The last day of 2013 was another very relaxing day in Guanajuato for us! After a yummy bacon & egg sandwich we headed out to tour the compact city once again. 

We started with a tour of Teatro Juarez a most amazingly decorated space! It’s hard to take in all in, an overdose of the visual senses. The tour was in Spanish, which was challenging. This early 20th-century building is part Moorish, part Roman and part Greek and is one of the city's more noticeable landmarks. We sat in the theatre and just soaked up the elegant atmosphere. This building is equal to any we’ve seen!

Next we rode the funicular, a kind of cliff railway, straight up hill to the famous monument of Pipila, which offers incredible views of Guanajuato. 

According to local folklore, Pipila was a young miner who volunteered to set fire to the wooden doors of the Alhondiga where the Spanish were protected behind the tall thick walls of the granary at the beginning of the Mexican revolution. Though the Spanish were outnumbered, the Mexicans armed only with slingshots were able to take the building and thus won the first battle for Independence.

Each time we walk by the building where this battle took place Keith remarks on the holes in the building’s façade, a clear reminder of the rock power that overthrew the well-armed Spaniards.

 

After a disappointing, though inexpensive lunch (who puts together a lunch with rice, pasta, and potatoes?) we retreated to our apartment for reading and resting time before going back out for a free New Years Eve event held in the Plaza de Paz.

 

We enjoyed listening to the music & watching the reveling Mexicans. Again amazed how everyone in the audience knew the words to the various regional Mexican folksongs, we were reminded why we totally LOVE Mexico, the culture so rich you can’t help but want to be part of it! We didn’t stay up late enough to see the fireworks display, but our neighbors back in the ‘hood’ certainly did! Thank goodness for earplugs!!

We ended 2013 counting our many blessings. It was a very good year for the Brownings with the birth of little Vivien, continued good health of our loved ones, work we love & being together happier than ever. 

A must take shot in the "Alley of the Kiss"