best of quaint little towns: Guanajuato, Guanajuato

Guanajuato was truly a quaint little town which retains much of its spanish style architecture. its sister city could well be venice, italy as walking around town feels oddly similar: the nameless streets wind this way and that confusingly, constantly enticing us tourists to seek out the unknown store around the next street corner. every corner is just so photogenic, a mambo jumbo of colors and shapes.the very first thing that struck us on our way into town from the bus station is the vast subterranean one-way "highway" built directly below this ancient city. there are multiple stairwells that exit into the city just one storey above, an amazing feat considering this highway has its origins as silver mining tunnels!

we stayed in a double room on the top floor of Hostel Refugio de Angeles. a decent stay for a decent price, although theres no heater in the room (if memory serves me right), and the free breakfast provided turns out to be just plain bread with butter. the place does feel rather friendly and cosy though, with lots of backpackers (esp australians?) sharing one free internet terminal. :p here's darling on the spiral staircase directly outside our room.the city has many scenic spots, mostly around this tiny plaza known as Jardin Union. here, restaurants and bars congregate in a year-round festive celebration of life.
the center of jardin union was this traditional european garden that would have been out of place anywhere else in mexico. looks perfect for a wedding ceremony!
not only were there free live music playing popular mexican/spanish songs, drinks are dirt cheap compared to the US. its merely $4 per alcoholic drink. we sampled quite a few that i dont remember most of them anymore. :p i only remembered a terrible vampire. haha... and white russian, and that sex on the beach was gd! ;-) its a perfect way to spend a quiet evening with ur loved one.
next morning, we decided to roam out of the "tourist" zone of shops and go see what the residential area is like. the particular area we went (and it seems like the rest of guanajuato as well) was built on a small hill. small brick houses in explosions of bright colors stacked beside each other line up along narrow streets barely wide enough for a car to pass through.
travelling outside singapore always feels so good; the streets may be crowded but ull never feel out of breathing space.
thankfully, walmart has not extended its reaches to this corner of mexico. reminds me of the singapore wet market which i havent been to for years now...
food was fantastic. volcans, tacos, quesadillas. i love their salsa!