Author: Joseph Toone

Spend Christmas morning in a rare opportunity exploring a local village’s holiday celebrations of dancing and music plus: The Silver Route where it remains much like in the 1600s A cloistered monastery enjoying the art, views and vibes.  Feel free to bring chocolate covered Oreos …

Spend holidays enjoying San Miguel de Allende’s unique history, culture and Christmas traditions.  Tours are led by Joseph Toone, author of the best-selling Christmas book in the series San Miguel de Allende’s Secrets and our top ranked private tour guide.  Toone is also the creator of the San …

Join the longest-running and best-rated Day of the Dead tours led by the lad that, literally, wrote the best-selling book on Day of the Dead in San Miguel de Allende. Explore San Miguel de Allende’s oldest and still active cemetery to enjoy: Why San Miguel …

Feather-based art seen in town today are the traditional indigenous dancers with decorated headdresses, staffs, lances, fans, bracelets and sandals.  All these feathers are a subset of an art form that reached its zenith just prior to the Spanish Conquest to about a century afterwards. …

Gift giving is an art and as with any art it is a mixture of sensitivity and perspective.  As a foreigner living in Mexico these are some tricks of the trade I’ve learned that have served me well and will help your gifting fit in …

There is the old adage that the best place to hide is often in plain sight.  This certainly holds true for some of the most ancient chapels in San Miguel de Allende.  There are several chapels from the 1700s that are tiny jewels in the …

Whether visiting or living in San Miguel de Allende it is important to know the basics of Mary, Jesus’ Mom, the most popular Jewish woman in town that stares down at you from nearly every street corner. Plus being a graduate of Mary 101 will …

Often on tours I talk of St. Theresa who wrote frequently about being one with God.  When one with God, St. Theresa would levitate and have orgasms, known as her ecstasies.  If you ride a city bus to the mall, you’ll notice a life-sized image …

Valle De Maiz is one of San Miguel’s oldest neighborhoods and has strong indigenous roots. The festival honors the Holy Cross and goes on for days reflecting when the Spanish gave three days off work to the indigenous Otomis and Chichimecas in late May. It’s …

The U.S. Surgeon General released an advisory today calling attention to the public health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection.  The report cites half of adults experience loneliness daily increasing the risk for premature death on par with the same levels as smoking …