Trade Sarasota, FL home for your SMA home San Miguel de Allende Mexico Announcements & News
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| THINGS TO DO
Though known as a retirement haven San Miguel offers a wealth of leisure time activities to those that don’t believe retirement means rest. It has a reputation for outstanding hiking and biking, horseback riding and instruction, birding and rock climbing. More conventional pursuits, such as golf and tennis are also at hand and San Miguel has a number of fully-modern gyms and exercise studios. House and Garden Tour: One the more popular activities in San Miguel is the weekly tour of the town’s premier residences, if one judges by the over 10,000 visitors who participated in 2005. Over 300 local home owners open their doors on every type of architecture and interior decoration imaginable; a good source of inspiration and ideas for future residents. Tours depart from the Biblioteca on Sundays at noon, tickets can be purchased at the door from 11 am. onwards. Hot Springs: The road to Dolores Hidalgo is dotted with hot springs producing warm to hot, mineral-rich water. Facilities range from those of luxurious spas to more traditional Mexican balnearios with gardens, restaurants and picnic areas; and may include any number of pools. The pools themselves can be indoors, under the open sky or in rock-lined grottos, and range in size from small, perfect for soaking, all the way up to Olympic, ideal for laps or swimming. Fiestas: While all Mexicans love a party, it seems that no town enjoys a celebration or fiesta more than San Miguel. Local citizens take to the streets with verve and enthusiasm for traditional holidays, to honor local heroes and patron saints or sometimes, it seems, just for the fun of it. There’s always something happening; all marked with music, dance and fireworks. Of note in the upcoming months is the Chamber Music Festival in early August, September’s San Miguelada or ‘running of the bulls’ and week-long Fiesta to honor San Miguel Arcángel and the Brass & Wool Fair and Jazz Festival held in November. Wining & Dining: Whether you are an avid gourmand or someone who just likes to pick up food—fast, you will appreciate life in San Miguel. There may be no large chain restaurants, but there is a local cafe on almost every corner, offering tasty, freshly made specialities. And you are sure to discover that the towns premier restaurants can vie with those of larger North American cities for taste, style and presentation. After dinner, those in search of culture will find that their choices include gallery openings, theater, concerts, dance or foreign and classic film. Those who prefer lifting a glass can do so in everything from hard-drinking cantinas or friendly sports bars and pubs to nightclubs featuring rock, salsa blues or jazz (often live) or elegant rooftop terraces and intimate hotel lounges. Reprint permission from "Su Casa"--Your Home in San Miguel de Allende © 2006 Imprint Publishing/Advertising Telephone in San Miguel: 152-0493 |
| From the Vip Club Newsletter for San Miguel de Allende with information on discounts available for club members who have purchased the VIP Club Discount Card
November 30, 2006 Greetings:
Card Member Keith Thompson is no longer at Finnegans but has opened the Long Horn Texas BBQ, behind La Palapa. Because of the price structure, the card does not apply but consider giving Keith's new place a try. Card Member, Donna Drinnon, of the Drinnon Art Gallery, Sto. Domingo 42B, is having a mixed media show on Saturday & Sunday, December 2-3, from 12-5pm, featuring wall art of women and children Card Member Beatriz Orvananos is moving her VIP Club participating Ritmos Latinos dance lesson studio from Zacateros to La Carpa. Classes will resume January 8, 2007. Contact La Carpa for the new schedule. Club members Mort and Norma Erlick are having a garage sale, at their home, Cuesta de San Jose #29, on Saturday, December 16, 9am-1pm. They will be selling off Mexican antiques-Santos', Textiles, Folk Art, Oriental Rugs and many one of a kind items. Club members can come a week early if they call first at 152-8180. It was brought to our attention that a notice was posted on the "not-so-cool" list, a good idea gone bad where there is mostly whining, griping and back biting, and someone was braying the propane gas company does not show when called. I had a casual conversation with Jesus from Noel Gas and asked him if there was a problem. Do know, especially if it a large tank delivery, that if the trucks can't find a parking spot they cannot deliver. They do try coming back often during the course of the day but if they can't park they can't deliver. We would like to remind members that the VIP card does not apply to cover charges for entertainment. We post this information in our brochures and on our webpage but some members overlook the rule and occasionally they give door men a hard times. Stop it! The Club rules are but few but each member should know them. Restaurant wise the card is valid for food and drink off the menu; tobacco products, t-shirts etc. are never included as part of the discount. A member called our office and all the girls could make out is them saying they lost their card. They could not understand who they were because they were sneezing and coughing the whole time. But do know, if you misplaced or lost your card, contact us here for immediate replacement, no questions asked. BTW: with flu season upon us, know that VIP Club Members get a 20% discount at Chelos Faracia , off of pharmaceuticals and 15% off their retail products. Many members have written in for updates about member Arden O'Rourke who was in a bad accident up near the border. Seems our prayers and good wishes were answered. She is out of trouble, has come out of the coma, and has been taken off the respirator at a hospital in San Antonio, Texas. She has a long way to go to be her old self but she is doing better everyday. Arden and her family thank you all for your concern and prayers. The holidays are coming: Be nice to one another. Thank you for your continuous and loyal support. Your San Miguel VIP Club |
