Day 30- A Night on the Town

The day will come, and all too soon, to where I will have to leave this special place on earth called San Miguel de Allende. It's a magical place, full of history and mystique, energy and vitality, like none other I've personally experienced. I will miss this place and all the special people I've met. But I have made a promise to myself... I shall return!

With that said, I spent the morning catching up on e-mail, adding a little spice to this blog and chatting with Mike and Maggie. Then it was time to catch the bus into town. I've finally got to the point to where I am comfortable with the transportation in SMA, especially after having to take a 100 peso taxi ride my first night. It turns out the bus runs until midnight, as long as you catch it at the main bus terminal about a mile and half from the center of town. A little after 2pm I jumped on the bus to meet several people at Cafe Etc, my home away from home. Juan, the owner of the restaurant, is sort of a no nonsense kind of guy. He definitely does business on his terms and I quess that's all I'll say about that.

Paul and Nina invited me to join them for a late afternoon drink at their favorite hideaway, the rooftop lounge of a local establishment. It was a nice comfortable evening as the sun was just beginning to set. From this vantage point, the city opened up to a great view of all the surrounding buildings...great scenary...and conversation. As usual, the time just slips away and it was time to head for home. I walk the mile and half to the main bus station. It turns out the bus had just left and I would have to wait an hour and forty-five minutes for the next one. The great thing is...I'm never in a hurry and it was great just watching everything around me. Turns out another electrical storm was on it's way and I had a front row seat. Since I wasn't in a hurry I decided to have a hamburguesa at a local outdoor makeshift stand outside the bus terminal. It had to be the best hamburger I'd had in a very long time. I quess what made it special was the grilled onions, peppers, carrots and diced tomatoes...and some type of special sauce. As I sat on a wooden barstool under a blue plastic tarp eating, a storm raged all around us...lightning, thunder, wind...and lots of rain. But as quickly as it started...it ended.

A burger so good, deserved a beer, which I drank under the cover of the bus shelter. It's a different kind of world here, as it's ok to drink beer anywhere..in the open. But in all my travels I've only seen two people drunk in public, one-a man, on the streets in downtown Puerta Vallarta and the other, an elderly lady from the states, who had actually tripped and fallen into the grass. It seems the more we try to regulate or prohibit something, the bigger the problem it becomes. I enjoy Mexico for all the freedoms it has.

The other thing that I will mention, is that with the high price of fuel in the U.S. you'd think we would have access to these smaller cars I've seen here in Mexico. I'm sure many of them get 40 to 50 miles per gallon. These compact cars are made by GM, Mercedes, Peugot, VW, The Smart Car and others. Why are these not made available to us in the states? Ok..off the soapbox.

Well not much else to report. Till tomorrow!!!