Don Quixote in Guanajuato

Today we visited El Museo Iconografico de Don Quixote, or the Iconographic Museum of Don Quixote, a truly unique museum you won't find anywhere else but in Guanajuato. 

There is a big bronze statue of the fictional character Don Quixote right outside, and a brilliant baritone singing in front of the house next door, so who we were we to say no?

Who the Heck is Don Quixote?

For those not well-versed in literary endeavors, Don Quixote is a fictional character created by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes in a book rather awkwardly titled The Ingenious Gentleman Sir Quixote of La Mancha. This is what Wikipedia has to say about it:

Published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature, it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published, such as the Bokklubben World Library collection that cites Don Quixote as the authors' choice for the "best literary work ever written".

Needless to say, no one in my family has read it, not even Aryk, the writer and English Literature major. This is what Wikipedia says it is about:

The story follows the adventures of a noble (hidalgo) named Alonso Quixano who reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his sanity and decides to become a knight-errant (caballero andante), reviving chivalry and serving his country, under the name Don Quixote de la Mancha. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, who often employs a unique, earthy wit in dealing with Don Quixote's rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood. Don Quixote, in the first part of the book, does not see the world for what it is and prefers to imagine that he is living out a knightly story.

Don Quixote and My Mother

My late mother’s favorite musical was The Man of La Mancha, a 1965 musical about Don Quixote. She would have really enjoyed this museum. If you have ever heard the song The Impossible Dream, you should know it comes from this musical. (I realize this is irrelevant, but I had to share it anyway.) 

The museum, located a couple of blocks off the main square, was founded in 1987 by the collector Eulalio Ferrer Rodríguez, a former captain in the Spanish Civil War who, legend has it, traded a pack of cigarettes for the book Don Quixote, and the book helped keep him sane and captured his imagination during the time he spent in a refugee camp in France. An entrepreneur involved in communications and advertising, he later immigrated to Mexico and brought his devotion to Don Quixote to Guanajuato, which is now famous for its annual, month-long Cervantino festival – even though Cervantes himself never set foot in this city!

Eulalio Ferre Rodriguez

An Amazing Variety of Art

The museum is quite good. It’s situated in what was probably the mansion of a mine-owner, and it houses in 16 rooms a striking collection of different types of pieces by different artists whose theme revolves around the figure of Don Quixote and the rest of the characters in the novel. There are bronze sculptures, surreal paintings, sketches, multimedia pieces and more!

Here are a few of my favorites.

Welcome to Messy Suitcase! Part 2: Why Mexico?

Car Setbacks (a.k.a. Shit Happens)

All was not completely smooth in our trip across the country and into Mexico,as we ran into several car-related setbacks.

First, the Car Accident

The first came in late August when Lexie was working on getting her driver’s license. One Saturday we decided to get some interstate driving experience in and drive north on I-76, away from the crowded metro Denver area. We were concentrating on watching cars that were merging onto the highway, as Denver drivers have a bad habit of expecting cars already on the highway to yield to them. Driving in the right-hand lane, we came to an entrance ramp where a car and medium sized U-Haul truck had just gotten on the merge ramp. We were opposite the truck so we couldn’t speed up, but before we could even slow down the U-Haul moved right into our lane. Lexie’s immediate reaction was to shift left to avoid the truck, but unfortunately, another car was there. We hit that car, bounced off, and Lexie lost control. Suddenly we were heading for the concrete median at 65 mph. Crash! Airbags deployed. Things didn’t end well for the truck, or for Lexie’s hand, which was broken and in a cast for 6 weeks. 

The U-Haul driver just drove on up the road. I assume he never even saw us.

Chain Reaction

This set off a chain reaction. First, we had to find a new truck. Unfortunately, we had already ordered a custom topper which only fit Toyota Tacomas through 2015, and it was black. So we started looking, all over the country for a low-mileage 2015 Tacoma in a color compatible with black. This consumed valuable time that we needed for packing and finishing up on the house, but we eventually found a charcoal one in the Denver area that had about 50,000 miles less than our older 2012 truck.

 License & Registration

The accident also meant that Lexie wouldn’t be able to get her driver’s license in Colorado, because she could not drive again till she got her cast off, which would be only a few days before our scheduled departure. We would have to figure out that later.

And it created some difficulties in getting license plates and registration for the new car in Colorado since CO had recently switched to a new computer system which had created a backlog.

