This year, I gathered a few friends and we headed down to San Miguel de Allende to celebrate my birthday/Mexico's independence. A few of my favorite travel buddies, including Awesome A, helped me celebrate in a little rented cottage on a high hill above the San Miguel Centro. The weather was perfect for exploring (a little overcast, cool-but-not-too-cold, clear evenings) the packed little town of artists and expats that is at least 90 minutes from the nearest airport, and yet remains a huge tourist draw.
While I didn't get to enjoy my favorite fall treat (chiles en nogada), I did eat some fabulous locally-sourced, hand-crafted, hippie-gourmet chocolates and drink the most fabulous locally-sourced, hand-roasted, hippie-gourmet coffee at the OrganicVeganGlutenFree100%AllNatural coffee shop next to the hippie chocolate shop - and it was all amazing (and the best cup of coffee I've had in Mexico - take that, Chiapas!) - thanks San Miguel expat-hippie collective!
We also visited the local hot springs at La Gruta - which has a man-made cave / steam room that was super-rejuvenating after two days of hiking the cobblestone streets of San Miguel.
Unfortunately, I was sound asleep before the greeto again this year (I've only stayed awake for the greeto once in three years), after three nights of being woken by our college student neighbors every night/morning at 4am, and the cannons, whiz-bangs, and church bells that had been going off intermittently since 5am; but just hearing the distant celebration day fire-works in my half-sleep made me feel warm and fuzzy - as if the fireworks were going off just for me.
(Warning: San Miguel is SUPER beautiful, so there are a lot of pictures below)
