Wandering the Streets of Guanajuato with the Ghost of Jose Alfredo Jimenez.

 In 1953, the great Mexican singer, Jose Alfredo Jimenez (O's favorite), had a hit with Camino de Guanajuato (listen at the link). "In this world, life is worth nothing," he wails, mourning the recent death of his brother, but he is eventually consoled by the beauty the street leads him to.

Jose Alfredo is gone, but his famous lament lingers, as does the beauty of the streets of Guanajuato. 

Well, there are streets of course, but most of our life in Guanajuato is lived in its twisting maze of callejones (not cojones). While the town is built in the bowl of a steep valley, most of the houses are constructed on the vertiginous slopes and connected to the town center by a haphazard agglomeration of alleys (callejones) impassible by car. These narrow walkways are difficult to navigate at first (though Señor Googlemaps is a fairly reliable guide), but they are a major part of the city's charm. 

Goating down the steep paths from our apartment or panting back up the twisting inclines at just over 7,000 feet is a bit of a challenge, but it's the only way to to get to the markets, restaurants, and shops. If we're heavily burdened with groceries, we call an Uber to whisk us home, but usually we walk.

Fortunately, these strenuous perambulations are rewarded by wild palettes of unexpected color. We do love the colors of Mexico, and here they are on full, unrestrained display.

There are small plazas everywhere.

Beautiful doorways.

Shrines.

Street art abounds.

Even at night, the callejones retain their charm.

And sometimes, as we hike up the uneven alleys toward home, we hear, from a dozen warmly-lit windows, the ghost of Jose Alfredo assuring us that, though life may be worth nothing in this world, it is still very beautiful.

P.