Wollersheims On The Road

Mariachi Music and other stuff

2012-02-05T07:11:00.001-07:00

Nancy and I listen to and most enjoy a lot of Mariachi Music while we are here in Tlaqupaque. Every Friday, Satudrday and Sunday afternoon and evening there is Mariachi Music in the Parian and we usually get to it at least a couple of times a week. Some is very good and some is not so good.

I am also playing around with the video aspect of our camera, and uploading videos, which I have never done before. It takes hours here to upload so for no other sake than that, listen to bits and pieces of them.

The first one is not Mariachi music but Nortena music, another very popular type of music in this part of Mexico. Nancy and I do not like it but they were playing right in front of us and I wanted to practice with my camera.

The singers are generally better than the video taker as you will see as you watch them.

#'s 2, 3, 4 and 5 are all Mariachi music and #6 is some street music that I ran into as I was walking home from Home Depot yesterday.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd_7GkXinUQ&feature=youtu.be

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7FpRfpP4uU&feature=youtu.be

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9uSG7UPMJw&feature=youtu.be

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9uSG7UPMJw&feature=youtu.be

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gl8NW1_AZY&feature=youtu.be

6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ81uBOa1WI&feature=youtu.be

Queretaro

2012-02-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

Last year we went with Olivia and Juan Carlos (our landlords) to Guanajuato for a couple of days. We had so much fun that we decided to do something similiar this year. We have communal friends in Queretaro, Richard and Kim Anderson who lived in Olivia's apartments for a number of years, and so decided to visit them. We have been to Queretaro a few times but Olivia and Juan Carlos had not been. So once again it was two gringos guiding two Mexicans to view the tourist things but the two Mexicans certainly guide us around the culture. And man do they speak spanish well.

We did not take the very best bus, but the second best bus, and as you can see it is pretty comfortable. Olivia and Juan Carlos enjoying the cushy seats on our 5 hour journey.

At the beginning of the journey the landscape is pretty deserty, especially at this time of the year, the dry season, as the next two photos show.

But about 1/2 way into our trip there was irrigation and lots of it. They pump the water from the ground, the landscape becomes very rich and the towns we passed through showed that. The next two photos show that also.

We arrived rght on time, took a taxi to Kim and Richards newly aquired home. It is pretty new, 16 years old and very beautiful. We like it a whole lot.

The TV/extra bedroom room

The back patio

The living room

And Kim and Richard in their kitchen, making us an excellent salmon meal. It was yummy.

After that, we needed a walk, a couple of km's to a pyramid that has not been fully excavated but is as big as many of the other pyramids in Mexico that have been excavated and restored. ie. Chichen Itza or Teotihuacan near Mexico City.

And here it is or as close as we could get to it.

On our way to the pyramid we passed this small dairy and on the way back Olivia wanted to stop and get a glass of warm fresh milk. I used to drink it as a child but it sure did not appeal to me on that day.

The dairy was a one milking machine operation with a small compressor running it. A small concrete slab for the cows to stand on while being milked. All accompanied by a milk maid to get the milk started and to strip them dry.

Olivia is trying to convince the milk maid to give her a glass of milk.

A full glass for Olivia, fresh from the cow.

But not only did the milk maid have to milk the cow, but also help her son with his homework. It was cute.

We stayed with Kim and Richard for one night, then we got a hotel in the center of the city so we could explore that part of the city.

A small protest in the central park. Olivia told us what it was all about but right now I forget.

And this s how the police were keeping track of the protesters.

Just a pretty street in Queretaro.

And as in all Mexican towns and cities, the beautiful central park in Queretaro.

We needed to get to the bus station to go home but Olivia and Juan Carlos needed to see one more church. Here they are walking across the street from that church to meet with Nancy and I and head for the bus station. And 5 hours later we were back in Tlaquepaque.

It was a great trip and we get to do another trip with them again this year. They are going to take us to the city that Juan Carlos grew up on a near by farm and spend a couple of days with his aunt to celebrate carnival which will happen in mid Febuary.

Nancy and Ron

The Festive Season

2012-01-08T10:42:00.002-07:00

Christmas has come and gone and it has been great fun for Nancy and I. Dennis, his girlfriend Lee and Glenn were all here so there was never a dull moment. Glenn left about a week ago and Dennis and Lee leave for Australia today. We will miss them all a lot.

I have a capaccino every day at a special restaurant called Cafe San Pedro. This day Dennis and Glenn and Lee joined me.

And these are our three favorite waiters,waiteresses that serve us the delicious capaccino

Nancy bought a humming bird feeder when we first arrived and it has been a great success. We now have 7 full time and they use the container full of sugar water every day. They are so very interesting to watch.

There is a lady at our gym who we have befriended some. She is a dentist and these are two of her neices whom Nancy and I teach english to every once in a while. They are sweet, ages 17 and 14.

This is our Christmas clan Glenn, Dennis, Dennis' girlfriend Lee and Nancy. We are watching Mariachi music at the Parian

Glenn is pretty fluent in spanish and we like him around a lot when we are talking to Juan Carlos. He and Juan Carlos became the best of friends and Juan Carlos took him one afternoon with his wagon and horse to collect fire wood among other things. I was too late to get a front picture but here they are on there way.

You have seen photos of this young lady before. She is Violeta, the wife of Rudolfo, the son of Olivia. But she is so very beautiful we thought you would not mind seeing her again.

On New Years Eve, Olivia has a party for her workers and friends and this is the beginning. It is held outdoors and about 10:00PM they shut the street down and light a big fire in the middle of the street. I asked who they had to get permission from to do this and they said no one. They just do it.

Juan Carlos at the beginning of the evening.

Corina, Olivia,s daughter and her husband Abram

Two of Olivia,s gandchildren. The boy is Marcos and the girl is Hemana

Some neighbors and some of Olivia.s workers getting started to bring in the New Year. Fireworks are part of the New Year celebration and our street was no exception. It was the wee hours of the morning before they quit.

Dennis and Rudolpho discussing whatever.

Two years ago when Dennis was here we met a young Argentina boy in Tonalo who was studying here in Mexco to be a Doctor. When we went to Tonalo this year we met him again and he recognized Dennis from two years before.

And here you can see they were having a great visit.

At Christmas time Tlaqupaque gets very busy. Families come home to visit and the streets get very crowded from early morning to late night as this photo shows. Actually it is pretty busy all the time but so much more at Christmas time.

Besides the cart that Juan Carlos uses to haul junk, he also has a very fancy cart called a Calanderia. He uses it for weddings and birthdays and quinceaneros. He has had two events that are a long ways, 3 and 4 hours, away so he needs a wagon to haul his calanderia and his horse. And this photo is what he does it with. It tooks us forever to get the lights hooked up and then we prayed all the time they were gone, that they would make it back in one piece. Horse, calenderia and passengers.

A bit more of a close up the the trailer.

Antonio, who is waiting here for a US green card, lives in one of the apartments with his daughter. Cannot remember her name but here she is after school one day with a costume she was very proud of.

When Lee showed up, Nancy sort of lost part of her job. Lee is a great cook and as Nancy does, enjoys doing it. Lee is Chinese from Singapore so our meals were not from Southern Alberta but excellent Chinese food with incredible spices. Dennis is a big help when she cooks and Glenn just wanted to be in the picture.

But Nancy is not totally our to picture and has not forgotten how to cook.

Just a good photo of Dennis and Lee

And Glenn and Juan Carlos

We have to have at least one photo of Olivia in each blog and here she is with her oldest son Gustavo

Parts of two families just before sitting down to a great meal. Chinese food this time.

Just two pretty young girls on the street in Tlaqupaque.

Pinatas are a huge item here at Christmas time and they are sold on every street corner. This car is covered with them, all for sale.

Until next time.

Ron and Nancy

Much More Of the Same

2011-12-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

Once again we are pretty slow on blogs, mostly because there is not much new to write about. Our life is extremely peaceful, getting up, hanging out on line for an hour, then going to the gym for an hour. We come home, have breakfast and showers and then it is time to go up town for our daily shopping at the market, sit on benches and people watch for a time and then for a capuccino. Then home for a nap or a movie or read a book. Beer time and more computor time is at 5:00PM, supper at 6:30 and then at times we go up town again to watch the masses of people in the park in the evening and so we do something so we don't go to bed so early. We do love it here and will book again soon for next year.

This first photo is of a street seller that sells balloon like toys for the young. There are many such sellers and they sell many, we think very few of them get home after dragging them down the streets in Tlaqupaque.

In southern Alberta, men go to the coffee shop to converse and solve the world problems. Here they sit in the park, play games, read newspapers and share their worlds with each other.

Much the same as the previous picture but more discussion going on.

And more of the same.

Another street seller, this one selling fruit. She has had this good selling corner ever since we have been coming to Tlaqupaque.

This is the butcher shop (and it is a very traditional butcher shop) where Nancy buys all her meat. Whatever you want in pork or beef, be it hamburger, a roast or steaks, they cut it all off the same quarter that is hanging down from the hooks, grind the hambuger right there, and charge the same price for it all. When they cut it for Mexicans they cut it very thin and there is really no such a thing as a roast so Nancy has to do much explaining with many hand movements to tell them how she wants it cut but it is always correct and very, very tasty.

This is something new to Tlaquepaque this year. You who were here last year can remember the high end walk street with the many expensive shops. These sculptures were done this year to decorate that street and they look quite spectacular.

These boys keep us safe. Last year there were just a few of them but this year the center of Tlaqupaque is swarming with them, Most on bicycles and very helpful if you are looking for help.

Ths is a dead moth that was in our laundry room.

In the last post I mentioned that Carolyn Otto had send a new bridle\harness out with us to give to Juan Carlos for his horse that he uses to pull his fancy buggy. This is that horse, all decked out in the new gear. Tomorrow, Christmas Day, Juan Carlos is taking his horse and carriage to the coast (Puerto Vallarta) for an event. They are getting 34000 pesos (about $3000) and it is good money for them.

Last week at the Parian, where we go to listen to Mariachi Music and watch folk dancing, a very different kind of dance was performed. These next three photos show that dance.

Olivia, our landlord is a great entrepreneur. Besides our apartments and her restaurant across the street, she makes trips to the US to buy used clothing (mostly baby clothes and other things for babies). This year she was gone for 2.5 weeks and came home with not only a truck load of merchandise but she bought a trailer in the US and filled that also. Then she sets up a garage sale format in front of her restaurant for 4 days and sells and sells and sells.

I am not sure how this photo go in at this spot but it is a typical Mexican band playing in the market on a Saturday morning. It was pretty good but very loud.

Back to Olivias street sale,

This is Corrina, Olivia's daughter on the left and Violeta, Olivia's daughter in law on the right. The whole family was involved in the street sale.

And finally our son Dennis and his girlfriend Lee. Dennis came from Australia 3 weeks ago and Lee has been here for a week, also from Australia. It has been delighful since they have been here and our menu has changed a bit as Lee and Dennis our both great cookers and are using their skills. Lee is originally from Singapore so much of the food they cook is from that part of the world. Yummy!!!

Ah---Home Again in Tlaqupaque

2011-11-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

We have been here for almost a month and have been a bit slow with blogs as life is full of everyday events and there just does not seem to be enough time to get one done. Also, we are lax on taking photos .

And we could not let you get by without at least a couple of photos of the Mariachi singers at the Parian. She is a new one for us and was very good and we hope to hear her again sometime. The second photo has her singing with one of the band members and they also were very good.

We have talked often about the grand celebrations that take place when young girls become 15 years old. The fiesta is called quince anos. This photo Nancy took of a young girl getting ready for her debut. She and friends were taking photos in the park.

Before we left Alberta, Carolyn Otto gave us the bridle/harness to give to Juan Carlos, for his fancy horse that he uses to pull his fancy cart. He was so happy to receive it.

Our back garden was a mess when we arrived as the following photo shows. Just way overgrown and full of weeds. But after a few days of cutting and pulling we got it in order and now it looks great.

This is one flower we did not pull out. It usually has finished by the time we get here and not started again by the time we leave.

And this was a friend we discovered when we were cleaning up the area. For those who do not recognize the red design on the belly of the spider, she is the dreaded black widow. There were two of them and they both ended up dead.

And this is what the garden looks like now and we sort of like it.

Our first week here we were invited to a birthday party for Marcos, one of Olivia's grandsons. It was his third birthday and was a grand affair. They had hired an event planner and there job was to keep the children happy and busy and they did a fine job.

There were about 100 people in attendance, mostly adults and of the children, they were mostly boys and boys will be boys from whatever country they are from. This is a big inflatable slide that they all played king of the castle from.

This is Corrina and her second child Mateo. She is the mother of the birthday boy, Olivia's oldest daughter and our very excellent house cleaner.

Kids being entertained.

