A few days ago I received an e mail from a friend I met at swim with at the pool back home. She was letting me know she and her husband were going to be in Ixtapa for 8 days and could we get together. Of course they have an agenda of things they want and need to do and we had some prearranged plans and it looked like we might not meet up. But today it worked out. We invited them to Zihuatanejo, they came and fortunately prepared for the beach. So after a quick tour of El Centro and our apartment we were off to Las Gatas Beach.It’s a water taxi ride out to the beach which is always fun, then we walked down the beach to our favorite spot,Gloria del Mar and our favorite waiter, Jose. Some how he has radar and seems to sense when we are coming as he spots us a half block down the beach and starts waving at us.
We stake out our territory, get buckets of Dos XX’s and margaritas. (Drinks not buckets) and settle in to the business of becoming better acquainted. Siuling and I swim together, and mostly just visit in the locker room. Our husbands have never met, but both are retired military and soon we are all laughing and joking like we have known each other for years. We order a red snapper and some shrimp, all heavy on the garlic and all but lick the platter clean. The guys decide they want to go deep sea fishing. We ask Jose, our waiter if he has a recommendation for a captain and soon the “Black Tuna” arrives and the guys make all the arrangements while Siuling and I swim. Sunday is to be the fishing day. We’ve had all the sun and fun we can handle for the day and head back to the water taxi for the ride back to Zihua, with plans to meet on Sunday. A wonderful day with great amigos. Signing off KO
It’s been a couple of interesting days, trying to get organized and setting up our living quarters. The Senor dropped his partial plate on the tile floor and of course broke it. So we drop everything and are off to the dentist. Fortunately she is english speaking and in the same building as the wonderful doctor we found last year. She was able to put it back together for him but he is having her make a new one as the price was right. I marvel at how simplistic doctors waiting rooms are here compared to what we see in the US. Some what like my doctors office was when I was a kid back in the late 40’s. Strictly utilitarian, actually the waiting room furniture looks like it came from a 2nd hand store, no fancy paintings on the walls. But the medical and dental care is very modern and up to date and extremely reasonable. I have no problem with this philosophy. Ahhh, it’s Mexico
Tried getting our cell phones up and running but the cell store we usually go to was closed and neighboring stores and other cell phone kiosks said we had to go to Ixtapa to get new “chips”. So we make the trip to Ixtapa, lined up and waited our turn only to be told our phones were locked they can’t do it, only our carrier But Verizon tells me that they don’t lock their phones like mine. At least that’s what they say on line (can’t phone them, no phone). But the upside is we got to go to the movie theater while we were in Ixtapa, saw Passengers,very good movie, and then had dinner at Franks.I like eating out! Ahhh it’s Mexico!
Today as I was headed to the bank to get more money as our landlord upped the rent $200 a month, even though we had a written contract. Ahhh, its Mexico. I discovered the Telcell store that was closed yesterday,the one everyone said couldn’t help me and I needed to go to Ixtapa, was open today. And guess what, they were more than happy to put a chip in my phone and it works perfectly now. Ahhhh it’s Mexico.
The first few days we are so busy getting what we need where we need it. Just starting to get in the relaxed mode of rolling with the punches, sometimes it takes a little time to get into that laid back mode of a mexican minute could really be sixty and manana does not mean tomorrow, it simply means not today. AHHH it is Mexico
Quick fix on a sidewalk hole.
This is how holes in the sidewalk are fixed. At least this on has a “bandaid fix” most don’t along with odd pieces of metal and re bar that have been cut off close to sidewalk level leave walking the streets a bit of a challenge especially at night. Ahhh, it’s mexico
Our time in sunny Mexico is drawing to a close, sadly we are on our last day. I love Mexico and Zihuatanejo with all it’s quirks and interesting culture. There is so much I will miss, but there are somethings that you just have to say “Ah it’s mexico” and overlook. I will miss all the friendly faces that speak to you on the streets and greet you with a quick Hola! or Buen Dia even when they don’t know you at all. I will miss warm days at the beach with
View of sail boats from the beach
the breeze blowing, I will miss nights without ever needing a sweater, I will miss 25 peso cab rides, and riding water taxis, I will miss the pigeon who lives in our balcony planter and the iguanas that entertain us during dinner on the balcony at night. Let’s face it I will miss my balcony!
I will not miss toilets with no seats in public facilities. Where do they all disappear to? I won’t miss needing to discard TP in the waste basket instead of the bowl. I will miss daily fresh fruit. I will miss fresh fish cooked to perfection. I will not miss Mexican bars that play music until 6 am, but I will miss yummy drinks expertly prepared. I will miss mercado shopping, but not barking roof dogs, but I will miss the sweet, gentle street dogs.I will miss swimming long course at 8 am at the “Alberca Olympica.” I will miss walking all over town and taking 10 peso bus trips for longer distances. I will miss our Zihuatanejo friends new and old.