| There are a thousand and one descriptions of San Miguel de Allende written over the past decades. Here's one writer's short take:
San Miguel's reputation as an arts center was established by the founding of the Allende Institute. One of its American founders, Stirling Dickson, came to Mexico as a tourist in the 1930s and fell in love with the city. A painter and engraver, he helped inaugurate the institute in 1950 and was its director until 1987. The lovely building housing the school once was owned by the wealthy Canal familiy. Fountains, arcades and courtyards gardens grace the grounds of the campus, which has extensive classroom space, two are galleries, a theter and a library. Students from throughout the Americas take advantage of the art and language classes offered, and the institute also functions as a campus abroad for several American and Canadian art schools. The Centro Cultural Bellas Artes, is also known as the Centro Cultural el Nigromante (its official name) and the Centro Cultural Ignacio Ramirez. It is a branch of the wellknown Instituto de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. The impressive building, which dates from the mid-18th century, was once the Convento de la Concepcion and features an immense, tree-shaded courtyard. It offers music, dance and visual arts classes; a bulletin board lists lectures and concerts given both here and elsewhere in the city. Several murals are also exhibited, including one by David Alfaro Siqueirs. San Miquel is known for the variety and quality of its regionally produced handycrafts. Metalwork -- masks, trays, lanterns, picture frames and decorative objects made of tin, copper, brass, bronze and wrought iron -- and the design of local silversmiths are particularly worth seeking out. Also available are pottery, weaving, sculpture, straw items, hand-loomed cambaya cloth (a material frequently used to make skirts), and folk and traditional art. The colonial furniture is some of the finest produced in Mexico. Open-air Mercado Ignacio Ramirez, the city market, fills the plaza in front of the Oratorio de San Felipe Neri, and spreads onto the surrounding streets. Livestock and fresh preduce share space with inexpensive everyday items and souvenirs at the cheaper end of the price scale. The Mercado de Artesanias consists of vendor stalls in an alley. Pricier boutiques are scatted throughout the downtown area. Art galleries are concentrated around the main plaza, and exhibit openings are big social events. Two that showcase both regional and national talents are Galeria San Miguel and Galeria Atena. |
I thought I would write a follow-up to my column, “Move Over San Miguel de Allende Here I Come”, since this is the only thing, writing, that prevents from committing murderous acts of rage (Just Joking!) As you recall from the previous column, I wrote how I tried to deposit a royalty check from my publisher and was told the check would clear on four different dates. We were shown, last week, on their computer screen that the funds would be available on the 18th of December. Well, today is the 18th. We marched down to the bank and, of course, in the truest sense of TMO (Typical Mexican Operation) the funds were not available. We went into the bank so I could seize a bank officer and choke him (just kidding!). No, we talked to this guy who thought it cute to mumble at us. He actually told us something entirely new. He said that “the 18th” did not really mean “the 18th” but it meant sometime after 6 p.m. on the 18th but before mid-night on the 18th and…and…maybe even the 19th. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? This my dear readers is what we anal-retentive Americans (and “strung-tighter-than-piano wire Germans”) have to deal with when we become expatriates living in Mexico. It would seem, and I could be wrong, that Mexican banks just make up stuff as they go along. There are no policy manuals, procedural steps, no rules, just the “fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants” way of doing things. “Qué Será, Será: What ever will be, will be. The future’s not ours to see. Qué Será, Será.” This is exactly how things are done in central México. I have to tell you though, those from other regions of the country are as dumbfounded as I am. They tell me that this region of Mexico is “stuck in time and history.” They are provincial to the point of having been throw into a time loop and cannot escape the temporal hole they’ve been in since the middle ages. Time forgot central Mexico and no one seems to really care to crawl out of this dimensional morass in which they are quagmired. What are we going to do? I do not know. But, we are looking to other areas of Mexico that may not be like living in a Latino Twilight Zone. My fellow American expat said this: “That what Mexico needs is a Business Manager. These people need a Business Manager in everything that has to do with anything to show them how things work. This is because in all aspects of life, at least in Guanajuato, no one who does anything that has to do with something knows just how it is suppose to work.” She has no idea what truth she spoke! by Douglas Bower Article Source: EzineArticles.com |
From the Vip Club Newsletter for San Miguel de Allende with information on restaurant discounts available for club members who have purchased the VIP Club Discount Card
Notice: Certain Restaurants and Businesses may have restrictions that do not appear on this website. Please contact The Restaurant Club directly for a complete list of participating businesses and restrictions. |