Olivia and her youngest daughter Fatima

We had a major event at our house. We celebrated both American Thanksgiving and Mexican Independence Day last Monday. Here we are ready for our guests, for a party that was to begin at 5:00PM. We are ready!!! The first guests arrived at 5:30 and the last at 9:30, 18 in total, comprsing of 4 Canadians, 1 Cuban and the rest Mexicans. Not sure why we were celebrating American Thanksgiving!!!!!

Rudolpho, Olivia's son and his very beautiful wife, Violeta

Nancy and Olivia, both very beautiful.

The young people soon moved from the patio to the TV area.

And the last people to arrive, a couple who work in Olvia's restaurant

It is not a very clear photo but this is Paul and his mother, Joyce, from Toronto. We have known them from past years here and they have become good friends.

And more youngsters all belong to Olivia.

We have bought a humming bird feeder and a hammock but you will have to wait till the next blog to get photos and the hummng birds feeding and Nancy in the hammock.

Our Last Post From Debi and Van's Camera

2011-03-29T12:16:00.018-06:00

Debi and Van are our last guests for this year and they will be leaving tomorrow and it will be so sad. We cannot say enough times how wonderful our anniversary celebration has been, never to be forgotten. And thanks to all who partook. One other bit of info about the people who came and visited us. Not one got sick, not one got lost, not one got robbed or got to partake in a drug gang shoot out. It just flowed the way most middle class Mexicans live and just like home, most of them do not get robbed or sick or get lost or involved with the drug violence. It is just a wonderful, warm, very peaceful place to spend some time. This first photo is of one of the churches on the main square in Tlaquepaque and we did not think we had shown a photo of it in previous blogs. Most main squares just have one church on them but the one here has two. Don't ask us why. The front gate of that same church with the pretty trees in bloom. These trees are blooming all over Tlaquepaque at this time of the year.

Van has a good eye and it is the same church, taken through the designs on the surrrounding fence.

Here is Debi.

And here is Van.

Another of Nancy's now famous suppers. Juan Carlos and Olivia, Ron and Nancy and Debi. Van is the photo taker.

Downtown Guadalajara has many km's of walk streets and this view is of one of them. They are great fun to explore.

We have shown a number of photos of the main market in Guadalajara but this one is a bit different. It is the bird market as part of the main market. Many hundreds of birds for sale.

Just an interesting store front on the busy walk street in Tlaquepaque.

We were doing a daytrip to the Lakeside town of Chapala and low and behold they were going to have a circus. They were parading around various animals that were to be part of the circus.

And one last photo of the little corner of love. This time it is Debi and Van.

Debi and Van did a 3 day journey to Colima and then on to the coast at Manzanillo. This photo is a street scene in the city of Colima.

The very pretty central park in Colima. It is wirless internet as many central parks in Latin America have.

Just more of the central park.

Nancy and I have been in Colima a couple of times and both times we lucked out as there were celebrations both times we were there. Debi and Van only got a wedding. The bride and groom arrived in a horse drawn cart followed in the truck by a mariachi band.

They have moved to Manzanillo, a tourist town, but more so a very busy Mexican port city. Here is a pretty lady along side some pretty flowers.

Along the malacon in Manzanillo and some kids just having fun.

They searched long before they found this hotel which the dubbed their pink hotel. They thought it was great, right on the beach and included breakfast.

And a pool to compliment it all.

A pretty spectacular sunset but still, the best ones are in southern Alberta when the wind blows. And a great photo for a great ending of 5 wonderful months in Tlaquepaque.

We are leaving here on Friday, stopping in Seattle for a few days to visit children and grandchildren and hope to see many of you in the coming months.

Rhonda and Alan Had a Camera Also

2011-03-22T10:25:00.009-06:00

Our time in Tlaqupaque is soon over, only 10 days and the time has gone incredibly fast. I think you all know that this journey was to celbrate our 50th wedding anniversary and along the way over the past year we asked a number of poeple to join us here and help us celebrate. Well it mushroomed into something beyond our imagination, 29 people, from Alberta, BC and Missouri showed up and kept us in the full celbration mood for the full 5 months. Every night when we would go to bed I would tell Nancy, man we are on a roll and what a roll it has been. Without a doubt, the best anniversary that anyone could possibly have. We cooked, we toured and never missed a happy hour.

Rhonda (Gordon and Lorna Petersons daughter) and her husband Alan were here for 10 days and these photos are from her camera.

This first one is of Alan in the main market in Guadalajara.

And Alan again with his wife Rhonda in the central park in Guadalajara.

Our daughter Ronan and her partner Doug were also here for 10 days and I think here they are waiting for 2 for 1 margaritas.

Just a pretty picture of the central park in Tlaqupaque. You all have seen many of them over the past 2 years.

Ron and Nancy and Lorna and Rhonda at Ron's favorite capaccino place.

Alan and Lorna in that same central park in Tlaquepaque.

He is my shoe shine person and by osmosis became the shoe shine person of all our friends who arrived. It was Gordon's and my turn this day.

Do you think he likes it in Tlaquepaque?

All the old people sitting in the cheap seats to watch the folk dancing and the Mariachi music in the Parian.

I think this is the 4th photo like this. This time it is Rhonda and Alan under the "Little Corner of Love".

Rhonda and Alan our young and brave and decided to head out on their own to Guanajato, a beautiful restored colonial city about 4 hours away by bus. The got there and back, negoiated a good hotel, ate good food and saw everything they needed to see and in all of that they did not take one taxi, everything by bus. I was so proud of them.

I was not with them so really don't know much about the following photos.

The first one is a stairway up to a church that I am sure, during lent and holy week, people climb to the top on their knees and sometimes with someone on their back.

It is a very beautiful city and this seems to be just a street scene.

The trees on the right are one side of the central park but here it is called the Jardin Union. On the other side is a church.

This is one of the many theatres in Guanajato. It is a university town and hosts many festivals each year.

And it is not flat. In fact we do not think there are any 10m that are flat. This photo shows just that.

And more proof that it is not flat.

And again!!!!!

And even at night it is not flat. I think these two photos were taken from the balcony of their hotel.

Bye for now and hope to see you all soon.

Views of Mexico from David's Camera

2011-03-11T13:41:00.011-07:00

On one of the walk streets in Tlaquepaque there is a tile reproduction of a very famous painting by a Mexican artist that is housed in the National Museum in Mexico City. This is a photo of that reproduction and if you make it large it is really quite spectacular.

Just some of the incredible handicraft work that is done in Tlaquepaque.

And another photo of our, very beautiful back yard. It is certainly not the first one on our recent blogs.

Some of the numerous people who have come to Tlaqupaque to help us celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary and here we are at one of the suppers that Nancy has become famous for.

Ron and Nancy and Brian and Carolyn and soon it will be capaccino time.

Our favorite visitor, beautiful Emily Bradbury, Gary and Andra's daughter. She is 15 years old and spent 6 full days with 6 adults, including her parents. And not one time did we hear her complain. She is amazing.

This photo was taken through a number of prisims, that is located on a major walk street in Tlaquepaque.

Just a great photo of Brian and Carolyn.

All school kids wear uniforms and this is a group of school kids with the uniforms of that particular school.

Not all music is mariachi music. This type of music is called Nortena music but usually has a small squeeze box accompanying.

Hot!!!!!!!Dried peppers in the market.

Terry is getting a pedicure at Nancy's favorite pedicure place.

One of the many stores on the walk street in Tlaquepaque. Just lots of stuff.

You have seen Juan Carlos' horse many times but this is the first time you have seen it with Terry. Juan Carlos' horse is a working horse. Every day he goes out to haul junk from where ever.

The altar of the church in Chapala, the gringo town on Lake Chapala,

This is Terry, David's friend, with, we are not sure, but, to Nancy and I, we think it is a favorite bartender.

You have seen photos of the dresses that the girls wear to celebrate turning 15. Just more of the same type of dresses.

David and Terry and the female Mariachi band that they went to listen to more than one time. The band is very, very good.

This is a night food stand that David and Terry ate at one night.

And this is what they ate.

David and Terry were lucky enough to be able to go inside the main theatre in Guadalajara and watched a ballet troup practicing. This particular performer was a bit thirsty so, look close, on her toes, danced up to the bar and ordered a drink. This is a ballerina at her bar.

Our time is coming close to an end and it has been wild 50th celebration for Nancy and I. Company has been steady, in fact there are 10 new guests here right now, 4 from southern Alberta and 6 from British Colombia. We have so enjoyed our visits and all the wonderful talk.

Part 2: Mexico Through the Eyes of Brian and Carolyn

2011-02-25T13:31:00.010-07:00

Our apartment is sort of the center of all the other apartments and houses the mechanical for all the apartments. Water is by a pressure system and has been causing us some problems for some time but I have managed to limp it along and keep it going. That was until Brian showed up and he said "lets fix it" so about 10 blocks later and many questions in various hardware stores we bought a new pressure switch. And here we are, one engineer (my brother), one farmer/teacher (Brian) and one teacher/light holder (me) fixing the pump. It is fixed???? I am not sure yet but is heading in that direction. Just a few more very small adjustments. We are getting real close.

Carolyn thought she had died and gone to heaven when she arrived as Juan Carlos (Olivia's husband) has a horse and a cart that he uses every day to haul junk. Much different than her horse and carriage but wonderful to Carolyn just the same.

And for sure she needed a ride with Juan Carlos and these next three photos show part of that ride. He actually took her all around the block.

The Cathedral in downtown Guadalajara. It is very easy to get to the center of Guadalajara from here so we went more than once.

This is a very famous mural, painted by Jose Clemente Orozco in the Institute Cultural de Cabanas in downtown Guadalajara

A photo of the church steeples, taken through the arches of the previous mentioned building.

The Teatro Degallado, very old and very beautiful. David and Terry were lucky enough to have it be open when they were in Guadalajara and they got to see inside. It is not open to public often. And those people standing outfront are Gary and Andra and Brian.

Those same 3 people infront of an interesting sculpture in the Plaza Tapatio.

At the end of the Plaza Tapatia, we could see this huge tent like structure long before be got and and low and behold it was a skating rink. Outside in 30 degree weather. It was Saturday and the place was jammed with long lines waiting to get on. We doubt many of the skaters would have made the NHL.

Gary and Brian, sitting at the end of the skating rink on one of Sergio Bustamonte's famous bronze sculptures

It is always hard to take a photo in the inside of a church, mostly because of lack of light but here is an attempt at the inside of the Cathedral in Guadalajara.

A pretty girl (Andra) a pretty fountain and the front of the Cathedral,

There was a photo like this in Part 1 of these blogs but the girls are so pretty and the music is spectacular we thought we needed another photo. Sometime I am going to try to upload some of their music on You tube and if it works, we will send it to all of you.

A street scene in Tlaquepaque. Notice the school uniforms.

Once again, Juan Carlos and his horse. Every day he goes out, looking for stuff to haul and for one load he gets 300 pesos or about $25.

Wiring Mexican style. This particular group of switches and plug ins are used for the stalls that set up only on the weekend.

Nancy has favorite places to buy things in the market and this is the place where she buys her vegetables. It does not seem to matter how much and what you buy, the price is always 30 pesos, about $3.00

And these are cacti, of which Nancy makes and excellent salad that even I, the anti vegetable person, likes.

It seems most tortillas are made by hand, one at a time, but this particular machine does it automatically. The dough goes in at one end and the cooked tortilla comes out at the other.

Any of you that have butchered an older chicken that is female will have seen these. They are the undeveloped eggs, that in a few days, if the chicken was alive would be eggs you would use. Here these eggs are used, just like they look in this photo, cooked and eaten with the chicken.

The main market in downtown Guadalajara is huge and everything imaginable is for sale. This photo only shows a very small part of it.

And this one shows my favorite part of it. I am sure a whole square block of nothing but saddles and bridles and boots and anything imaginable that deals with horses.

No farrier for Juan Carlos when he has to shoe his horse.

Two blogs in one day is too much so we will quit for now. Our next blog will be with my brother Dave's photos.

Part 1: Mexico Through the Eyes of Brian and Carolyn

2011-02-25T13:03:00.008-07:00

It has been a long time since we have sent out a blog, one reason is that we were short of pictures and another reason is that we have have a fair amount of company over this past month and I have been busy touring them and Nancy has been busy cooking for them.

My brother Dave came the 1st of Feb and his partner showed up about the middle of the month. Gary and Andra Bradbury and their daughter Emily and Carolyn and Brian Otto have just left after a week's stay and Jim and June Tagg came back from the coast and were around for a couple more days.

The problem with not having enough pictures changed immediately after Carolyn and Brian came, as Carolyn is a prolific picture taker and all through new eyes to the views of Tlaquepaque and the surrounding area. These next two blog are mostly of her photos, or her husband Brian photos

The first is a man roasting peanets and covering them with all sorts of good things in the market in Tonala

In Mexico and most other latin countires, the turning of 15 years old for a girl is a very special occasion and families spend fortunes on the celebration. These next three photos of some of the dresses that are available for the girl who turns 15.

