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07/15/05 - San Miguel de Allende, MX Finally a place to call home after 8 months on the road! |
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To make a long story short, we just bought a condo in San Miguel! After 4 rollercoaster days (can we afford it?...no, we can't...wait, yes, I think we can!) of looking at real estate, both rentals and sales, we plunked our money down on a small one bedroom condo within walking distance of the jardin (main plaza) just outside the Centro Historico in San Miguel. We really wanted to buy something larger in order to accommodate all the guests we are sure to have and, in fact, started our search by looking only at 2 bedroom/2 bath properties. Well, this has become quite a popular place in recent years; real estate prices are being driven up wildly by all the gringos who are coming down here and buying properties (even the Mexican locals have dollar signs in their eyes - they're no fools!). After some frustrated searching, we quickly realized that we would have to sacrifice either size or location (if not both), especially in order to buy something that was actually livable while we fixed it up a little. It was a hard decision, after having entertained fantasies of spacious rooms gathered around a central courtyard (with fountain!) and rooftop patios with city views. But life in San Miguel truly is centered around the jardin and having to drive in and park on the crowded, traffic-filled streets rather than just walking a few blocks in order to enjoy all SMA has to offer seemed a little less than fun (especially after doing it for 4 days). So, after much deliberation, we settled on a nice little condo with a flexible open floor plan and that is basically in move-in condition (with just enough little projects to keep us happy!). And we'll be more than happy to research nearby accommodations (of which there are many) for those of you who get smart and decide to pay us a visit. (We'll also have an aero-bed or similar for those of you who don't mind "roughing it" a little - you know who you are and you're more than welcome to come and stay!)
It's been a rough week, but SMA is such a wonderful, vibrant place that we are extremely excited to return, move into our condo and begin the next phase of our adventure! We hope to see some of you soon!
And finally, I must thank our new friend Wendy who has kept us sane, as we searched for the seemingly impossible, with highly entertaining stories of her own insanity, while throwing back a few Negro Modelos and listening to Joe Walsh (well, sort of, but not really). We'll be back soon, Wendy! |
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| San Miguel-Bound | |
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07/09/05 - Tonala, MX $340 pesos (about $30) is not the deal it might sound like |
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After rushing around tying up loose ends at the condo (the terrace is slated to begin construction on Monday!), we hit the road for San Miguel de Allende this afternoon. It's about 8+ hours from PV so we are spending the night in a semi-skanky hotel (in an attempt to save some money - not worth it to Caroline, but Scott still insists that stinky towels and a springy bed with dingy sheets don't make it skanky) here in Tonala, a cute very Mexican town outside Guadalajara where, you may recall, we did some recent shopping for the condo.
We are not anticipating much opportunity for sight-seeing on this trip. Rather, our purpose in going to San Miguel is to scope out apartment rentals for when we return in August from our trip to Michigan later this month. More later on our success (or lack thereof)...
Upon research and reflection, we have decided (sight unseen) that we want to move to San Miguel, at least for a several months, so we can take Spanish language classes and just establish a more routine existence, while enjoying some pleasant weather. We are really quite over PV, at least until this winter when we get cold in SMA, when we will run back to the beach to warm up! |
Caroline says goodbye to Bebe before departing Casa Andrea in Puerto Vallarta |
