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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

San Miquel de Allende - 7 Perfect Days

Imagine spending 7 days with 10 close friends in paradise- SHOPPING!   Last week, ten of us traveled to San Miquel , Mexico.   Voted the top vacation city in the world, by Conte Nast Travelers, we knew we were going to have fun!

First - the Accomodations!  You can rent a wonderful home in San Miquel from Premier San Miquel , a house rental and concierge service for a week or a month!
   
When you arrive in San Miquel, one wonders what is behind all the beautiful doors in the walled city with the narrow cobblestone streets!



                          Here's what we found when we entered through the massive wooden door!




A series of lush gardens with living, dining and bedrooms opening onto the courtyards-
 




 
Many intimate places to sit and relax throughout the grounds.




 
Our favorite spot for afternoon guacamole and margaritas.



The rooftop terraces with their incredible views!
 
 







 
 




 
 
 
Our second favorite spot to relax!

 
 
orchids attached to the stone walls- 
 
 
beaugonvilla covering the stone walls


 
Massive roses planted in terracotta planters on the roof top terrace-




 
 
The interior rooms-
 

 
Breakfast in this room every morning- relaxing long breakfast !
 
 


 
25 foot tall beamed ceilings









Christy's room

 Expert attention to the details-

 
 





 
 


 



 
 
silver leaf walls in the veranda powder room-
 
 
 
With each of the  home rentals, you get an amazing staff including a cook and a house manager.
 
 
 
The best guacamole maker in the world- TRULY! 

 
Oscar- our man!   Kept us stocked in wine and beer, plus margaritas everyday at 3!
He's a man of many talents! 
 
 
And in our home, we also got a  HOUSE DOG!  The owner of this beautiful home, rescued this
stray dog and gave him a wonderful life.   Being dog lovers, we were thrilled! 
 
 
Mikey slept outside our doors everynight - curled up in a chair.  During the day, he joined us for breakfast and then again for afternoon cocktails!   Laurell bought him doggy treats at the bakery in town!
 
 
Enough about our accomodations- how about the shopping??????
 
 
First of all- as you can see, the sidewalks are very narrow- only room for one at a time!
So once all ten of us arrived, it was quite the scene with 10 of us walking  in single file down the narrow streets!
We called ourselves a "Gaggle "!
 
Antiquing down Hilago Street on  our way to the Aurora design center-
 











In the Aurora- there was a beautiful linen store!  They designed and manufactured their own prints!
 
 
 
Tablecloths, towels and napkins in these delightful prints.

 
 
 
Pitcher and bowl covers in linen with beaded ornaments on the corners to weight them!
 


 
 
Hand made lace ornaments at one of our favorite stores- Camino Silvestre!  Beautiful garden and gift store.
 
 
A stop in to the shop of Carrie Cameron- boot designer extraordinaire!



 
The chosen style!



 
Beautiful bronze and iron work inside this shop!

 
 
 
 
Large bronze door knockers -  500 pesos or approx.  $40 US

 
350 pesos or approx.   $28 US
 







 
 

 
Very inexpensive tableware in Trinitate!   dishwasher, oven and microwave safe-
approx.  $ 6 for the bread plate, $8 for the salad plate and $23 for the pie plate!
can be ordered online at www.trinitateleon.com

 


Just down the street from us- on Recreo- a beautiful shop featuring hand made scarves and shawls!


 
 
Many beautiful hand made jewelry shops in the historic center of town!
 
 
 
San Miquel candles-


 
beautiful furniture store  near the Rosewood Hotel




beautiful glass shelves on an iron window in a store off the Jardin.
Love the brass brackets! 
 
 

 
A fabric store with yards of tartan for school uniforms! 
 
Shopping was quite the sport in San Miquel!  Spotting a well dressed American with a bag in her hand,  added points to  your score!   Questioning her about her purchase and finding the location of the store, often with just a point of the finger and no actual street or address- was a normal occurance.  The search for a pair of shoes that a lovely woman had on- was quite the sporting event!  Eventually, we did find the San Miquel Shoe store on Canal street off the Jardin! 
 