The market in Tonala is large and very crowded and after an hour or so of exploring it, it is time for a rest and I have a favorite place to rest at a restaurant called MOA. This particular time a band of very old men came and seranaded us. There music ablities had long past but it was such fun and we tipped them well.

And not only our favorite waiter at MOA but the only waiter at MOA. They serve great cappaccino.

Gary and Andra and Kate checking out the central park in Tonala

And just some of the massive amounts of stuff that is for sale in Tonala,

Back in Tlaquepaque and doing our nightly walk about, we came upon a clown, doing his thing and soon he had many of our group helping him do his thing. The photo is not so good but if you look you can see Gary and Brian and I making fools of ourselves and getting great laughs from the crowd.

The beautiful and well stocked market in Tlaquepaque.

Other things besides veggies sold in the Market. It is the place we buy all our very good bread.

And chicken and eggs.

And fish. This is our favorite seller of fish and our favorite fish. It is called Dorado and it is great.

The basement of the market is filled with food stands. This one, one of maybe 50.

This is not in the market but a few blocks away and the butcher shop where Nancy buys all her meat

We did a day trip to Chapala, a gringo town on Lake Chapala and these are two old men sitting in the park. Many old men sit in many parks all over Latin America. It is the equivalent of the coffee shop in small town Alberta.

A rest time for all of us in Chapala

Not a rest this time but just good people and a beautiful bougainvillea tree.

And Emily and Andra, looking at beautiful (but not clean) lake Chapala

A while ago there was a photo of Bill and Lynette standing under this arch that says "a little corner of love". This time it is Brain and Carolyn, just as much in love.

Just a pretty house in Chapala.

Every day at 3:00PM and for one hour, a female Mariachi band plays and sings in one of the restaurants here in Tlaquepaque. Not only that but they sell Margaritas 2 for 1. The band is great and so are the Margaritias.

One of the many quite large and very wonderful suppers we have had at our apartment. They have been such fun with great conversation and friendship.

This blog will come in two parts and somewho I published the second part without writting on it so it will show up when you get this one but in a day or so it will also get some dialogue, Just be patient or just look at the photos.

From the Lens of Bill and Lynette's Camera

2011-01-25T10:05:00.007-07:00

We certainly have not been wanting for English speaking friends. The first part of January, Jim and June Tagg, friends from Lethbridge arrived. They are here for a month and have their own apartment. Then on the 17th of Jan, Bill and Lynette Entzminger, flew from Hermosillo, where they are wintering. They stayed with us for a week and these photos are theirs.

The center of Tlaquepaque has many, many benches that Nancy and I like a lot, and this one is in a great location for people and car watching. The gal beside Nancy is Lynette.
We went to the market the first day they arrived and Lynette was most interested in this part of the chicken. Mostly the insides, including not quite complete eggs, the small orange balls in the pan in the photo.

More of the market, and the good looking guy is Bill.

And here he is again with more market stuff but this time in the back of a truck. Cow heads and guts being taken to a butcher shop across the street. The cows stomach is cleaned and dryed and used for a meal called Menudo. We see them all over.

The streets are narrow and there is no room to park so Coke figured out this machine for moving their product around. Lynette begged a short ride.

We did a trip into the center of Guadalajara and this photo is across the street from where we get off the bus. The horses and buggies are sitting in front of a very famous church.

One of the many, many parks in the center of Guadalajara. The main cathedral is in the background. The extra lady in the photo is June Tagg.

Lots of these types of stands. They squeeze the juice out of the sugar cane and sell that. They also just cut up the sugar cane and sell it in small squares.

Our second day we went to vist the Lake District and we visited two of the towns situated on Lake Chapala. This first photo is just a pretty store in the town called Ajijic (ah-hee-heek)

This is also in Ajijic. Three young boys were fishing and giving us information about the lake. Notice their fishing poles. Fishing line wrapped around pop bottles.

From Ajijic it is only a few kilometers to Chapala and here are two lovers under the sign that says "Little Corner of Love"

Another day and another journey, this one to the market at Tonala, just a short distance from our home in Tlaquepaque. A necessary visit while visiting the market is to the glass blowing factory that is pretty interesting.

Back in Tlaqupaque and every afternoon at 3:00PM, this all female Mariachi band plays in one of the restaurants close by. We were not hungry but they also sell two for one Margaritas so we quickly got thirsty and we so enjoyed the band.

Just more of the beautiful band.

We just can't get enough of the Mariachi music and Bill and Lynette enjoyed the music as much as we do. So two days later we went to the Parian and these types of photos have been in every blog since we have been coming to Tlaquepaque.

Happy hour at the Wollersheim's in Tlaquepaque. And we were happy.

This is a mural on one of the walls in the Parian. A mold was built, then poured with cement and then painted. It is quite unusual.

This guy is on the street everyday, advertising a pharmacy. He has many other friends than just Lynette and most of them are much younger.

Bill and Lynette went back to Keno Bay yesterday morning and we miss them. It was such a great and busy week.

New Years Eve and a Trip to Guanajuato

2011-01-06T12:00:00.015-07:00

We think we mentioned in our last blog that we had to change apartments for two weeks as someone had already booked our big apartment for these two weeks when we booked for 5 months. It is much cozier but the internet is much, much faster so rather than taking two days to upload our photos, today it took maybe 10 minutes. What a difference.

Our apartment front yard is the parking lot for the restaurant that is part of these apartments and it is also the playground and backyard for the family that runs both. As a result, when we are here (and at other times also) we get invited to all family celebrations. We turned down a Christmas invitation but accepted a New Year's Eve.

It was a BBQ with all the family and many friends of the younger children. In this photo, Juan Carlos is starting the BBQ and it took a while. Remember the days we got to light BBQ coals. What he is using are really not BBQ coals as we know them but charcoal, hand made not too far away from here, and it is tough to get started.

And Olivia's s0n, Rudolpho, was the chief cook. Mexican steak and refried beans and salsa and guacamole and of course, tortillas. It was yummy.

Just part of the crowd that attended. Nancy and I were by far the oldest and the soonest to go home. I got up at 5:00 AM and it was still going on.After 3 weeks of no dancing or mariachi music at the Parian, the powers that be, decided they needed to catch up, so for two weeks straight, every afternoon and evening there was mariachi music in the Parian. And sometimes there was dancing also. You have seen many photos like this but this one was special to us so we have included it.

The Parian had large crowds for the Christmas season so the decision they made was a good one. This photo is just one very small part of the complex called the Parian.

After New Years, Nancy and I were talking about taking a small trip, we thought to San Miguel Allende to visit some friends there but that did not work out so we decided instead to go the Guanajuto. Olivia and Juan Carlos had never been to Guanajato so decided to come with us and what a great trip we had.

Guanajuato is a World Heritage City, very old, very beautiful, very hilly and 500m higher than here so it is 5 degrees colder. We needed extra blankets at night and coats and long pants the rest of the time.

It is still Christmas holiday time here in Mexico and Guanajuato was packed with Mexican visitors. This is a photo looking down the street from one of the main parks.

And this one is looking up that same street from the other end of the park.

There were many restaurants to choose from and this one was our breakfast restaurant the first morning.

And this is the hilly Guanajuato from a view point that was gained, not by walking, but a funiclar, that was pulled up the hill by a cable.

A couple of years ago we had some photos in our blog of these same mummies that were still at the mummy museum we visited as part of a tour. The soil here mumifies bodies so to keep the books balanced, the city digs some of them up and puts them on display and we pay to see them.

This is a photo from the window of the bus so a bit blurry but it shows just one of the many streets that are just like this. Very narrow and very steep.

This church, called Valancia, was built by the mine owners, Both gold and silver were mined in this area.

Coming down the stairs from the church. Ron, Olivia and Juan Carlos

Part of our tour was a visit to a silver mine and a walk down into the tunnels. This is the beginning of a long hike, first down and then up many, many steep stairs.

And finally at the end of the tunnel or as far as our guide would take us. It was a hard journey.

Another part of our tour was to museum that displayed many old torture instruments, mostly from the time of the inquisition. The rest of the photos show some of the methods of torture and death. They speak for themselves.

This one is a bit interesting as there is a trough that was filled with water at the bottom of the wheel that the head would pass through and often held there.

An interesting holdiay from our winter home. We were happy to get back to Tlaqupaque and get warm again.

We are here in our small apartment for a couple more days and then get to move back to our real home away from home. It will be nice.

From the Lens of Barb's Camera

2010-12-24T11:24:00.013-07:00

It seems as if everyone in the world is uploading photos on Blogger, as we started uploading photos yesterday afternoon, and working partly through the night, we just finished and it is 9:30 Christmas morning. Uusally it takes an hour to upload 20 photos. My it was slow.

Our last photo on our last blog was of Barb (Nancy's sister and her friend Diane). That was 3 weeks ago and they went home 2 days ago. It was fun to have them here.

The following photos are all Barb's and her interpertation of what was important and beautiful in Tlaquepaque and surrounds.

And for sure the most important things were the cook and the dishwasher. The first photo is of the dishwasher and the second one is of the cook.

The cook was quit sick for about 10 days of that 3 weeks (we took her to the doctor and got her some medicine), and only now is she back to her normal self. But even being sick, she still managed to get us all fed.

This is Diane, eating breakfast. She is eating alone as she was not usually the first one out of bed.

A street scene of a very pretty building on a very famous street in Tlaquepaque.

More of the same street.

Just an interesting display of many things in a store.

Lovers, not in the park where there are usually lovers, but on the very same street that the last few photos were taken on.

And the picture taker. Barb but this time I had my hands on the camera.

Olivia's husband has a carriage and a horse to pull it, that he rents our for different occassions. First Communions, weddings, and just a ride around town are all part of his itinery. This photo is of his carriage that is stored in the entry way to our apartments.

We did a day trip to the center of Guadalajara and Santa here is the same as he looks at home.

One of the many parks in Guadalajara, looking at the main government buildings.

It is not as big as the one in Mexico City but it is pretty big. The photo shows part of the main market in Guadalajara. And you can buy pretty much anything though mainly it is meat and vegetables and fruit.

Another journey to Tonala, a big market suburb of Guadalajara, and an old busker on the street.

And from old to young. Kids doing what kids like to do on the street in Tonala

Another day trip to Zapopan, another suburb of Guadalajara. The arch is the main entrance to Zapopan.

And a pretty Bugambilia tree in Zapopan.

Back in Tlaquepaque, and once again they are presenting dance and music in the Parian on Friday and Saturday and Sunday afternoon and evening. Just one of the very pretty and accomplished dancers.

A different day and a different trip, this one a bit longer, to Chapala on Lake Chapala. It is a huge expat community. The next two photos are of the lake and the malicon along side of it. It really is quite beautiful.

When we rented our apartment here in Tlaquepaque, oh so long ago, the dates from Dec 25th to Jan 8th were already booked so today, we have to move to a different apartment. It is not very far away, just across the street and we don't have a lot of stuff so it will be a quick move.

We will stay there for the first 8 days and then travel a bit, to San Miguel Allende, to visit some friends from Lethbridge who are spending part of their winter there.

Enjoying our Company

2010-12-04T11:53:00.009-07:00

Our last blog was full of photos of celebrations in Tlaquepaque for the centenial anniversaries that are taking place in Mexico this year and we had hoped they would continue the following week and they did. Not so much here as in Guadalajara. The city was hopping the whole week and the crowds were just enormous but quite polite.

This first photo is a continuation of the celebrations in Tlaquepaque and just to show that all dancing is not folk dancing. This is one of a number of groups that were doing ballroom type dancing one night.

And on another night in our town, there were a number of bands playing, none very good but this one was particularly bad. About 25 young boys, as enthusiastic as all get out but we just had to leave mid concert.

For the second week of celebrations in Guadalajara, my cousin John Thorsten and his wife Arlene came to visit and got in on some of the festivities

These next pictures are really hard to explain as the whole week tells a story and the story is on this large chunk of story book that fell from the sky one night and gouged into the street. More of the story you can find on these two websites. The first site is in spanish but if you scroll down to the bottom there are a number of photos and a video.

www.bicentenario.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_contents&view=article&id=2089

This second site is in english and tells the story of the giant puppets. They were made in France and have travelled all over the world, telling different stories according to the cultures of the countries they visited.

www.guadalajarareporter.com/arts-a-entertainment-mainmenu-93/guadalajara-mainmenu-43/arts-a-culture/27929-beguiling-giants-appear-on-downtown-streets.html

There was a giant dog, maybe 2m high but with the crowds we had difficulty getting a photo of him. The next two photos are of the giant doll and the puppeteers who make them work.

There were thousands upon thousands of people and it was very hard to get around, even before and after the parade. We were glad to get back to Tlaquepaque when it was all over.

The uncle in this story was the giant of all giants, perhaps 20m tall and it took many, many puppeteers to make him work. It all was pretty amazing.

