So, this weekend I had not only 2 days in which to relax and have fun, but FOUR. This is what is known as a puente, or bridge, where there are public holidays so close together that the day in the middle (in this case the Monday) is also made into a holiday. There's another one in a couple of weeks, but this one has been changed so that instead there's only three days :( The day which is now going to be worked is May 15th, which is teachers' day. More about that another time, I'm sure.
So, I decided that rather than stay in Celaya on this puente, I would go somewhere else. After making a friend at the BEO competition, I decided to go to León, Gto., both to explore the city and to hang out with him. I left Celaya several hours later than I'd intended as I was waiting indoors for a visit which never came. After giving up and going, I arrived in León at about 4pm. I had a little wander about, then went to my hotel. It was nicely tucked away down a side street. Although being less than 5 minutes walk from the central square, it was silent and lovely to sleep in.
After dropping off my stuff, I went for a wander. I was going to meet up with George later that evening, so decided that I should see as much as I could in the meantime. León is renowned for its leather goods, and although I knew this before going I was not prepared for QUITE so much leather. I swear I have never seen so many shoes, bags and belts in my entire life; next time I am going to visit with a quantity of money! After a couple of hours walking I was a little peckish, I so got some tacos...delicious tacos, indeed.
More wandering, and no call from George, I decided to go back to my hotel so I could log onto wifi and see if I had any messages on Facebook. I did, rescheduling for the next day, so I decided to get an early night.
I woke up early the next day, and decided to head out and explore right away. I turned out of my hotel's street the opposite direction to the day before, and in about 3 minutes was in the city centre. Here I found so much more than I had ever expected. Beautiful architecture, shops, cafés, restaurants...everything I like in a city. Every corner I turned was a new delight, whether it was another beautiful building or a shop selling things I can't find in Celaya. I found, amongst other things, a comic book store and no less than 3 tattoo studios (I've found one tat studio in Celaya; no comic book store, although there is an awesome stuff selling anime and other random Japanese stuff). I walked, and walked, and walked. I took photos, I shopped (jewellery, mainly), and and I ate enchiladas. I decided to head back to my hotel for a FB check, and it was lucky that I did. It turned out that George was having some friends over to eat and drink beer, and I was invited. Although I had a little trouble getting in contact to confirm (my UK number wouldn't dial or text his MX phone) and I ended up going to a payphone, I eventually got a taxi to Plaza Mayora retail park where I met him, his best friend and little brother and then we drove off to the house. The afternoon passed in a stream of awesomeness. More people came; everybody was really cool. There was a great deal of beer; very refreshing and yummy in the afternoon heat. There was a BBQ, with steaks and chorizo sausages; all delicious. We all chatted, some people played guitar, we played NINJA! (which I'd seen but never played before...and suck at, but I WILL get better...), some people played piano, everybody sang at some point or another, there was more beer, we told jokes, then dirty ones, and then, unfortunately, it was time to go back to my hotel. I wasn't feeling particularly drunk, but thanks to being a little too ambitious with my sun resistance, I was a little warm and sleepy. So I went back to my hotel, before going to the nearby store for a chilled coffee and a giant bottle of water. After that, I slept like a baby.
I woke up this morning and the first thing I noticed was the redness of my arms. I am very lobster-like. It doesn't hurt, which is AWESOME, considering the shade of red to which I am currently adjusted, but it looks BAD. I decided to post pictures on Facebook, to give people some amusement; I always mock my friends when they have sunburn, so it's only fair that they get the chance to return the favour.
So, in a recap, León. I WANT TO GO BACK. It's the best place I've been to in Mexico so far. I love everything about the city, from the architecture and planning/ design to the huge array of shops. There are a lot of cool looking bars which I want to visit, and I have a strong urge to spend a day shoe shopping. I will definitely go back, probably in the next few weeks. My new favourite city!!!
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Be nice.