08-APR-2008
Lunch spot
We had a wonderful lunch here, although we did not eat on the little bridge. This is near the University so there were lots of youngsters hanging out and internetting.
Here we ran into a person named Judy from Seattle that we had also run into on Saturday. Turns out we have a common friend, Alison. Small world dept.
08-APR-2008
VW census
Here are cars lined up to get into one of the tunnels. There are lots of VW bugs, old air-cooled VW buses, and water-cooled VW buses that look more like the 70s buses we have in the US. Saw one Type 3 and a couple Type 4s. No VW Things -- they must have been for the US market only in spite of them being Hecho en Mexico.
09-APR-2008
San Roque
Here's the Church of San Roque, or St. Rochus. I went to a St. Rochus church as a kid so I am interested in churches of the same name (also saw one in Ljubljana). This is on Calle S. Roque (St. Rochus Street).
09-APR-2008
This church has paintings of each Station Of The Cross; they are very old and have been recently restored.
09-APR-2008
The story of St. Rochus includes him hiding out and a dog helping him by bringing food. Of the statues I've seen of St. Rochus (now 3), this dog is the biggest, and looks like a yellow Lab.
I can't imagine Bailey stealing food and bringing it to me in the woods...
This church also had two crucifixes with a very bloody Christ on each, two statues of the scourged Christ (robe, crown of thorns), one statue of a fallen Christ with the cross, and one of Christ in his tomb. It also had two side altars. It isn't all that large of a church. It was like others the in that (Jen pointed this out to me) there are no stained glass windows and that the windows were very near the top. The insides were bright, but they probably stayed cooler because of no low windows. So with all that wall space there is room for statues and crucifixes.
09-APR-2008
Alhondiga
This is the Alhondiga de Granaditas, the grain storage building used as a fort by the Spaniards, and site of the first battle of the War Of Independence.
So Mexicans think of this as we would think of Lexington Green.
El Pipila (see one of Saturday's photos) set the doors on fire, enabling the rebels to storm the fort. We are trekking up to his monument tonight.
09-APR-2008
The Alhondiga is now a very nice museum, with meso-American relics, exhibits about the War Of Independence, and the role of Guanajuato in Mexican history.
09-APR-2008
Here's a frog, which is fitting for Guanajuato because its name at one time was Quanax-huato, meaning Place of Frogs.
09-APR-2008
The Spaniards put the heads of the four executed revolutionary leaders in cages and hung those from spikes on each corner of the building.
The rebels won this first battle, and the war, but it was a long, bloody struggle, and it seems that little if any quarter was given.
Bunches of school kids came in and were doing whirlwind tours, but I noticed that the teachers stopped here and pointed this out to the kids.
09-APR-2008
The museum also has murals by Chavez Morado depicting Guanajuato's history.
09-APR-2008
This is the inside of the building/fort. Each room, of course, was designed to hold grains, then it became a fort, then a jail/prison, and finally a museum.
09-APR-2008
Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico
During political upheavals in the mid 19th century, some conservatives invited Maximilian (brother of Kaiser/King Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary) to become Emperor of Mexico. He had some French troops backing him up. Of course you remember that Spain had been ruled by Habsburgs for a while, so you can see the connection.
Anyway, the plan did not stick and Maximilian was executed in 1867 ("ruling" from 1864).