One evening we were in the center of Tlaquepaque and these 4 very wonderful university students wanted to interview us in english. It was an assignment from their english professor. They were so sweet and it was such fun.

Arlene and John left at 2:00PM last Tuesday and Barb (Nancy's sister) and Dianne (Barb's friend) became our second set of guests, here to help celbrate our 50th and get away from the wicked Southern Alberta weather.

There never seems to be a dull moment in the center of town. Last night there were maybe 30 "living statues" all over the town and this photo is one of them. We were a bit late as when we arrived they were all starting to undress and shutdown the performances.

A bit of a short blog this time but with all the company, there just are not enough hours in the day.

A Good Time to be in Mexico

2010-11-21T08:46:00.009-07:00

A couple of reasons for this. The first is the beautiful weather and the second is that yesterdays was the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution and this past week has been full of music, dance and fun.

We started our week with a visit to Chapala, (an expat community, on Lake Chapala, about 30 minutes away from here by bus. Rex our neighbor here had not been there and did not know how to get there by bus so we all went together. We have friends there, Richard and Kim, who lived in our apartments when we were here last year. They have decided to move to Chapala for a time to see what it was like, living amongst the gringos.

This first photo is of Richard and Kim and Ron, doing a walk and sitting on the benches at lakeside.
This photo is of their apartment, very large, and very nice and cheaper than we are paying here in Tlaquepaque.
On the weekend before the Independence celebrations there was a huge trade fair, mostly of hand made crafts from countries all over the world. It was large and very busy and we were beat after spending a couple of hours pushing through the crowds. But there was some great things to buy and if we would have had our truck we would have purchased a houseful of souvenirs.

This is one of many hallways, full of people and wares.

The evenings of Independence week were filled with many types of music and dance.

This particular group or choir sang acapella and it was hauntingly beautiful.

And as in past blogs, we seem to have to show photos of the ever present and most beautiful dance. We do love it.

Another choir that we were not so impressed with. The singing was OK but the instruments were over powering and took away from the singers.

These guys played great Mexican music but were a little crazy. Enlarge the photo and notice the cigarette that the lead singer constantly had either in his mouth or his hand.

This choir was spectacular. They sang very old church music and I loved it. It brought back many memories of my youth and going to church.

Along with the celbrations for the Mexican revolution, American Thanksgiving is coming soon and in the Wollersheim tradition, we held a feast at our apartment, early for both of them, to commemerate these events. The meal was a traditional North American Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and all the accompaniments. We spent 4 or 5 days trying to find all what we needed as the local market is not full of turkeys or cranberries. Sage is not an herb that Mexicans use and sweet potatoes are much different looking than what we have in Canada.

We fed 16 and the group was mixed, some Canadians, some Americans, a few Mexican/Americans but mostly Mexicans. And the language was a mix, English, Spanish and Spanglish and we did have one Texan who spoke his own language.

It was early and the beginning of our celebration.

And who did most of the work. It was Nancy and she is good at it. I did wash one whole lot of dishes.

We are getting serious now. Supper has been served and the toasts were many and varied.

We set up tables and chairs (some borrowed) on our outside patio and the weather cooperated very well.

This is Corina, our 20 year old housekeeper and here latest baby. She is the best 20 year old housecleaner that we have ever known.

These are two more of Olivia's grandchildren.

Just another dance group, a bit different from the other photos.

We hear rumors that these celebrations will continue into this next week but only rumors so far. It is so hard to get hard information about what is going to happen and when so mostly it is luck of the draw and you just are in the right place at the right time or not.

Until next time.

Nancy and Ron

Our First Week

2010-11-08T14:19:00.008-07:00

A different year but not a different location. Once again, we are in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, Mexico and this year we will stay for 5 months. At least we have our apartment rented for that long. Not much has changed except the color of our apartments as you can see by the photo below. The colors are brilliant and very showy on this very unshowy street.

This photo might be familiar as maybe we had it in our blog from last year but it is the back yard patio of our very spacious apartment.

Something new this year for us is that we joined a nearby gym for morning workouts. And what a gym it is, all the latest and best equipment and lots of it. And the cost is $25 a month for each of us. A bargain for sure.

At the same time we go, our very beautiful landlord, Olivia, also goes for a pilates class. It is very loud and enthusiastic.

And also very beautiful, but quietly working at her own speed, is my wife, Nancy

You saw many photos similar to these next two photos but we so enjoy it and if you see enough of them you will also. They are of folk dancers and they perform for us and many like us on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and evenings. Needless to say we don't make the evening shows

There was not only dancing on the stage but these two were putting on a great show for us, as their parents watched from close by.

She was so cute and so engrossed in what she was doing. Trying to match the dancers up on the stage.

The show takes place in a Venue called the Parian, a block square structure that houses a number of restaurants and a center stage. Most people that come, also eat, but there are a number of benches around the stage that are free and there is no problem with people coming just to watch the shows. Along with us, these folks are enjoying the show in the cheap seats.

All days and nights are busy on the streets but Saturday and Sunday nights are especially busy with so much activity. These next 3 photos are of break dancers, dancing to hip hop music, with tons of energy and athletic abilities. There are a group of them and they take turns performing.

There is one corner store on a very busy corner of Tlaquepaque that has maybe 10 of these types of mechanical riding toys for young children. Any time of the day or evening we go by, some are busy but this past Saturday night they were all busy. Such fun they were having.

And then there is the street food. We know that the main meal of the day for most people is in the afternoon and then in the evening we think they just come out and have their evening meal on the street. We don't eat it much (except sweet stuff, me) but it all looks good.

The first photo sugar cane.

And Tamales, cornmeal mush wrapped around, pork, beef, shrimp or whatever else, all wrapped in a corn husk and then steamed. Pretty tasty actually.

Lots of different foods here. You can see corn dogs and red stuff to the left are little fish from Lake Chapala.

And these are all sweet breads. They look great but we have never tried them.

And yes they do play bingo in Mexico. At least on Saturday night on the square in Tlaquepaque.

The weather is wonderful, we like it a lot and it feels like we have never left. People hail and hug us on the street and in the market and we like that a lot. They do remember us.

Tlaqupaque Revisited

2010-03-12T12:56:00.010-07:00

It is wonderful to be back. And we were missed by many people of this city and they were happy to have us come by their stores and restaurants etc. The climate is wonderful and the food (cooked by Nancy) is the best. We were a bit worried about moving into a much smaller apartment when we came back but Olivia moved things around a bit and added a table and we are very comfortable here.

A week ago I took some videos of some dancers, uploaded them on youtube and have them here on this blog. I could not figure out how to imped them right in the blog but this URL will get you to them.
http://www.youtube.com/wollersheim1
Look carefully at the second one and notice the candles balancing on their heads. Enjoy.

This first photo is one of my favorite spots in all of Tlaquepaque as they make the best cappuccino and since milk is more expensive than coffee here I get a double shot of expresso for the price one shot.
On Sundays, between 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM, the center of Tlaquepaque, is blocked off to all motorized traffic. Only bicycles, skateboards, walkers and runners are allowed and it is very nice. We usually go up and just watch all that is happening.

Also that Sunday morning there was dancing on a small stage close to the center. We like this photo to add to the videos.

At another intersection this particular Sunday, there was a game being played, by young and old alike. It was to keep the ping pong ball on the table just by blowing.

On a different day as we were walking over to visit some friends from Holland, we took a few street scene photos. Stores such as the one in the following photos are numerous, 2 or 3 on each block.

On the same street, this gentleman is selling sugar cane. People here love it and the dentists do also. We were told it is very hard on ones teeth.

He is a city worker and it looks as if he has worked real hard today. Not much of the street cleaning is done automatically.

We have arrived at the home of our Dutch friends, Karla and Leen. They have built this home, actually two aparments and they tell great stories about building in Mexico.

Every day when we walk to the center we pass this shoe repair shop. There are usually up to 4 family members working here but today only the mom was there. Oh so friendly they all are.

Certainly the highlite of our stay here this time is a wedding, that we were invited to. (Olivia's two oldest boys were getting married). Olivia is the owner of the apartments we live in.

As it was to take place in our front patio (parking lot for the restaurant) there really was not much of choice but to invite us but we do think we are good friends with the family and they would have invited us anyway.

Here are some of the preperations for the wedding.

The day of the wedding started early with food preperation. It was delicious deep fried pork roasts called chicheron. Along with beans and rice and tortillas and salsa and wedding cake and tequila.

The mother of the boys, our dear friend Olivia. She is as beautiful as this photo shows.

And one of the couples, Rudolfo and Violeta, were married by a JP right here in the parking lot.

The other couple, Gustavo and Michelle were married at the court house and arrived in this carriage.

Nancy is congratulating Michelle.

And her husband Gustavo and their 11month old child.

I am taking this photo from the patio of our apartments so gives you some idea of how close we were to the action.

The food is ready and this lady is Olivia's sister.

Corina, besides being Olivia's daughter is also the person who cleans our apartment and washes our clothes. Here she is with her future husband.

You already know the person in the middle but the other two people are new found friends Richard and Kim. He teaches anthropology at a small private college in Kansas City Kansas and she is an artist. He is soon to retire so they spend a good amount of time here and they also help Olivia with her website for these apartments. http://www.oliviasapartments.com/

Another favorite person, Olivia's husband, Juan Carlos. Here he is with Olivia and a grandson.

After supper the dancing began. These two gals are Olivia's sisters and man could they dance. It was not long before the dance floor was full.

Another of Olivia's sisters (there are 6 of them) and one of Olivia's grandchildren

Juan Carlos proposes a toast. We did enjoy our first time experience with tequila.

We most enjoyed the wedding and even managed a good nights sleep despite the music.

That's it for this blog.

A Small Tsunami and the Town of La Penita

2010-02-28T12:04:00.009-07:00

In our last blog we promised some other photos of the family that looks after the hotel we stayed in Guayabitos.

Here is the ever working dad and the oldest girl who was in a bit of a snit this AM when we went back to Guayabitos to take some photos.
And the second oldest child with her cousin who also is the maid in the hotel.

And finally the mom with her 3 month old baby. And about that time our camera battery died and we had no replacment with us so these are the only three photos that we got.

We have mentioned collectivos in our writings and this is what they are. There are hundreds of them, travelling from small town to small town along this coast and into the mountains. They cost between 50 cents and $1.00, depending on distance and mostly they are full. The are used equally by gringos and locals.

A few days ago we moved from Guayabitos, just a few minutes up the coast to another small town called La Penita. It is the supply and service center for all the small towns around but is not a tourist area at all.

It has a few hotels with kitchens and the following photo is the entrance of the one we are staying in.

And one of its always very busy sidewalks as people from all over, both gringos and locals, come to purchase thier staples. It seems to be much cheaper than the beach towns.

This pretty boulavard gets busier in the evening when the sun goes down and is situated on the main thourfare coming into La Penita.

Thursday, the day we arrived, is market day in this town and on the day the town is hopping with people from all over.

There is everything the tourist or local could want or need, including these beautiful beach wraps.

Fruit and veggies abound and a very good price they are.

Nancy admired the little baby and immediatly the mother handed her over. She was such a proud mom of her 19 day old baby.

We did not arrive at the market until they were shutting down and what a job that is. That huge pile of paper has to be wrapped around an equal amount of breakables.

A photo showing why this beach is not a beach area.

But what it is is a fishing beach, not for tourists but for locals to make a living. This catch was red snapper that is served in restaurants whole and fried and one fish per person. It is quite priocy and it has bones which Nancy and I try to stay away from when we travel.

Just some fishermen and their boats.

Again, the catch was red snapper but a different group of fishermen.

Pelicans like their breakfast treat of fish guts and were hanging around waiting for them to be thrown away.

A fishing family.

We are sure our title got you a bit excited and now we will tell you about our tsunami. As you all know there was a huge earthquake in Chile yesterday and here in the morning there were tsunami warnings and red flags were flying on the beach meaning danger. There was great discussion on the street as to how much danger we were in but with Nancy's encouragment we were not going to wait and see so we went back to Guayabitos and took a taxi up to a lookout at fancy hotel/restaurant to wait and see.

Here is the beach at Guayabitos from our vantage point and not everybody has headed the warnings.

It is hard to tell by the next two photos but there was definately some tsunami activity on our beach. The tide would come way in and then in 10 minutes it would go way out and the sea was not normal according to the locals but no big wave appeared. We hung out for a couple of hours with great visits with others who were there for the same reason. Actually quite an enjoyable day.

In the afternoon there was a funeral and in Mexico a funeral has a parade of mourners along with a band.

Here is one of three truck loads of flowers that were part of the funeral procession.

Tomorrow we are travelling again, this time our last stop before we come home in April and it is back to Tlaqupaque, the same place we stayed before previously.

Sayulita, Guayabitos and Chacala

2010-02-21T11:31:00.006-07:00

We left Buserias and found our way for three days in Sayulita, about 30 km and 1 hour of bus travel, up the coast. The tourists here, and there are many, seem to be much younger than the other places we have stayed.

