New Years Eve, Mexican Independence and
El Grito
Guanajuato Jan 2015

Historic Guanajuato

 Earlier in January, my dad, mom sister and I went to Guanajuato, an old mining town in central Mexico. My uncle Russ and his family met up with us as well. Guanajuato has a lot of narrow streets, called callejones, with lots of stairs. To get to the house where we were staying, you had to climb 73 steps!.  We were there for New Years' so decided to head into town to check it out. Fireworks explode everywhere as I trudged with my parents and cousins, Dane and Nolan into the center of town. I look down at my watch 11:30. We step into a little shop and get some exotic ice cream. The square is completely packed with people.  "Told you so," I tell my dad, who didn't think it would be too crowded. We continue our saga across the square, left, right, forward, left.... we go trying to work our way through the huge mob of people. "This harder than going the wrong way on a freeway," I say in my head. I look down at my watch 11:48, "We should start heading home," I think then we all agreed. We take a short cut through side streets. We think we are lost then bang we are in the square right next to our house. We were back just in time to exclaim "Happy New Year."

The next day, we drove out to a town about an hour away, called Dolores Hidalgo. The road to Dolores is pretty windy and steep. I'm the first one out of the car. Fresh air is the best invention. We all start walking toward the middle of town. I look back and see one of my cousins puking on the sidewalk.  Suddenly, I'm not so hungry.  As we get to the main square, we see little ice cream stands all over the place. My stomach is settling and we grab some lunch. Cesar salad and fries. Afterwards, my dad told us to stand on the church steps for a photo. It was on these same steps where one man helped start Mexican Independence with a speech called "El Grito". So I am gonna give you a short history of Mexican Independence.

Statue of Miguel Hidalgo- Father of Mexican Independence

Recreating ""El Grito with my sister and cousins on the steps of the church in Dolores Hidalgo

In 1518, Herman Cortes came from Spain with a small army and conquered Mexico and the Aztec empire. Spain ruled Mexico for the next 300 years, calling it "New Spain".  Miguel Hildalgo was a Roman Catholic priest in central Mexico in the early 1800's. His speech on the steps of the church in Dolores Hildalgo was one of the most famous moments in Mexican history.  In 1810, Hidalgo gave this famous speech, calling for all the poor and indigenous people to join with him and fight the Spanish. He rang the church bells to bring all his supporters together. They fought and battled the Spanish all the way to Mexico City. Instead of attacking the city, they retreated. This turned the tide and Hildalgo and his allies started losing battles. They were pushed all the way back to the Mexican border. Eventually, he was killed and his head was hung with the heads of three of his generals in Guanajuato for 5 years. The next 10 years were filled with lots of guerrilla warfare. Peasants would attack the Spanish army whenever they got a chance. Many people were killed. Finally in 1821, a Spanish general named  Agustin Iturbide, proposed a truce that would give Mexico independence. The Treaty of Iguala was signed in 1821 and the country of Mexico was formed. Iturbide was Mexico's first president.

Painting of El Grito- by Jose Orozco in Guadalajara

We finished up our tour with a taste of some of the famous helado in the main square of Dolores Hildalgo. History sure is fun.

Walking in beautiful Guanajuato

Nice square in Guanjuato

Awesome Beisbol field in Guanajuato