Friday, March 27, 2015

Sleepy Village

I am sitting in the courtyard of an old Hacienda that is alive with a new life. The water rolls down the fountain and the Bougainvillea climbs the walls. I am surrounded by silence but for the water. The colors bounce with energy, but the people are in Siesta and the quite feeling embodies the village of Alamos.

In the 1700's the Spanish settled here, at the base of the foothills to mine silver.  The town prospered and the Spanish sent their offspring to Stanford and Harvard and the education brought more prosperity to the area, but only for growth within and not towards over burdened growth.

It wasn't long before the migration of "gringo's" began and hence bringing more wealth and renovation to the area.  After the mines dried up the houses started to collapse unto themselves.  Adobe needs constant care and without inhabitants we are suddenly climbing over crumbled walls and getting snag in knarly vines.  People from America discovered this beautiful city and had the vision to walk through ruins and see the vision of a Hacienda.  I sit in the middle of just such a ruin. 

Walking away from a life in New Orleans, full of stress and making a typo in her research to find a new location, our owner landed in Alamos, Mexico versus Alamos, Colorado!  Shortly after stepping off the plane, hitching a ride to town and taking a stroll....well, needless to say, she was hooked.
Twelve years later and a learning curve that was strictly perpendicular she owns the beautiful Hotel Colonial.

What does one do in a sleepy village.  It draws people that love to move slowly through life and beat to their own destiny.  Entrepreneurs have moved into this village to prefect their craft and create a new life.  Gourmet restaurants can be found behind a dark corner on a quite street and not far away one can stay in a luxury hotel that rivals any around the world.  Life moves slowly, but doesn't stagnate.

We all strive for a more peaceful life with a touch of Zen, but don't want to give up all the little luxuries of a feast for the tummy or the soul.  It is hard to find a place that embodies both.

It is a beautiful village with so much diversity of energy and quite.  Just a perfect little spot in the  chaos of life.  There is a saying here.....".the first day you arrive you fall in love with Alamos, the second day you hate it and the third day...you buy a house".....almost..almost...