Wine Festival and Last Day in Mexico

The weather here went from 30c to 8c overnight with a really strong cold wind so the Hot Ar Balloon Festival had to be cancelled and it was toooo cold to go see the Irish Dancers :( Instead we stayed home and tested out the new cocktail glasses with some very good Pina Coladas. Yesterday we at last visited Tequisquiapan, which was as pretty as everyone had told me. Then went to the Wine Festival at the La Redonda Vineyards. That was excellent: food stalls, wine tastings, vineyard tour, music, fireworks. We started off with the nearby Freixenet's Petillant Rose, followed that with a local Chardonnay and platter of local cheeses and dried meats and then - it got a bit hazy :)) All you needed was your glass and a wander around the big marquees - tastings galore. Bought a wonderful little invention - a sort of strap holder for your glass on a lanyard - have never seen those before. It'll come in handy at parties - I'm for ever setting down my glass and not being able to find it again! There were so many people there, the live music was wonderful and everyone was just having a great time. They were setting up for fireworks in the vines when it got dark but, as we had a hour's journey back to Queretaro we left before then. So, here we are, Sunday 3rd March, my last day, this time around, in Mexico. My flight leaves from Mexico City at 21.50 tonight to Amsterdam and from there to Dublin. It's been an amazing trip, my best yet. Thank you for sharing it with me. Here's to the next one x

ISS, Toro Supernovo and apple pie.

The tasting last night was great BUT before we went to it I had a last chance to see the International Space Station in the sky here in Mexico. A friend sent me a link to the website, which is fascinating as you would expect, and you can opt to receive emails when the ISS is appearing in a sky near you!! I missed it at the Temezcal because we didn't know what time it was, missed it on Wednesday night because I didn't know what I was looking for, but last night, at 7.36pm, it appeared in the NNW (had worked out from the sunset where that was) at 54 degrees (had also worked out that was about half way to vertical). I had just come up onto the roof and there it was straight ahead of me: a planet like object, very bright (due to the light reflecting off its solar panels I'm reliably informed) the size of an American football pitch in reality, travelling fast across the sky from North to East for 5 minutes when it disappeared. Magic :) The tasting event at Arco 46 Gourmet was excellent. We started off with a fresh Goats cheese, from San Miguel, rolled in finely milled black pepper along with a Lager which turned out to be Stella Artois. Second was a slightly smoked dryish cheese with a Gouda like rind served with an Ale called Hercules brewed in Queretaro by the man sitting at the next table to us! It was too bitter for me but the men seemed to like it. Third was a Salchica Siciliana made also in San Miguel - a semi dried sausage full to the brim with flavours: cumin, garlic, pepper, herbs - served with a Mexican Ale: Minerva Pale. Last was a slice of gorgeous Apple Pie in short crust pastry flavoured with raisins, nuts and cinnamon. It was served with a Mexican Stout called Toro Supernovo - Guinness has nothing to worry about competition wise but it was worth having another bottle of it after the tasting had finished :)

Beer and Cheese tasting tonight

Have had a relaxing couple of days - went to the wholesale market here in Queretaro: Central de Abastos; and got a load of fruit and veg for next to nothing. The avocados here are especially good - we got 2 kilos for the price we would pay at home for one - 90p. Just so much choice and everything so fresh. Today we had breakfast at the cafe in el Tec de Monterrey and then went shopping. Called in at the little nursery stalls in the carpark of Costco supermarket and bought a large palm (for £3) and other plants, rosemary, basil, mint and kalanchoes to put in the planters in the front garden. The lavender plants in the pots weren't very happy there, perhaps not enough sun, and the beautiful kalanchoes which were doing so well were decimated by ants one afternoon - only stalks and roots left! Tonight D and I are going to another beer and cheese tasting: not in Beer Passport like the last time but in Arco 46 Gourmet where the gorgeous cheese and breads come from. Have a busy weekend coming up as well: the 6th Festival de Comunidades Extranjeras here in Queretaro tomorrow night: the Coshquin School of Irish Dance at 18.00!; and a wine Festival in Tesquisquiapan on Saturday. Will tell you all about them in the next post x

Lazy Monday in El Mirador

Such a lazy day today. Have been living like a gypsy for the past four weeks so it was a treat to use the washing machine and get all my clothes properly clean. Blowing a gale here so a great drying day until the pots on the roof terrace started blowing over and smashing! Hard to sunbathe in a force twelve and gusting but I did my best until it got too dangerous :) Betty and I finally got the flavoured oils made this afternoon: herb, chili and garlic. She's been making really good jams and preserves recently so I had promised to give her some tips for oils and vinegars. Crochet lesson tomorrow - I've already made a cushion which looks a bit lonely on the new sofa (so I've been told)- I haven't the time left to make another so someone else is going to have to make it, like it or not :)) I had to make a decision today: stay on until June and the wedding or go home as planned at the weekend. The first option: sooo tempting. More opportunities to travel - would love to go back to Oaxaca for a week or two; the Gulf Coast before it gets too hot; Michoacan while the Monarch butterflies are there; back to San Miguel for a month. Downside: problems with travel insurance, would need to extend my visa to stay past 16th June, two plastic cards expiring at the end of this month and, the clincher: non refundable, non changeable (is that a word?) return ticket. To get back, one way, at the end of June, same route - KLM via Schipol: US$2,300!!! Also missing my friends back home now so have made the correct decision - fly home on Sunday. However, lots more still to do here so..... more later x

