Photographing Mexico

I am back in Toronto, but I have decided to write one more entry to celebrate Mexico.

The only other time I visited Mexico, Bob, my husband and a talented photographer, was behind the camera. He enjoyed capturing Ajijic and Guadalajara through the lens of his Nikon.

This time, I had the responsibility of photographing this trip without Bob. Mexico is so very vibrant that I took photo after photo.

Here are some of the things I loved:

 a) the flowers

Glorious pinks

Pointsettia

Hot oranges

Soft mauves

b) the colours

Frida Kahlo's Blue House

San Miguel in the late afternoon light

Pottery at the Wednesday Market in Ajijic

c) the murals

Painter in Ajijic creating a mural

Orozco Mural in the Castillo

Diego Rivera Mural at the Palacio National

d) the food

Ceviche

Mole

Guacamole

e) the architecture

Mexico Cathedral in the early morning light

Teotihuacan

Inside the original Guadalupe Cathedral

e) the people

Hugo

Lunch with Janie, Mary, Jan and my amiga, Sue

Crowds in Guanajuato enjoying the Estudiantinos

My dear sister, Cag, in the backseat of a Ford  Pickup

f) Margaritas

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A Bird's Eye View

This morning, I left Ajijic to travel with Catherine and John to the Guadalajara airport. I had booked a flight with a small Mexican carrier, VivaAerobus, at a discount price. As things worked out, I had to pay much more than I thought since one of my bags was overweight, and the other one, my carry-on on Air Canada, was deemed too large to stow in the overhead compartment on the plane. Good thing I had made a stop at the ATM on the way, especially since the bank machine at the airport did not work. On the positive side, I was given VIP status (I am not sure why), which meant I got to board first and choose whichever seat I wanted. I chose the window.

My plane

Smoggy Mexico City

The courtyard at the Fiesta Inn

An hour and twenty minutes later, I was in Mexico City again. I retrieved my luggage and took a taxi to my hotel, the Fiesta Inn Aeroporto. Shortly thereafter, I was in another taxi heading to the Centro Historico in order to get myself a ticket for the Turibus, a double-decker hop-on, hop-off like those in most major cities.

The bus

For the next three and half hours, I rode through the streets of the city and listened to an English translation of the automatic audio. The bus traveled through the Centro Historico, Chapultepec (the park which contains several museums), the Polanco neighbourhood (very ritzy), the Condesa neighbourhood (where Sue and I stayed at the Red Tree House), the Zona Rosa (a Bohemian section of the city) and along the Paseo de la Reforma, (Mexico's Champs Elysées).  I am really glad I chose to spend my afternoon this way. There is so much of Mexico City that I did not get to see two weeks ago. From the photos below, you may think I saw nothing but monuments, but that is not so. I just happen to know the names of the monuments, so I am including them, rather than the buildings I cannot name.

Monumento a la Revolution

Iglesia de la Profesa (San Felipe Neri)

Card bench along the Paseo de la Reforma

Monumento a la Independencia, El Angel

Fuente de la Cibeles

Monumento de Colon

Monumento a Benito Juarez

Palacio de Bellas Artes

At the end of the tour, I hailed a taxi and made it back to my hotel for a light meal and an early bedtime, since my flight home tomorrow is very early. Buenas Noches.

The Golf Tournament

What a busy day!! I have to get back to Toronto to recover from my social life in Ajijic. I expected today to be busy but I did not realize that I would have no down time at all.

Breakfast at Estrellita's

As usual, I began my day with breakfast here at Estrellita's. Since some of us are leaving tomorrow, I got a photo of the people I have been starting my day with every day since I arrived here. Included in the shot are Donna and Barbara from Portland, Jeannie and John from Vancouver, and Marion from Elliot Lake, as well as Lorraine, my hostess.

The tournament

Donna, Edith, Dawn and Catherine

At 9:50, my sister picked me up for the golf tournament today. I was not meant to participate in this event but Avril has been sick and at the last minute, her friends needed a fourth. So I stepped in. We played at the Country Club de Chapala at the east end of the lake. Like Chula Vista, it is only nine holes, but somehow the organizers managed to put 20 foursomes on the course. This created the slowest golf day in my experience. It took us over 6 hours to play 18 holes!!  I found this rather stressful, since I had a dinner date at 7:00 and I knew I would be late (which I hate).

My foursome: Claudia, Lorraine, Bunny, and me with two caddies: ours, Arnie, is on the right.

Fran, Norm and me

Fortunately for me, a very nice man, Mike, offered to drive me into Ajijic at the end of the round so that I could meet former colleague, Norm Smith, and his wife, Fran, at El Jardin de Ninette for dinner. I was only 25 minutes late thanks to him.