Next, the Battery

Our troubles in CO weren’t over yet. On the day before we were scheduled to leave, the new truck wouldn’t start. We had it jumped and I took it to NAPA to get the battery tested. The battery was bad, and I changed it out in the NAPA parking lot.

Then, Rear-Ended

For our last meal in the Denver area, we decided to go to Woody’s Pizza in Golden, our favorite pizza place. They make a wide variety of delicious pizzas, and you go to the counter and grab a slice of whatever pizza just came out of the oven. On the way, we were stopped at a red light on a fairly major road, 2^nd in line. Traffic was stopped behind us. The light turned green, but the person in front of decided he wanted to change lanes so he didn’t move until traffic on our left had cleared. As we sat waiting, the woman in a large truck behind us suddenly rammed into the back of our truck. Our truck was half packed, but fortunately it was drivable, with only damage to our tailgate and bumper. Because of our tight travel schedule to make it across the country and catch a plane to Europe, it would be three months before we could get the damage repaired.

The new truck with topper, right before the accident

So we had to drive across the country with a badly damaged bumper held on by a bungee cord.

Our Car Registration Expires

We parked our truck at Lisa’s brother’s house in northern Virginia and he graciously took us to the airport for our European trip. During the time away, our temporary Colorado registration expired, so we had to call the car dealership from Greece to get an extension sent to Lisa’s brother so we wouldn’t be driving illegally when we got back.

Back to Lexie’s Driver’s License

Back from Europe, our plan was to spend some time in our Vermont house and get Lexie the driving practice necessary to pass the test. Then we would both fly back to CO, get the new car registration and take the test. However, since we own property in Vermont we investigated whether Lexie could get her license and whether we could register the car there. We found out we could do both, and now Lexie is a resident of Vermont. We also registered the car there. Vermont DMV took our CO title and told us it would be a few weeks before our registration and title would arrive in the mail (to our Colorado address).

Unfortunately, the weather was abnormally snowy so we didn’t get as much driving practice in as we expected, still Lexie was ready to take the test a few days before our scheduled departure. Unfortunately, she didn’t pass, mostly because the examiner didn’t like the way she parallel-parked the truck. (Personally, I completely avoid parallel parking the truck because I can’t do it.) She actually parallel-parked perfectly, but before she had time to straighten the wheels out, the instructor told her she was finished and to move on – and then deducted points for not straightening out the truck!

It was frustrating, but we rescheduled the test for the day before we were scheduled to leave VT. Then, just as we were getting into the truck to go to the test, the examiner called us and told us that a mistake had been made and that they rescheduled the new test too early, as Vermont has a three-day waiting period between tests. That meant that Lexie still doesn’t have her license, which we will have to take care of this summer.

Cracked Windshield

We embarked on our trip to Mexico in early January, and on the second day on the road, we took a stone to the windshield which caused a crack. We didn’t want to go into Mexico with that so, as we were driving, we scheduled a glass repair while we were staying at our AirBnB in New Orleans the next day.

Troubles at the Border

We’ve previously documented our problems in getting into Mexico because we still hadn’t received our permanent registration from Vermont – read that blog. 

Sidetracked by the Gas Crisis

And, follow our problems in getting the whole way to Guadalajara due to the gas crisis in Mexico here! 

Rising Above

However, even with all of the minor setbacks, we made it to Mexico and have started our new life -- and we certainly have learned how to handle adversity! And sometimes the setbacks provided unforeseen advantages. Because of the accident, we have a newer car that is better able to handle rough Mexican roads. Because of the gas crisis, we discovered a city we never would have thought to visit, Leon.

Welcome to Messy Suitcase on You Tube! Part 1: Launching a New Life

Messy Suitcase is on YouTube!

We are officially launching the Messy Suitcase YouTube channel. Please visit, subscribe, and follow us on our adventures in Mexico and beyond!  Because life is short and the world is big.  #messysuitcase #lifeisshorttheworldisbig

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Getting Broken Saxophones Repaired

(Even though we have moved on to Guanajuato, we still have a few blogs from our life in Tlaquepaque to post. Enjoy!)

We have two saxophones here in Mexico. Because I routinely play an alto, I keep it on a stand. Unfortunately, one night the nocturnal cat activities got a little too rambunctious and they knocked my sax onto the hard tile floor. My sax had some damage and needed to go into the repair shop.

Lex plays the bari sax, and one day one of her keys no longer functioned properly. It needed to go into the shop, too.

