World Heritage Beauty

(To view the picture album click on the picture above)

For Memorial Day week-end Tony and I went to Guanajuato, a UNESCO World Heritage town, capital of the state of Guanajuato.

To start off this world-class trip we took a luxury bus so Tony could have that experience. Luxury buses in Mexico have only 23 seats per bus, 3 per row, and are as nice (and recline as far) as First Class airplane seats. You get greeted by a snack and drink, they have wireless internet on board and they show movies with the sound going through headsets on each seat (as oposed to some buses where they blast the movie to the whole bus, whether you want it or not). On this bus, the 5 hour trip to and from Guanajuato was very pleasant.

Guanajuato, founded in 1554, was a rich mining town originally built over the Guanajuato River, which flowed through tunnels underneath the city. In the mid-twentieth century a dam was built to redirect the river into underground caverns and avoid the frequent floods. The tunnels were lit and paved with cobblestones for automobile traffic, and this underground road network carries the majority of cars driving through the city today. It is one of the most notable features of the city.

We had a wonderful week-end walking around the historic district, venturing into its many narrow alleys and taking advantage of its amazing variety of cafes and restaurants in beautiful plazas. We stayed at an Inn called El Zopilote Mojado and were the only guests there so we had this HUGE house to ourselves. We visited the Diego Rivera Birthplace and Museum and the Alhondiga de Granaditas, a 19th century public granary which played a key role in the Mexican Independence. Of course we couldn't miss a visito to the famous Mummies:

About 1 in 100 bodies buried in the cementery of Guanajuato experience natural mummification. In the late 1800s the town instituted a "burial tax" for the families of the deceased. When some of the poorest families were unable to pay the tax, their relatives were dug up and placed on public view in a purpose-built museum. The 'Guanajuato Mummy Museum' still adds corpses to this day; two children were added who died in 1984 most recently due to their relatives' failure to pay the $20 per 5-year rental fee. The museum holds 111 corpses resting on velvet pillows. Today, it is reported that the proceeds from the museum help fund the city's coffers to a considerable degree.

On Sunday we visited the Ex-Hacienda San Gabriel de Barreda, a gorgeous property outside the city with 17 different beautiful gardens surrounding the main house, still decorated in its original funishings.

It was very nice to get out of town for a few days, especially since we hadn't been able to get out much between me being so sick my first trimester of pregnancy and dealing with all the stuff for the new condo this last month.

Check out our trip's pictures to give you a glimpse of the beauty of this town!