casita de las flores san miguel de allende &#187; (real life) in San Miguel

San Miguel de Allende business school Of course, I had no experience whatsoever in the field (other than having traveled a lot, and having often been a guest/critic at different accommodations). Business plans are much worse than Greek to me — they’re like math (shudder). My minimal market research was tooling around on the internet to see if the name was taken. (Since then, the Casita name and website text have been stolen wholesale by a place in Chile, thank you very much. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or so they say.)

Take a vacation from violence. Come to Mexico!

admin — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:23:16 +0000

The truth about violence in Mexico in 2012 —Mexico is safer than Disneyworld!* (and way cheaper…) If you have any doubts about coming to Mexico, please read this entire article by Lonely Planet’s travel editor. Of, course, we’ve been telling …

Seeing San Miguel for the first time, again.

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 17:29:49 +0000

Remember the first time you laid eyes on San Miguel? I don’t, but I imagine it must be a splendid sight. Unforgettable, even. My first eyeful came in 1969, when my bohemian mother moved us down here (I was 18 …

the tuesday market—a photo essay

swazzi — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 22:54:43 +0000

I always encourage guests to go to the Tuesday Market (La Placita). Why? Because this ambulatory extravaganza is, according to our own word-famous San Miguel de Allende map, “a raucous and wonderful weekly festival.”

six-month check in. may, 2001

swazzi — Fri, 20 May 2011 02:11:06 +0000

It’s All About the Egg. (The Prequel to The Casita Story) I wrote this nearly a decade ago, just four months before finding the house (and immense project) that would keep me very, very busy and eventually become Casita de …

crazy days

swazzi — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:10:00 +0000

For the hip, there are two places to be in San Miguel on Locos Sunday: in the parade or watching it. If you’re in the milling mile or so of costumed revelers and flatbed floats with blaring, competing soundtracks, you dance across town all morning and into the afternoon. Of course, in your foam and felt frog/fat lady/ex-president costume, there is a risk of heat exhaustion. But, you get to pelt spectators with candy, which makes it all worthwhile.

(real) life in san miguel

swazzi — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:39:00 +0000

I said a little prayer to Santa Funciona (the patron saint of things that work), bit my lip and hit the lever. It was a thing of beauty. After a month of not driving when it rains, or of chancing it and looking at the moving world through a perilously impressionistic lens, the sainted plastic blade made a gorgeous, lazy arch and left half of my windshield as clear as…well, as glass. I could see! I could drive in any weather!

notes from abroad: perspective gained as innkeeper-turned-guest

swazzi — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:31:00 +0000

Somewhere along the Xerox chain, the numbers in the key describing what each place actually is have conveniently been cut off. So the map numerals remain mysterious symbols obscuring unknown landmarks that you simply must see. (Or maybe it’s a travel game: identify the building and match the number with the description. Hours of fun for the entire family.)

Summer in San Miguel

swazzi — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:42:00 +0000

The all-around fecundity is contagious—even the bricks in the patio are sprouting green, while the high Mexican desert does its best Hawaii impersonation. The nights are blacker, the stars brighter, and the moonlight is blinding. Even peoples’ dreams are running riot, sending out tendrils that snake into waking life and bear frui

Violence in Mexico — The Real Story

swazzi — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:46:00 +0000

Statistically speaking, you’re safer here at four a.m. than you are in a major American city at noon. Probably safer than where you live, unless you live in one of those (mythical?) tiny towns where everybody knows each other (and are all related) and nobody locks their doors. If you really want to compare San Miguel with, say, the U.S... Ok. Let's see. So far, we have no serial killers, axe murderers, snipers, carjackings, road-rage gunfights, mad bombers, Crips, or Bloods. We've had one high(ish)-speed car chase that we know of. Nor do we have school or workplace shootings. In San Miguel, "going postal" denotes how badly you need a margarita after spending two hours in line trying to mail a postcard, and then realizing you’ll arrive home before it does...