San Miguel de Allende has been named the Best Small City in the World in 2017, 2018 and 2020 by Conde Naste Traveler readers, and rightly so. Its location in the heart of wine country probably had something to do it. You can’t beat a combination of colonial architecture, colorful festivals, fine dining and wine…
The boutique hotel La Casa de la Marquesa is a landmark in Queretaro. It is one of the premium boutique hotels in the Colonial Highlands of Mexico, and it all began with a love story. You can ask any local and they will give you a slightly different version every time, but the foundation of…
Some of our most treasured memories started in the kitchen. Some of my fondest memories were making gingersnaps with my mom at Christmastime. Tom remembers spending weekends in the kitchen with his grandmother making bread and gathering pecans and avocados from her fruit trees. Many recipes are easy for one person to make, but…
Buying furniture in Queretaro is not that different from the States. They have modern and antique furniture stores ranging from Contemporary to Victorian. It’s always exciting to buy new furniture, especially for a new house. On our visits to Mexico last year, we researched furniture prices to make sure we could afford the cost of living…
Buyer beware, you get what you pay for… During my thirty-five years in the wine business, I often came across instances where you didn’t get what you pay for. Fifteen-dollar wines were often just as good as twenty-five-dollar wines. Sometimes fifty-dollar wines were better than one hundred- and fifty-dollar wines. But there is one area…
If you think it’s hard planning your own flight to your overseas location, planning your pet travel is even more difficult. As humans, we can deal with wonky flight times; leaving at 5am in the morning, or arriving at an unknown location at 11pm at night, hoping someone will be available at the hotel…
It’s bound to happen. With parking lots being few and far between in Centro and the one-way roads stressing you out, a little space may seem like a gift from heaven, but later comes with a price tag. Here’s a short explanation on what to do if you get a ticket in Centro in Queretaro,…
For over 70 years, San Miguel de Allende has well been known as an artisan community and expat haven. Travel & Leisure has named it the Best City in the World in 2017 and 2018 and we can see why. Cobblestone streets, multi-colored buildings, a culinary scene that ranges from street food to fine dining,…
Santa Rosa Jauregui is known for the best carnitas in the country, but there’s so much more to this little town. While Queretaro caters to tourists and big businesses, Santa Rosa Jauregui is where we get our real Mexican experience. This is a real working town with all the Mexican charm you’ve read about in…
Dia de la Candeleria is a Catholic holiday with many names and meanings. In English, it’s called Candlemas. It’s also called Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus and Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It falls exactly 40 days after Christmas (birth of Christ) and is the final celebration day for…
It’s hard to believe we’ve been living in Mexico for four years. It really doesn’t seem that long. Time moves at a different pace when your life isn’t consumed by work and a commute. That’s not to say it’s a vacation every day. Sometimes it’s far from it. But we will say that the good…
Rated as the #1 restaurant on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants for the third year in a row, and in the top 10 of the Worlds Best Restaurants, Maido is an exploration of two dominate cultures blending into its own. Maido, which means “welcome” in Japanese, is the manifestation of Chef Mitsuharu ‘Micha’ Tsumura, a…