I have noticed here in San Miguel that there is virtually no garbage on the streets, not even cigarette butts. A little occasional doggie poo yes, but that is it. Harry and I had filled up our own bag of garbage this past week at the condo and did not know what to do with it. We looked in our condo guide book and the owner rather obtusely instructed us to listen for the bell in the morning. About 7:45 today, while still in bed, (life is tough) I heard a pleasant but loud bell ringing. Harry and I looked at each other and he said, "Who's going?" and I said. "You are." He made a mad dash, but had to chase the little truck down the cobblestones with our bag. One does not recycle in your house here, the garbage men go through each bag and take out what can be recycled. I guess people keep their garbage in their houses or businesses until they hear the garbage bell each day and personally hand it to the garbage man as he rings by. No pile ups on the curbs or the streets like you always see in NYC and no huge plastic garbage bins like elsewhere in the US. The sidewalks and streets are so narrow here that this system is obviously a good one. Plus you might find yourself creating less garbage.

There is definitely a feeling of neat and tidy in this town. About an hour after the garbage man with his loud bell went by I heard yelling from a truck. When I looked out the window to the street I realized he was the junk collector. His truck was full up with everything you could imagine. In the town square yesterday near the church, an old old man swept around us as we sat reading on a bench. The other day I watched as a dog carefully took the time to carefully maneuver himself to potty neatly on the edge of the curb and not just anywhere in the street or sidewalk by planting his front feet in the street and his back legs on the curb. Wish I had had my camera ready, you really had to see it to believe it. I guess this is what comes with being a UNESCO World Heritage sight, even the dogs do their best to keep the city clean.

At the market yesterday I encouraged Harry to buy himself a new belt. His new belt is a dead snake he now wears happily around his waist. He has warned me not to go shoppping with him. It was an expeience I will not soon forget.

There's thunderstorm rumbling around us as I write, not directly above us but nearby. From our rooftop garden over gin and tonic -- ah, the English influence on civilisation! -- we (us and our new friends Roger and Christina) watched it gather, massive clouds off over the mountains to the west, and the lightning almost vertical. It seems so novel to us, it's actually raining gatos and perros.

We went today to the Tuesday Market, sort of a massive flea market cum vegetable gathering. Beautiful produce which we brought home with us, since we have a nice kitchen here, where we can use anything as long as we replace anything we run out of. Enough shoes to outfit a private army. I bought a cobra, which writhes around my waist now as I write. (see next blog)

The faces here are incredible, much more of a native Indian presence here than in upstart Los Cabos. Jeanne the blog artist will insert a picture of an old woman when I am done. (No the blog artist was not able to do that for you Harry, sorry.) I find I want to take pictures of lots of people, which would no doubt be rude. The town is a fairy tale, and we think that dowdy little San Jose may be a letdown, though there are the beaches and the mountains and the desert. Unlike St Louis Park there are no trains going by at night, and no fire engines as in SLP and SJC. But there are the bells: from all around us at all hours, calling others to church. The town should be called Tintinnabulum, or something equally romantic.

Learning to put photos and text on this blog-site has been very difficult for me. I do not think the program I am using is very sophisticated and if it was I would be in even more trouble. I learned today that I can enlarge pictures by clicking on them but my readers cannot. Sorry....I am up at this ridiculous hour not only because I am obsessive compulsive but also because the waitress must have accidentally given me caffeinated coffee at the cafe (hanging plants above) rather than the decaf I asked for. Maybe by 4:00 am or so I will have it figured out.

large doors and an adorable husband

Just a quick word to remind you to click on the photos for enlargement and better definition. San Miguel is famous for it's giant beautiful doors and flowers. The photo with the purple flowers is a downward shot from our bedroom window on the patio below us. Harry asks that he not be clicked on so that he is not enlarged any further.

Many of the houses here in San Miguel have a roof-top gardens because all the roofs are flat. We have a very beautiful roof-top garden. We just go out our condo door and climb up a flight of stairs and there we are. The space is very large with potted plants, all well maintained, with lots of tables and chairs. The 360 view of the city and mountains is quite spectacular. The temps are perfect too so far and I love the constant gentle ringing of the church bells.

On our second day we met an interesting couple sitting up top in the gardens having cocktails, Christine and Roger. They are on holiday as well and were very chatty, or at least Christine was. She found Harry "adorable" in her words, quite the flirt she is! They are originally from California and Nebraska but now live in a house they built on a mountain side 100 miles north of Puerta Vallarta. They are in a tropical jungle region replete with boa constrictors, monkeys, the sound of the ocean surf and a palm tree forest which surrounds their open paplapa style living room. They invited us to come and visit but that was after their third round of cocktails. Christine insisted that she make us cocktails after we explained we had not been able to find the liguor store yet. Along with the cocktails she whipped up a mean plate of hors d'ouvres for all of us to share. She is of Italian descent and has that great cook and good hospitality flair about her. (Now if she would just keep her hands off my husband I could really like her!) Christine and I are scheduled to go shopping Monday so I have a pal now who seems to know all the cool places to shop. I explained to her I really could not buy anything because my suitcases had much trouble getting into the taxi and up the stairs to our condo. She and Roger drove here and they have a truck so she has room (and I think the money) to buy pretty much whatever she wants. The shopping here is exquisite, above even the higher-end shops in San Jose, but the prices are better. The silver barons of long ago here in this part of Mexico built a beautiful city and the tradition of appreciation for beauty in all forms continues. The city produces wonderful arts and crafts and it is itself a work of art.

