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Mexico: 23 Destinations to Spend the Winter Months
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Guanajato
No. 3 of 23 (this is not a ranking)
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Guanajuato - Monumento al Pipila - "Momento Magico"
Part 2 of 3
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During our 42 day trip in Mexico in search of "23 Destinations to Spend the Winter Months", we visited several outstanding towns which had the official designation as "Pueblo Mágico" or magic town.

That reminds me that on our trip we also had what I would call "Momentos Mágicos" or magic moments.

One of them surely was when as we took the "Funicular Panoramico Guanaujuato" from behind the Teatro Juarez in the centro historico to "Monumento al Pipila". It was a moment we shall never forget as on a brilliantly sunny day we took the funicular high above Guanajuato . As the funicular transported us higher and higher, the beautiful, colourful city spread below our feet. It was surrounded by a very rugged landscape and capped by a beautiful plaza and monument that overlook the city.

It was a moment of pure joy similar to what we experienced in Angangueo. That is where the crowd pulled us into a Christmas "posada" procession, blindfolding us and inviting us to take our "whacks" at the piñata.

A moment like al Pipila this would be lost without the presence of a digital camera and fortunately ours was ready and fully charged to take advantage of the situation, as the many attached photos will attest. Yes, there are too many photos but what the heck; it was after all, a "momento magico".

"El Monumento al Pipila", is the 30-foot-high statue built in 1939 in honour of Juan Jose de los Reyes Martinez who was nicknamed El Pipila. The statue looms over Guanajuato and is a symbol of a defining moment in the Mexican independence movement .

In 1810, an army led by the "Father of Mexican Independence" - Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla invaded Guanajuato. The attack on the Spanish royalists was centered on the town's massive granary - the "Allodia de Granaditas". It was the young miner nicknamed "El Pipila" who heroically took the first step of burning the wooden doors to the granary that led to the first major military victory of the independence movement. The statue shows a strong "El Papila" holding a torch over his head ready to charge the granary door. The inscription on the statue reads: "Aún hay otras Alhóndigas por incendiary" (There are still other Alhóndigas to burn).

In what can only be described as the ups and downs of life, in 1811 the heads of Father Hidalgo and three of his generals were hanging from the four corners of the same granary. The struggle for independence was left for others to complete.

Coming Soon: Guanajuato - Jardin Union and "Is Guanajuato the Place for You?"

Questions/Comments: travelswithlobo@yahoo.com