Festival of the Conquistadors

We really lucked out today. Little did we know it, but the first Friday in March is the Festival of the Conquistadors.

What an amazing sight. We wandered into the Jardin about 10am and it was packed with hundreds of dancers all in ornate traditional costumes. They were still there when we passed by again about 10pm, dancing as enthusiastically as ever.

Googling a bit, I found out that this has been a tradition for 400 years. The dancers are paying their respects to El Senor de la Conquista, a 1575 stature of Christ housed in the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel (beautiful church). People who enter the church this day say 33 prayers, one for each day of Jesus’ life.

After lunch we climbed up behind our place on El Chorro to get a view of the city, - so much larger than we thought - then we were invited to John & Madeline’s for drinks, followed by dinner at Hecho en México a nearby restaurant. Food was delish and the servings were huge.

Such fun seeing Sariya & family after all these years. We decided the last time we’d seen her she was still at Dartmouth College - YIKES about 25 years ago. Was great to meet her husband John, daughter Ariadne, in first year at McGill, a son Fred heading to university next year.

What a wonderful start to our stay in SMA.Read more