We've been in Guanajuato for a few days now and have seen many very interesting things, not altogether pleasant, some rather gruesome in fact.
But before we start on the morbid stuff, let's take another look at the color that depicts this country. Everywhere you look is a color bomb.
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First let's take a look at a particular Mexican fascination - with skeletons and dead people and other things that we found somewhat disturbing.
We went on a local tour, thinking it might cover some highlights of cool things to look at and discover. Instead, we were treated to a steady diet of torture, death, dismemberment, and other sobering sights.
For example, the first place we went was called the "Museo de Los Lamentos". Roughly translated, that means Museum of The Wailing. It turned out to be a kind of amateur Haunted House.
It showed pictures, images, and models of people before and after misfortune, and they looked like skeletons in the "after" picture. Pretty grim. There were even a couple of mummies, supposedly well preserved, but really horrible looking.
There were several displays of weapons and disease, and war and famine and terror and ghosts, and ... you get the picture. Not the way you might choose to start the day. And this was the light stuff, it got a lot worse.
From there we went to "The Mines" - a restoration of the mines that were operated in this area back in the days of the settlers. At one time, Guanajuato, the town where we are staying, was a mining capital, with gold, silver, copper and other metals being extracted to great profit. Our hotel is called the Silver House Hotel.
There were also some more mummies of dead miners and other folks, also pretty gross. And we went down into the mine pretty deep and very steep, and were warned ahead of time to be careful, don't slip, and don't get claustrophobic. Sounds like fun!
Then to cap it off, we went to another museum called the History of the Inquisition. If you know anything about that lovely period of time, it was the wonderful Spaniards again, who brutally applied religious standards, and used torture to achieve "compliance".
It was super weird with hideous life-like replicas of torture devices and dead bodies and skeletons and suffering and horrible treatment of fellow human beings. And there were little kids on this tour! Frankly we were horrified by the recreated scenes, and I would never want a little kid to see this. Man, it was sick!
I didn't even want to include any pictures in this post, it was so disturbing. It was freakin' ungodly. Man's ability to mistreat man runs pretty deep. And of course, there were more mummies, preserved in the disgusting manner in which they died.
We were glad to get out of there. Can't we see something nice? How about a good Cathedral?
Can we stop by an ice cream stand? Maybe a nice spicy Burrito? Anything but more dead tortured skeletons?
And you would never guess what the last stop on the tour was - a visit to the Mummy Museum. Are you kidding me? We drew the line and bailed on the tour. And it was promoted as a taste of the local flavor and sites of Guanajuato!
Oh well, it is not all bad here. There are plenty of cool things to look at. I mentioned earlier that it seems like everyone in Mexico is a musician. They honor musicians here with statues like the one below.
We also saw another museum and went to the tomb (shown below) of a very famous Mexican singer/songwriter, named José Alfredo Jiménez. They love this guy, "especially when there's a lot of Tequila around". (not my words)
And they honor their writers. In fact one curious thing around here is the way they love Don Quixote (Key-hoe-tay), you know, the guy who charged at windmills. There are numerous statues of him, and also Cervantes, the famed author who wrote the book (who was a Spaniard).
I came across a statue of Don Quixote (they're everywhere) and did my best to imitate his pose. Not bad, eh?
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But to circle back to the skeleton thing, Mexicans seem to really enjoy images of the dead. Not really sure why. Mexicanos are fun loving and full of life and enjoy music and great food ... and dead people.
To be fair, they treat it with humor and whimsy. They have fun with skeletons. Skulls make popular and colorful art. Hey, death is part of life, right? pardon the pun ...
After looking into this: It started about a hundred years ago as satire toward the rich upper class. It expanded to apply to all classes, with an almost friendly, joking approach to death, and the acceptance that we are all going to die, rich or poor. Mexicans love their skeletons, they have fun with it.
They also honor their dead, with the Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) where they celebrate their deceased family members and embrace the afterlife.
