Quick Trip to San Luis Potosí

I spent 18 days in the city of San Luis Potosí (in the apartment on the upper left), in the state of San Luis Potosí (I keep getting confused). My friend Robin was able to spend 10 of those days with me. With an elevation of 6,115 feet, and no heat, I was wearing my silk long johns under my clothes. In addition, I was studying for my final in my Spanish 301 class at WWU. I gratefully celebrated when it was done (upper right photo). The apartment was located very near the historic center of town, so it was difficult to imagine that about 1 million people live in this city! It is strategically located on historic trade routes and train routes to the US border which historically brought lots of military action. Gold, and then silver, was discovered in the area which made it a rich asset for the Spanish. Now it serves as the main industrial center of central Mexico. People in the street look like busy working people; dressed in pants, and coats. It felt a long ways away from the more turisty San Miguel de Allende and I did not see many English speaking people. My attempts to communicate were not as graciously received as in other areas. For the most part, I appreciated being ignored so I could wander without being encouraged to buy things.

This seems like a long post, so I have detailed the sections below in case you want to skip down to something interesting – like Pretty Buildings (I love that section, but it seems like there are so many). I put it at the end, just in case it isn’t everyone’s favorite.

Sections	Description
Centro	Sites of the historic center of town
Protest	An example of a local protest
Fancy	What the fancy side of town looks like
Eating	Our encounters eating and drinking
Night	How different it looks at night
Shopping	Does shopping look different here?
Bling	SLP loves their bling!
Parks	I loved the number and variety of parks!
Xmas	It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Pretty Buildings	I always love the pretty buildings!

Centro

Usually the historic center of town is part I like the best. It has the old buildings and churches, usually a market or two. Because of it’s integrity, authenticity and historically significant, SLP was established as a UNESCO city in 2018. This distinction tends to help maintain and support the beauty of the downtown, as witnessed by the photos below.

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Protest

I was struck by the sight below calling for “not one more assassination”. It felt powerful to me. Whether it is gender violence or deadbeat dads, Women’s groups have long been protesting in this square across from the government building. Pictures and detailed charges against deadbeat dads hung around the square are intended to publicly humiliate them. Posters hung around called for government support. Tents are set up around the square and it seemed that protesters were manning them and hosting meetings.

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Fancy

Just outside of the centro, SLP seemed more in need of maintenance that most cities I have visited. So I was surprised when I happened upon the upscale part of town. It was modern with wide sidewalks and streets. It was home to many universities and medical centers, upscale cafe’s and restaurants – even a few multi-storied buildings. I loved the quirky mix of styles. It seemed to be populated primarily by young students and professionals.

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Eating

Robin and I met over the search for good coffee. We continued the search with not a lo of success (not the first two photos of cafe that had a 4.7 rating on Google. The sweets were great, but not the coffee. We were very intrigued that all the waiters sported adorable Christmas headgear! We had a lot more luck when it came to drinking establishments! Our favorite was the Mescalería. Beautiful, mellow atmosphere, great service – yum! We also able to find a sports bar showing the Seahawks game – I loved seeing a fan in the audience! The last photo shows at a great location with a beautiful view. Unfortunately the food and drinks were not that good. We didn’t mind!

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Night

For safety reasons I don’t tend to be out when it’s dark. However, I love how the city looks so beautiful and many parts of life awaken. Blow are a few examples.

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Shopping

Shopping felt different that SMA (or home). Sure, the weather encourages much of the shopping to take place outdoors. I wen to la Bodega Aurora, for some food shopping. In other towns this is a higher end grocery store chain than the family run ones. Inside it seemed like a costco-type store with families loading up their carts. My cart had about 5 things in it, but when I saw that the lines were huge I put them all back. Outside there was a line to get in (first photo)! In the second photo I was surprised at what I considered silly marketing strategies.

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Bling

Can you imagine purchasing and wearing a bling-bling necklace or crown? It has been a while since I have wanted to. But here the bling is every where! I have to admit, the quinceañera dresses fascinated me – I’m sure I would have been all in back in the day. However, there were so many of those dress shops that it felt like they were following us!

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Parks

I enjoy searching out parks in the city and then create a walking tour to experience them. There were many more parks than these, but these were my favorites. The first four are beautiful neighborhood parks that I found great delight in sitting in, listening to the sounds, and watching how much fun people were having. The last two were unique. Plaza Milenio was created to separate the historic center from the modern section of town. I loved the variety of art pieces incorporated into the park. The last one is my favorite! It is 13 blocks long, constructed between two streets and over an old aqueduct. It honors the many workers who constructed the aqueduct which was extremely important at the time. It has a beautiful minor Basilica at one end,

• San Francisco
• Jardín Alameda
• Jardín de Tequisquiapan
• Jardín de San Miguelito
• Plaza Milenio
• Calzada de Guadalupe

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Xmas

I love seeing how the city readies for Christmas! I first saw the pick up truck with the colorful piñatas in the back, but did not know where they were heading. Then I happened upon the beginning construction of the Christmas tree in the central square – it seemed surprising how tall it would be. I was impressed with how many workers and equipment they had for the job!. Later on I saw the tree growing. I was impresses with how beautiful the glittery gold sections of the tree were, which you can’t really see in the photos. Then I got to see the colorful piñatas on display. I love it! However, it makes the Christmas Tree in the mall look a bit pathetic.

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Pretty Buildings

I keep thinking that the next city won’t have near the pretty buildings that have already seen. Or maybe I will get over my enjoyment of them. But, no, not yet!

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Next . . .

After San Luis Potosí I am heading back to San Miguel de Allende for Christmas and New Years Eve. We’ll see captures me during that time.