Moving Day. Time to get up and get all the things packed and to the door. But, before that happened I got a call from Ana around 7:30 am. She had gone out to the car to start it and throw in her purse and school bag. Then she went back to the house to get Rio to put him in the car to take to the Sobral grandparents. As Carlo and her were stuffing Rio into his snowsuit they watched a vehicle drive up beside the Kia and someone hop out, jump into the driver’s seat and drive away. And why were they phoning me in that frantic moment about their stolen car? Because it is MY car! And they needed to know what the license plate was and other particulars in order to make a police report. Why did they have my car? For those who don’t know the backstory, here it is. Ana was in a car accident a month ago. She was driven into and forced onto a boulevard where her car knocked over a whole traffic light standard which landed on the hood squishing the front of their car. This happened at the end of December so she was using mine while I am away. Anyway, there were phone calls to the police (by them) and phone calls to MPI (by me) and then a quick rush out the door for us to get a taxi to transport us to the bus station on our trip to Guanajato. The bus ride was lovely. The bus was plush and comfortable. Once we got to Guanajato we caught an old city bus to the historic centre where our hotel is. 
During the whole trip from San Miguel to Guanajato I was texting back and forth to Carlo about the car. I had a tracking tag on my keys and was hoping that it would be of some help. But no, despite the fact that Ana drove during her lunch hour to where the tracking device was indicating, it came to nothing. My tracking device is probably in a snow bank in that exact location.
Anyway, here we are In Guanajato. The hotel is right across from the main basilica. Guanajato is the capital city of this state and although the city centre is old and magnificent (I saw a church that was built in 1632) it is different from San Miguel. He seems rougher and busier and the streets are way more steep and windy. There is a massive university downtown and it definitely feels like a university town. Loads of film festivals and other academic activities are advertised. The restaurants are cheaper. There are more street food stands and eating establishments set out in front of houses serving all sorts of meals at long tables. The vibe is very different. We went out for lunch at a street café and then walked around.
After Rudy went back to the hotel I continued exploring and got totally lost. There are tunnels that go down to streets below and ratty old streets with buildings falling apart. It is more colourful here in the downtown and there are many more narrow streets and alleyways and stairs that are only for pedestrians.
We went out later in the evening to a little hole in the wall to get Chinese food. We got an enormous amount food for a small bit of cash. We took it back to our hotel and ate it there, picnic style. We fell asleep to the sounds of the basilica’s bells across the street. I am beginning to appreciate the different sounds that each bell makes, from the low loud sounds of the large bells to the higher clang of the smaller ones. These bells ring day and night at every quarter of the hour and it is becoming a familiar and pleasant sound.