This warm and beautiful photo is the entrance to our home for the next three days.

And just across the street and up 1/2 block was our favorite cappuccino place, or Ron's favorite cappuccino place.

And once again, the central park in Sayulita which is not really busy until the sun goes down

Sayulita is famous for its surf and as a result there are many rental places and surf schools. This place does both.

And for the next two photos you can see the surfers at their finest. There were many with heads bobbing all over the sea and only a few would catch the right wave.

We did a day trip to Chacala another 60 km up the coast as we had heard good and wonderful things about this beach. Fine and wonderful it was and we would have liked to have stayed for a day or two but besides one hotel that was livable and two small stores, that is all there was. The lady that ran the hotel got under our skin with the many rules and regulations she had about her place so our stay there was for only an hour instead of a couple of days.

This cute little guy entertained us for part of the time we were on the beach in Chacala.

And this is the beach. It was more than likely the prettiest beach we have ever seen, here in Mexico. And we saw it.

Back in Sayulita, Nancy is having a chat with a couple from Wisconson.

We have moved again, another 30 km up the coast to Guayabitos and this first photo is the street corner from the balcony of our bungalow (a room which includes a kitchen).

And from the roof of our hotel, the church which is on the central park.

Only 24 years old, with 3 little children, this beauty is our house mom and she has taken us under her wing as if we were her children. Most interesting as she is young enough to be our grand daughter. Her children are just as cute and we will catch some photos before we leave.

Our room is the middle balcony, on the top floor. All the rooms on the top floor are brand new, only started occupancy last week and curtains only hung today. The plates and cups still have the stickers on them.

There are other, much fancier and much more expensive places to stay in this town and the next three photos show some of them. All of them are right on the beach and we are two blocks away.

Whatever type of seafood you would like, all can be had, cooked and on a stick.

The tide is out so it makes for easy walking. The beach here is lovely also but much busier than Chacala.

Pelicans, waiting for anything to be dropped but mostly they hang out where the fishermen are cleaning their catch for the day.

This couple informed us that they were newly married and she trusts him enough to allow him to cover her with sand. That is true love.

The main and not so busy street of Guayabitos.

We are enjoying the coast more than we thought we might but so far have not been tempted to buy swim suits or lay on the beach or go in the water. Travel on this coast is much costlier than other parts of Mexico but Nancy is helping with our budget by cooking all our meals, as all lour hotels except the first one have had kitchens. She says it is kind of like camping. We have mainly been eating seafood and we have become experts in peeling shrimp. We buy large, raw headless shrimp and 1kg costs $10.00 Canadian. It lasts us for two or three meals. And we love them. Second in line is Dorado (Mahi Mahi), about the same cost.

We are hear for a couple more days, then just a short trip of 10km up the coast to La Penita. La Penita is not a tourist town but a Mexican town and it is the central town of all the small towns around here.

Bucerias and Punta Mita

2010-02-14T12:20:00.007-07:00

Our trip to Bucerias was quick and mostly uneventful. It was a two bus journey, the first part very easy as the bus was not crowded and we could easily manage our luggage on and off the bus. The second was not quite so easy as it got very crowded by the time we got to Bucerias, and we were sort of jammed back in one corner of the bus. Luckily many people got off at the same place we wanted to get off so we did not have to knock people over trying to get off the bus with our packs.

It was a short walk to our accomodations, Casa Tranquila, complete with a kitchen that we have been using regularly as we find the restaurants here very high priced. Even more so than Puerto Vallarta.

Our room was ready when we arrived and the following two photos show what greeted us. The first is the balcony that is our computor room and kitchen table. The second is the lobby that doubles as a communal area where many sit and visit or hang out on line in conjunction with the coffee shop that is next door and associated with the hotel.

The second day we were here we took a short trip to Punta de Mita, a surf spot on this coast. The developers thought that it would be just a continuation of Puerto Vallarta and built huge hotels and restaurants but when we were there it was almost deserted. We think the guessed wrong.

The next four pictures show some of what has been built in Punta de Mita

But there are a few surfers along with a couple of surf schools. Punta Mita does not look like any other surfing meca we have been too. It is too up scale and more than likely expensive, we think to attract the surfing crowd

We are back in Bucerias and this photo is of a great little fish store. The shrimp were great and Nancy knows so well how to make them even better.

And on the street. many shops like this selling oysters and clams.

Valentines day is coming soon.

And not too far from the fish market was this fruit and veggie market.

We think every one of our blogs has a photo of the central park and here is the one from Bucerias.

This particular day we were walking around the center just when morning school let out. The next photo shows a typical means of school transportation and the next shows typical snacks for after school.

This is our beach at Bucerias.

And Nancy is trying to get sandy on said beach. I did not try such a foolish activity.

A street side restaurant that serves might good food. We had lunch there yesterday.

There is not a central market in this town but each Sunday there is a market that is very busy and much for sale.

Tomorrow we are going to Sayulita for 3 days and this is the bus stop where we will catch our bus. There is a huge bump in the road right there and the bus has to slow down to get over it so a perfect place to catch a bus. Just flag him down and he stops or we hope he will.

Will blog again in another week.

Mexico Again, But Beginning in Puerto Vallarta

2010-02-07T12:07:00.005-07:00

What an interesting place it is, very different than any other Latin American place we have been in. First of all, no one speaks spanish, english is the language of choice and secondly, we are younger than the average age. And my is it touristy but guess what, we feel like tourists and sort of like it.

As we were arriving late, we did book a hotel in the center of the old city before we arrived. We asked for a ground floor room as not to have to do stairs and that we got. But there was only one very narrow bed and that just about filled the room and the ceiling in the bathroom was so low, all business happening there had to be done seated.

The next morning I was up early, checking out other hotels and there were many with space. But when I got back to our hotel, we complained a bit to the manager and he moved us up one floor to a very nice, much larger room with two beds so we are happy here.

The first three photos are of said hotel, the Posada Roger. It is really very nice, with wireless internet in most places. Also a very nice court yard with much visiting with other guests.

We started our journey in Seattle to visit our son and his family, who live there, and he gave us a new to us, very large and showy camera. When we carry it around our neck, people we meet and chat with think we are from either the cruise ship or a 5 star resort. Needless to say, our hotel is not 5 star.

Just a street scene in PV with a group of workmen making it look nice.

A lovely stained glass window near the central park.

Arches and ocean, seen from the central park.

There are many statues and sculptures along the malacon, this being one of the many.

No scaffolding here. But he was getting the job done and he only had to move about 3 more steps to get to the top.

This is the malacon, a km long ocean front sidewalk, very new and very beautiful and busy.

Along one side of the malacon is the ocean, on the other are many very touristy shops, all after your business.

The next 5 photos show some of the shops and some of the items that are for sale.

This shop was of particular interest to us as it is all done with tiny beads.

The part of Puerto Vallarta that we are staying in is very flat but not too far to the east there are mountains, with many condos and apartments. If you look close you can see the stairs going up the mountain, way up the mountain. We would not like that very much.

Earlier in the week we did a day trip to Bucerias, a small beach town 30 km up the coast. We like it, found a place to stay so tomorrow we are off to Bucerias for a week and we will plan some more of our journey from there. We have to be back in Tlaquepaque by the 1st of March as we have an apartment rented there for the month of March but until then, the wind will take us.

A New Year and a New Apartment

2010-01-08T09:45:00.006-07:00

Happy New Year to you all and to start our New Year we got moved to a bigger and fancier apartment. The first photo is what you see when you walk in the door, the first room is the living room.

And the dining area with a very small table. Works fine for Nancy and I.

And a huge, well furnished kitchen with more cupboard space than we have in our new home in Lethbridge.

And a lovely back patio and back yard with automatic sprinklers and in that area is also a washer and dryer. A pretty nice place.

There is not only good music in the Parian but many mornings, this group is playing in the central market for tips and they are very good. And such fun they are.

A most interesting way to deliver electrical bills. All along our street they were taped to the front of the electrical meter. Can you imagine doing that in windy southern Alberta.

Besides Nancy and I, the other two people are Richard and Kim and they live upstairs from our downstairs apartment. Kim is an artist and Richard is an almost retired Anthropologist who teaches at a small art college in Kansas City. He also made the website for the apartments that we are living in. http://www.oliviasapartments.com/. It is a very good website.

The lake behind us is Lake Chapala which we have written about in previous posts.

Yesterday we went to the center of Guadalajara, wandered around a whole lot, had lunch, and visited a couple of churches. This is the altar of a Church called St. Francis of Assisi.

On our journey from Tlaqupaque we pass one of the campuses of the University of Guadalajara and that stop is always a very busy stop, both getting on the bus and getting off the bus. The following photo is picture of the University of Guadalajara, the downtown campus.

And another church in downtown Guadalajara. This one is the Cathedral and if you click on the picture and make it large you can see a very old man on top of the dome cleaning the top of the dome. He was much older than either of us and we could see no ladder for his ascent or descent. We think he must have had some angel wings.

When we went to the center of Guadalajara with our boys we always ate in the same restaurant which was very good. But we thought we found one that might top it but we were wrong. The next time we go we will switch back to our original restaurant. This photo is the restaurant we ate in yesterday. It is so pretty and we thought the food would match.

Just a good photo of the central park in Guadalajara. Under the main plaza there is an underground shopping plaza and the steps you see in the photo are one set of many that go down to this mall. It is also a metro station.

We are on our last week here in Tlaquepaque and we are not looking forward so much to go home to the snow and cold. But not for long, as we are home for less than 2 weeks and we will return to the warmth of Mexico.

And another exciting happening in our life. Jill and Len Levere who many of you know are arriving Sunday morning to spend some time with us. With our new apartment we do have lots of room and we are looking forward to showing them some sights they may not have seen before.

Last Week In Tlaquepaque and Surrounds

2009-12-28T05:29:00.006-07:00

The first week we were here we went down to Lake Chapala, Mexico's biggest lake. It has a perfect climate and for many years has been populated with North American ex pats. On the street we met a couple from Detroit, who had pulled up stakes in America and moved here permently. We visited for a time and most enjoyed them, so last week we made arrangments to meet them again, in Chapala. The trip is about an hour from here and pretty easy. This time we got much more time to enjoy them, visited there new home in Chapala and got a bit of tour around the very small town.

This is the upper patio of their home of which they are very proud and they are so happy to live here. He is a techie, does most of his work here but has to go back a few times a year for work reasons.
They had purchased the lot beside their house and Paula has if filled with plants. There is also a shop and a garden shed and a place to park their car.

Back in Tlaquepaque, Olivia, our landlady, and her husband also have a horse and carriage in which they give rides around Tlaqupaque.

Christmas day was not only a day for presents and family gatherings but was also first communion for many young people in Tlaquepaque. Oliva's young son and daughter were receiving their first communion and Juan Carlos (Olivia's husband) was taking the kids to the cathedral in horse and buggy. His horse was not doing what it was suppose to be doing and he was struggling to get it going in the right direction and also using some words that more than likely young first communicants should not have been hearing. It was all quite funny but finally he got going in the right direction and on their way to the church.

And here are the first communicants. They are 11 and 12 years old which I think is a bit older than children in North America when they make their first communion

And after the service there was a big party in the restaurant part of Olivia's holdings. We were invited but declined as it would have been so difficult to talk. But there were many, many of the extended family and this photo is just a few.

Guadaljara is to Mariachi music as New Orleans is to Jazz. It is everywhere and here in Tlaquepaque is one of the most famous venues for Mariachi music and dance. It is called the Parian. It is a fortress like building, one block square with many restaurants forming the outside perimeter. In the inside is stage and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, starting at 3:30PM there is 30 mnutes of Folk dancing and then 1 hour of very good Mariachi music, all for free.

This photo is of three dancers, watching other dancers and waiting for their turn.

And a very beautiful singer who is being accompanied by the Maiachi band. We like here a lot and have listened to her often. Her name is Maria Madero and has a deep and very powerful voice.

And here is Juan Pablo Garcia, very young, very handsome, with a smile every dentist would be proud of. He is our favorite of the male singers. If you make the picture large you can see a gun and holster he wears on his right hand side.

And one more Mariachi singer. They call her Dulce Maria (Sweet Maria).

That day there was more than one party for the first communicants and this one we happened upon while walking up the street in the evening. A small hall had been rented for a dance with a juke box and besides pop for the younsters, alcohol for the parents. Great fun was had by all.

When we were in Chapala visiting with Paula and Dave, they told us to try and get there on the weekend as the population of the town multiplied many times with visiters from the city. So yesterday (Sunday) we went out again.

This photo is the manger scene in front of the church in Chapala, made also with corn husks and straw.

And finally to the lake and the boardwalk and yes it was true that the population increased significantly. There were 1000's and more coming all the time. The lake is not good for swimming but the weather was beautiful, it was Christmas time and families were out for picnics and street food.