Back in Colorado, we knew of several good shops. In Guadalajara, we didn’t know of any. Mr. Google provided several potential musical instrument repair shops. Then we had to use WhatsApp, in Spanish, to find out whether they repaired saxophones. Fortunately, Mr. Google provided a picture of the front of one shop, Taller (Workshop) Rodriguez e Hijos, which had a sign which said they repaired saxophones. They became the de facto winner.

The sign says: Repair of All Types of Woodwind instruments, including Clarinets, Trumpets, trombones and Saxophones, Gold-Plated, Nickel, Chrome

Visiting Rodriguez e Hijos

Lex and I Ubered to the shop on a Monday afternoon. No Spanish spoken there, but we managed to convey what we needed. The sax expert came out and gave our saxophones a thorough examination. Then, in very rapid Spanish, he explained to us what he needed to do. Neither Lex or I understood a word he said, we just nodded in agreement. He did point out four areas that my sax needed work on. When we asked him when they would be ready, he told us three days.

I also asked how much he thought it would cost and he told us that he wouldn’t know until he did his work. I left with a little concern, since we gave both saxophones to someone we didn’t know and with no idea what it would cost us to get them back.

Bob's happy saxophone

Lexie's rejuvenated bari sax

Lex and I returned on Thursday, and as promised the saxophones were ready. I took mine out and played a few notes. It sounded good.

Then Came the Bill

I then asked the question I was almost afraid to ask – how much was the bill? To my astonishment, the bill was $450MXN, or less than $25USD. I gave him the money and we were off.

I don’t know exactly what was done, but I can guarantee you that the work would have cost us at least $150 USD back in Lakewood, and certainly wouldn’t have been done in 3 days.

But both saxophones were fixed and now sound the way they should.

Thank you Taller Rodriguez e Hijos!

Cristo Rey: The Heart of Mexico

Today we traveled to the corazon (heart) of Mexico to see the iconic statue of Cristo Rey. This imposing bronze statue of Christ the King, 75 feet tall and rising 8,461 feet above sea level at Mexico’s geographical center, looms from atop a mountain above the town of Silao called El Cubillo del Cubilete.

Cristo Rey

The monumental Christ of the Mountain was created in art deco style by artist Nicholas Mariscal in 1944 to honor the struggle of Christians during a period of religious persecution in the early 1900s.

In the words of former Mexican President Vicente Fox, the statue serves as a "rebuke to the suppressors of religious freedom" who sought to quash the Church during the persecution of Christians in Mexico during the first half of the twentieth century.

A smaller previous monument was dynamited in 1928 by the anti-religious (and particularly anti-Catholic) regime of President Plutarco Elías Calles, as part of his mission to kill Christian rebels and destroy all Christian symbols during the nation's critical "Cristero War" when state atheism was enforced.  (Source: Wikipedia)

A Holy Shrine for Mexicans

Few Americans have even heard of Cristo Rey and El Cubillo del Cubilete, but to Mexicans, this is a holy place where many make a pilgrimage. At the foot of the statue is basilica in the shape of a globe where pilgrims visit throughout the year, especially in November, when Catholics celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. This elegant sanctuary, with its enormous crown of thorns encircling the ceiling and its gold-coated crown in the center, is one of the most visited churches in Mexico. (Unfortunately, I couldn’t stroll through it and take pictures because I was wearing shorts, which are forbidden attire in the sanctuary.)

Sanctuary

Crown of thorns

Golden crown for Christ the King

Incredible Vistas

The 360-degree panoramic view from the base of the monument is truly spectacular. Guanajuato is having an extremely dry May, and we could see a number of forest fires in the distant mountains. In fact, on the drive to the shrine, we came within a few feet of one. Learn more. 

Side Trips

On the way, we stopped to eat lunch on the covered veranda of a beautiful hacienda surrounded by grape vines called Jesus Maria, which served up wonderful wine, pasta, salads and seafood. 

Our family and Javier enjoying dinner

We also visited the village of La Luz, where we stopped into the fascinating, ancient church named Maria de la Luz.

Because this is a big mining region,
the crucifix had miners' helmets, tools and rocks at its base.

Thank you, Javier!

The tour was conducted by Javier Salazar, general manager of Casa Estrella Wellness Center, where we are staying. He made for a very knowledgeable and sometimes devilishly funny tour guide! 

We have a new name!

"Life is Short, the World is Big" is our philosophy, our passion, our lifestyle, our motivation, our inspiration.

