When I first saw this on Saturday, I was bewildered, "why on earth would Prussia have a consulate here?" Then when I thought more it, it made perfect sense. Maximilian was a Habsburg, the French were meddling in Mexican affairs (ruled at that time by Louis Napoleon or, if you prefer, Napoleon III).

It was tough to get ahead of Otto von Bismarck, so hence, Prussia must have had eyes anywhere Prussia's rivals had designs.

This is now a bar.

Someone asked me "where are all the people?" They are here; this is the Jardin de la Union during the day.

We didn't walk down, we rode the funicular (inclined plane). The cars are not as large as the ones in Johnstown; these were cozy with 5 people -- one other passenger besides us, and a young man that was riding up and down as he was chatting with the young woman serving as conductor.

We tried 2 restaurants and there was not a soul in either although it was 8 pm. Not wanting to be alone, we struck out toward the Jardin.

The sign for El Consulator Bar (the Prussian consulate of a few pix back) said Horas Feliz 7 -9. 2X We didn't know if we could get anything to eat but at least we could get lubricated.

So we went in there, got margaritas and peanuts, and ended up watching a futbal game between Chivas (Mex) and Santos (Brazil) as part of the 2008 competition for the Santander Libertadores Cup. Sports on TV is alright with me, especially with half-price maragaritas. I ended up vocally rooting for Chivas.

Jen asked some questions of an old Don at the table next to us and caused him to miss three goals -- two by Chivas (his team) and one by the opponents but he didn't care. He spoke some English having been a doctor in Wash DC early in his career. After a while he went up to get his wife and we all chatted the best we could (Jen and the couple, mostly). It was a nice time and although we were not out very late, we had trouble getting up this morning.

I don't have a lot of memories of the pre-Vatican II Church, and my childhood church got a new, young, dynamic priest shortly afterwards who removed the statues and all. Here's a Christ child figure in a case with a pile of toys, mostly cars.

These churches do seem much older than any US Catholic Church I've been in for the last 40+ years, and seem closer to the Orthodox cathedrals in Russia or some of the Slovenian and Croatian churches.

Speaking of those trips, I did not try to learn any Spanish before coming here, figuring that I could pick up what I needed on the fly or else rely on Jennifer (she is in Spanish school, after all). And while I don't think I've done all that poorly, my mind does get jumbled up with similar phrases in Russian, Serbo-Croatian, and German (since I was taking that in the evening last year).

I had been able to at least keep those languages out of my mouth when addressing folks, but the other evening I slipped up and said "Dobro noches" to a bathroom attendant.

C'est la vie!

After Jen's class on Thursday, we went out for a bite to eat with her teacher, Mario. He is from Mexico City and has lived in Guanajuato for six years. He lived on Vancouver Island for 5 months one year, so he had an idea what Washington was like. We had a good time.

I never mentioned that Guanajuato is at 2000 meters (over 6000 feet). Saturday and Sunday I had a mild headache all day trekking around, which I blamed on altitude, but by Tuesday the calves stopped hurting and besides sucking air I was OK.

Jen has class from 6 to 7, and at 6:50, I set out to meet her and Mario. I had just left the B&B which is located up one of these hilly streets. I run across 3 young women, one crying out a name loudly, and they are pushing an old senora in a wheelchair up this damn steep cobblestone street. Very slowly pushing her.

Well, I don't know how to say "Let me help you" in Spanish but they quickly got the idea. We pushed OK for a bit but then hit a step. They spun the chair around and removed those foot rests, and then leaned the chair over and each grabbed a handle.

That left me holding the back of the chair, and we went over a couple steps. Mind you, I have no idea where these folks are going, but I do know there are not steep streets beyond the B&B -- it turns into a staircase.

So we went up those steps, I'm being real careful not to slip (in Birkenstock sandals) because then a real disaster would occur.

The first turn in the staircase after the B&B, they stop and gesture that we have arrived. Gracias a Dios! I was sucking serious oxygen. They were very grateful for my help.

So, in the Cervantes capital of America, I become a modern -- but successful! -- Don Quijote.

With that high point, our short trip to Guanahuato was over! Gracias, amigos, y adios!