This particular street food is called cameron diablo (the devils shrimp). And many were enjoying it.

And this is the devils brew that makes it hot and spicy.

Christmas is over and the New Year is coming and who knows what new adventures that will bring but hopefully next week we can let you know.

Christmas time in Tlaquepaque

2009-12-20T12:19:00.006-07:00

Feliz Navidad to all. It is the week before Christmas and the city is very active with shoppers and gawkers ,with many new instant stores on the streets in the center, and in the evening are very busy. We are among the gawkers and most enjoy just watching.

We think they ran out of red material for Santa Claus suits. First blue one we have ever seen.

Two very pretty Mariachi girls who were taking a break from their music.

A most beautiful scarf, too pricy for Nancy to buy. It was $80 Canadian.

We often buy empanadas at a small store up the street from where we live and they are yummy but not so good for us so Nancy will not let me buy as many as I would like. This is the daughter of the people who run the store. Her parents are nice looking also.

Last week we took a bus to another suburb of Guadalajara, Zopapan, and this is the manger scene in the plaza in front of the cathedral. It is made entirely of straw and corn husks. Most amazing.

And this is that said cathedral. If you make the picture big you can see clearly the man in front, beginning the long crawl on his knees to the altar. Right after him was a woman with her 8 year old son on her back.

And the inside of the cathedral.

From our balcony viewing area I see many interesting things happening. Their car quit, right in the middle of this very narrow street. They pushed it to the side, then got out the jumper cables, hooked them to the battery, strung them out on the street and waited for a good samaraton to come by and give them a boost. And sure enough, it all worked according to their plan.

Another car in a different part of town. Don't know where he had been or where he had come from but must have been following a herd of cattle somewhere. We wondered if he was as covered as the car.

This is the busiest corner in all of Tlaquepaque and there are no cars. Just people and street sellers and lots of benches for people to sit on.

Last Friday was an exceptional busy night on the streets in Tlaquepaque. There were dancers and mariachi bands, street entertainmnet, and thousands of people out to enjoy. There was also free tequila as one of the distillers was passing it out quite freely and people were taking advantage of their good will. The next 7 photos tell a bit of a story of last Friday night.

Beside great entertainment, there is also great food as the next three photos attest to.

There is corn on the cob or off the cob, served with hot sauce and lime. No butter or salt.

And a donut like treat served with strawberry jam or brown sugar sauce and dipped in sugar. They are yummy if you can get them right out of the boiling grease.

And last but not least are deep fried french fries and weiner pieces. You get a huge bowl for about $2.00 and they are also served with hot sauce and lime. And no salt or ketchup.

There are still 5 days till Christmas and hope all the activity continues. The weather remains perfect except it was a bit chilly the last couple of mornings but once the sun comes out, presto, warmth. And then you need to walk on the shady side of the street.

Alone in Tlaquepaque

2009-12-13T08:36:00.013-07:00

And it is a bit of downer and sort of lonesome. John Paul left last Thursday and Dennis left Friday and here we are, just enjoying each others company and the great weather. We so enjoyed the time with our boys/men and they kept us pretty busy and active.

Also, you will see a bit of improvement in the quality of the photos. John Paul brought us a very nice Canon camera, just like the one that malfunctioned on us. We think we will take the one we bought at the pawn shop back and see what we can get for it.

And here is John Paul, freshly from Chicago, via Seattle and a bit tired. He and Dennis both make their living as techies so spent much time talking about things that Nancy and I had no idea about.

John Pauls first day here was just getting to know Tlaquepague so we just walked and walked and walked and enjoyed and enjoyed and enjoyed.

The part of Tlaqupaque that is west of the central park is pretty uptown with many upscale stores and very beautiful homes. The east side of the park, the side we live on is not so upscale, very middle class but wonderful and friendly people. This photo is the front yard from one of the homes on the west side of the park in Tlaquepaque.

When we hear the word Mariachi we think men but that is not always true. This is a mariachi band, of all women. They play in a very expensive restaurant so we really have not listened to them much, but this day they were playing and we sort of sneaked in, listened for a bit, and took some photos.

Last week there was lots of music and dance in the park in conjunction with a used book fair. The next three photos show folk dancing from this part of Mexico.

It seems on every one of our journeys, Nancy makes a very special friend. And this is her friend in this city. He has a most interesting job of which there are many here in Tlaquepaque. The streets are very narrow and all parking is parralel parking. He guides drivers into a spot that is one the street where he does his work. He also carries a cloth and will wipe the dust off the car if the driver so wishes. He works entirely for tips.

There was a water leak on our street and it was sort of messy getting in and our of our apartment with water runnng down the street and cars splashing it up on the sidewalk. We thought it might be like that for the rest of the time we were here but one day a big truck and many workers arrived and in a few hours the leak was fixed. The guy in the hole was up to his middle in water and still sweating. It was a hot day.

This photo is of Oliva, our most beautiful and wonderful landlady. She is having a street sale, that when on for two days, out on the street right across from our apartment and directly in front of her house and restaurant. Nancy bought some earrings and a necklace.

This is just a small part of Olivia's extended, and multi layered family. Just in her home and one of her apartments are 3 generations, the mom, 5 children and some grandchildren. She comes from a family of 10 so we also see many nieces and nephews and the man in the photo is her husband, Juan Carlos, who is always around to help out with the many tasks of renting apartments and running a restaurant. We love him dearly as well.

In our apartment in one of the cupboards was a hat. A very nice Panamanian hat and it fit Dennis perfectly and he liked a lot and he wanted so bad. So off to Olivia to purchase the hat and here he and she are, contemplating this purchase.

As you can see, he wants it badly and he came back so dejected. He was informed that the hat belonged to a previous renter and he was returning real soon so the hat had to stay.

The sign indicates that this is a doctors office and a consaltation with said doctor is 20 pesos, not 20 dollars. That 20 pesos is about $1.85 Canadian. This is the reason we never buy extra health insurance when we travel any place in the world except the US.

A girl, becoming 15 years of age, is a huge family event all over Latin America, and Mexico is no exception. The celebrations are very costly but of utmost importance. Today is this girls 15th birthday and she is showing off her dress that she will wear for the celebration that will happen this evening.

More folk dancing but on a different night. There is so much that happens in this city and every night that we walk to the center there is new and different events, especially on the weekend. We certainly do like this part of Guadaljara. We met folks this night who came out from Guadalajara, just to watch all the free entertainment.

And this is it for another week. We have nothing great planned for next week, maybe some journeys to some other barrios of Guadalajara.

Another journey, to the south of Guadalajara

2009-12-05T07:52:00.010-07:00

Glenn left last Sunday and we had a few days to explore so decided to head south and west of Guadalajara for a couple of days to the capital of Colima State, a city called Colima. It is close to the coast, much lower than Guadalajara and as a result much warmer. We also visited two other smaller places a short distance away. The first was Comala, another of the magical cities in Mexico and the second was Suchitlan, higher in the mountains, much cooler than Colima and best know for a famous restaurant.

We got to ride on ETN busses there and back and that is almost a holiday in itself as the busses are huge, with just 24 seats. They are three across and enough room between the seats to almost stretch out completely. They are definately worth the few dollars extra rather than just a regular 1st class bus. I always think it is a close to riding first class on an airplane as we will ever get.
These first two photos of are a Christmas market in Colima. This one of many hundreds of small Christmas figurines.

Ron and Dennis sitting in the central park in Comala.

This is the restaurant we went to in Suchitlan. It was huge with many 100`s of places to sit and we understand that on the weekend it is full. People come from all over to enjoy its delicacies. We are not sure we would go back and if we do we will try different entries. We also think it gets tour bus crowds.

As part of the celebration this day there was a huge food market set up in the park and some men women and children wore the style of clothes as you see on this woman

Another tradition on this day was to walk on your knees, up the isle of the church to the altar.

The foodstuffs for sale were numerous and varied as this photos shows. The red stuff is coconut with a red sweet milk covering. It was for sale on every table so it must be a big Christmas treat.

The little wagon in the aisle shows that everyone did not have to crawl the distance on their knees.

Two years ago when we were in Colima we watched a parade from the balcony of our hotel. And once again there was another parade this year passing by the window of our hotel room.

More of the same parade with the music of the Mariachies.

What to do when you are at a booth selling things and business is slow? This park had wireless internet and she was occupying her time on line.

There was a whole lot going on n the park this particular evening as it was the 1st of December and was a special day leading up to the 12th of Dec which is the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a very famous and holy day in Mexico. The church bells rang and rang and rang and not automatically as you can see by the next photo. People were in the belfry pulling the ropes to make the bells ring. It sounded pretty awesome

And lo and behold, as we were walking back to hotel, we encountered another parade. These were serene young girls on this float, and had more to do with the Virgin of Guadalupe celebration.

We are back in Tlaquepague and looking forward to our next great event. Our Seattle son is coming tomorrow for 4 sleeps and it will be exciting. We are not plannng any big trips, just visiting and getting him to know Guadalajara and Tlaquepaque.

A Family Post

2009-11-28T10:06:00.004-07:00

Nancy is resting, Dennis and Glenn are out and about and I had some time to do a short blog with a couple of photos of our home here and a short trip we took to the center of Guadalajara yesterday

You can tell by the orange juice it was after breakfast. The toilet paper is used for napkins and blowing noses.
It is so nice to have wirless internet. Not once this journey have we had to find an internet cafe and then figure out how to function in it. Glenn did not bring his lap top as he is on his way to Peru to surf so we are sharing two computors with 4 people so they stay pretty busy.

It is just a 20 minute, 40 cent bus ride from here in Tlaquepaque to the center of Guadalajara and each time we go we like it a bit more. I am not sure what they were looking at but something that held their interest.

Downtown Guadalajara has many walk streets which Nancy and I love. They seem to be all very busy and great places for people watching. This is one such street.

And here we are all walking down a very similar street.

More of Tepic and on to Tequila

2009-11-28T08:24:00.009-07:00

We meant to get this post out to you the day after our last post but too many children have arrived and have kept us sort of busy doing other things. It just shows the rest of our 4 day journey to Tepic with a stop at Tequila on the way home.

And one other bit of information. The past few days it has been a bit cool with highs of only 20 degrees C so we have to find a top shirt to go out. What a bummer. Today is very nice but the first part of next week it will get cool again so we are heading to Colima, a small city 3 hours away in the direction of the coast where the highs will be 26 and 27 degrees C and we can leave our top shirts here.

From the last post, this is a photo of a bingo game, that was part of the celebration that was going on in the central park. Young and old alike were all having such fun.

Nancy and I did a day trip to San Blas. We were not so very impressed as it is a bit of dump but it did have one very nice and very expensive hotel. This photo is part of the central courtyard of the hotel.

And this one shows its pool and some of the gardens.

While we went to San Blas, Dennis went hat shopping in Tepic and this is what he ended up with. It is a bit small for him so he doesent wear it so much until he figures out how to stretch it.

For almost every meal that we ate in Tepic we ate at the same restaurant. It was good and it was cheap and very local. And at times we had live entertainment. This is a group that seranaded us one early morning at breakfast time.

We have moved on to Tequila and our hotel was on the central park and Nancys and my room had a balcony that overlooked the central park. It was so very beautiful but not so busy as some central parks.

Mexico has a number of towns and cities that have been designated "magical towns" and Tequila is one of those towns. And it is very neat and tidy and a bit magical.

Just an interesting lady sitting in the park in Tequila.

Tequila is most know for just that, "Tequila". The surrounding country side is covered with the Agave plant of which Tequila and Mescal are made. This picture is of a very famous distillary where they make "Jose Cuervo" Tequila.

This was our breakfast place in Tequila. It is in the eating area of the central market. Most eating areas in central markets are a bit questionable but this one was very neat and clean, just like the rest of Tequila.

We think that somewhere in these blogs we told you that Glenn was also going to come to Tlaquepaque and spend a few days with us. About 3 sleeps ago he came and so now we have two of our sons to look after us. He is most fluent in spanish so now we get no surprises.

Will get some photos of him in our next blog.

A Short Journey to Tepic

2009-11-25T08:58:00.005-07:00

We were getting too comfortable in our apartment so we decided to branch out, venture to the wild side and go see some new towns. There are many towns we had not visited just a few hours from here and one we chose was Tepic, actually a city of 200,000, just an hour from the coast and 3 hours by direct bus from here.

Leaving our apartments that were paid for and having to pay hotel bills in other towns caused us a bit of concern but what the heck. The journey there was very fast on a new 4 lane toll road with no stops and took exactly three hours but coming home was a different story. We wanted to stay in another town, Tequila, for one night so had to take a local bus and this bus did not go direct. We saw a lot more country side, many more towns and actually quite enjoyable as we broke it into two days but the total time was 6.5 hours to do the same distance.