But as a blog title, it was just TOO LONG!

So we are in the process of changing the name of the blog to Messy Suitcase! After all, we are living out of a few suitcases stuffed into the back of our truck (along with three musical instruments, three cats and our youngest child, Lex, who is on a gap year from college). OK, we let the cats and Lex sit in the back seat, but you get the point!

Every few months, we pack up those suitcases -- often with "help" from the cats -- and head for our next destination, where we again live out of messy suitcases!

Connect to Messy Suitcase on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube -- and watch for our YouTube channel to get a lot busier.

Thanks for supporting Bob and Lisa in our travels ... because life is short & the world is big!

Do you recognize Ellie Smoit, the Adventure Cat, in our new logo?

Discovering Mayolica Pottery in Santa Rosa

We recently had the privilege of visiting a pottery workshop called Mayolica Santa Rosa, where a family business turns out breathtaking, intricate, handmade pottery lovingly created with dedicated fingers and devoted hearts.

The simple two-story cinderblock workshop occupies one side of the street in the ancient, dusty village of Santa Rosa, high on a mountain about 25 minutes northeast of Guanajuato. A huge showroom is across the street. (Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures in the showroom, to prevent any thievery of their designs.)

It's not a place many tourists visit, especially Americans, and it's their loss. Javier Salazar, the wonderful manager of the Casa Estrella, where we are fortunate to be staying, generously drove us and another couple, Carolee and Gilberto, up to the village to see how pottery is made. The suites and apartments in Casa Estrella are filled with beautiful pieces from Mayolica Santa Rosa.

The sign over the door of the store

Visiting the Workrooms

The workshop is a high-ceilinged building with two large workrooms. In the front room is the giant kiln, as well as shelf upon shelf of unfinished pieces of pottery ready to be transformed into works of art. 

The big white box on the left is the oven

We were amazed as we watched one man hand-draw a stunning, detailed design onto a large pedestaled bowl. His name was Juan, and he was the only one entrusted to design the pieces.

The artist at work

Up the stairs and in the large back room, the Area de la Pintura (painting area), several painters painstakingly painted the colors within the lines of his design, carefully shading the pieces, which appeared pastel and bleached until after they were fired in the huge oven.

Before firing in the oven

The intensity of colors after firing

Mayolica Santa Rosa was founded in 1963, and is dedicated to the manufacture of Mayolica Ceramics, a porous type of ceramics that originated in Spain. It gets its name from Mallorca Island, which was on the trade route to Italy. All the pieces are turned and decorated by hand. The business is currently represented by the third generation of eight brothers.

Seen outside the door to the painting room

The sign outside the painting room says (in my bad Spanish translation): "Welcome to the Painting Area. Every piece that you admire and acquire is unique because each one carries part of the artist, since it is delivered with a feeling unique for its creation, with the best quality."

Visiting the Showroom

The entrance to the showroom

This fresco, outside the family's home next door,
is a great example of their work.

The sheer volume and quality of the pieces for sale in the massive, two-level showroom is absolutely breathtaking. There were plates and bowls, cups and saucers, pitchers and vases, fountains and pots, statues and urns, tiled frescoes, and more. The intricate designs were derived from life in Mexico: groups of fruit, flowers, village scenes, chickens and pigs, Frida Kahlos, and many, many Catrinas, the reverential, skeletal image of death in Mexico.

UPDATE, May 26

I just discovered several beautiful pieces of Mayolica pottery in our apartment, Casa Estrellita, at Casa Estrella. (Watch for a blog about the amazing art in our apartment!)

And I found this beautiful tile wall art by Mayolica Pottery in the fitness center at Casa Estrella. Enjoy!

The Herradura Tequila Express

(Even though we have moved on to Guanajuato, we still have a few blogs from our life in Tlaquepaque to post. Enjoy!)

Living in Tlaquepaque, we were less than 50 miles from the birthplace of tequila, the town of Tequila. So of course we had to visit and become acquainted with Mexico’s most famous alcoholic beverage!

What is Tequila, Anyway?

Tequila, a type of mescal made from the blue agave plant, was first made in the 16^th century. Mexican law states that tequila can only be produced in the Mexican state of Jalisco and in limited number in three other states. Tequila must be 40% alcohol (80 proof) in the US, but in Mexico it’s usually 38%.

There are over 100 distilleries producing over 900 brands of tequila, and many conduct tours and tastings at their haciendas.

