In the center of San Miguel is the Parroquia, the main church of the town, that dates back to late 17th century and was remodeled in the 1880's when neo-Gothic towers and spires were added in pink stone.  A local, untrained architect referred to European postcards for the design.



Across from the church is El Jardin (pronounced Har -deen.)  It is a small square park with a small bandstand, pruned laurel trees, and lots of benches.  This is where everyone, locals and foreigners, hang out.  There are food vendors, shoe shine stands, kids playing, newspaper sellers, and on weekends, Mariachi bands.  It is a meeting place, a place to rest, and a great place for people watching.





Last weekend Carnival was celebrated by lots of families with children in El Jardin.  Around the perimeter vendors were selling crepe paper flowers and toy clowns on sticks.  The array of colors was fantastic! 











And there was music of course!





And to the delight of children, bags of eggs were for sale.  These are hollow eggs filled with confetti and powder and sealed with tissue paper.  The purpose of these eggs is to smack them against the back of the heads of your unsuspecting friends!  The kids raced around El Jardin all day chasing each other!




Today as I walked by El Jardin, there was a funeral procession for a local policeman passing through the center of town.  There were about 20 police cars, trucks, and ambulances blaring their sirens - it was LOUD.  Then there was a drummer corps - also LOUD.  Although the historic town is small, the municipality is quite large with a large police force, so there was a very large turnout of policemen in the procession.  All of this was followed by several hundred local people walking behind.



The fellows on horseback are the tourist police.