Author: zihuathyme

I certainly made a huge mistake today, we got up early, even set the alarm to do so, as we were to meet our tour guide near the canal at 0730 for our tour, well as it approaches 8:00 and it was a no-show I decided I would go back to our apartment and check for e-mails as we have no cell phones here.  Well sure enough it was my mistake, wrong Monday.  So instead we went for breakfast at an outdoor eatery.  The senor ordered pancakes and I had eggs mexicana.  His pancakes came with syrup, but no butter, so we asked for “mantaquilla” and the little waitress headed off to the store to buy some.  Evidently they were out.  By the time she returned The senor was down to one pancake but she left the butter and took the syrup away.  I guess you are allowed only one with your pancakes.

This is quite typical of the mexican people, they want to please.  I’ve actually ordered wine at a place that didn’t serve wine and watched while the waiter went to a neighboring establishment to get a glass of wine for me.

I never tire of the sights and sounds of Zihuatanejo, after our breakfast we went for a walk about town, quite sad to see many of the restaurants have closed due to the bad publicity in the US and Canada that has caused a decrease in tourism.   we came across the “sharpener man” who sharpens knives ans scissors on his wheel, you can tell when he is in your neighborhood  by his shrill whistle. 

WE then headed to El Mercado Centro to do our shopping for the next couple of days.  Mai Mahi fillet in the fish market, packed in a bag with a small chunk of ice, on to the butcher for a couple of pork chops, then to fruit and veggie vendors for garlic, grapes and bananas.  I love shopping here it is like an adventure every time.  I cooked the Mahi Mahi for dinner tonight, that was probably a mistake.  I should have had the Senor cook it, while it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great. I’m sure he could have done better.  We eat every night on our little balcony after dark when it has cooled down. I wonder if this could have been my mahi mahi.

We walked so much today (and yesterday) my knee kind of gave out on me so I spent the afternoon doing very little.  The senor has his slingbox TV and is quite happy.  Tomorrow he goes fishing, and I will probably go shopping.  I’ll be pissed if he sees dolphins and turtles and I didn’t go, but I’m not sure I’ would be able to stand up after sitting in a boat all day.  I need to move around to keep my knees working.  I might change my mind.

It was a lazy day, mostly reading on the balcony, a few house keeping chores, a trip to the bank and some mercado shopping. I’ve learned how to get the best avocados, i as the fruit sell for “un por hoy y un por manana and I always get perfectly ripe avocados for both today and tomorrow.  On the way back I found my favorite ice cream man, a very elderly gentleman with a big squat tub  that resembles a short fat milk can on an old push cart. Today he was selling  coconut ice cream, I’ve never been fond of coconut ice cream but this was great.  As usual I had difficulty with the money, he wouldn’t accept a bill as he had no change, but finally I dug deep and came up with what he wanted, I think it was about $1.40 us.  I got so flustered over the money I forgot to take his picture.  I’ll get one later.

Saturday is full of people on the streets and at the Zocolo, the town square. The Mexican people socialize out side, visiting on the streets and in the Zocolo, cafe’s and fondas. The teenagers are in groups of three and four, the girls often walking arm in arm, eyeing the boys.  In secluded corners and on park benches the young boys are pitching woo to pretty girls, but this is Saturday which is nothing to compare to Sunday when I think the whole town turns out!

The senor has spent his whole afternoon watching the 49’s beat the Saints at one of his favorite watering holes as he is coming in I’m going out as I want to listen to Jimmy Mammu at Daniels next to the Zocolo. In the small area of El Centro where are apartment is, the streets are well-lit and the area is busy with bars, restaurants, and stores that are open very late on Saturdays and the streets are very busy with both locals and tourist.  And since it is only 2 blocks I feel very safe and comfortable.

Some sights her continue to amaze me,   Streets and parking lots are swept by  palm fronds.

The local cable installer truck is a VW bug.

Very manual labor is how most things are done.  We watched and actually crossed under while 4 men used ropes to rehang a heavy metal garage roll up type  door at the entrance to a little market we frequent.  This was all done with ropes and ladders, one rope was tied off to a pickup truck parked out front of the market, all the while people were coming and going from the store.  The men held one of the ropes down so I could step over it.  All I can ever think of is OSHA would have cardiac arrest on the spot.

Almost daily we walk by this combination vet/pet store, in a cage is darling golden retriever puppy, the Senor frequently stops to play with the pup thru the wires, while doing this a small child about 8 or 9 taps the Senor on the leg, chattering in Spanish and points to the sign.

The senor was certainly chastised by this cute kid.  Signing off KO 

It was a great day even with a bit of a confusing start. We took a half hour bus ride out to Playa Linda to meet our friends and Juan who’s restaurant we were going to.  Well directions were confusing and we missed connecting with them and ended up taking the water taxi to the island and without much problems located the restaurant , Parisio Escondido, and our friends.  When I say restaurant I mean a series of tables and beach chairs on the sandy beach.  No better place to eat or drink with the ocean just steps away. This was our menu!

