Favourite Google Streetview 'location' paintings from 2009

LasBrujas at Liorna, Mexico City, Mexico 

Duke Street, Halifax NS Canada 

Fisherwick Presbyterian Church, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

 

Where the 16 September 1810 call to arms triggered the Mexican War of Independence

The Cry of Dolores
crayon, watercolour ink
©2025 Charlene Brown

The Baroque Parroquia Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, sometimes known as the Grito Church is directly across from the Plaza del Grande Hidalgo and Independence Garden in Dolores Hidalgo, Mexico. 

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was a Mexican Roman Catholic priest, best remembered for his speech, the “Grito de Dolores” (“Cry of Dolores”), which called for the end of Spanish colonial rule in Mexico. Today, Hidalgo is celebrated as “the father of Mexican independence.”
 

Will I ever be able to pronounce Guanajuato?

Guanajuato

crayon, watercolour, CP
©2025 Charlene Brown

Guanajuato was founded by the Spanish in the early 16th century and became the world's leading silver-extraction centre in the 18th century. The historic Baroque and neoclassical atmosphere is preserved by routing traffic through subterranean streets along former mineshafts.

We were told by our guide that students can attend the famous Guanajuato University free of charge by maintaining high grades and doing volunteer work aimed at preserving and beautifying the colorful residential areas and parks of this World Heritage designated city.

San Miguel de Allende ̶ possibly the most delightful place in all of Mexico

Alicorns* in the arts & crafts market
watercolour and crayon sketch
©2025 Charlene Brown                                                                

In addition to cool inner courtyard gardens, many of the restaurants in San Miguel have umbrella-shaded rooftop dining areas from which you can see the flower-framed doorways and balconies, market stalls, and jacaranda forests leading up to the cathedral-like parroquia (parish church) de San Miguel Arcángel. 

*The winged unicorn or alicorn is my favourite species of alebrije, the brightly colored, fantastical creatures of Mexican folk art.  In case you didn’t spot them right away… There are three alicorns under the lace-trimmed white umbrella in the centre foreground of this watercolour sketch.