I have been giving some thought to what it would be like to live in this lovely place and have realized it would be hard work just to get around everyday. I would never think of driving, I'd leave that to the taxi drivers. Harry says his calf muscles are firming up nicely. I took a bad fall our first day out because I was not watching close enough. Christine says she bought a special pair of cobblestone walking shoes on line for her visit. I am finding that the pair of water shoes I bought at Lands End in Minneapolis are the best for walking these streets; tread with flex. Thank god I now have a good excuse for buying yet another pair of shoes! The hills add great interest and charm to the city but they are challenging when you are tired. Yesterday we needed to buy groceries again and we went to three different stores, the butcher shop for meat, another for fruit and vegetables and another for dairy, rice, soap, etc. We hailed a cab to take us home because the thought of walking home with two bags of groceries was too much after of a day of sightseeing. It cost about two dollars including the tip. Even Harry thought it was a bargain.

The pictures are of our roof-top garden plus view and an up close of the cobblestone (emphasis on the stone) streets. If I stop falling down I may leave here with firmer thighs as well.

Our record of perfect flights the last three weeks was dashed yesterday and I guess we were overdue for some imperfection. We were delayed in Houston for three hours having to change planes after we had boarded because of mechanical problems. We then sat on the runway for over two hours because Houston had a spell of thunder showers and the queue for takeoff was a mile long. When we arrived in Leon a nurse dressed in green was pointing what looked like a gun at all the disembarking passengers. I guessed she must have been checking if any of us were running swine flu fevers. We had to fill out a form saying we were not sick and hand it to a doctor before we were able to go through customs. We had expected that the ride we booked to San Miguel would have left us stranded because we were so late but he has there waiting for us. It began to pour as we ran to the little van with our luggage.

The drive to San Miguel took over an hour and the scenery was beautiful. It was just before dark when we spotted the city lights ahead of us in the mountains. Our driver was excellent on the two lane road and there were no signs to watch for cows like in the Baja. That in itself was a great relief. Once in the city our driver dropped us off at the place we were supposed to get our keys to the condo but no one answered the door so we were standing on the curb for several minutes figuring out what to do. A nice couple who lived on the street came to our aid and we got a taxi to the the condo manager's house. The cab felt like bottom was going to fall out after we loaded all our luggage in the taxi and took off on the hilly cobblestone streets to find the house. The cabby found the house and within a few minutes we were climbing the three flights up to the condo. The manager commented about all our luggage and I defensively explained we were on a five week journey and needed all this stuff. Some things never change and I was soon to learn I did not even have right shoes for these hills and streets.

The condo did not turn out to be the tiny place it looked like from the Internet pictures the owner sent us. It is too adorable for words. Rooftop garden views from the windows on each side and pristinely clean and cozy. The Irish couple who own the place have truly thought of everything. Even the sheets on the bed I swear must be 400 count Egyptian cotton. Though it was late, we hit the streets to find something to eat. Both of us decided we would not be wearing sandals anymore because of the hilly streets and cobblestones. I prayed I would not turn an ankle as we hailed a cab. The cabby took us to a cute outdoor restaurant where we had some wonderful food with flavors I have not yet experienced in Mexico. This place reminds me of New York where there is never a shortage of cabs. The cabs are old junker cars that careen up and down the hilly streets. I felt like I was in another world sitting at the cafe last night gazing at the two story houses with trees growing on the roof tops. I felt like I was in Italy, although of course I have never been to Italy so I am not really sure what that would feel like. We used our Spanish, but people spoke back to us in English. I decided that people wanted to practice their English and not that our Spanish is really bad. I guess English is the world language especially in places tourists frequent. Tomorrow we are going to unpack and then go and explore the city.

The photo is me today in front of our condo door after doing a little grocery shopping. On our explorations today we found the church pictured. It is neo-gothic 19th century and is the focal point in the town square.

St. Louis

We are in St. Louis with Ivan and Joanna and Eva. We took
Eva to the Botanical Gardens yesterday and learned she could read the plaques. Amazing, yes, but you know how smart her parents are. Ivan and Joanna bought an adorable brick tudor style house in an all brick neighborhood here in St. Louis. I have never seen so many brick houses in my life and they are all different. Today we took Eva to the park which is half a block away. She was Miss Social, running up to greet all the newcomers to the park. She went down a slide I would have had the courage for when I was seven or eight. Ivan has a job as a research scientist at the Danforth Institute which is funded by the FDA. Joanna has several large editing projects going from home. It has been wonderful to just relax and enjoy the family. Last night we did go out to eat at a Greek restaurant in the neighborhood. We are off to San Miguel on Thursday morning and should arrive late in the afternoon after a stop over in Houston. I will pick up the blog from there.