Welcome to Beautiful San Miguel de Allende!
From ZLO to SMA via MEX. Where does the word “volcano” come from?
We departed ZLO promptly at 11:30 on an Aero Mexico flight to Mexico City. We have one hour to make our connection to Leon.
The Swissters (that’s what my brother-in-law and me call our wives - they are both 100% Swiss, with all the discipline and orderliness that Swissness implies) had us packed and the breakfast table set the night before. We’ve learned to let them do their thing. Life is so much easier that way. Plus they’re (almost) always right, so why fight it?
The cab was scheduled for 8:30 am for a flight departing at 11:30. It’s less than 30 minutes to the airport from Club Santiago. So at 8:15 one of them looked out and announced that the cab was here. No worries, we weren’t scheduled to leave until 8:30. And we really didn’t need to leave until 9:30. But just as we started to haul our bags down to the street at 8:25 the cab left!
The BW (Brilliant Wife for new subscribers) quickly texted our “Go To Guy”, Eloy, who speaks perfect English and knows everything about everything down here. We rely on him to arrange trips and cabs.
He didn’t respond immediately. The Swissters grew concerned.
“Don’t Worry!” I said. We’re only 30 minutes away. We’re in Mexico. Nothing’s urgent.”
Eloy called back after a bit.
“So sorry, another cab is on the way. He had a family emergency.”
That’s another thing about Mexico. Families. The families always come first. No matter what. Families are close knit, large, and boy do they know how to have fun, singing together, eating together, and taking care of one another.
We arrived at the airport with an hour to spare. No worries.
The flight to CDMX is a short one, only an hour. I was stuck on the aisle so I can’t report on Volcán de Colima. Isn’t it interesting that the Spanish and German words for volcano are so similar to the English word?
I ran down the rabbit hole.
Obviously the English had no experience with volcanos. They borrowed the word, like most other English words. And so did the Germans! Turns out “volcano” has an ancient origin. The chief Minoan god (Crete, 3300 - 1200 BCE) was Velchanos. He may have been the predecessor of Zeus, the main Greek God who was born on Crete.
The Romans had Vulcanus as a god in their Pantheon as well. But he wasn’t the big dog. That was Jupiter. Yet Vulcanus was very important. One of the earliest temples in Rome, reputedly built at the time of the city’s founding, was a temple to Vulcanus.
Above: Vulcan forging the thunderbolts of Zeus. Peter Paul Reubens. Muses del Prado. Public Domain.
Some claim that Jupiter, the main Roman god, was a carry over from Zeus, who was also a volcano god. But the Romans identified Volcanus with the Greek god Hephaestus, god of the metal workers.
All of the European languages use a word from the Latin Vulcanus except Greek, which uses “Etna,” Icelandic, Basque and Finnish. The rest all use a derivative of Vulcan.
The Arabic word, “burkan,” is apparently unrelated to Vulcan. But it too could be related. For more on this here’s an enjoyable read: History of the word Volcano
We interrupt this discussion for a public service announcement.
[Rant warning: This may be offensive to some.].
Here’s the thing to always remember about Mexico: Everyone is important and nothing is urgent. That means EVERYONE! I get so annoyed at these gringos who have an aura of superiority. Why? Because you live in the cold and dark half the year? Because you don’t know how to relax? Because you can’t speak Spanish?
The Canadians usually don’t have as strong a superiority complex as the Americanos (and Canadians and Mexicans are Americanos too!) but still, it is there.
It’s a constant struggle to work out the politically correct way of communicating isn’t it?
Is it because society is so polarized (or should I say biased) that our words automatically carry so much baggage?
[end of rant.]
Aero Mexico has upped its game in recent years, adding a fleet of Boeing 737’s on the MEX-ZLO route that used to be served by the smaller and noisier Embraer jets. It’s also the plane on the MEX-BJX flight.
They offer free drinks on the ZLO-MEX flight even in economy class. We got the tickets using Delta Skymiles. Only 10,000 miles each!
The Charro negro was delicious! (I think they gave me a double shot of tequila, hence the rant above.)
We landed in MEX and just had time to grab a ham and cheese sub, nicely toasted, and a juice, (300 pesos), and jump in line for the 40 minute flight to BJX.
SMA is served by two airports, each almost two hours from town: Leon (BJX) and Querétaro (QRT). We’re flying into BJX.
We’ll be staying for 6 days. Everyone who’s been there raves about the city and its environs.
It’s only 40 minutes from MEX-BJX, so you just have time to swallow the complimentary bottle of water they offer. Probably a good thing they don’t offer tequila.
Flaps are going down, we’re on final. Stay tuned!
…
We made it to the beautiful city of San Miguel de Allende! Can’t wait to share this amazing place with you! The opening picture is from the rooftop restuarant where we enjoyed dinner last night. It was Fabuloso!
More to Come~! Time to explore~!
Thanks so much for traveling along~!
Post #1 in SMA Series: Welcome to San Miguel de Allende
Post #2 in SMA Series: Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel
Post #3 in SMA Series: Carnival, Markets and Art Galleries
Post #4 in SMA Series: Beauty is in the Simple Things
Post #5 in SMA Series: What can the History of Mexico tell us?
Post #6 in SMA Series: If you go: Hotels, Restaurants and connections.
Love the rooftop photo (you look like a king with your robe and crown!) and the food looks amazing. Looking forward to learning more aboutSan Miguel Allende.
I've heard about San Miguel Allende from a writer in Tucson who loves retreating there with other writers. She told me the city is a Mecca for ex-pats. Tempting, isn't it? I await your reports with great anticipation.