When I first get up and head out to the balcony to listen and watch the day unfold here all I see is a few fishing boats coming in, but this AM the bay at the end of my street was ablaze with lights.  A cruise ship had anchored in the bay. I thinks it’s the only one that comes while we are here, tourism is way down with all the negative publicity Mexico gets and the shopkeepers and restaurants here are having a very tough time.

At the Mercado yesterday my limited spanish was so rusty that most of my shopping was done by pointing and asking “como se dice” (how do you say).  Next time I will do a shopping list on the computer have the computer translate it to Spanish and I’m sure I will do better.  I always have trouble with the money, I either try to underpay or overpay. But the shop keepers always help me out and never get grouchy.

Roof dogs are quite common here, sometimes it’s scary to se a dog running on top of a roof with no railing, I’m always afraid they will fall.  Some times they are just pets and it’s the only outdoor space for them, but quite frequently they are guard dogs.  But I thought this little fellow was really cute, he would throw his head back and howl like a coyote.

We are off to Ixtapa Island today to snorkel and swim, one of the restauranteurs has invited the 3 couples here in the building to his restaurant, he will be taking us in his boat. Really makes one feel special. Should be a fun day!  can’t quite get my pictures where I want them, will have to work on this. Signing off KO

As we are going to be here 6 weeks this year we are taking it slow and easy which is great.  We have no need to rush around.  We did our big grocery shopping yesterday morning, we are forever amazed at how you get almost everything here, frequently the same brands.  We brought a few things with us, mostly the sugar-free products I use.  The one thing we didn’t bring with us and should have as we knew from before it cannot be found here is dill pickle relish.  That’s what we like in our tuna fish.

The morning shopping trip absolutely exhausted us so lunch and a brief siesta and we headed out to a near equivalent of a US $ store to pick up some house hold items for our apartment to make life more comfortable. thing like it only comes with 1 waste basket. On our way to the dollar store ran in into a couple we met last year and stopped and had a drink with them at the “Flophouse Bar” in their new location.  My first strawberry collada, I just may become a frufru drink aficionado. As we headed out to dinner we ran into our downstairs neighbors whom we had visited with both here and at their time share at Pacifica in Ixtapa last year.  It’s really comfortable not only to know our way around town, but to actually know people here, American, Canadian and Mexican. Dined at La Hija del Capitan, not my favorite, but Doyle likes it.  The only fish on their menu is shrimp, it’s ok but not great.  but it was a great day if not our most exciting.  The big plan for today is  head to the Mercado to get our fruits and veggies, something we do every couple of days, there I visit my cheese man and my egg man also.  Signing off KO

We arrived yesterday afternoon and were able to hook up with a fellow from the Zihuatanejo Message board and shared a cab to town.  As we walked up tour little pedestrian street to our apartment Rose, from the drinking emporium next door, waved and called to us welcoming us back. As it was siesta time, Javier our manager and proprietor of the sccoter rental & liquor store downstairs wasn’t available to let us in to our apartment, so our best option was to go next door and enjoy a cool one while waiting for our key. Ron, the Canadian proprietor, greeted us like old friends.  We recognized several faces around the bar and thought how nice it is to return and feel so welcome, so familiar and comfortable yet be thousands of miles from home and in a foreign country.

We settled into our apartment, got somewhat organized, said hello to our friends and neighbors and promised to catch up on things the next day. Then we  opted for a quick snack and headed off to bed as we had not slept well the night before and were up at the crack of dawn to catch our flight.

Of course the problem with going to bed early, adjusting to the time change now has me up  long before the crack of dawn.  But that’s Ok as I have always loved the early morning sounds.  There is a full moon shining, just a touch of pink in the sky over the bay, the roosters are hard at work waking up the dogs, in turn the dogs wake up the neighborhoods.  From my balcony I watch the fishing boats coming in and soon the housewives and restaurant cooks will be walking through town with bags and buckets of fish so fresh that some are still flopping. The street sweepers with their push carts are just finishing up. Life is good as good as it gets here in beautiful Zihuatanejo.

Our big plans for the day will be to grocery shop, we go to a fairly modern grocery store for the bulk of needs, but prefer the old mercado for our fruit, vegetables, cheese and eggs. I’m trying to sync this with face book, but I’m not sure I’m sucessful yet.

2 15 11 It is our last morning in Zihuatanejo and I’m savoring the sights & sounds.  The roosters waking the dogs, then the dogs waking the

