we went five rounds more. This time anyone who rolled a pair could choose to take a presnt from someone else. At least one package changed hands twice! The last step was opening the presents. The first one I opened was a small round portable CD case. Just the thing! What did I wrap up to take? An eraser that looked like a strawberry along with a magnet on the back of a plastic piece of cheesecake, a shell necklace and more.

The meal started after each person read part of a long Christmas prayer from a piece of paper randomly assigned. I was the first, managed to do fine. The meal: smoked turkey, bacalao (cod) prepared Spanish style and meatloaf, a cranberry-like jelled salad made of cherry jello and applesauce, creamed spaghetti, wine and/or coca cola, and two scrumptious desserts, meringue topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries and a slice of pound cake flavored with almond extract and studded with candied fruit and nuts.

All best wishes for the new year. The 12th day of Christmas, here called the Day of the Kings is the day when children get their Real Presents. A sweet-bread wreath called a rosca is traditional that day.

Rainy Season Waterfall within the City

Now we're at the end of October but somehow I deleted this post made in August. Here it is again for comparative purposes. Guanajuato is still green but the waterfall barely trickles now over the dropoff in Pastita.

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.

An Afternoon's Work

The day before I took this picture, refrigerators were visible behind the plain glass door. In a single afternoon the nieces of Restaurante Ofelia's owner transformed the door with butterflies and background, all created with plastic paint. First, they did the outline in black, then filled in the colors. I didn't have my camera with me while they were working but I came back to photograph the result.

Restaurante Ofelia, on Paseo de la Presa before the Saucillo callejon, offers a low-priced comida corrida which can be eaten inside or in their patio. Bright blue furniture from Morelia and good service add to the cheer. At night, Ofelia serves higher priced dishes at cena time. The owner, who spent 20 years in Los Angeles, lived in Los Angeles for 20 years.