As our time winds down in Guanajuato, Lori and I thought it might be nice today to spend some one-on-one time with the boys.
Living in an RV full-time as a family means a lot of time together in close quarters. It means we’re spending more time together than we ever have. But it also means that, outside of school, we have to work harder to carve out one-on-one time with the boys.
Guanajuato is a great place to have an outing with the kids because there’s a lot to do and explore in a relatively compact area. We’ll all head into town, then split up and make a day of it.
Noe’s been trying to resurrect his wilting mint plant from Lo de Marcos, but the soil here is about the worst you can find for that. Looks like we’re going to have to move on to Plan B.
Waiting for the bus into Guanajuato. Ideally, we want buses to El Pardo, which take the tunnels and are the fastest. They’re also the most rare. A few times, we’ve had to take the bus to the station in Marfil and transfer, which extends our 30-minute journey to well over an hour.
After breakfast together in the city, we divide and conquer. Noe and I head straight for the garden expo down at Jardin El Cantador. We came through here briefly last Sunday, but it was clear Noe wanted to spend more time there. So we did, and poked around for a good long while, perusing the endless variety of herbs, flowers, and trees on offer.
Next, we took a little stroll through Guanajuato’s traffic and pedestrian tunnels, making our way eventually to the center of town.
I asked Noe if he wanted to go on a little hike back up to El Pípila. It occurred to me he might have better ideas of how we could spend our time together besides climbing 550 steps to the top of town. But Noe loves hiking as much as Lori and I do (maybe even more), and the answer was an emphatic, ‘Yes!’
That’s El Pípila up there on the hill. We’ve obviously got a bit of a climb ahead of us. That’s Don Quixote in the foreground—in case you were wondering.
On the way, we passed the other side of the city’s famous Callejon del Beso, offering a quick glimpse of what hundreds (sometimes thousands) of visitors do here every single day.
Enough of that. Time to get climbing! Noe led the way per the usual.
At the mirador, we got about three minutes of time to take in the city from above before the clouds opened up and rained down on us. Feels like we’ve done this before…
We took cover in the small popup market near a rock and precious minerals stand. Noe was pleased by his good fortune and didn’t want to leave. Rocks and gardening are two of his big interests right now. I couldn’t have planned this day any better if I tried.
On the way down, we took another route that would get us close to a coffee shop I had in mind for grabbing a treat. Fewer stairs, but the quick downpour had made it pretty slick.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town…
Riley and Lori at a gelato shop? Didn’t see that one coming…
After shuffling our way back down the mountain, Noe and I finally arrived at Vivo Cafe to split a fun treat, cause why not? This is Daddy Day. Fortunately, choosing the treat was easy. Noe and I both love carrot cake.
Happy boy. We’ll see if mom can top this!
Noe’s the kind of guy who likes to savor each and every bite.
Passing this little stand, we thought about it for a minute, but agreed we were both pretty full. Onward!
Making our rounds through Jardin de la Union and Plaza de Los Angeles.
Time to switch!
I knew Riley’s been hankering for some bubble tea for a long time, so we beelined it there. Riley would be quite happy eating and drinking his way through today, but I was hoping to get him to go on a little walk to explore some corners of town we’ve haven’t visited yet.
We split the caffeine-free bubble tea, but it ended up being just a bit too much for the little guy. Unfortunately, we spent most of the our time together trying to find a public restroom—no small feat, it seems, in Guanajuato.
There are a few, but they are all the automatic ones that required exactly seven pesos to go through the turnstile. I had five pesos and a 500 peso bill (which no street vendor will break to save their life).
With few options left, I begrudgingly moved up our dinner time. Riley was happy in both respects, particularly since it involved—you guessed it—eating.
Meanwhile, Noe and mommy were having a blast Changos Tres game cafe.
The two of them met us at Banh Mi cafe, then Riley and I set off on our own adventure for a little while longer. But the fun didn’t end there. We met up once again at Teatro Cervantes for a kids comedy act in Spanish, while I ran a few errands on my own.
After a rainy afternoon, the skies were once again blue and the people were spilling out into the narrow streets in full force.
On the way back from the theater, Lori stopped by Callejon El Beso (Kissing Alley) once again, so that Riley could fulfill his final mommy-day wish.
An uncharacteristically nice evening back at the RV park. We never know what the weather is going to do these days in Guanajuato.