Faye and I at Saifest
I will miss always seeing folks I know where ever I go in town. I will miss taking my camera every where as there is always something interesting to see. I will miss the time I have here to read book after book with out guilt. I will miss having time to blog about simple daily events. I won’t miss washing dishes by hand.I will miss coconut palms, flowers and greenery all winter long.
Saturday morning Market
I will miss my trips with Sylvia to the the little Saturday morning market, where everything is home grown, or made or recycled and hand made or organic. I will miss lovely sunny mornings as we return to gray rainy weather, but all good things must come to a close. So this is my final blog of the season Signing off until December 30 2016. KO
My camera is broken, now I am using my cell phone camera. It has taken me 3 days to figure out how to get the pictures trapped in the phone down loaded to the computer and once there find them again.The Senor and I gathered with friends at El Meditereano for dinner, a lovely courtyard restaurant shaded by a huge tree. As it was an outside location I thought it would be cool. Wrong! the courtyard seemed to have trapped the heat of the day.
I guess that big tree doesn’t provide enough shade during the day because it was very warm there. The courtyard is pretty, but so dimly lit it was difficult to read the menu.On the positive side,the menu was excellent and the food was very good. I was serenaded by strolling Mexican troubadours who upon request sang “De Colores” for me.. It was a fantastic evening spent with good friends
Oyster appetizers
The Senor and I split a fish fillet, this is half!
.
Everything electronic is just a bit wonky right now. The real camera will only snap 1 picture and that is as it is turned on, so you have to have it aimed before turning it on. Then turn it off and aim and turn on again. The cell phone only functions as a camera here. Now my new computer is stuck on trying to shut down, but it won’t shut down, so I can reboot it. I unplugged it and I thought that when the battery ran down I could re boot it. . Nope still won’t work.Computer isn’t 6 months old yet. sure glad we brought both computers. This all makes taking pictures a bit more of a challenge, but I will pursue. Signing off KO
I woke up yesterday morning feeling just a little queasy and no energy at all. So I laid in bed and read my book until it was time to get ready to go to the Sailfest volunteers Party at Las Palamas. I had looked forward to going to this event being held at a big beautiful new hotel and beach club on Playa Blanca. I was sure I would feel just fine once I got going. I prepared the tapas I’d been asked to bring and loaded up my chilled box of wine and headed out to catch the bus to the airport, then transfer to a taxi to Playa Blanca. I caught the very first bus that said “Aeropuerto”only to discover it turning off just prior to the Airport. We traveled through several small villages and finally drove 3-4 blocks through a village with only dirt roads where the driver honked his horn the whole way through alerting residents of his arrival and 4 more folks hopped on. one of the ladies asked where I was going and I said areopuerto and she said no and said something to the driver. I did pick up the word “regresso” and I assumed I would have to ride back into town and catch a different bus that actually went to the areopuerto, but no he back tracked a little and left me off at a side road by a highway with a sign saying Aeropuerto 2 miles.
Now it was too hot to walk there so I went into the gas station to call a taxi, no one working there knew a taxi phone number. While in the gas station I saw the little bus pull up at the corner where I just standing that said aeropuerto but I couldn’t get there before he left. So I figured another one would be by in about 15 minutes, but in just a few minutes a taxi drove up dropping folks off next door to where I was waiting and I flagged him down and headed out to my party.
Sailfest beach party at Las Palamas Hotel and Beach Cub
What should have taken 45- 60 minutes max had taken me almost two hours. But none the less I was there. I set out my tapas which survived the ride just fine, gave the wine to the bartender to re-chill, pulled out my camera to take my first picture of the lovely place only to discover the chilled wine had sweated all over my camera and the camera was not operating. One picture and it would not “click” again to take a picture and the view screen was blank. I got one picture that was it. Still not working today
Still not feeling my best, I choose to spend some time in the beautiful infinity pool. It’s a beautiful spot with The food was great, but I had no appetite, an open bar but I carried around the same drink all day just not quite able to drink it. It is a beautiful hotel and Beach club with two pools, lovely grounds and ocean front views. While I certainly had a nice time I just wasn’t up to party mode.
I left early and was able to catch a ride most of the way back to the apartment where I went to bed and slept all night.
I feel OK today, but still no energy, finished my latest book and plan to continue watching Game of Thrones the rest of the afternoon. Signing off KO
Friends invited us to go with them for a day trip to Troncones. Much to my surprise the Senor said yes, he would like to go. Even though his sciatica is really bothering him he was tired of doing nothing. So 3 couples set off for Mi Casa Es Su Casa, a new destination for us in Troncones.
