The French influence in Santa Rosalia: We had planned to meet John & Dorothy Kiesling in Santa Rosalia. They would ride the ferry from Guaymas, spend a few days with us in town and carry on cruising Begone for another month. We’d return on the ferry to our car in Guaymas/San Carlos.
We arrived in Santa Rosalia mid-day and were met by Judy & Bruce on Juce (winners of the January La Paz Bocce Ball Tournament) who advised us that the Santa Rosalia Ferry was down for 10 days. So we arranged with to meet John & Dorothy back in San Carlos.
We had a couple days to enjoy the busy little town before the weather was favorable for the Northern Passage to the mainland. Wandering through Santa Rosalia, had a very different look than other places we had been. The French owned the Copper mines in the 1800's and early 1900's and their influence is clearly reflected in the architecture and the number of times we heard "Oo La La" as we walked down the streets.
Buildings downtown were constructed from wood -- rather than brick and stucco. The church was designed by Gustave Eifel (designer of the Eifel Tower) -- built in Europe out of steel and shipped to Santa Rosalia. The main bakery features delicious French Bread. Corner food stands.
Here's a few pics from the town:
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| Looking down one of the main streets |
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| Inglesia Santa Barbara - steel construction (notice the roof line) |
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| Notice the ceiling line - the gap between the ceiling and the roof allows ventilation so as to not bake the parishiners |
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| Hot Dogs -- so good and so bad for you! |
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| In the 1800's and into the late 1930's, Copper was transported from Santa Rosalia by ship and train. Tom thought this old locomotive was really cool. Anyone surprised?! |
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