THE BOX SESSIONS ABROAD:
MEXICO 2024

Itinerary By Day

DAY 1 – Welcome to Mexico

Arrive at Mexico City International Airport and join your fellow travelers. Transfer as a group to the colonial World Heritage city of San Miguel de Allende. After settling into your hacienda, toast the start of your journey with a welcome reception. Then, enjoy live mariachi music and panoramic views of the city from the terrace of Antonia Bistro over a celebratory welcome dinner.

Meals: L, D

DAY 2 – Historical San Miguel and Cooking for Life

Take a walking tour of the colorful historic center of San Miguel de Allende. The city, about 6,200 feet above sea level, was established by the Spanish in the 16th century on the site of an indigenous settlement. Learn how San Miguel has long inspired artists as you explore its cobbled streets, museums, churches and galleries. Marvel at the striking turreted pink facade of the pink church, the Parish of San Miguel Arcangel, and observe lessons at the art school, which was constructed in 1755 and is itself a work of art. After a group lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, join the owner of the Mask Museum, to tour an extraordinary collection of over 500 Mexican ceremonial masks, which have been used in indigenous ceremonies across the country. Tonight, explore creative and healthful cuisine in a cooking class, learning skills that you can take from San Miguel to spice up dinners in your own kitchen.

Meals: B, L, D

DAY 3 – Rural Highlands and Capturing Memories

Experience life in a rural village in the central Mexican highlands with members of a rug-hooking women’s cooperative. Together, you will help prepare a traditional lunch, learn about traditional herbal remedies, and view demonstrations of local rug-hooking and stone-carving techniques. After returning to San Miguel, take a three-hour photography journey with a professional photographer, who will share techniques to enhance your photos, even without specialized equipment. Join your photographer to capture memories of your experience in the late afternoon light in the colorful streets of San Miguel. Dinner is on your own this evening.

Meals: B, L

DAY 4 – Pottery and Tiles

Take a short drive to the town of Dolores Hidalgo, known as the birthplace of Mexican Independence, for a guided half-day tour of the area’s churches and workshops. Visit a workshop to observe the local techniques for making pottery and ceramic tiles in the Talavera tradition. Take time to enjoy the town square on your own, stopping at street vendors for the city’s famous ice cream, with unusual flavors like avocado, tequila and shrimp. On the return drive to San Miguel, stop by the Atotonilco, a UNESCO World Heritage site that has been called the Sistine Chapel of Mexico because of the striking Mexican Baroque mural work that adorns its walls and ceiling. This evening, wander the charming and colorful streets of San Miguel on your own for dinner.

Meals: B

DAY 5 – Silver and Diego Rivera

Today, take a full-day tour of the UNESCO World Heritage City of Guanajuato, the epicenter of Mexican silver mining. Its location in a narrow valley accounts for its winding, narrow streets. Guanajuato is home to a major arts festival that draws people from around the world. Your local anthropologist guide will bring you through the childhood home of the muralist and painter Diego Rivera, now a museum. Visit a pottery factory and explore a market designed by Gustave Eiffel, whose global contributions include the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. Explore the town’s winding streets and subterranean passageways on your own before returning to San Miguel in the afternoon.

Meals: B

DAY 6 – From Observer to Artist: An Explosion of Creativity and Color

Walk through the art district of Guadalupe, with its festive murals and colorful wall art. Move from observer to student and artist at the Fábrica La Aurora, a textile factory that has been converted into an art gallery and studio for more than 50 artists. A local artist will lead you in a three-hour intensive workshop, where you can produce your own works of art. Laura Holson, will also lead discussions with the local gallerists about their portfolios. Following lunch at a local restaurant, take a short drive to the Chapel of Jimmy Ray, where the artist and owner, Anado McLauchlin, will lead you through the volcanic eruption of mosaics that adorn the furniture, jewelry and walls of the house itself. Tonight, enjoy a final festive dinner with live music from an estudiantina at Áperi featuring food for the five senses using local ingredients.

Meals: B, L, D

DAY 7 – Homeward Bound

Say farewell to the charming and colorful cobblestoned streets of San Miguel de Allende before a group transfer to the Mexico City International Airport and your homeward flights.

Meals: B

Your Host

Laura Holson is an award-winning writer and visual journalist for The New York Times who writes narrative features and personality profiles. She is the founder of The Box Sessions, a series of festivals and gatherings organized by Sant Epernay, LLC, which celebrate and cultivate personal creativity in writing, film making, drawing and music. For more than two decades at the Times, Holson has chronicled the intersection of celebrity and power in Silicon Valley, Hollywood and New York. She has been studying and writing about creativity for a decade. Holson has an undergraduate degree in art history from the University of California in Santa Barbara and a masters in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia. She is a global traveler, photographer and letterpress printer. She is writing a book about the artistic self.

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