Sunday, December 22, 2019

Querétero, Mexico, el veintidos de Deciembre, 2019

I had a leisurely morning, actually I didn’t want to get up because I knew I would freeze to death if I got out from underneath my heavy layer of blankets.  I emailed Sergio, my host, to see if he had a heater.  He rushed up to check the water heater thinking I meant hot water.  No, they don’t have a heater and why would they?  99.9% of the time they don’t need one.  Except today!

Eventually I did get up and went exploring to Cerro de las Campanas (Hill of the Bells) where Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg and Generals Miguel Miramon and Tomas Mejia were executed in 1867 to end the struggle between the French and the Mexicans-



Another nearby monument-


I went to see the new Star Wars movie even though it was in Spanish.  I think I caught the jist of what was happening but I still left after an hour or so.  It was a beautiful day and I didn’t want to waste it in a cine.  It only cost $2 so I wasn’t out anything.

My first stop was at Templo de Santa Rosa de Viterbo, built in the 18th century in Baroque style-



The chancel isn’t that fancy-


compared to the back and the sides-




I was very lucky to get in because when I went to leave, the door was closed.  I just made it!  
Across the street is the famous sign-


I kept walking and came to the Cathedral Filipe Neri in the sunshine.  Miguel Hidalgo celebrated the very first mass.  The style is a transition from Baroque to Neo-Classical-


The chancel is very plain-


All four candles have been lit on the Advent wreath-


I walked by on my way home-


Lunch was in a Oaxacan restaurant and I had chile rellenos. They know how to do it proper as this is the best I’ve had this trip-


My next stop was at the Templo de Santo Domingo. I’m starting to get churched out!  There was a group of young boys - 15 year olds, all wearing grey tuxedos, celebrating someone’s quinceanera-



Practically next door is the Museo de Arte which is in the former Convent of San Augustin.  It was built between 1731-1743 in Baroque style using pink locally extracted rock making one of the most beautiful cloisters in Latin America-


The upper cloister-


The pipe is a rainwater vent that represents cleansing of sins with divine grace-


Images of Saint Augustin and other saints adorn the walls of the lower cloister-


There was some very interesting art including Minae by Ramses de la Cruz.  It’s crocheted and then mod-podged to make it stiff-


Kataphraktoi, also by de la Cruz is gigantic.  It’s also mod-podged crochet-


Medusa is a rough clay head with a mirror inserted in the centre-


Cor Coriacea is also quite large and made from paper covered in plastic.  It almost looks like clear duct tape-


There were some paintings too including Evangelista San Marco by Baltasar de Echave Ibia from the 17th century-


Cabeza de San Pablo by Anonymous from the 18th century-


And Gallo Amarillo (Yellow Rooster) by Jesus Reyes Ferreira from the 20th century-


I enjoyed my visit there and carried on.  The streets were very busy with people out enjoying the sunshine. Most of the plaza’s trees are sculpted in this way-


I popped into the Museo de la Ciudad but didn’t stay long.  There wasn’t much to interest me except this gigantic ceramic ring-


that had such small and intricate pieces-


I also liked this wood carving-


Such fine work-


I found a bar in a plaza and had a couple of beer.  I was waiting for it to get dark to see the lights-






I had another great day and am looking forward to tomorrow when I join an all day tour to pueblos nearby.  Life is awesome!  

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