View From Casita Colibrí

After ten days of playing tour guide to L, one of my closest friends since age 12… showing off Oaxaca’s seductive sights, sounds, and tastes (more about that later), we took the rather luxurious ADO Platino overnight bus to the Mexico Norte terminal, where, an hour later, we caught a Primera Plus to Guanajuato.

This is my first trip to Guanajuato and from the terrace of our hotel, Casa Zuniga, on one of the hills overlooking the city, it’s pure Mexican… a jumble of color and texture. However, once the funicular brought me down to street level, I was struck by its European university town feel.

The stone buildings are ornate; streets are narrow, cobblestone, and winding. Lively groups of prosperous looking students congregate into the night on the wide stone steps of churches, theaters, and university buildings; laughing, smoking, and talking. It’s quite a contrast to Oaxaca.

However, while their numbers are much fewer, the achingly beautiful, but haunting faces of Mexico’s indigenous child peddlers are present…