The trip in itself is always an adventure as you travel through many dusty little villages with folks getting on and off along the way carrying a variety of packages, including one very well behaved chicken that sat on his masters lap and was very content to just be petted. Luckily we caught the big bus on the trip out and it wasn’t even crowed, but not so lucky on the return trip, where our 14 passenger bus soon held 20 some people and a large basket of bread, the kind they wear on there heads while hawking it.
Mi Casa Es Su Casa is a lovely place right in the village with a white sand beach with
White sand beach and rolling surf
rolling surf, a nice pool and covered patio dinning area. I think paddling around in the pool helped the Senor feel better, at least relieved some of the stress. .water in the pool was delightfully warm and we all began to look “prune-ified” before getting out. We enjoyed a pleasant, leisurely lunch while watching the waves.
At the Sailfest auction Paul and Faye had purchased a 2 night stay at this establishment and wanted to make reservations for it plus one
Paul and Faye
night. We enjoyed our day so much that the Senor decided we could come out again when they did and we reserved for 2 nights in March. All in all it was a lovely day with good friends, and looking forward to more good times.
One of the pleasures of being a pedestrian in Zihuatanejo and varying your route from time to time is running into unexpected visual treasures. They may be in the form of architecture, flora and fauna, or wall art. One of the problems of being a pedestrian is that at times you feel like a visual target for the Mexican motorists,or maybe just open season on gringos. Anyway to avoid a particularly problematic street crossing I decided to adjust my route back from the swimming pool and that’s when I discovered this lovely street art. The long wall is actually the far side of El Pueblito, the others are located at the front side of El Pueblito just past their big wood door.
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With the Senor not feeling up to par it has been a great pleasure to have friends to go
Kathleen and Bonny at Parisio Escondido Ixtapa Island
places with. Bonny and I did Ixtapa Island. It is one of my most favorite beaches as I can swim out and around where the sail boats moor and then go snorkeling on the other side of the island where the fish are beautiful and plentiful. On our return we watch as a generous fisherman was feeding the pelicans.
Hungry Pelicans enjoying a handout.
We visited ChulaVida yesterday with our friends and neighbors Will and Sylvia. We had been looking forward to this trip as it always is a bit of an adventure. We bused to the airport and planned to wait their for the pasajera for the trip along Playa Blanca. The Senor
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Fish
Waves that would suddenly shoot horizontally
was up for this trip,but struggling with sciatica pain so we choose to wait in the little restaurant for the truck.Several taxi drivers tried to get our business but we choose to wait for the far less expensive pasajera. Well I think we got “Tom Sawyer-ed” as we were quite sure we could see from where we were when it would turn around but we also thought either the man at the fruit wagon or the taxis might signal us.Secretly I think they told the driver to turn around and then told us it came and went. No harm ! We took the taxi and got there just the same. After some mango daquris which were so thick they were almost a meal in itself we had a delicious fish pronounced “wahoo”, don’t know how to spell it correctly but it was very good with a side of ratatouille. The Senor seemed to be in a bit of a hurry to get back so we didn’t stay for the sunset, disappointing, but I try to understand his discomfort. Every day is a good day, every day is an adventure here in Zihuatanejo. Signing off, KO
The cactus is made from zucchini, pea pods and rasberries
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Sailfest is the most fun you can have doing good deeds for the kids of Zihuatanejo. The chili cook off is the Senor’s favorite event and he turned out for it happily voting for his favorite chili from “The Captain’s Daughter”. Not being a fan of spicy chili I’m afraid to try half of them. I stick with my favorite, the key lime pie.
Writing their bids
The silent auction is one my favorite events. I usually just go after the Restaurant meals. My theory is if I’ve bought a certificate for a restaurant, the Senor will have to go out and use it. And I do enjoy eating out from time to time. But I wasn’t very successful this year, got out bid most of the time. But did succeed in getting the dinner for 4 at Chula Vida out on Playa Larga. We went there a couple of years ago with Will and Sylvia and had a fantastic time. Now we get to do it all over again with them this year. I’m looking forward to it. My only other successful on a bid on a natural beige cotton dress.
The Senor and I along with friends attended the Gala Dinner at the relatively new El Consuelo restaurant located where the old Pacalo’s was. It’s been beautifully remodeled, but an unusual location for dinner for a very large group of gringos with a staff that only
The Senor and I dinner at El Consuelo
speaks Spanish and isn’t tuned into gringo drinks. I went to the bar to get a bloody mary and a screwdriver and the folks behind the bar had no idea what they were. I’m flexible with what I will drink, but the Senor isn’t and I couldn’t believe they couldn’t do a screw driver. So I explained that it was Vodka and “juego de narnja”. Yes he under stood, then I said I would also like a rum and coca lite. well he fixed the screwdriver, then proceeded to pour diet coke on top if it and would have added rum on top of that if I hadn’t stopped him. Finally we worked out what a screw driver was and I settled for a glass of wine as you just can’t screw that up. The food was good, the music fantastic. The music alone was worth the price of the ticket. A Mexican couple sang lovely Mexican
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music to his guitar accompaniment. Her voice is high and clear like Joan Baez. Even bought their CD.
