Mexico is the Talk of the Town – not San Miguel de Allende!
With all the negative press about Mexico, the violence, drug wars and unsecured borders, it’s obvious the talking heads haven’t set foot in the colonial town of Mexico, San Miguel de Allende in the mountains sitting at an altitude of 6400 feet.
Personally, I’m thrilled. Otherwise it would be overrun.
Founded in 1542 by a Spanish Franciscan missionary, Fray Juan de San Miguel, it is referred to by many as a ‘magical place.’ Here’s a little historical background. It was in the 18th Century that the heroes of the independence movement were born. Ignacio de Allende y Unzaga, a revolutionary, born on January 21. 1769, joined forces with Father Don Miguel Hidalgo leading the famous Cry of Independence speech in September 1810 and the resulting insurgency. But Spain was too strong and the patriots were defeated. Both Hidalgo and Allende, along with others, were executed, their heads hung in cages outside a Guanajuato granary. On March 8, 1826, in recognition of Allende’s heroism, the state government changed the name of the town to San Miguel de Allende.
In 1926 SMA was declared a National Monument, preserving the historical aspects of the town which is why the town is free of traffic lights today. With the opening of the Instituto Allende Art School in the late 1930’s, the foreign population began to grow and today retired Americans and Canadians make up much of the expat community, numbering between 2000-4000, depending upon season.
San Miguel is a daily physical exercise with its hilly cobble-stoned streets, narrow sidewalks and winding side streets. One looks down a lot while walking! Every turn is a discovery of interesting little shops, boutiques, jewelers and artisans¸ art galleries and restaurants. Crossing the street becomes an artistic endeavor as traffic usually comes to a halt to allow pedestrians the right of way. All the near traffic misses as automobiles pull up to corners, sometimes passing each other with only inches to spare, quickens the heartbeat. There are no traffic lights in SMA!
This season we rented a Casa in El Centro (the heart of the town), filled with beautiful antiquity, fireplaces and other conveniences I won’t even mention (don’t want my readers to be jealous). See the photo. There are numerous options for accommodations from apartments, B & B’s, hotels and, of course, many varying size homes. The luxurious Rosewood Hotel has just opened and is a real talk of the town!
Each morning we awake to the sound of church bells coming from the Paroquia (Church) in the Jardin (central garden, meeting place). The weather is not too shabby as it’s in the 70’s midday and 50’s early morning/evenings.
SMA is a gem of colorful facts as people come from all over the States, Canada and the world to find peace and explore their artistic souls. It doesn’t take long to acclimate to the low-key style of the community. Everyone is friendly. You can meet a new best friend just talking to someone sitting next to you at a café.
I use my time here to explore learning to draw, something I started doing last season. I do some singing, play tennis¸ enjoy old friends and make new ones, and try some interesting cuisines (it’s not all Mexican food). There are classical concerts, jazz, theatre, dance, lectures, Bridge, the up-coming Writers’ Conference, exercise of all types, day trips to cultural towns and the list goes on and on. The bottom line is that there’s lots to do and many choices. On Friday morning everyone gets a copy of Atencion, the weekly newspaper (what I call the SMA Bible) that lists all activities for the upcoming week. Then it’s a pick and choose because there’s so much.
Transportation can be by local bus, the cost somewhere around 10 pesos or taxis, which are plentiful and cost 25 pesos – that’s around $2.50 anywhere in the city.
There were several Festival days with music everywhere. The Jardin is alive with Mariachis, singing groups and there is celebration throughout the city. In fact, all weekend evenings are alive with musica everywhere!
The Biblioteca is a central part of the cultural atmosphere complete with libraries in Spanish and English and also features daily lectures, seminars, films and contains the Teatro Santa Ana. Upcoming is ‘night, Mother’ by Pulitzer Prize winning author Marsha Norman produced by Stray Dog Productions as well as “The Women of Lockerbie.”A lovely little café adds to the Biblioteca ambiance. St. Paul’s Church features evening concerts of Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart and more; the Teatro Angela Peralta will be presenting Brazilian Flamenco. The Instituto de Allende is a focus for art, with classes of all types for all levels, and for Spanish lessons and living here fulltime, we were invited to a musicale at their home to hear a poem he had written recently turned into performance events.
We have friends living here fulltime and were invited to a musicale at their home to listen to a poem turned into a song by a local young and talented composer. The hostess, an opera singer, originally from Argentina, and now married to our friend, sang. Many of their friends were gathered to hear the debut. After some diverse opinions and ideas to better enhance the song, it was followed by good food, drink and conversation. The following evening we attended another musicale elsewhere; an improv night that included some fine pianists, a drummer, percussionist, several horn players, a cellist and singers. It was jamming classical style!
Since I’m writing several articles and also doing some interviews while here, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and speak with some uniquely creative folks and will talk more about that later.
Meantime, ‘Hasta Luego’ from Sandi “O’Keefe” Durell!
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Sandi Durell is a producer, reviewer and writer. Together with partner Shari Upbin (ShaRell Productions), she produced the Award Nominated series Timeless Divas! It morphed into the popular current revues "Broadway Live!" and "Hollywood Live!" featuring performers from the Broadway stage and booked nationwide.
Sandi is a member of Drama Desk and is an Outer Critics Circle voter.
She is a producer on the Award winning documentary, www.broadwaythemovie.com and Executive Produced the CD 'Our Heart Sings'. She has conceived, developed and produced numerous Cabaret, Songwriter and Master Class events and continues to produce the well-recognized Annual Songwriter Series for the New York Sheet Music Society (www.nysms.org ) where she is a Board Director. She is a frequent theatre angel.
Sandi is a member of the League of Professional Theatre Women, the 100 year old 'Dutch Treat Club' and a singer. Sandi's reviews appear on www.Examiner.com www.broadwayafterdark.com www.t2conline.com
Sandi’s website: www.timelessdivas.com
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