Last Day at La Casa

Well - my four weeks at La Casa are up. I've really enjoyed it and hope I'll be able to return maybe this time next year. What has made the whole experience all the more enjoyable has been the company of the other Volunteers and the warmth and friendliness of all the teachers and people working at La Casa. Six of us went out for a meal last night and a few (???!) drinks afterwards. In the restaurant the waiter made Caesar salad at the table: making the dressing from scratch in the bowl - I've never seen that done before. We then went on to a bar where it was still happy hour - two margaritas for the price of one (equiv of £3)he The barman asked us what music we wanted to listen to and found it on You Tube. My choice was 'Spanish Moon' by Little Feat. When I hear that track in future I'll be able to close my eyes and imagine I'm still in San Miguel. We then went on the another bar called 'La Cucaracha' - the cockroach. That one was interesting :) Killer margaritas there. I'm off now to man our Jewellery Stall at the Craft Market for a couple of hours then out to dinner again on this my last night in San Miguel. I'm returning to Queretaro tomorrow for my final week, this time around, in Mexico. The next post from there x

La Casa Fund Raiser

The Fund Raiser at Casa de la Cuesta went wonderfully yesterday. It's the most gorgeous B & B I have ever been in - only 7 bedrooms but they are exquisite - beautiful views over San Miguel, hummingbirds, a Mask Museum, Mexican antiques and sofas and cushions all over the place, fabulous patios and cool nooks and crannies. The owners, Heidi and Bill, have hosted monthly fundraisers for a while. They provide the venue, food and drinks and so all the money raised on the day goes directly to La Casa de los Angeles. They also donate all of the entrance fees to their Mexican Mask Museum to La Casa. There was a record amount raised yesterday and a record number of people there. It was great fun - Bill's Margaritas just hit the spot, the food was delicious and the music by one of the current Volunteers from Minnesota, Sarah Pray with another singer/songwriter: Jean Pascal Monzies from France; was excellent. Tomorrow is my last day at the Guarderia :( I've been in with the oldest class, the older 3 year olds, this week and it has been challenging to say the least. But today was so rewarding. I got hugs and kisses from three of the most contrary (to me) children after I had changed them into their clean clothes ready to be collected. It must be difficult for them too, having new volunteers in their classroom each week, and they're at an age when they're challenging boundaries ALL the time. It's been a great experience working at La Casa. I can't praise what they're achieving highly enough. I heard today that one of my favourite little boys from a previous class isn't coming back. He's from a Rancho quite far away - some of these Mums and Children have to walk for miles just to get to a Bus Stop, if they can afford the 20p fare that is - and it would appear that his Mum just wasn't meeting the requirements set down by La Casa for free daycare. I'm staying on here until Sunday when I'll go back to Queretaro for my final week in Mexico. We have a jewellery stall in the Saturday Farmers' Market which I want to stay for. Will post again in a couple of days x

Opal MInes and Bernal

First of all let me apologise for the layout of this and the past couple of posts. For some reason which I can't resolve I am all of a sudden unable to position uploaded photos beside text. If anyone knows how to fix this, please tell me? It's driving me crazy!! After the Daycare on Friday I took the bus to Queretaro and D & B picked me up at the bus station. Although we get two good meals a day at the Guarderia I had really had a notion for meat so we went to a Taqueria and pigged out. Experienced a first: Salads on kebab skewers? This was a really delicious Ceasar Salad with chicken. We had Arrachera, Chorizo and Mollejas (which are sweetbreads, in this case the thymus glands of a cow - totally delicious so long as you're not a vegetarian) Tacos and a few beers. That's my meat ration for another week sorted then. On Saturday we picked up the new car, a very nice BMW X3, and then headed to the Opal Mines at La Trinidad, about 45 minutes or so outside Queretaro. Mexican opals are entirely different from the Australian ones which are opaque. The opals mined here are clear with red, green, blue or orange lights in them giving them their name of Fire Opals. Since seeing them the first time I came to Mexico and finally finding a ring in Taxco last time I have wanted to visit las Minas. We were taken up the mountain in a very ancient jeep - four in the cab and the other eight in the back. It must have taken us a half hour to climb the very steep and extremely rough incline with a sheer drop on one side. We were given rock hammers( I'm sure there's a technical term) and taken up to the mine. They're still taking rock out of it so we were walking over the rocks they'd worked on.It was really rough going but extremely interesting. It was all in Spanish and I was having trouble keeping up which is why I'm not going to tell you how opals are formed, apart from saying that I heard Silicon, Hydrogen, water and pressure being mentioned. Our guide took us into the workings where the rock used to be dug out by one guy using a crowbar and the other hitting it with a hammer. Allegedly the guy holding the bar was given 5 litres of Pulque a shift so that he wouldn't mind too much when the other guy missed with the hammer and got his hand instead. We then got to look for our own opals. We had to find a large rock, porous but shiny, which sounded to me like an oxymoron, and then crack it with the hammer. I was rubbish but D got the hang of it and, whilst we didn't find any opals in geodes like the one in my ring, we did find rock with smatterings of opals through it. And it was good fun :) After we came down off the mountain we drove on to Bernal which is a huge Pena, a solitary rock, which is visible from miles away. By the time we got there it was getting dark and had got very cold - 5c!!! We were foundered! We got into the very pretty old town and quickly found a restaurant with heat inside and, unexpectedly, a guy playing piano a la Billy Joel with some classical thrown in. He was very good. We had soup to warm us up: Sopa Azteca for me; a tomato soup with crispy tortillas, Oaxacan cheese, avocado and smokey dried chiles in it and Quesadillas with the same cheese and chapulines: the dried grasshoppers from Oaxaca. They're tasty but you're finding bits of leg in your teeth for ages afterwards :)) I got back to San Miguel this afternoon for my last week here - can't believe how the time has gone. It's going to be a busy week so I'll tell you all about what's going on later x