Rhonda and Alan Had a Camera Also

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

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

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.