We arrived here on November 30th for our first house sitting gig. It was for 11 days taking care of 2 cats and a dog. It was a great experience and we had such fun with the animals. We managed to find another sit and moved into the historical Centro for another 4 days. This current house is beautiful with lots of light and its fully decked out for the holidays.

We had been in SMA before about 9 years ago with the kids but it was a quick 2 day trip and we just skimmed the sites. It’s wonderful to be back however the weather is unseasonably cold and we are not prepared for it. We had to buy Nick a scarf and a sweater and sneakers for me. Houses here are not built for this cold weather and most have open air windows. Needless to say, on the chilliest days we would head to a coffee shop.

We found Nicks favourite panaderia from 9 years ago and also the place where we stayed when a kind man named Jen took us in when couldn’t find a hotel. Unfortunately, we couldn’t track Jen down and it appears he has moved away.

SMA has a large expat community and is renowned for the artists who settle here from Mexico and beyond. The city was founded in the 1500’s and the core is historically protected with cobbled streets and beautiful architecture. Nick has spent much of his time wandering around town, through galleries and finding inspiration at every turn. I had been working from coffeehouses in town as they are warmer than the house and there appears to be a sizeable remote worker base here as well.

We have been out for a couple rides into the countryside; one out towards Querétaro which we cut short due to rain and the traffic was very heavy and it didn’t feel particularly safe. The other ride was great, we did about 40km on a backroad out to a small town called Atotonilco which is known as a pilgrimage town. There is a sanctuary built in the 1740’s and it is known as the Sistine Chapel of Mexico. It’s is spectacular, every inch of the place is painted in a Mexican baroque style of religious scenes. During Holy Week there are between 15,000 to 20,000 people that arrive to make the pilgrimage from the Sanctuary to the church in SMA.

It’s nice to be settled in a city. We walk a lot; before work, on my lunch and then again in the evening usually to the square to people watch and listen to the mariachi’s. We have made a few friends and it is nice to see familiar faces around town. It is a very hilly city though and at every turn you are faced with steep climbs and many stairs. It’s a very clean place though and the upkeep must be enormous. We even saw a city worker hand weeding a cobble road!

This is our last few days here and we head to Mexico City on Sunday to meet up with the kids on Monday. We are both very excited to see them and explore that city together. We do get one more SMA experience in the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe which started last night at 11pm with fireworks that went until 2am. It’s now 8am and the festival is in full swing again. We are located a couple blocks from the square and the bangs sound like cannons going off. I expect a few sleepless nights…