2 13 11 At the Sailfest auction we won the bid on a dinner at Amulettos, which is a very upscale restaurant and boutique hotel at the very highest point above La Ropa/Las Gatas areas.  Now I know this from having read the message board out of Zihuatanejo, but the senor isn’t fully aware of how up scale this place is. I tell him he needs to wear his white shorts vs denim shorts and his dress leather sandals and I plan to wear a dress as I frequently do evenings in Zihuatanejo.  I borrow our neighbors phone and make reservations, which are recommended,but not mandatory. So tonight is the night, we flag a cab, and arrive on time, 7:30.  Our certificate is for 1000 pesos (a little more that $100.) and the senor says for that amount we probably could have brought friends, but I know different. Of course the sun has just set and it’s just a little too late for a sunset shot which is too bad as the sky is quite pink.  We are on top of the highest hill with a path to the door to the restaurant which as we approach we find the door is closed and no door knob to turn  or handle to push.  It is a huge door and we of course question we have been let off in the wrong place.  But there is like a speaker phone with a button to push, I push and expect a voice but no all we hear is a click and after a couple of clicks we push on the huge heavy door and it opens  into a pavilion where a couple is enjoying a bottle of wine and the sunset.  We inquire as to the restaurant and they direct us down some stairs. Now my knee’s are holding up well , but the senor’s have gone kaput, both of them.  Fortunately there is a doctor appointment waiting him upon our return, but tonight these steps are a bit of a challenge for him. As we wind our way down we enter a beautiful garden courtyard  restaurant with only 4 -5 tables. The view is spectacular, Zihuananejo is lit up like a christmas tree, a few fishing boat lights can be seen as they manuever around the bay and our waiter seats us at a perfect table to take in the view..  Our menu is presented and we can choose from either a 3, 4 or 5 course selection,and all the options are listed in great detail. We choose the 3 course  selection with the senor concerned that it will be too much food as we don’t normally order appetizers and deserts.  We order our drinks and begin to study the menu, we can either order a hot appetizer or a cold   there are 5 selections in each category, and then there are the main courses, meat, fowl  or fish, with 4-5 choices in each category with all the details of sauces and method of cooking. Then the desert course lists another 4-5 deserts again with great descriptions. It takes us a good 15 minutes to read, discus and interpret all our choices  while the senor says to me don’t suck up that wine too quick as we are paying for it, suave isn’t he!  I choose a cold appetizer of stuffed tomato with some sort of cheese, lobster tails for the main course and a chocolate dish for desert, the senor has a cold clam appetizer, pigeon for main course and a raspberry desert.  All this listing of sauces, ingredients, and method of preparation is lost on the  senor,  22 years of eating in Navy galleys has not given the senor a discerning pallet, just plain food is what he really wants. And he really prefers it spelled out in plain english.  His clam appetizer baffles him as he tries to figure out where the clams are buried in it,  the pigeon main course he proclaims as good  while wondering if  any of the pigeons that roost and fly around our building are missing and how it reminds him of raising and barbaqueing  pigeons when he was a kid.  He soon discovered the things that the things he has beeen rolling around his plate are carmelized carrots and are really good, not prunes or dates which were the first guess. His raspberry  pastry is excellent. For my appetizer I choose a tomato that was stuffed with a fluffy cheese concoction and  the main course of  2 lobster tails in a great sauce which was wonderful, I did pass over both the spinach as asparagus, my desert was a warm chocolate cake with a dollop of avocado colored ice cream on it on a plate of warm orange sauce .   Normally I never eat sweets, but tonight it was a must have. All in all we had a good time, we laughed about now knowing how the other have lives and frankly we could care less.  The senor would be happier with a good hamburger and Zorro’s fish and chips suits me just fine.  Long story short, you can take the boy out of the country and feed him on Navy chow, but you can’t convince him  gourmet food is the way to go.  It was a great experience, the portions were small so 3 courses was perfect and the 3 course choice was priced at 450 pesos per person, the 4 at 550 and the 5 at 650.  So our certificate and another 20 bucks for drinks and a tip and we were out the door.  Was it fun,yes,. Will we do it again, probably not.  Signing off KO

2 12 11 

 As I walked out on my balcony I couldn’t help but see the cruise ship in the harbor.  It was huge!  Over the years I have learned that you don’t go into the myriad of little shops that cater to the tourists on cruise ship days as the prices all go up.  And yet the shop keepers complain that they don’t get much business from the cruise people and the local tourists don’t come in on those days either.  You’d think they would figure it out!  As it was cruise ship day it was a perfect day to head to the mercado and pick up what is probably the last of our grocery needs while we are here.  I find my fruit & vegetable vendor and purchase 1 avocado, then on to my egg man for 6 eggs, then to my cheese man for a couple of yards of cheese. 

Shopping here is always and adventure, so much more fun than going to the commissary.  After walking back to the apartment and putting our supplies away I decide I will take my book and head to the malecon along the water front. I love to sit at an open air restaurant, sip my drink and watch the “boat people’ hurrying around town trying to see every thing in the time they have. I set and silently gloat that I now know this town intimately and they have no clue.  I’ve been here long enough to have made friends and can greet people I know as they pass by. I really am beginning to feel like part of the “local snow bird community”. Many of the “boat people” are afraid to eat meals in town, but will drink the beer.  This particular boat is from England and convince 2 very british ladies they should try guacamole, they just can’t quite understand what the chips are if they are not potato chips and not fries what can they be?  They tried it and liked it.  Which is what everyone should do in a foreign country, try it you just might like it.

After cooking in tonight, a delicious steak for the senor, and avocado and refried beans for me I head out again to catch Josie Kuhn sing and play her guitar, just a wonderful low-key day in paradise.  Signing off KO