We returned to Valenciana this morning to visit the church there (San Cayetano) adjacent to the silver mine because it was closed on Monday when we were there last. Our neighbor, Dan, said that it was "eye popping" so many times in our conversation about it, we thought it important to go back. Though I would never use the words "eye popping" to describe it or anything else, he was right. A silver mine owner, Antonio de Ordonez, had the church built in praise to god for the mass wealth he accumulated from the earth in the area and maybe--oh, a little bit--to show off the mass wealth he accumulated from the earth in the area. The front of the church is a trifold floor to ceiling altar piece in gold leaf that is dazzling in the sunlight and flanked by pink stone carvings.
We took the bus back into the center of GTO to purchase our bus tickets back to SMA tomorrow and, having done just about everything our tour book told us to do in this city, decided to just wander around a bit. Again, I'm glad for the luxury of time to just get on a bus and see where it takes us, spend what others might deem an overly long time in any one spot and simply walk without a destination. There was one thing we had read about online however that we had left to do...
Those people who followed our travels in Guatemala last summer and know of the infamous kayak experience are no doubt not surprised Chris chose a solidly landlocked point on the map to spend this summer. So I was delighted when he said that boats were available for rental in the park at Presa de la Olla and that the website suggested it was a lovely place to spend an afternoon. We walked about as far as we could, until we reached the end of the tourism maps of the city, and then took a bus the rest of the way to the presa--a dam built in 1749 to supply fresh water to the city and operational until 1985 (the book doesn't really explain why the people didn't need any fresh water after that point). Well, the park that is lovely to spend an afternoon in is only about 1000 square feet, which just isn't that many feet, and it only has a few benches and the boat rental: well, we found the boats just fine, laying in what can only be described as a giant ditch full of dirt. Where is the water, one might wonder. I know one might wonder this because we, in fact, wondered it, but ultimately the trip out to the Ditch of Olla made me happy; I'm glad Chris is such a sport that he would ever agree to get into a boat with me again after the fiasco on Lake Atitlan. So, in the end, he got all the points and didn't even have to nearly die this time.
We decided to have a late lunch downtown and went to the Plazuela San Fernando to do so, where the day quickly spilled into early evening before we headed back home to clean things up for our departure tomorrow. I like this place, I'm glad we came here, and I think others should put it on their itinerary when visiting Mexico.
P.S. There is a taco stand on Alhondiga just across the street from the Mercado that Chris highly recommends.
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