We so love the Mariachis and this particular group (there are more of them than just these two) were playing for a couple at a particular table. They looked to be a grandmother and her grown grandson of about 25 years.

We have moved on to Tepic and photo is self describing. Kids and mud....... having fun.

Nancy and Dennis are trying to buy a hat for Dennis. There are many for sale in this part of the country and mostly in the cowboy style. Also boots and belts and all other paraphanelia that goes along with cowboys and cowgirls.

Shoe shine alley in Tepic. And there were lots of alleys just like this. All those cowboys do need to keep their boots shiny.

There seems to be quite a large indeginous population in this part of Mexico and this particular family fits that catagory. And they enjoy the parks as much as we do.

There was a bit of a celebration going on in the central park in Tepic and the following photos show various participants getting ready. The first two are of a cute dancer who would soon be center stage.

And two more very pretty dancers who's biggest admirers were their families. The park was swarming with aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas and neices and nephews and moms and dads.

The boys for this particular dance needed mustaches and here is mom getting one ready for someone too young to grow one.

Just two girls waiting for their time to be famous.

We have more photos of this journey, too many for this blog so you will more than likely get another one tomorrow that will show and tell about Tequila.

And exciting news for us. Son number 2, Glenn, is coming tonight and will be here over the weekend. Lots of visiting coming up.

A New Camera and Our Son Has Arrived

2009-11-19T08:17:00.006-07:00

We mentioned last blog that our camera had crashed and we were intent on getting a different one. New ones are very expensive here in Mexico as they are all imported and for warranties sake we wanted to buy a new one in Canada. So one day we set off for the center of Guadalajara to try to buy a used camera. Certainly our first thought was the "black market" where all things stolen can be found for sale. We thought we might even get some good photos on our purchased camera. After a short visit with a very nice gentleman in the park in Guadaljara we soon realized that the "black Market" was not the place for two naive gringos to go so he phoned a friend and gave us the address for a pawn shop and told us how to get there. So two hours later, after one bus ride, a 2 km walk and 50 questions we arrived and bought a camera. There were no guarantees but so far it works and the photos are not too bad. It is a Panosonic and the cost was $58 Canadian. Then we had to buy batteries and a battery charger and that added about another $10 to it but now we are set, we hope.

And even better than that is the fact that Dennis, our son from Australia has arrived. He came last Sunday and Nancy and I went to the airport to meet him. We don't get to seem him so often so the month he will spend we us here will be so wonderful.

Just a photo of the inside of our apartment. It is really quite large and we like it a whole lot. It has a great wirless internet connection and good TV with a number of english news and movie channels.

This is the outside of our apartment in Tlaquepaque and those three windows are one side of our apartment. I love sitting out there as for most of the day it is in the sun. Nancy does not like it so much. It is just too hot for that girl.

The very busy center of Tlaquepaque with lots of benches and we will likely have tried them all (more than once) before we leave here.

These two little boys are in the care of their fathers whose jobs happen to be park sweepers. They are moving from one spot to another and the boys were happy to get a ride.

There are more than one bird seller in and around the park in Tlaquepaque. We wonder what animal rights people would have to say about this.

The central park in Tlaquepaque with the church in the background.

Tlaquepaque is well known for its varied and expensive handicrafts which we no longer need to buy. Our house has become a museum over these past 20 years with articles from around the world. This photo is from one of the many places that sell those types of things.

And here are more of the handicrafts of this area.

We were in the central park in Guadalajara, the weather was exceptional, birds were singing and there are smoochers in the park.

Every year we travel, Nancy's watch breaks and these two ladies are the happy sellers of a new watch.

One of the many markets in Guadalajara. This one is mostly known for electronic stuff but my they had lovely fruit and other things.

Dennis spied a lovely restaurant overlooking the park and here we had a most delightful lunch. It was a smorg of which there are many in this part of the world and we certainly did justice to it.

One of these first days, when we think we have enought time we are going to do a trip for a few days. There is a city north and west of here about 3 hours called Tepic and Nancy and I have never been there and people who have have said good things about it. And from Tepic, just an hour away is a small coastal town called San Blas. This particular San Blas was very famous in the 60's as a place to be. We are told it is not quite so famous now and is a bit run down. We will see.

IN SEARCH OF WARMER CLIMATES

2009-11-11T06:05:00.008-07:00

The decision was made a while ago to not spend the winter months in our new home in Lethbridge but Oaxaca, our last year hang out was a bit too cold for the winter months so we changed our destination to Tlaquepaque, a suburb of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco in the country of Mexico.
We arrived about 10 days ago after bussing to Calgary, flying to Phoenix and then on to Guadalajara and taxing to our new apartment. It was 12:30 AM when we arrived here but our host Olivia was waiting for us and got us settled in a very nice, very large apartment that we will call home for the next 2.5 months. It has very good wireless internet and we have one laptop to use it on. It also has very good cable TV with a number of news channels.
Our life has been pretty quiet. We have done nothing too outreaching except take a trip via bus to the new bus station to get times when busses were leaving for some trips we have planned and another to the center of Guadalajara. We spent most of our time there trying to get our broken camera to work but to no avail, so here we are with no camera, a few early pictures that we will share but so enjoying the warm climate in our home away from home.
Our journey to the center of Guadaljara and back was certainly the most exciting thing we have done so far. The trip to the center was uneventful and only took 20 minutes. Coming back was a different story. We missed the place where we should have gotten off so had to do the total route with a very accomadating driver. We did get the full tour of Tlaquepaque for a total of 50 cents each but it was 2 hours later before we arrived back at our original bus stop. You would think we would not make such silly mistakes after so many years of travelling but we do. I grumbled and Nancy just laughed and wondered where we could get such a good tour for only 50 cents. And what else was there to do anyway

As in every Mexican town or city there is a central park and in every central park there are old men resting, playing cards or just visiting.

And other old men still need a job and this gentlemans job is to collect bottles from garbages. It also happens in every town and city in Latin America and we are sure other parts of the world also.

Two years ago when we spent some time in Tlaquepaque we found this wonderful restaurant and we found it again this year and to our dismay it is shut down. Kaput, bummer!!!!!!

An interesting way to unload a truck. We spent an hour watching this guy take the totes from the back of the truck (and it was full of totes) and pitching them across the street, between cars and pedestrians and bikers, to the other side of the street.

Where two men on the other side would collect them and take them into the store.

The guy who threw them worked steadily for the full hour and sweat was pouring down his face when he was through. He seemed happy to have us for his audience. It was fun.

Guadalajara is famous for Mariachi bands and there are many. This gentlemen just finished singing with a band and had come down off the grandstand to pay homage to this older lady who we think is his mother.

And this young lady took the place of the previous gentleman on the stage.

A not a very good photo of the Mariachi Band. We do like Mariachi music.

And followng the girl was this very handsome gentleman with a marvelous voice as well.

And the show is over and a bit of a better photo of the band.

So this is it until we get another camera and we think our son Dennis is going to bring one from Australia when he comes to visit this Sunday. Looking forward to seeing him and his camera.

Bits and Pieces of Oaxaca

2009-04-15T11:12:00.007-06:00

This will be our last blog from this journey as we are heading home tomorrow. We hope you have enjoyed them as much as we have putting them together.

This is one of the many couryards in the most expensive hotels in Oaxaca, the Camino Real. The cost is between $330 and $5oo a night. It would be fun to stay but our budget would not survive very long.

We just discoveed this place this year and it has been a gold mine. It was started by the many expats who live in Oaxaca and has many books that they loan out. Also 4 free computors. It cost less than $10 to join for the month we were here but worth it

This was Easter Sunday in the courtyard of the church across the street from our apartment. They were to be in yet another procession. The frme on the basket of the girl on the left is covered with various types of fireworks and would be lit, somewhere on the procession route. the girl on the right just has flowers in her basket, not near as exciting.

And here they are, in all their finery, before the baskets.

This guy was also part of the procession

This market is along the edges of the central park. It is not their all the time but was set up all during SemanaSanta and this week following it still is there. It was very busy, selling all the things that Oaxaca is famous for, textiles, pottery and wooden figures.

This was the first time we had every seen this type of artist at work. He is using thread and a curved needle to create a work of art.

The church is called La Solidad and is suppose to be the most important church in all of Oaxaca.

We dont usuaally give money to buskers on the streeet but Nancy fell in love with this little girl and her piano accordian. She was very good and had a deep voice, a surprise coming from a little girl. Nancy tipped her well.

It seems that in any city in the world there is a place where drummers hang out and it alwasy seems to be the same place where people who make beaded things for sale, also hang out. In Oaxaca, this was in a small park a short distance from our apartment and every night we could listen to the drums and if we were there, we could watch the people dancing.

That same park was also used for a skateboard park if there were not to many people in it. This was one such time and I took a number of photos of the boy on this skateboard and then sent them to him. He was so thrilled that I would take the time to do this and and I got most wonderful email of thank you in return.

He was pretty good.

What a Show, Easter Sunday Evening

2009-04-13T10:36:00.022-06:00

We had been hearing much during the day about a fireworks show in the evening and once again it was to take place on the street in front of our apartment. We were coming home for our afternoon nap and sure enough, they were getting ready for the fireworks right in front of our apartment and in the churchyard across the street. It was amazing. It all started with long sticks of bamboo, many bags of black powder, much plastic tubing and roles of a nylon type ribbon that they used to tie everything. This first photo shows one of the many structures that were built to hold the home made fireworks. There were maybe 20 such structures in all, some bigger, some smaller, the biggest maybe 3 m in diameter, the smllest maybe 1 m in diameter.

And here are the home made firecrackers that make it all work. There were many 100s of them, some big, like these ones and some smaller. They were all joined together with black powder filled tubes.

This shows the top structure of explosives that was to go on the tower first.

These cubes are about 1m cubed and are tied together with the nylon ribbon to make the tower.

Again, the homemade bombs and bombs they were. My they were powerful and noisy.

One of the smaller designs that will go into making the total tower.

Another photo of the top structure, the biggest one, and here it is in place.

Each piece of the tower was about 1m high and as each one, 8 in all, was put in place, more firework pieces were added to the tower.

Here they are adding another meter to the base of the whole tower. It was lifted with a very precarious jack but there were 4 ropes from the top and people hanging on to keep it balanced. The red stuff is all fuse, and all filled with black powder.

I had to lay on the ground to get this one but shows a bit the many, many firecracker structures that were tied onto the tower

The show was to start at 9:00PM and I so badly wanted to be there to see them light the fuse, in fact I even wanted to lite it...... but no such luck. We waited around, both in our apartment and in the church courtyard just watching all the goings on and by 9:00PM we were tired and really wanted to go to bed. But we hung in there and at 10:00 PM the boss came and lit the fuse and the following ten photos show some of what happened. It was very smoky and very loud and hard to get in too close. There were no roped off places where the crowd could not go, only the heat and the noise and the smoke kept people from getting too close.

It was an absoutely spectacular show, with not one custom made firecacker, not one electric circuit and no computor to time it all. It was just ingenuity and a big of guts.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it took about one half hour from beginning to end. What a show!!!

Easter Sunday

2009-04-13T09:43:00.008-06:00

The church acrros the street from our apartment is a very busy church, it seems there is always something going on especially during holy week. This was taking place Easter unday afternoon and reminded me of the CWL suppers. Lots of food, lots of people and even live music. The first picture is of the band that was providing the entertainment.

This is part of the crowd.

And this is where they got their food.

All during the week before easter, all the altars and statues in the churches were covered with purple cloth, something I cn vaguely remeber happening when I was a child. I knew that they woudl be all uncovered Easter unday morning so I did about a 10 block walk to 6 churches and took photos of the altars and the abundance of flowers that adorned then. Mass was happening in some of them so I could not get too close so just click on them to enlarge them to get more detail.

Good Friday in Oaxaca

2009-04-11T09:46:00.008-06:00

That day was yesterday and it started out very quiet, as Nancy and I were laying in bed, not hearing the usual sounds we hear each morning. We had to check it out and our street was very quiet also, so we had our breakfast and about 9:00 AM headed out to find out what had happened to our uusally very busy and noisy city.

It did not take long for it to come to life a bit as we started witnessing small processions, with a platform carrying the figure of Christ or Mary or both, carried by men or women on their shoulders. They started in various small churches in Oaxaca and all finishing at La Solidad, the mother church in Oaxaca. All very quiet and low keyed. This continued for most of the day but all during the day we were hearing about a huge procession, called the Procession de Silencio, or in english, the procession of silence. It was to pass right by our apartment. We heard that it was to start at 5:00 PM and then at 6:00PM. We went into our apartment for happy hour and supper and came out again at 7:00 and still no procession but people were starting to line the street. Finally at 8:00 we saw it coming and the following 15 photos show what it was all about. All the platforms come from various churches in Oaxaca, just as earlier in the day but now they were much more grand than the earlier ones. Again, carried by men and women on their shoulders, in bare feet and mostly hooded and wearing conical hats.

