Rain, Rain Go Away

We eased into our day slowly, heading to the Instituto de Allende this morning for breakfast and then to see what we could see. It is a beautiful building with courtyards beyond courtyards and murals throughout, one in particular which recounts the history of Mexico--no small task. We investigated the "field trips" the school organizes to places as close as Dolores Hidalgo and the town of Guanajuato which are within a few hours of here and as far as Mexico City. Chris is doing the research necessary to plan what will probably amount to several trips to outlying regions.

We were finally able to get in the cathedral today and it is striking in its size and in its myriad styles of art. There are traditional religious paintings one would expect in a gothic structure, but there are also detailed and geometric murals subdued in color and vibrant grease paint murals. This church had another mural depicting the scene at Calvary and for the second time we saw a woman in the foreground of the work holding what appears to be the Shroud of Turin. The first time we saw it, we thought it was an anachronism, but now having seen it twice I'm starting to wonder what the tradition is.

It has been raining steadily since we arrived, sometimes heartily and other times lightly, and according to the 10-day forecast, these showers will continue, but this morning, the sun was out and the sky was blue prompting us to return to several of the places we've already been to spend a bit more time. We went back to the public laundry, where we saw the concentration of egrets the other day, and Chris brought his telephoto lens this time and was able to capture some excellent moments on film (I recognize this as an obsolete cliche). They are majestic birds, and their wingspan is remarkable.

We rolled the visit to the public laundry into another walk through Benito Juarez Parque, although we took a different path that headed in a different direction. There are public art installments throughout and a playground in one corner that Antonio Banderas donated when he was here filming Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

On the way home, we stopped at the market for produce and then had lunch at home. Chris went back out in the afternoon to find the bus terminal and information about purchasing tickets for our day (and probably overnight) trips and I stayed in and did some reading and writing, choices which made both of us happy. We had tamales for dinner and now Chris is on the porch playing his guitar.

The day was a bit thin on plot, but we are on vacation.