A Photographer's Heaven

I spent Monday and Tuesday of this week in a town that is about an hour and a half from Guanajuato called San Miguel de Allende. And I'm not kidding when I say that this town was a photographer's heaven. It was absolutely beautiful! I almost took more pictures in 24 hours there than I did in three days in Mexico City. Choosing which pictures to post with this blog was a challenge, so I decided to make this blog post mostly photos with some description. I hope you enjoy!

This church is located on the main plaza or Jardin and is called the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel. It completely dominates the scene and is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside.
This is another beautiful church tower in San Miguel de Allende. I thought the bright colors were stunning against the blue sky.

Here is a photo of one of the beautiful streets in San Miguel. The houses are all so colorful that my friend and I wandered around for 3 hours without getting bored or seeing the same street twice.
This is the view from inside the Bellas Artes which is currently a school of the arts. It was originally part of a group of church buildings and functioned as a monastery.

Every doorway, every alleyway, even every doorknob is worth stopping to take a photo. Flowers cover many of the houses while others have indoor open courtyards or terraces. The city is truly a fun place to visit.
San Miguel is an interesting city because is the home of many retired Americans. It is definitely a little strange to see so many elderly Americans walking the streets. Real Estate is a huge thing in San Miguel and many of the old haciendas are up for sale. There are a lot of artisan shops in San Miguel that sell everything from embroidered blouses to leather to pottery. I hope to return to San Miguel so that I can better explore the artisan market.
My friend Jessica and I watched the sun set over the city from a restaurant terrace. It was absolutely stunning. The sky was lit up with oranges and yellows and the buildings were cast into silhouettes. The photo above shows the moment when there were sun rays shining through the clouds. Gradually the city lit up as street lights and flood lights illuminated the main buildings. The churches on the Jardin were incredibly beautiful.