And as the name implies, it was silent only the sound of a drum, to add to the mysticism of it all. The streets were lined with 100s of people but no sound, just silence. It was wonderful but a bit spooky.

Besides the platforms there were maybe 200 meters of these banners, I am sure weighing 20kg each and carried on a sling around a persons waist.

Many thousands of visitors

2009-04-09T14:05:00.019-06:00

It certainly is Easter in Oaxaca. The long weekend started Wednesday and people have been pouring into the city, not just gringos but Mexicans and their families. Last night it was difficult to walk down the street that we usually walk down to get to the center because of the masses of people.

And this is not one of them. Just an old man, resting in the plaza in front of the church across from our apartment. What is interesting is his shoes. Click on it and take a look.
Two nights ago we were walking home from the center and came upon this university band playing what we think was traditional Mexican music. It was very good and we stopped for a bit to listen. Then all of a sudden they started to leave the stage, playing a song that some of you will know from Cursillos those many long years ago. It was De Colores and sort of sent shivers up and down my spine.

As the festive season comes closer, more street vendors are selling their wares. This one is sweet stuff and we know it is sweet by the abundace of wasps swarming around.

We have new neighbors in our apartment. One of the people you recognize so the other two are are neighbors. Real sweet kids from Culican in the northern part of Mexico.

This was last night and shows a bit the crowds on a street that is generally much less busy.

There are many of these flower sellers around and they are amazing in that they can move around with those baskets on their heads. Up and down steps and through big crowds with no problems what so ever. A bunch of flowers cost $1.00

The university band that we showed in a photo up a couple is here again. This time they are on the street, playing their music and mobbed by followers as they once again head to the zocolo. Nancy and I were just standing on the street and almost got carried away with the crowd. It was past our bedtime and we wanted to go the other way.

A sunny warm afternoon in the park and so much junk for sale.

Just pretty dancers as part of the multitude of parades that are happening in Oaxaca at this time.

And more of the same parade.

A street side restaurant near our apartment. Busy from early morning till late night.

And another, special for this easter season and only a few meters away from the first one.

We took a chance on a new kind of fruit called Mowmai. We didnt like it so much so shared it with our new neighbors who think it is wonderful. It was expensive. What Nancy is holding is the huge seed from inside.

Besides mariachi music and andean music and traditional Mexican music, there is big band music. This one was playing in a large gazebo that is a permant structure in the Zocola and we understand big bands and symphony orchastras play there 3 or 4 times a week.

And when the musci is right, people get up and dance. Just like in Veracruz.

And here is the Andean band that we mentioned a couple of photos past. They were very good and Nancy bought a CD of theirs.

We have less than a week before we return to Seattle and after a couple of days there we return to Warner. The next few days are going to be very busy trying to keep up to the Easter celebrations.

Oaxaca

2009-04-06T09:36:00.021-06:00

We finally got photos to upload on our old blog site, thanks Dennis, and we like it a whole lot better than the new one we used the last time.

Oaxaca has been very good to us. As mentioned before the weather is great, the past few days a bit warm, but last night was a cool change and this morning to go out and get our orange juice and rolls, I had to put a jacket on for the first time since we left Seattle It is now 10:30 AM and our jackets have come off.

Oaxaca is know for its' textiles and hand woven materials. Much of it is sold by sellers such as this first picture shows, in the central park and on the streets of Oaxaca.

We do like our apartment and these next two photos show a bit of what it is like. Come into our living room and sit on our comfy futon which seconds as my bed when I get snoring too loud and the second photo is the kitchen where we make a small breakfast mostly of coffee, juice and bread and in the evening Nancy makes a cena. A very light supper mostly of fruit and tortillas and sometimes meat or cheese or both. Our big meal is about 2 PM which we eat out. Most restaruants have a set lunch called the menu of the day which costs between $4 and $6 and consists of soup, a main course , desert and juice.

The place is swarming with parades and it seems most of them start about a block from our apartment. This one was a kids parade with about 800 kids and parents and 5 or 6 bands. Such fun they had.

One of the bands in the childrens parade.

Today is the third day of Semana Santa, the week before Easter, and there is preperation happening everywhere. The following photo is a shrine built in a library/restaurant.

This mural was on the wall of this building.

One afternoon when we were having coffee in a restaurant, we heard music coming from not far away so we went to investigate and there was dancing, lovely folk dancing from a village near by.

Another parade of children but this one had mostly handicapped children participating.

And another parade. We think the abundance of parades have to do with the coming of Easter and the next two photos show a parade from an indiginous village.

This is in front of the Cathdral on the Saturday before Palm Sunday. There were lots of intracate designs woven with palms. These were for sale.

The next four pictures show what was happening in the church courtyard, across the street from our apartment after one of the many Palm Sunday masses. The first is the priest, getting things organized.

This one is a band of young people.

The next is a louder band on stage, playing music that was most appealing to the many young people who were there.

And it got them singing and dancing and just having great fun. Nancy and I watched until the speaches started, first the priest and then the bishop but the young people hung in there and were most polite.

Mexico from Debi and Van's eyes

2009-03-27T15:45:00.008-06:00

It is sort of lonesome around here today as Debi and Van left for home, via bus to Mexico City and then flying back to Calgary. We most enjoyed out time with them and before they left we copied some of their photos and here are a small sampling of them.

A neat bench that we saw on our tour around Mexico City.

This is Bellas Artes, a very beautiful theater in the heart of Mexico City. Nancy and I have attended concerts in it a couple of times but there was nothing going on when we were there.

That girl in the middle is Debi and she enjoyed it every bit as much as the boys.

We took Debi and Van on the Metro to the main market in Mexico City and this photo shows about 1/100th of it. It is a monster and a bit chaotic.

The zocolo, the central park, and the cathedral in Mexico City.

Not all the homes are beautiful in Mexico City.

In Queretaro, the main square is called the Garden Zenea and here it is. We loved our spacious rooms in Queretaro. We had one just like this.

A statue across from the main square in Queretaro.

A small village on the side of a mountain on our way to Guanajuato.

Entertainment on a second class bus and he was very good.

Some of the neat architecture in Guanajuato, another day trip from Queretaro.

OH WOW!!!!!!!

On a day trip out of Queretaro to Teguis, Van has captured the main church through the portals of the square.

Remember in our last blog when we showed you the photos of the blue corn tortillas that were so yummy. Van captured a phote of the cooks and they giggled a lot when I tried to talk to them.

The government house in Puebla, a place we only stayed one night to break our trip from Queretaro to Veracruz.

A scene from the balcony of our Veracruz hotel. In the distance is the harbour.

Veracruz has been an important port in Mexico for many centuries and has been invaded many times. This old fort is a reminder of days gone by.

It is also a fishing city and the port has many fishing boats beautifying its harbour.

Van took some beautiful photos of the many different tiles in our hotel in Veracruz.

It was harvest time for the sugar cane and these trucks are loaded with sugar cane on their way to the mill. It is in the town of Tlacotalpan.

Agriculture in places is not so modern in Mexico. We saw much of this type of farming on the journey from Veracruz to Tehuacan.

The landscape from Tehuacan to Oaxaca. A photo from the window of the bus.

After a two hour wait in the park in Oaxaca for Nancy and Debi while Van and I were trying to find an acceptable hotel and here we are getting to it.

It was a long weekend and hotels were scarce and expensive and we got sort of a junker as shown by this picture but actually looks much better in the second picture. Nancy and I were moving to our apartment the next day so we really didn't care so much. Debi and Van stuck it our for two nights and then moved to better and bigger quarters. Some cute Oaxacan girDebi and Van did their own trip to Monte Alban, an Indiginous ruins close to Oaxaca. The next two photos are of those ruins.

We all did a day trip to Tule, another small town close to Oaxaca and Van spotted these donkeys trotting down the road with fire wood for sale.

And we could not get out of Tule without buying some Mescal and this was the best and happiest place in town to buy it. This town also claims it has the biggest tree in the world which is pretty spectacular and pictures of it will come in another blog.

Debi got caught by this cute little gal and came home with new pretty scarf.

Going Places

2009-03-23T11:57:00.006-06:00

We stayed another day in Queretaro before moving on and the following picture was a Sunday afternoon and there was music in the park. Not only this which was very beautiful but there was a full scale orchestra later on.

But it was time to move on,and our next stop was Veracruz a very famous city on the east coast of Mexico. It was many hours by bus from Queretaro so we broke it up, first stopping in Mexico City to change busses and then to spend the night in Puebla. The picture is a scene from the park in Puebla. Not sure what was going on, just sort of crazy, especially the guy in the middle. We saw him two days later in Veracruz, doing much the same crazy stuff.

Nancy and I had been to Veracruz a couple of times but never got to stay in a hotel right on the park. It is the off season and hotels are pretty cheap so we chose this place and this is a balcony of the hotel, and on the 5th floor,overlooking the central park where we always had our happy hour.

And this is the hotel, taken from the central park. It was really quite beautiful.

We could see this from our balcony but this day we were down in the park when they were taking down the flag and all the music and ceremony that goes with it.

And this was taken at night from our balcony but it was a long ways away and we could not hold the camera steady enough. It was very beautiful folk dancing from this part of Mexico.

I had read about a town a short distance from Veracruz that is a World Heritage Site so we did a day trip, 2 hours south of Veracruz to the small town of Tlacotalpan and it worth its designation. It is a river/fishing village, and very colorful.

Debi and Van on a bench, in the central park of Tlacotalpan. If you look closely you will see a street scene painted on the bench between Debi and Van.

From Veracruz to Oaxaca also was a long journey so once again we decided to break it up in Tehuacan, about half way. We had very little information on this city so it was a bit of a crap shoot but we lucked out, with a hotel right across the street from the bus station and the central park just two blocks farther on. We most enjoyed our night there.

This picture is a mural on the wall of the tourist office in Tehuacan.

The next morning we went to a Market place in Tehuacan and Nancy made a friend. She had the most delightful two tooth smile but she would not do it for the camera,

And part of that market was a flower market. The following picture has 24 roses and filler and cost about $18 Can. It was beautiful along with many other arrangements.

Every county in the world has a different way of delivering milk and this is one way that Mexico does it. That is warm raw milk on the back of that bicycle and it is dipped out of the cans with a pitcher atvarious businesses and homes.

The next day a 3 hour trip got us to Oaxaca and the following three photos are Pictures of that journey. It is pretty desolate and stark with not much human presence.

Nancy and I are here in Oaxaca for the next three weeks but Debi and Van are leaving in a few days so our next blog will be from here.

In Search of a Festival

2009-03-15T12:08:00.005-06:00

Before we left home we had word of a festival in a small town called Bernal, an hour away by bus from Queretaro. It was to take place yesterday and today. We thought it was worth a viewing so early yesterday morning we headed to the bus station to catch an hourly bus that was heading to Bernal. We arrived 5 minutes too late and that bus was gone and the next one was not leaving for 55 more minutes, too much time to waste.

There is another town, called Teguis, also an hour away from Queretaro and in the direction of Bernal, that we had wanted to check out for its hot springs and happening week ends and there was a bus going there in 10 minutes so very quickly we changed our plans and headed to Teguis.

Arrived in an hour and we were most pleased with our decision as it was a really sweet little town and we loved the ambiance. The hot springs in each of the many and beautiful hotels were not very hot as over the years, for whatever reason, they have just cooled down. We had some thoughts of moving there for one night but the lack of hot water in the pools changed our minds.

The following pictures are scenes from that town. The first one is walking into the central park.

Just a pretty church in the central park.

And in the central park and doing what I do best and most often, checking my guide book.A pretty courtyard in one of the many hotels we checked out.

We still wanted to get to the festival in Bernal, tried really hard to find a bus to take us there but there was only one late in the evening so for $15, we hired a taxi to take us the 40 km to Bernal. He was a friendly taxi driver and 30 minute trip was quick. He took us right to the center of Bernal which we expected it to a bee hive of activity, you know with all the festival stuff going on.

Well it was not. For that matter it was very quiet so we started asking questions and soon found out the festival was not in this town but in a town near the town we had just taken a taxi from, Teguis.

But the town looked worthwhile and a little bit magical also, so we wandered around and it too was very nice.

Besides being a pretty town it had a magical mountain right at its outskirts but way too high for any of us to climb.

Another pretty church in the center of Bernal. It was a pretty small town

Debi and Van found us a place for lunch in Bernal and it was one of the best lunches of all times. It was very local and consisted of blue corn tortillas filled with a vartiety of fillings, mushrooms, sausage, cactus and other things. My it was yummy. We each ate three.

This is a courtyard of a restaurant that we had checked out earlier. Just sort of pretty.

A street scene from the town of Bernal.

In Queretaro there are many, many beautiful parks and they seem to be all very busy. Every one of them has this sign and it translates that there is free wireless internet in all the parks. And the weather is conducive to sitting in the park with your laptop. How marvelous except we do not have our laptop.