Saturday, February 28, 2015

No Need to Check The Weather!

All one has to do is be in the jardin on the days that the charity, Patronato Pro Ninos does walking tours and the size of the congregation of tourists will tell you how bad the weather is up north!

This year we have been inundated with tourists.  Those that come from Canada usually come January through March.  This year, however, we are getting more short term tourists just trying to get out of
the frozen tundra called the USA.

In the above photo the group was so large I could not get all of them.  They numbered about forty people or more.At other times of the year the gathering is usually much less then ten.

The money raised from these tours funds programs for healthcare in the campo for the children. It is a wonderful and good cause.  You can put Patronato Pro Ninos in your search engine if you want to know more about the program.

But, back to the tourists.  Yesterday morning I went to meet a friend for breakfast at Cafe Monet, my favorite breakfast place.  The best oatmeal I've ever had anywhere.  The place was packed with people at 9AM.  Sheesh.  Luckily my friend had arrived earlier and gotten a table.  Even when we left an hour later it was still packed.

I asked my usual question of the owner.  Who are all these people?  And he replied, "Snowbirds".  Wow.

Of course, come April 1st, the great sucking sound will happen as it does each year.  The rental properties, of which there are many, will empty out.  The restaurants will have servers standing at the doors looking for customers, the number of cars on the streets will diminish greatly and those of us who live here full-time will say "Aaaah".  The "high season" will have ended.

We will return to village life with empty benches, empty restaurants and few participants for the walking tours.

It doesn't last for long.  By mid-June, the "sweatbirds" will start arriving and they stay til mid - August.  Then again we have no one sitting on the wall until mid September.

With temperatures here now in the low 80's and humidity in the low to mid 20%, people arrive and start grinning.  They find it hard to believe.  

Yes, if one wants to know the weather North of the Border, just check out the wall in front of the Parroquia in San Miguel de Allende.  I find it very humorous.  What about you?


8 comments:

Unknown said...

i think I woild love the time after April, less tourists. However I am the tourist!

Babs said...

That's okay Shelagh. The "occasional tourist" is much preferable to the masses. I LOVE the quiet time. Still all the same things to do but not crowded!

Retired Teacher said...

Ha! Ha! I write a post about the Arctic weather up north, and you rub it in with a description of the beautiful weather down there! That's OK. As the tourists head back north, I will be headed back to Mexico City in April. Just a little over a month to go!

Babs said...

Bill, and coincidentally, I'll be heading north to Texas and Louisiana in April! Ships passing in the night.....
Enjoy April in DF. April and May are our summer!

Anonymous said...

I'll second Bill's comment. Don't rub it in!!! Temps in the eighties? I'd be happy if it could be over 40°F here for a couple of weeks just to melt some of the snow. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has the opposite planned, with another 3"-7" forecast for tonight. Ugh.

Saludos,

Kim G
Boston, MA
Where we may be guilty of the deadly sin of envy. ¡Ay, Güey!

Babs said...

Kim, I think of you and Bill every time I see a bad weather report and wonder HOW you are surviving. I would have lost my mind by now, if I were there.

Steve Cotton said...

I always think of Fred when I see those groups gathering.

Babs said...

Indeed, Steve. He loves leading the tours.