Dolores Hidalgo

Dolores Hidalgo and Santuario Atotonilco, Guanajuato - Mexico

Dolores Hidalgo is the birth place of the Mexican revolution, Talavera pottery and crazy ice cream. Atotonilco was the second town in Miguel Hidalgo's march toward independence

We drove out the back way from San Miguel near San Miguel Viejo not quite sure how to find Atotonilco. It turns out it's right off the Dolores Hidalgo highway but made a nice country drive. It was here, in 1810, that Miguel Hidalgo took an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe as the banner of his movement.

On to Dolores Hidalgo and we were surprised to find not many Talavera shops in the center of town. Many have moved out to the highway where the rent is cheaper. We did find that one nice shop about 5-6 blocks from the plaza. The museum of Independence and the casa of Miguel Hidalgo are not much to see but are close and inexpensive.

Had to eat and found the best place I'm sure - Cocina Charly right at the entrance to the mercado. Very cheap and lots of fresh food. Of course we had to try some of the strange ice cream flavors ... but not the real strange stuff.

Local chapel outside Atotonilco

Dolores Hidalgo church on the plaza

Talavera shop

More fotos of the Dolores Hidalgo trip

Health care reform stalls in Congress

Health care reform stalls in Congress

Sparks over Vallarta

Sparks over Vallarta by Vallartagal on TomZap

Solving some of the world problems

It's nice to see that Miss Teen South Carolina is trying to make a difference now that she's all grown up. On the merit of her amazing plan, this woman just took over for Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Fed. She should have the economy fixed later this month.

We used to call that Guerilla Theater back in the '60's

Control your chances of being a crime victim

Avoiding crime in Mexico - from Chapala message board

You can control your chances of being a victim of crime. Some ideas:

1) Scout out areas and live in a lower crime area (sometimes the lower crime areas might not be close to where you want to live)

2) Trust nobody, give your keys to nobody and don't brag about what you have or when you won't be home

3) Make sure if you have a car that you lock it all the time, park it in secured parking and never leave anything intriguing or valuable looking in plain sight.

4) Smile and know your neighbours

5) Don't bring valuable junk like gaudy jewellery and riches as you are in Mexico, having more than a poor Mexican means little and if you were rich you'd have a million dollar home on the beach, not be living in the Chapala area flaunting your riches.

6) Don't just hire anybody to work at your home. Some gringos are very naive and will hire a worker on the recommendation of another gringo without first ascertaining how long they worked for that person and if they have a good reputation in the community. You don't need workers but it is a nice bonus to pay relatively little and not have to sweep, mop and scrub toilets all the time.

7) Make sure you have adequate lighting around your home and look for ways to discourage burglars. Some homes have adjoining walls and connect to roofs of other homes, this is a recipe for disaster, especially in areas with a higher crime rate.

8) Don't mess with drugs or walk around in the wee hours of the night or drunk where you are not in control.

Monroe Washington - NE of Seattle

Staying with family while doing my up-north yearly business. Was out seeing the country today while waiting for the wheels to turn and trying the new camera.

A little over two weeks ago I spent a week with friends in San Miguel. Impressive city but lots of gringos and very touristy. We spent time in the country by the lake, visited three balnearios, spend a day in Guanajuato and Dolores Hidalgo.

12 hours back to Melaque to find my house had been broken into and enough of my computer pieces taken that I couldn't work with or upload any fotos. That kind of stuff also kills the positive spirit so I just spend the week before heading north repairing the house and adding more security. Another week or two here and back to the tropics