Going out for an afternoon on a sail boat is probably my most favorite activity of all of Sailfest. This year my friend Faye went with me on the Patricia Belle. I can’t get the Senor to go with me. After 22 years in the Navy he sees no reason to get on a boat unless it includes fishing. Thhe Patricia Belle is a 50 foot wood sailboat, built just a few miles from my home in Washington out of timber the Captian logged off his property. There were 27 passengers and every one had a great time especially as we really got to sail, with all sails up and no motor at all. We were
Faye and I enjoying fine wine!
actually going to fast for folks to swim so the crew cut the sails back, slowed us down and about a dozen folks jumped in, including Faye and I. Even slowed down it was tough to keep up with the boat, kind of like swimming in a swim spa where you keep swimming but make no progress. When a took my hat off to swim, the chin strap broke and wouldn’t you know it on the return leg of our journey the wind caught my hat and it went sailing into the bay. I thought it was a goner, but
Hat lost at sea
hooking the hat
the captain and the lovely lady who retrieved my hat
they turned the boat around and after a couple of valiant tries my hat was hooked and back on board. This is the second hat of mine that had to be rescued at sea, last time I was on a different boat but it was the crew of the Patricia Belle that saved it and transferred it back to the boat I was on. Signing off KO
Super Bowl Sunday the men in our building planned to watch the game at Fireball a newer bar on Ejidio just 2 blocks from our apartment. It was chosen because of its wall projection TV, but also because it was new and maybe not so crowded. Well it was crowded, but they discovered the owner is a very congenial fellow from Minnesota and a nice new establishment. The ladies of Casa del Mar plus an additional friend choose to spend Super Bowl 50 at the beach restaurant Tata’s. It was Myra’s last day in Zihuatanejo and she wanted all the beach she could get. We had a great time visiting, eating and enjoying Mango Margaritas and Daiquiris.
That evening M-Dock band was doing a free concert at the Zocolo that was hugely attended.Since we could hear the music perfectly from our balcony I avoided the crowds and enjoyed it from home. The welcome party was the next evenings event with the Expressions Inmune providing the music.
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This is the young Mexican band that started playing in the street, got their first “professional gig” with Sailfest several years ago and are now playing in many of the local restaurants. I did my third day selling T-shirts, concert tickets and such today. The live auction was tonight, but it has been a little too rich for my blood the last few years. And of course the Senor isn’t feeling up to going anywhere.
Took the Senor to the Doctor again today. Medical practice is certainly is different here. The doctor actually took his blood pressure instead of an assistant. This time the doctor prescribed a series of 3 cortisone B 12 and some pain medicine for his on going sciatica. So we went to the pharmacy to fill the prescriptions, took 2 pharmacies to get both, then went to the pharmacy next door when the shot was administered and where he will return today and again tomorrow to complete the process. So far no fantastic results, but we are hopping. She mentioned that he should get another ct scan, but there is no ct machine in Zihuatanejo. I can’t remember where she said the closest one was.
I love folks with a sense of humor
That really surprised me. Actually I’ve been in Mexico long enough that very little truly surprises me, but so many thing I do shake my head in bewilderment. Signing off KO
That is nothing we have to do, I don’t swim on the weekends so we had a leisurely lovely breakfast on the balcony while listening to the church bells calling the faithful. Surprisingly this is the first time we have heard the bells. The Senor is always the breakfast cook and this morning he out did himself with this marvelous fruit bowl. It would be such a healthy breakfast if we hadn’t have stuffed ourselves.
Our pigeon bathing across the street in a “tinaco”
Our morning entertainment was watching our pigeon take a bath in the neighbors water supply “tinaco”. This is a daily event that truly amuses me. But I have checked out the tinacos on our roof and know they are covered, no bathing birds there.
Roof top swimming hole
another sight that amuses me is a half block away on about the 3rd floor roof is what I believe is an old cement rooftop cistern that has taken on a new life as a swimming hole. Several times I have seen kids whooping and splashing in it.
So much of Mexico is interesting and no matter how frequently I see it it never ceases to amaze and amuse me. Almost every evening there will be a couple of restaurants roasting this cut of pork over an open fire and continuing to
Mystery meat
slice little bits. Not being a meat eater I have no idea how it is served, and the Senor is not an adventurous eater this will remain “mystery meat” to us.
A day or so ago I noticed the sail boat the PATRICIA BELLE was anchored in the bay. She was hand built by the captain just a couple of
The Patricia Belle
miles from our home in Washington. I had the opportunity to sail on her last Sail Fest and hope to do so again. She is one of the largest sailboats we see here. Signing off, KO
eating and enjoying Mango Margaritas and Daiquiris.