The dancer and the singer

 I had selected that spot for dinner because of the Saturday evening entertainment, a singer and a Flemenco dancer. The soloist was the same girl who was the lead in the Fantastiks last Tuesday night. Clearly, this is a small town.

After a good dinner and a good visit, I was happy to return to Estrellita's for the night. I look forward to a good night's sleep.

New friends

This is the red pickup truck we rode in. Note the size of the back seat.

You may recall, if you have been following this blog, that the first person Sue and I met in Mexico City was our guide at the Palacio National, Hugo Chavez. Our relationship with that charming man was so good that he suggested I contact his sister while in Ajijic. Today we met each other and had a great visit.

Breakfast at Dona Lola

Raquel is an 81 year old "Mamasita" who lives in the area with her daughter, Beata, and her husband, George, whom we also met. By "we", I mean my sister and me. We were picked up at a designated spot on the main road, and we rode in the tiny back seat of Geroge's Ford Pickup truck to a Mexican breakfast spot in town, Dona Lola; afterwards we were invited back to their home in the Chapala Hacienda development east of Ajijic. I was most interested in seeing the garden where they grow avocados, papayas, mangoes, pomegranates and other wonderful tropical produce. Raquel also has a lovely rose garden, as well as other flowers in bloom. When we said goodbye, Raquel gave each of us a white gardenia to put in our hair. How delightful!

Catherine and I with Raquel in her garden.

On our ride home, George drove us through the town of Chapala, another vacation spot which is most popular with young Mexicans, who visit it on the weekends to party.

One of the local shops.

My day is booked up tomorrow, so today I finished shopping for gifts for family members (and myself), before heading to Yves for lunch. This restaurant has a view to the waterfront and had been recommended by several folks as a good spot for a light meal. Having consumed two breakfasts, I settled for the salad bar today.

The view from Yves.

At 3:30, I met Janie in the town square for the annual Art Auction, an event that I attended with Bob three years ago. On that occasion, I came away with an Efran Gonzalez watercolour of San Miguel which is now mounted on the wall of my dining room. Today, I was much less successful. Although I bid on a couple of items, I did not buy anything. Probably best for my pocketbook.

Art work up for auction.

Auctioneer Efran Gonzalez at work

For dinner, Janie, Catherine, John and I headed to a new restaurant in town, Hacienda del Lago, which has been created within the grounds of a elegant private home. The food and the ambiance were both excellent.

The Hacienda del Lago

Dinner with Catherine and John. Janie took the picture.

I was glad to arrive back at Estrellita's early this evening. My schedule is wearing me out!

My kind of town

Since I have been in one place for 6 days now, I am beginning to think of Estrellita's and Ajijic as home. Let me give you a brief description of the places I frequent. My room is off a small interior patio which is made more vibrant with blue, yellow and red decor. In the mornings after breakfast, I like to read on this patio, under the shade of the lemon laden tree that grows in the middle. Some days I get to cuddle with Molly, one of the two resident Bichon Frise dogs that live here. That was the case this morning.

The patio outside my room (the yellow door)

Cuddling with Molly

Most days, I go for my first walk at around 10:00 (or someone picks me up). Today, I made my way toward the waterfront of Lake Chapala along the Malecon, a boardwalk of sorts. It is wonderfully refreshing to stroll beside the lake. Town planners have done a great job in improving this area, which has seen many changes since my last visit three years ago. There are many options for individuals or groups to play here including a basketball court, a skateboard park, a playground and even an amphitheatre which looks very Greek in design. I expect that on weekends the area is buzzing with activity.

The Malecon

The Amphitheatre

From this peaceful area, I made my way along the cobblestone streets to the centre of town where there are many shops worth exploring. I actually visited several of these places twice today, once during my morning stroll and again in the afternoon after lunch.

One of the great shops in town: Diane's Pearls

Lunch with Ginnie and Jack

Lunch was another social event, this time with cousins Ginnie and Jack More (the same ones I ran into yesterday at the Market.) We headed to Panino's in the San Antonio Tlayacapan area where I enjoyed a delicious turkey and cheese sandwich. The three of us had lots to catch up on, and the time just flew as we filled each other in on our lives. Ginnie and Jack have built themselves a home here; like so many others they love this place!

Two for one Margaritas

I had made a date to meet Janie at 3:00 in the main plaza and I was right on time. If you have been following this blog, you might remember that I first met Janie when Sue and I were in Guanajuato. At the time, she was travelling with the McCrae sisters, Mary and Jan. Now, all our travel companions have left us and Janie and I are both on our own. We have decided to hang out together regularly for the remainder of my time here. We shopped and then, we headed to Los Telares where we had two for one Margaritas before dinner.

The day was capped off when we joined John and Catherine at Number 4 for dinner (I had a yummy bouillabaise and NO margaritas) and a little dancing to a delightful father and son duo, Noe (guitar and vocals) and Roy (saxophone)