Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Entertaining, Guests and Settling In



Blot Alert: So that you can enjoy a lot more photos of our stay in San Miguel, Mary Ann has set up a separate website on Picassa. On the internet, check in with the following site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mawarren.chelan/SanMiguelAllende2007 For easy viewing click on the slide show feature just above the first line of photos. It will then automatically click through the enlarged photos every couple of seconds.
The photos above are the visit of Bob and Anne White.


Monday - Week 2: Here in the middle of our second week we are starting to get a bit of a routine. We do like to get out of the casa when Betti comes to clean. Off down the mountain and into CafĂ© Monte Negro for a cappuccino. We were just doing primary research for when Les & Carol Cooper arrive, who need their 11 a.m. coffee fix. Next to the Mercado to check out today’s supply of vegetables and fruit. Actually, Mary Ann has a favorite fruit vendor which is just down the street from the Mercado. We bought papaya, strawberries and oranges. As we expect to be entertaining later today, we bought Mexican tortilla chips for nachos at the Bonanza grocery.

Then over to Canal Street where I spend some time in La Europa wine store while Mary Ann was off to the bakery and to the church cookie store. I purchased what appears to be a nice Chilean merlot and chardonnay. They were not real expensive (about $7 dollars a bottle) so we will see how they turn out. With this pile of goodies, we made our first taxi trip back to the casa (bad, bad, I know) for the outrageous fee of $2 dollars. You surely would not want us to carry all the daily shopping up la Montana?

Today we had our first visitors and were able to entertain in our casa prior to going out to dinner. Bob and Anne White were visiting San Miguel on a tour. They were staying in La Puertecita further up the hill. They had been in Mexico City for a couple of days, two days in San Miguel and then on to Taxco and Queretaro. It was fun to show them the casa, have bebidas (drinks) and discuss Wenatchee politics. Bob is a tax attorney in Wenatchee and Anne is a major player on the board of the Wenatchee performing arts center. She made a subtle pitch at dinner for a donation! Dinner was at Posada Carmina Restaurant, just off the Jardin on Cuna de Allende. Anne, Mary Ann and I enjoyed garlic shrimp and Bob had a rib eye steak. I particularly enjoyed the tortilla soup as a starter. Bob and I were surprised when we ordered a beer to be delivered two each as it was still happy hour when we arrived. Ah, the tough life.

Tuesday – Week 2: A very lazy day until the afternoon. We met Bob and Anne White in the Jardin after their morning travel group tour. We then headed for the Mercado and around the city. Anne had decided she needed tin stars for her trees at home at Christmas time. After some serious negotiation with several vendors in the Artisans Market, she became the proud owner of 26 stars, the complete inventory of that shop. They were all packaged up in a rather substantial box and I found out that Mary Ann had agreed to transport the box back home on our return. At this rate I am now looking to buy a trailer for what will be a substantial commitment, considering all the people who will be visiting us. Maybe I will need some kind of common carrier permit. In the photo of Bob with the skeleton (he is famished from shopping) you can see the newly acquired box!

The afternoon proceeded to be one of substantial store browsing. I am not sure whether Mary Ann was leading Anne, or vice versa. They both seem to have endless energy when confronted with shopping opportunities. Finally, Bob and I felt we needed refreshment, so we stopped for lunch. The fact that it was the siesta time and many stores were closed was just a coincidence I’m sure.

This could have gone on for days, except that the White’s had a tour dinner back at La Puertecita. We hopped into a cab, Bob with the big box, and up the mountain we went. Without having climbed the mountain today I feel a little guilty, but not much. We had a glass of wine at the White’s hotel unit and then we returned to our casa, with the big box. It was a wonderful visit and a pleasure to get to know them better. Their tour goes on tomorrow to Taxco, then to Puebla, and finishes in Queretaro. When in Queretaro they hope to take a day and make it to Guanajuato.

No comments: