I know, I know, I know! It has been a week and no news from down south. I do apologize sincerely. This report will most likely read as more an excuse than a report.
When last we spoke we were on our way to San Miguel de Allende to visit our friends, Mirl and Carolyn Gratton as guests in their lovely home there. We did this trip a year ago, although it was a 10 hour ride from Puerto Vallarta. This was only 5.
We had dined the previous night with friends from our “hotelito,” Rebecca and Gary. We took a cab to Recco, a very nice Italian restaurant about 15 minutes west of downtown. It sits in a very nice old residential section of town. It had a lovely wrap-around porch and we sat at the very front. Dinner was excellent traditional Italian fare. We wanted a change from our nightly fare of Mexican food. I once said that I thought I could eat Mexican food every night. That is no longer true. Anyway, Polley and I each had a Caesar salad and a Roquefort salad and split an entrée, that neither of us can remember. I mention the food because as I boarded the bus the next morning, I was not feeling to well, although I don't attribute this directly to Recco..
We left a 9 am and arrived in San Miguel at 2 pm. Mirl and Carolyn were there to meet us and invited us to lunch. San Miguel is a charming town with a very impressive cathedral
Carolyn and Mirl have a wonderful home in San Miguel.
Very unlike me, I ask them to take me to their house immediately as I was not feeling very well. They did drop me off and went off to lunch with Polley. For the next 17 hours, I did not get out of bed accept to visit what became a very close friend, the toilet. I was very ill and did not make my way to the kitchen to join the others until 8 am the next day. The illness, a kind of food poisoning continued to keep me in bed for the next 9 hours. As we had tickets to a dinner theatre production that night, I ventured out for the first time and we saw a very funny production of Wood Allen’s Central Park West. The dinner, thank God, was all comfort food that I managed to keep down. However, my internal system was still a mess and I was up and down all night. The next morning, Thursday, our final day of visiting, I had a little strength back and Polley and I headed downtown around noon. We went immediately to a farmacía and got some “Cipro.” While many believe this to be an antibiotic, it is a compound and it worked nearly immediately. Mirl diagnosed what I had as Salmonella. Not pretty! Polley and I went and had a delicious lunch in the gardens of the art school
and took a cab back up to the Gratton house. I was cured!
That evening we went to dinner with Carolyn and Mirl and their two friends, Don and Federico. We went to Vivoli, another Italian restaurant and then to a scaled-down production of Mame. It was dreadful! I am not sure I will ever be able to set step on stage again. I wish I could tell you something good about the production (the drummer!), but there was little real talent, terrible costuming and mediocre to poor singing. I would criticize the choreography, but I am not sure there was any. We left at intermission and smugly discussed the production for the next hour.
Up by 6 am for an 8:45 bus back to Guadalajara. Still taking the Cipro, once in the morning and once in the evening for 5 days, the ride home was smooth and Polley and I read all the way. We were feeling great and set out for an Argentinean restaurant called La Matera. It has been recommended by Francisco and Alejandra, our friends and the owners of Candela.
La Matera is the coolest place we have been in Guadalajara. All brick, it appears as catacombs in the bar downstairs
and then has a huge dining room upstairs, with a lovely wrap-around porch. Having no reservation, we wait in the bar for nearly an hour, drinking one of the smoothest Malbec wine I have ever tasted: Luna, from Chile.
After an hour, we are called to our table and have a lovely dinner. While is is Argentinean, the steak I had was less than satisfying; I may have ordered it too rare. However, we had a starter of Sweetbreads Verdeo, sweetbreads with chiles and onions: fabulous! Polley had a Niçoise salad that was also very good. An excellent night out!
Saturday was Polley’s 72nd birthday. Wow! We had a little morning cocktail and the two Himel children, Althea and Adelaide, presented Polley with a birthday card
Then Polley and I just spent the day wandering about the town. However, at 5 p.m., the Himels, Steve, Ursulla and their two children hosted a birthday party for Polley in the private garden behind their room. It was great fun and all the guests from our “hotelito” were a prt of the festivities.
Of course, the little girls were the liveliest! Great fun.
About 7:30, we all wandered over a few blocks for an art opening in this very primitive space shared by a group of starving Mexican artists. Omar, who works in the kitchen, had a piece in the show, along with about 25 other works from members of this community. Omar’s piece was excellent and we were surprised by the quality of most of the work. Polley and I then bugged out and caught a cab to Zopapan for a birthday meal at Candela.
Were sorry that Francisco and Alajandra were not there and, in fact, were were so full from the birthday party that we had appetizers and wine and came back home. It had been a lovely day.
Ed and Polley
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