Hey you gotta love these guys. What a culture! They celebrate their musicians, and writers, and artists - and they look death in the face and laugh!
 |
| You see lots of this type of thing, even the skeletons are colorful. |
But before we start on the morbid stuff, let's take another look at the color that depicts this country. Everywhere you look is a color bomb.
 |
| This amazing flower pot was at the Mine Display, about three feet in diameter. |
 |
| Shopping comes with a dazzling display of colors, more skeleton cups! Be the first one on your block to own one! |
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| Hey, a little natural color here, too |
----------------------------------------
First let's take a look at a particular Mexican fascination - with skeletons and dead people and other things that we found somewhat disturbing.
We went on a local tour, thinking it might cover some highlights of cool things to look at and discover. Instead, we were treated to a steady diet of torture, death, dismemberment, and other sobering sights.
For example, the first place we went was called the "Museo de Los Lamentos". Roughly translated, that means Museum of The Wailing. It turned out to be a kind of amateur Haunted House.
It showed pictures, images, and models of people before and after misfortune, and they looked like skeletons in the "after" picture. Pretty grim. There were even a couple of mummies, supposedly well preserved, but really horrible looking.
There were several displays of weapons and disease, and war and famine and terror and ghosts, and ... you get the picture. Not the way you might choose to start the day. And this was the light stuff, it got a lot worse.
From there we went to "The Mines" - a restoration of the mines that were operated in this area back in the days of the settlers. At one time, Guanajuato, the town where we are staying, was a mining capital, with gold, silver, copper and other metals being extracted to great profit. Our hotel is called the Silver House Hotel.
There were also some more mummies of dead miners and other folks, also pretty gross. And we went down into the mine pretty deep and very steep, and were warned ahead of time to be careful, don't slip, and don't get claustrophobic. Sounds like fun!
Then to cap it off, we went to another museum called the History of the Inquisition. If you know anything about that lovely period of time, it was the wonderful Spaniards again, who brutally applied religious standards, and used torture to achieve "compliance".
It was super weird with hideous life-like replicas of torture devices and dead bodies and skeletons and suffering and horrible treatment of fellow human beings. And there were little kids on this tour! Frankly we were horrified by the recreated scenes, and I would never want a little kid to see this. Man, it was sick!
I didn't even want to include any pictures in this post, it was so disturbing. It was freakin' ungodly. Man's ability to mistreat man runs pretty deep. And of course, there were more mummies, preserved in the disgusting manner in which they died.
We were glad to get out of there. Can't we see something nice? How about a good Cathedral?
Can we stop by an ice cream stand? Maybe a nice spicy Burrito? Anything but more dead tortured skeletons?
And you would never guess what the last stop on the tour was - a visit to the Mummy Museum. Are you kidding me? We drew the line and bailed on the tour. And it was promoted as a taste of the local flavor and sites of Guanajuato!
What does a Country glorify? Mexico builds statues to Musicians.
Oh well, it is not all bad here. There are plenty of cool things to look at. I mentioned earlier that it seems like everyone in Mexico is a musician. They honor musicians here with statues like the one below.
We also saw another museum and went to the tomb (shown below) of a very famous Mexican singer/songwriter, named José Alfredo Jiménez. They love this guy, "especially when there's a lot of Tequila around". (not my words)
And they honor their writers. In fact one curious thing around here is the way they love Don Quixote (Key-hoe-tay), you know, the guy who charged at windmills. There are numerous statues of him, and also Cervantes, the famed author who wrote the book (who was a Spaniard).
I came across a statue of Don Quixote (they're everywhere) and did my best to imitate his pose. Not bad, eh?
-----------------------------------------
Skeletons?
To be fair, they treat it with humor and whimsy. They have fun with skeletons. Skulls make popular and colorful art. Hey, death is part of life, right? pardon the pun ...
After looking into this: It started about a hundred years ago as satire toward the rich upper class. It expanded to apply to all classes, with an almost friendly, joking approach to death, and the acceptance that we are all going to die, rich or poor. Mexicans love their skeletons, they have fun with it.
They also honor their dead, with the Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) where they celebrate their deceased family members and embrace the afterlife.
Hey you gotta love these guys. What a culture! They celebrate their musicians, and writers, and artists - and they look death in the face and laugh!
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