Parras-Pueblo Mágico

Hi!!!!!!!!
On 9th August we went to a town called Parras. We went with Dra. Lilia and Sra. Magda. We stayed in the house of Dra.’s friend. We met Sra. Mary (92 years old) and her daughters Lola, Sonia, Virtudes, Aurora, her son Arturo, son in law Sr. Carlos (husband of Sra. Sonia), her granddaughters, grandsons and many other people. Parras is nearly 1 and half hours from Torreon by car. Parras is very nice town. There are many orchards of grapes, nuts, avocados and other fruits.
On Thursday evening, we attended a festival of a saint called San Lorenzo, in which they also organize their fair of grapes and wine (Feria de las Uvas y el Vino). One of the granddaughters of Sra. Mary, Srta. Dora Maria Silva (daughter of Sr. Arturo) was selected as the Queen of the Fair. Sr. Arturo named his son as Rabindranath, in memory of great Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore.
They took us to a place where they make wine, called Casa Madero. It was established in 1597. So, Parras is more than 400 years old town. There we first saw some traditional dancers called matachines. They were dressed colorfully and danced very nicely. Then we went to the Church there, where they offered prayers for the event. The Church was decorated very beautifully.
In the night the matachines came down from a hill with a torch. At the same time there were fireworks on the hill. It looked beautiful. When they reached Casa Madero, they lighted wood fire. They danced around the fire until it went out. Again there were fireworks. It was very good and I liked them. It was midnight when we returned home, but the party continued with dances until morning.
On Friday at about 10 a.m. there was a parade from the town to San Lorenzo (where the Casa Madero is located). The queen of the grapes and vine, Dora Maria Silva, “God Baco” (Roman God of Grapes), princess of the grapes, matachines (one type of folklore dancers in Mexico), and other people took part in the parade. Ms. Dora Maria is the 4th queen of the Fair from their family.
In Casa Madero, the Queen and the princess crushed the grapes (“molienda”) with their feet. This is an old custom to start the wine making process for the year. It was very nice. After the “molienda”, we took photos with the queen and the “God Baco”. I took many photos of the event.
Later we also attended a lunch party in the Hacienda of the Casa Madero. It is a beautiful and big place. The owners of Casa Madero organized this party and have invited all those participated in the parade and their family and friends for the party. During the lunch Mariachi (traditional music group) was also played. We ate lot of sweet grapes of the town and also the traditional sweets of milk, fruit and nuts.
After the lunch Sra. Sonia and Sra. Virtudes took us to see various tourist spots in Parras. First we went to 2 tanks of water where people could swim. Then we went to Srta. Dora Maria’s house. It was very nice. Later we went to Sra. Sonia’s house. There she grows avocados, peaches and other fruit trees. She gave avocados, peaches and other things to Dra. Lilia, Sra. Magda and to us. They also took us to traditional sweets shops and we bought many sweets made of milk and nuts. They were very tasty.
We returned to Torreon on Friday night. I like Parras: Uno de los Pueblos Mágicos de México (One of the magic towns of Mexico).