The Lucas Balderas- Artisan's Alley- was a fun place to shop with very low prices.  We purchased
hand made ex votos, boxes, crosses and iron pieces.  
 



 
All of the ex votos and crosses were hand painted and then metal findings were applied by hand.
Finally, the beautiful object was waxed!  It gave me great inspiration for Christmas.

 
 
 

 
my favorite find at the Artisan's alley- iron rose napkin rings!   Very similar to a famous pricey vendor in the States!
 
 
 
 
 
 
As we left our wonderful home on Sunday, we left a special gift!  Our home had a fountain in the center courtyard that was filled with turtles.  To the side of the courtyard, there was a table with a mirror above it. Visitors have left a collection of turtle art on the table- from sculptures to painted tiles to pottery. 
 
 
Linda spotted the little handmade toys in the Artisans Alley.
 We decided to leave 10 little turtle toys as our gift to the collection.  We lined them up in single file- exactly as if they were us - walking down those skinny sidewalks in San Miquel!
 
 

 
There we go- all ten of us in our gaggle!
 
 
With two of us already back in the States, the final 8 of us left Sunday morning!
 
Leaving San Miquel on Sunday- with Oscar - our house manager!  Thanks for the awesome time!
 
 
 
It was as if Mikey knew we were leaving-  Pouting under the turtle table, not coming out to say goodbye!   No more wet kisses for us- he was waiting for the next group to arrive. Another
group to train to get him treats- the tough life of a HOUSE DOG!
 
 
 
 
This was a wonderful trip- too many things to share in one post for sure! 
 Next post , I'll fill you in on the San Miquel food scene. 
 From cooking school to roof top restaurants, you can see our favorites! Also to come,
the churches- so gorgeous, the celebrations of San Miquel, and finally the incredible design scene in San Miquel.  We were invited to visit another very special residence in town . Upon leaving that residence, we stood on the narrow street and discussed the incredible home that we had just seen.
A  gentleman overheard our conversacion and invited us to tour his historic home, currently in the process of being built!  So off the "gaggle" went, one by one in single file following our new friend to his new home! I have some wonderful picture of these homes-
a taste of what's to come------
 
 
Candy   peering into what is going to be a garage!

 
 San Miquel design at it's best!  
 


7 comments:

Christy said...

Got to see what I missed! I'm loving those boots! Stupendous week......it was a blast!

Laurell Banner said...

Susan your pictures are amazing. Makes me think I am still there. I miss waking up to all my lovely Farmettes faces in the morning and having our leisurely breakfast together.
Thank you for putting us all together for such a great time.
Also Mariterese for the outstanding accommodations.
A trip I will never forget.
I hope Mikie is doing OK without us. I miss him.

frenchbourne said...

Susan, you captured the feeling beautifully in your pictures. It really was the primo of everything. Its amazing that we got to wake up everyday and experience that all together. It sure was a memory maker that I will never forget. I already miss mia amigas, the flowers, the shopping, the architecture, the churches, the hills, the long walks, afternoon guac and margaritas, evening margaritas, sun, bells, fireworks, great restaurants, pharmacias, laughs, laughs, and laughs...did I say laughs and of course our wonderful casa...mucho grasias Susan and Maritherese xoxoxo

Splenderosa said...

OMG, I am in awe. The post is absolutely divine, and I'm going back for 2nds. As we live in Houston this is an easy trip for us.
And I love renting a real home for a great holiday. Could you tell me what the name of the casa is? Susan, you knock my socks off! And, to go shopping in all these places, I'm swooning. xx's

Christy said...

I find myself looking at the pics over and over....Linda, you summed it up beautifully....I honestly am ready to go back. I can still hear the church bells and taste the margarita's.

Jeannine said...

Looking at your beautiful pictures made my heart go pitter patter!! What a wonderful time you had with your friends. Such amazing things to see in San Miquel de Allende. It's now on my bucket list. Thank you for your great blog!

Scribbler said...

I so enjoyed your photos of San Miquel -- it is on my list now that we are retired. I have heard that it is a long trip over land from the city you fly into -- is that true? I would like to know more about getting there.