We decided to splurge and signed up for a day trip on the Herradura Express, a special train leaving from Guadalajara to the Herradura Hacienda in Amatitan, a town adjacent to Tequila. There were three classes of seats on the train. We selected the middle-class ticket which cost $2400 MXN pesos each, or about $125.

 We Ubered to the train station, checked in and selected our seats. Even though we had been told the train had been sold out, we had four comfortable seats and a table to ourselves. There was a bar in our car, which was kept busy the whole day.

Carlos, our bartender

Tequila on the Train

We were immediately served water, juice and a box breakfast. But once the train left the station, at 10 in the morning, they switched to serving tequila-based drinks. I can’t even remember what they all were or how many we had, but the drinks were definitely flowing, including Margaritas, Tequila Sunrises, Horchatas (a Mexican rice-based vanilla drink), White Russians, a coffee-based drink called The Bull, and many more.

After about 90 minutes or so of traveling amid a breathtaking landscape, including fields upon fields of blue agave, we arrived in the tiny pueblo of Amatitan and transferred onto buses for the short ride to the Hacienda Herradura. We got into the English-language tour and were off.

The Tequila Volcano

Agave plants

The Tour

First stop was walking by some blue agave plants, which we learned take 8 years to mature to the point they could be used for tequila. Next, we watched a Jimador use a coa (a wooden-handled cutting blade) to strip the leaves from the plant to get to the heart, also called a pina because it resembles a pineapple, which is used in the distillation process. 

The Jimador with his coa chopping off
the leaves of the blue agave plant

We saw the row of ovens where the pinas are baked. Next, they are squeezed repeatedly to get the agave juice, which is distilled and then fermented in giant barrels. The pulp is removed and used for other things such as candy and even furniture. 

The ovens

A pile of pinas

Tasting

Next we walked through an ancient section of the facility that is no longer used, and led to a tasting cellar. Tasting glasses were neatly laid out on tables.

A bilingual talk was given on the “correct” way to drink tequila: Swish the glass in a circle to check out the “legs” of the liquid. Breath in the scent. Breath in through your nose, hold it, sip tequila onto your tongue. Swallow. Breath out through your nose. Finally, emit an “Ahhh” and empty your lungs. We started our tasting. To the best of my recollection, we tried 5. We could taste the differences, particularly the smoothness, between the various categories of tequila:

• “Blanco” or “plata” is a white spirit, unaged and bottled or stored immediately after distillation, or aged less than two months in stainless steel or neutral oak barrels. It is used in cocktails.
• “Reposado” is aged two months to a year in oak barrels of any size
• “Añejo” aged one to  three years in small oak barrels
• “Extra Añejo” is aged a minimum of three years in oak barrels.

 Our favorite was reposado.

The Barrel Room

After the tasting, we were led into a huge room in which they kept empty barrels in which tequila had previously been aged. Herradura has a program where a restaurant or bar can come to the distillery and purchase an entire barrel for $10,000 USD. This yields 240 bottles at a per bottle price of $40. The distillery will then customize bottles of the tequila from  the barrel for the purchaser, and the purchaser gets to customize the top of the barrel.

Lunch … and more Tequila

By this time we were ravenous and finally made it to lunch, where we sat at a long table and they served us even more tequila. I sat next to a guy from St. Louis who had been doing work in Las Vegas and on a whim decided to fly down to Guadalajara for a few days. He knew a bit about tequila and told me to ask for a specific high-quality tequila. I did. It was the good stuff and very smooth. He was asking for them two glasses at a time. They served a delicious lunch of chicken, potatoes and vegetables, and we were entertained by a Mariachi band and some folkloric dancers.

Mariachi

Folkloric dancers

 Of course, we needed a souvenir, so we went to the tequila stand they had conveniently set up and purchased 950ml of one of the Reposados for about $25 USD. We had been told that they would engrave our bottle for us, but unfortunately, the engraver called in sick that day. That was probably a good thing; otherwise, it would have been difficult to part with the engraved bottle and we definitely don’t have room for it in the truck. (Later note: It does fit in the truck and we are saving it.)

The Trip Home

It was time to go, and we loaded onto the buses for the trip back to the train. Once on the train, the cocktails continued to flow until we arrived back in Guadalajara at around 8 PM. To our complete surprise, neither one of us were feeling any effects of the non-stop day of drinking, although there was one group on our train that was definitely loud and raucous on the ride back.

Cocktails on the trip home

All in all, we had a great day. It was pricey but the experience was worth it!