First Weekend in San Miguel January 3-4
On Saturday, we were lethargic. Got unpacked and organized, walked to the bus station to check on transportation to local villages, caught up on some work and reading, had Pat's chili for an early dinner and were in bed by 10:00.
Feeling a little more energetic on Sunday, after coffee on our rooftop
terrace, we walked to the Public Library (not to be confused with the Municipal Library of SMA), the point of origin for a tour of three upscale SMA homes. The Public Library is run by Expats and houses the second largest English/Spanish collection in Mexico. The fees for the weekly home tour are used to support scholarships, ESL classes and even computer classes for local children. The Library also hosts music, plays, lectures, etc. for the expat community. The houses in the tours are dazzling. It’s a chance to see the splendor of the haciendas with central courtyards behind the small entryways that line the streets of SMA Centro.
At the end of the tour, we were deposited near the central Jardin, the focal point for most of SMA's eating and cultural activities. Walking the two blocks to the Jardin, we passed the window of the bar at Momma Mia's and noticed that the Ravens playoff game against the Dolphins was playing on the bar's big screen TV. Sipping a couple of cervezas, we watched the last 9 minutes of Baltimore's demolition of Miami's season.
It was now four o'clock and we decided to have a big lunch downtown and forego dinner altogether. That decision brought us to El Market Bistro, a wonderful, traditional French restaurant reportedly operated by a French Canadian couple who used to be married but who discovered that they functioned better as business partners.
Splitting all courses between us, we moved from a mixed green salad with Dijon dressing to oeufs en meurette (a dish new to us but certain to be added to our repertoire), to stewed rabbit in a whole-grained mustard gravy, and finished with a cheese plate. Although the cheese plate was not up to snuff, the salad and the two other courses more than made up for it (and the sauces for the oeufs and rabbit allowed us to ply several chunks of baguette to make certain the plates were sparkling clean before they left the table). We sipped a French blanc de blanc with the main courses, turning to a glass of cabernet sauvignon for the cheese course. Excellent espresso!!
This Sunday adventure is sure to be revisited at the end of the month!
Feeling a little more energetic on Sunday, after coffee on our rooftop
terrace, we walked to the Public Library (not to be confused with the Municipal Library of SMA), the point of origin for a tour of three upscale SMA homes. The Public Library is run by Expats and houses the second largest English/Spanish collection in Mexico. The fees for the weekly home tour are used to support scholarships, ESL classes and even computer classes for local children. The Library also hosts music, plays, lectures, etc. for the expat community. The houses in the tours are dazzling. It’s a chance to see the splendor of the haciendas with central courtyards behind the small entryways that line the streets of SMA Centro.At the end of the tour, we were deposited near the central Jardin, the focal point for most of SMA's eating and cultural activities. Walking the two blocks to the Jardin, we passed the window of the bar at Momma Mia's and noticed that the Ravens playoff game against the Dolphins was playing on the bar's big screen TV. Sipping a couple of cervezas, we watched the last 9 minutes of Baltimore's demolition of Miami's season.
It was now four o'clock and we decided to have a big lunch downtown and forego dinner altogether. That decision brought us to El Market Bistro, a wonderful, traditional French restaurant reportedly operated by a French Canadian couple who used to be married but who discovered that they functioned better as business partners.
Splitting all courses between us, we moved from a mixed green salad with Dijon dressing to oeufs en meurette (a dish new to us but certain to be added to our repertoire), to stewed rabbit in a whole-grained mustard gravy, and finished with a cheese plate. Although the cheese plate was not up to snuff, the salad and the two other courses more than made up for it (and the sauces for the oeufs and rabbit allowed us to ply several chunks of baguette to make certain the plates were sparkling clean before they left the table). We sipped a French blanc de blanc with the main courses, turning to a glass of cabernet sauvignon for the cheese course. Excellent espresso!!
This Sunday adventure is sure to be revisited at the end of the month!
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