Trip to Aguascalientes

This was a trip of more than 600 kilometres; we started driving through the driest part of Guanajuato and this took much longer thanks to some old trucks carrying circus rides which we could not pass on the narrow road. Things started looking better once they turned, and we arrived in the state of Jalisco, the landscape changed to beautiful mountains, rivers and small lakes. We made it to the city of Lagos de Moreno mid-afternoon. While exploring the colonial centre we were caught by a torrential rain and learned it was a big weekend in the city as a big bull fighting show was in town.

The next morning, we crossed into Aguascalientes state and headed to Calvillo, a town between the mountains famous for growing tropical fruit, especially guavas. The place was a bit wild, but we enjoyed a couple of hours there, including being serenaded by a father-son duet while eating carnitas!

From there we drove one hour to Aguascalientes city. Our first stop after finding the hotel was the Jose Guadalupe Posada Museum. This guy was born in Aguascalientes and lived at a time when newspapers did not feature photographs (19th to early 20th centuries). Besides making drawings of news events, he also did artistic ones and was the original creator of the iconic skeletons that represent Mexico around the world. The city now has lithography and engraving competitions named after him.

The museum is in the traditional Triana neighborhood, next to the church where bull fighters go for blessings before their shows in the yearly San Marcos fair. Triana and the Centro are walkable and full of interesting architecture. We also visited a tiny museum of traditional Mexican toys in the market district. This city is full of big religious festivals, and they were getting ready for one in a few days' time, but we managed to see a pilgrimage and a few dances. As per our usual side note, we have to inform that Nissan is the large car manufacturer in town, with 2 plants and a Nissan university.

That night we had drinks at the Caza Danzante bear bar and had a great time, their barman was the best storyteller. The next morning, we had the most amazing buffet breakfast at the hotel, we agreed it was one more reason to come back to Aguascalientes.

From there it was a few hours' drive to Guanajuato city and spent the last night of the trip in an old mining hacienda turned into hotel. Guanajuato features a few of these old mineral processing haciendas and a mine shaft and is a good walking challenge to get to them in the surrounding hills. Shane fell in love with this colonial city a few years ago and it was great to see how vibrant the streets are still day and night.

Besides the mariachi music you find everywhere in Mexico, there is also a local tradition of 'estudiantinas' where a group of pretend students take you around the main sights of the old city at night, singing all along the way.