Alamos and La Aduana, Sonora, Mexico

The other day we headed south a bit to Alamos, Sonora and a small town just before it called La Aduana.

We went to La Aduana first as it came first on the road.  Very small town with a mining history.  We wandered around the town, saw the church, visited an artisans co-op and bought some honey.  Lovely stone foot bridges over the arroyo that the town is built around.  Time well spent.

Alamos is designated as a "Pueblo Magico" and if you are interested in Colonial Architecture and spending time in a small city you will love this place.  Alamos is also known as the city of the "Portales"- arched covered verandas and walkways.  Lovely.

Many of the historic old buildings have been restored and it is wonderful to wander the narrow streets and just spend some time looking at all of them.  Sit and relax on a bench on the Alameda or one at Plaza de las Armas.  Great views of the historic buildings wherever you are in town.  Walk down the Callejon de Besos, (kissing alley), with your favorite someone and eat some great food.

We stayed in the Don Andreas Hotel, where we spent some time in the mornings and evenings sitting and watching the action on the Alameda and around the Mercado.

We visited the museum, which was very interesting and informative, with displays from the silver mining era, among many other things.   We wandered around the city hall, took photos of the huge church and many other things.  Naturally, we walked through the "kissing alley" several times. We people watched at the Plaza de las Armas and checked out the Mercado.

A not to be missed experience is driving up to the outlook point, El Mirador, where there is a great view of the surrounding mountains and the city below.

The best part of the visit there was getting together with fellow blogger Linda and her husband, Linda writes the blog: Good2Go2Mexico.  We visited over drinks with them our first evening there and then the next day we visited their home before we all headed out for a yummy lunch.  Thanks for the good times you two.  Linda also gave us lots of info. on the not to be missed sites.  It turned out that the room we were staying in at the hotel was exactly the same one that Linda and her husband stayed in on one of their trips before buying a home.  They also spent time sitting on the little balcony relaxing and  people watching.

Alamos is also in an Ecological Reserve and offers lots of bird watching opportunities.

We saw the birth place of Dr.  Alfonso Ortiz Tirado , I had wanted to see the home of the well known actress Maria Felix; but apparently it has now been sold and the museum is closed.  We saw the old Casa de Monedas among many other things.

We drove across the arroyo and walked along the malecon type walkway they have.  Lots of benches there to relax on also.

We found it to be a very friendly, relaxed, clean city and really enjoyed our short stay there.

I took so many photos while we were there, so I put them together in a slideshow.  Hope you enjoy it.

What's New?

Since returning from San Carlos, it seems we have been shopping, shopping and shopping.  Not that we have bought a lot of stuff; but it takes several trips to get what we are looking for.  You then wait the 2 days for delivery, send them back with the damaged stuff and wait another 2 days for them to return again.

Anyway we managed to purchase 2 new recliners, we decided the old ones had done their duty and were not worth cleaning.  We also hunted for a decent looking cabinet to put in the bedroom to store some of my art supplies, books, etc..  I wanted height to get more storage area; but alas not to be found.  Our choice was either kitchen type pantry cupboards or bedroom closet type cabinets.  The bedroom ones all have a big area to hang clothes which I didn't want.  I wanted shelves, shelves and more shelves.

In the end I settled for a kitchen pantry type cabinet made out of pine, not as high as I wanted and not the colour that I wanted; but we didn't have much choice really.  I was just too lazy to get a carpenter to build one and it would have been costlier in the long run.

Even buying a new laundry hamper entailed going to many stores before getting what I wanted at one of the grocery stores in the end.

I also want/need a new organizer shelf unit that goes over the toilet; but none are to be found here in any of the stores.  Strange as we bought our old one here.  Oh well, six months down the road all the stores will be full of them.

We stuck the old recliners out on the patio for now which makes for a really relaxing place to sit out there; although it looks rather weird.  The street cats that normally spend the night up here sleeping in our regular patio chairs are thinking they have died and gone to cat heaven I am sure.  I have put covers on the seats so that we don't get covered with hair when we sit down.

So everyone is happy.