Sopa de Pato

Fireworks Castillo, San Miguel de Allende

Fireworks are a constant feature of Mexican life (there are some banging away overhead as I write), and the pieces de resistance are always the Castillos, giant towers thirty or so meters high, covered with spinning wheels and crowned with a fiery cap which takes off to fly across the sky and ultimately land several blocks away. As the crown measures a couple of meters across, and the same high, you need to make sure you are not underneath when it lands. In Mexico, no one can sue or get compensation if one lands on their head, as bad luck is still an accepted legal reality. Here a couple of workers make the final connections to tonight’s version celebrating Allende’s Birthday.

Today, CNN Travel announced the results of Condé Nast Traveler’s 26th annual Readers’ Choice Awards World’s Number One City poll. And guess who is number one. Yes, ahead of Florence (No 3), Vienna (7), Rome (No 8), Paris (No 22) and Venice (No 24). Much as we love SMA we wondered who they asked. We did notice someone wandering around the Jardin with a clipboard a few weeks ago, although as 1,300,000 people responded there must have been a few other folks who joined in.

Mexidog in the horse parade, San Miguel de Allende

There are always hundreds of street dogs in San Miguel quietly and politely making their way around town obviously with an important plan in mind. During parades, as here with the blessing of the horses as part of the Festival of Saint Michael, dozens of them earnestly follow along, each keeping pace with the horses as it is clearly the thing to do.