CUE vs SMA - Spanish Colonial Hotspots

You might be asking yourself: "Why...why would they trade one cute Spanish Colonial town for another? Where's the adventure in that?" I'd say...good question. This is the thing with home exchange. Sometimes you get offers that are in places you never heard or or thought about as a "destination", but you say to yourself "why not?" That was the case with San Miguel de Allende (officially shortened to SMA). Ironically, both have a church as their claim to fame. So how does one stack up against the other?

Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel

Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción

SMA is a smaller town at a lower altitude. It has also had A LOT more experience with tourism and English speaking foreigners, which makes it easier for non-Spanish speakers and newbie travellers. There is a passion for bougainvillea that makes the whole town bright with colour. Add to that their certain fearlessness with house colour and SMA is a feast for the eyes.  Their familiarity with "expats" has also affected housing prices (not the only factor, I'm sure, but a factor, nonetheless), which you can see in the numerous real estate offices and rental agencies. Housing is definitely more expensive. Restaurants generally are inexpensive (relatively speaking) and grocery shopping will save on your usual North American food bills. Alcohol can be inexpensive, or not, depending on brand etc. If you like tequila or mezcal, you'll die happy and, very possibly, drunk off your ass.

One of the smoother streets in SMA

Definitely more colour in SMA

Cuenca has narrow streets, too

And we can walk by the river in CUE

Culturally, both towns have an active scene, though they are different. There are lots of things going on in the streets, theatres and restaurants. In SMA mariachi bands swarm the main square on weekend evenings, as do the street kids, selling candies and gum. The street entertainment is stronger in SMA, though I've noticed that Cuenca's is going through a fairly rapidly growth, whether because of changes in governance or influx of street entertainers, I don't know.

SMA

CUE

SMA is way more tony. The high end art galleries, shops and other experiences that require fat wallets abound.  Cuenca does have people with money, but they spend it in the shopping malls, not chic little boutiques, or, more accurately, they spend in chic little boutiques in the shopping malls. That doesn't mean there aren't expensive little stores throughout Cuenca, but they're mixed in with mid-range and lower range places to the point that they aren't really obvious.

Fabrica de Aurora, SMA

A story of murder and betrayal @ the Fabrica

This little guy fascinated me in SMA

Traditional ceramics, Cuenca

Metal work by local a Cuencano

Masks, an Ecuadorian specialty

Drivers in SMA are much more patient, letting aimless visitors wend across the little cobbly streets with impugnity. There's a lot less honking and cutting off. The pedestrians are also more mindful, making space or stepping off the curb with way more frequency than Cuenca. I wouldn't want to own a car in SMA, the roads are made of fist sized river stones, which are great for siphoning off heavy rain fall but deadly for your suspension and tires. Don't go there if you have a bad back. Cuenca's roads seem to be smoother, even though they're quite frequently under repair/construction/maintenance.

Click to make larger and note the cobbles

Cuenca streets, cobble, but smoother

Their tourist trade for things like t-shirts, mementos and general money burners are quite similar. Little store fronts that open up into vault like spaces in the back with a myriad of choices. The "stuff" factor can be overwhelming. (Not Morocco overwhelming, but overwhelming, just the same.)

SMA

SMA

SMA

Cuenca

Cuenca

Cuenca

Cuenca

Foodwise, I have to give the win to SMA. Mexico has the whole dining thing down. We didn't have a bad meal. Now, if you don't like Mexican food, you won't starve, as Italian, South and North American choices are available, but you'll miss out on a whole dining experience that you really shouldn't. Nothing we ate was overly spicy, unless you added the variety of salsa provided. The grocery stores have way more selection and it would be pretty easy to cook as you liked there without begging friends and family to bring in specialty items from foreign climes. (I did see a bottle of kombucha in Cuenca yesterday, which shows me that they really are trying to get up to speed.)

Molcajete mixto - Mixed meat volcano pot

Chiles nogados (Chiles stuffed with nuts)

Cuy - Ecuadorian speciatly

Res (beef) a la parrillada (barbeuced)

Cuenca is catching up, and fairly quickly. The difference between our arrival and now is incredible. And, yes, you can get Mexican food here. The two towns are probably equal in home grown optionsm, but Mexican food is Mexican food and Ecuadorian food is, well, Ecuadorian food. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Ecuadorian food, they honour the ingredients and keep things simple, nothing too spicy, sometimes too salty. It's a bit like comparing Szechuan (SMA) to Cantonese (CUE), both delicious in their own way, but appeal to different palates. I don't want too much of either.

SMA Street Art

Cuenca Street Art

Decorated Streets SMA

Cuenca decor

From our roof in Cuenca

From our home exchange roof top

So, what then, is the difference? I think that San Miguel just has a bit more polish. It shows me where Cuenca is headed, for better or for worse. Strangely, we felt that SMA had too many foreigners (meaning us white folk). There's something charming about standing out in the crowd and feeling out of place, in a manner of speaking. It makes you feel like you're actually somewhere that isn't your natural habitat, but that you've embraced wholeheartedly. While Mexico really seems to get the whole "green space" thing, something that Ecuador could take note of for their cityscapes, it doesn't sway our decision. For us, San Miguel de Allende was a lovely place to visit and we're glad to be back in our familiar little city, with all its quirks.