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Without the relief of a half term break as we have in England, it looked as though it was going to be a long term, but February brought with it a national holiday on Monday 5th, and I decided to make the most of the long weekend and travel to the city of San Miguel de

Allende in the state of Guanajito. This was quite easily accessible being a two and a half hour bus journey and a change of buses in Queretaro. It promised to be very

attractive. The whole town has been designated a national monument. Also it has a large population of American retirees, and I was keen to see what was the attraction of living there. I took a taxi to the centre and as I turned into the main square it fulfilled its promise. It had all the features of a typical colonial city, and a lot of English was being spoken. I set about finding as hotel for the night. I had no idea of how difficult that was going to be. If had been willing to pay $1000 for a night, I would have had no problem, but I was looking for no more than $400 (the dollar sign represents pesos by the way). I walked past all the main sites for about an hour and a half at double walking speed. I paused only briefly at a church where a mariachi

Band was lined up ready to play to a newly married couple as they left the church.

Eventually after a lot of foot slogging, I found a barely suitable bungalow in the grounds of a vast hotel complex at an extortionate price, but I was in and now I could relax. It was getting a little late for filming or site-seeing, so I returned to the centre and had a meal. I discovered that there was an amateur variety show on the local theatre. So I made some enquiries and

after a little more frustration, found the place, bought my ticket and retreated to the bar

opposite to pass the hour or so before curtain up. The show itself was surprisingly excellent. Great

entertainment cleverly

managed in both Spanish and English. I came away very impressed. The next day I

had the time to have a more relaxed stroll around the town. I remember really enjoying a little corner at the side of a church, just listening to the music.

A Mexican friend and a parent of two of the children at school, had spent most of his life in the city of Celaya (2 hours away in a fast car). Not surprisingly, he was a great fan of the Athletico Celaya soccer team. The week after the San Miguel experience, four men of four different nationalities - Pat (New Zealand), Jim (U.S.A.), Guillermo (Mexican) and myself (British), set off to Celaya to watch a match against Toluca. Celaya won 2-1. Not being a huge fan of football, I am easily distracted by other things going on around me. I happened to notice a beautiful full moon in front of me at one point, and I was particularly impressed with it's unusual reddish tinge.