San Antonio

Last Sunday we visited San Antonio, a small town in the mountains near La Paz, once a much larger center of gold and silver mining. Many of the oldest buildings were open for touring as a part of a fund raising effort. It was especially interesting to move through the dark, cool interior rooms and then out into the courtyard gardens around which the houses are built. Interior and exterior space merge in many ways; the use of space is perhaps much more a factor of shade and shadow.

And of course as always in Mexico, color brings alive even the most mundane details. The modern palette has vivid colors; in this almost forgotten, faded place, the colors were much softer and quieter.

San Antonio sits on the lower slopes of the Sierra de la Laguna, and consequently recieves a bit more rain than La Paz. There are particularly rich stands of vegetation, and one nearby place is fenced and set aside as a Cactus Sanctuary, where we saw some wierd and wild prickly plants.