In planning this blog post I had a bit of a puzzle – what to call the area in Centro that is West of the Plazuela Machado but South of Angel Flores? Paul had a great idea, taking off from SOHO in New York (for South of Houston), SOMA in San Francisco (South of Market) and SODO in Seattle (South of Downtown.) So, we hereby christen this area SOFLO for South of Angel Flores (or, perhaps in Spanish SUFLO?) Do you think it will catch on? At the top of this post is Calle Angel Flores – one of our most photographed streets – and prettiest, too.>
The aerial photo below shows the SoFlo area highlighted in orange.
The map below shows the area outlined and a few places marked for reference. Now, let’s get going!
Restaurant-Bar Son Sin, on Niños Heroes. They have live music many nights. Old and new can coexist just fine in Centro.The graffiti in Centro is fantastic.More great graffiti, this is just next to the previous picture. I love the ruin, too.Click for a larger image. This is a panorama of Niños Heroes, quite the restaurant row. La Mona makes wonderful pizza and the scaffolding and half completed reclining nude are their trademark. Next to them is Mil Amores and the (closed now) Lorna.The Melville is a lovely restored hotel. http://www.themelville.comWant to peek in the Melville’s gate? Here you go!The restored and the unrestored coexist in Centro. On the left, a building formerly occupied by a school and currently looking for a new occupant – and on the right, a ruin. Some of these ruins are almost impossible to sell as they are often owned by extended families of 30 or so people. It is almost impossible to get that many people’s signatures.This is the cooler at the new Pity Polski Polish bar. What a fantastic selection of beers! And they have Indio dark on tap! They are across the street from La Mona and next to Wing’s Army and Kai. I love the bottle light fixture at Pity Polski.You’ll find all kinds of hoodlums and scofflaws when you go out at night in Mazatlán.
The video below is a must-watch, Mazatlán’s Fernando Shann singing his hit Café de Rosas in the streets of Centro Historico!
More great graffiti in Centro, in the parking lot across from the Melville.If we could only get the tagger-graffiti guys to take up this kind of graffiti instead!Molika is one of our favorite restaurants and bakeries. Wonderful food – delicious and consistent.This is the location for the new Culinary Market. Molika Bakery, The Fish Market, Henderson Meats, and Rico’s Coffee shop (and maybe more) will be coming together in a food court inside this building. It should be completed by the end of the year, and is great news for Centro, for sure.At the other end of the building above is the Aroma Spa. With new owner Athina Pyrovolissianou and artist Karen Weiss’s hard work, it has been transformed into a peaceful spa space. (The big whale bone has been donated to the Aquarium, thank goodness!)I like the Aroma Spa’s mix of old Mexico and peaceful symbols.Here’s a bonus from one block over: A picture of the Plazuela Machado from the balcony in the Hotel Machado. I got a mini-tour of the hotel and it is lovely inside and out.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the tour of the SoFlo area of Centro Historico. See you soon!
How pretty! The graffiti is beautiful. I’m definitely a fan. It’s too bad that the graffiti up here consists of nothing more than obscene words. It would be much more bearable if there was artwork instead.
SoFlo – love it – we are lucky enough to get to spend a few weeks in this area after the first of the year. Can not wait to get there. Really enjoyed reading and seeing the pictures in this post.
The name “SoFlo” has a great ring, and evokes a sense of place that truly fits the area. I trust it will soon be adopted by one and all – and “SoFlo” will continue to grow.
The graffiti reminds me of the rail cars here in the US. We have entertainment while we’re waiting at the train crossing. Gringos don’t realize the high humidity is why the buildings crumble so fast. Takes a ton of work to keep buildings looking so nice.
10 days and we’ll be in Mazatlan! Can’t wait to show my kids this beautiful place!
Barb, we have plenty of the other kind of graffiti here, too… but I love this kind of street art so much better even than a blank wall.
Contessa, anytime!
Zoe, Just try to catch them, I think they can evade the law!
Sandy & Eric, The response to So Flo has been so positive. Unfortunately, my house is NoFlo. Now that sounds bad!
Marty, I’d forgotten about the train art, thanks for the reminder. I’m sure you’ll have a great time, the mornings are starting to be a bit cooler these last few days!
Well, that seems like splitting hairs to me! Our thinking is the entire street is the street, both sides. Anything North of it is No and South of it is So. The street just is.
Pshaw..there has to be one hair splitter. Guess it keeps you on your toes and if you work really hard, Nancy, you might get it all perfect one day. hee-hee. SoFlo..love it and the visceral part of me wishes we were still SoFlo-ing it.
Barb
October 4, 2011How pretty! The graffiti is beautiful. I’m definitely a fan. It’s too bad that the graffiti up here consists of nothing more than obscene words. It would be much more bearable if there was artwork instead.
Contessa
October 4, 2011Oh my!!!! Can I please please hire you as my Mazatlan tour guide! WOW!!!
Zoe
October 5, 2011A colorful collaboration of color, culture and criminals. Those scofflaws oughtta be locked up…in a loony bin!
Sandy
October 5, 2011SoFlo – love it – we are lucky enough to get to spend a few weeks in this area after the first of the year. Can not wait to get there. Really enjoyed reading and seeing the pictures in this post.
Eric
October 5, 2011The name “SoFlo” has a great ring, and evokes a sense of place that truly fits the area. I trust it will soon be adopted by one and all – and “SoFlo” will continue to grow.
Marty
October 6, 2011The graffiti reminds me of the rail cars here in the US. We have entertainment while we’re waiting at the train crossing. Gringos don’t realize the high humidity is why the buildings crumble so fast. Takes a ton of work to keep buildings looking so nice.
10 days and we’ll be in Mazatlan! Can’t wait to show my kids this beautiful place!
Nancy
October 7, 2011Barb, we have plenty of the other kind of graffiti here, too… but I love this kind of street art so much better even than a blank wall.
Contessa, anytime!
Zoe, Just try to catch them, I think they can evade the law!
Sandy & Eric, The response to So Flo has been so positive. Unfortunately, my house is NoFlo. Now that sounds bad!
Marty, I’d forgotten about the train art, thanks for the reminder. I’m sure you’ll have a great time, the mornings are starting to be a bit cooler these last few days!
bramaverde
October 7, 2011Not to split hairs, but the first picture you show is actually on the north side of the street, so technically it would be NoFlo.
Nancy
October 7, 2011Well, that seems like splitting hairs to me! Our thinking is the entire street is the street, both sides. Anything North of it is No and South of it is So. The street just is.
Zoe
October 7, 2011Pshaw..there has to be one hair splitter. Guess it keeps you on your toes and if you work really hard, Nancy, you might get it all perfect one day. hee-hee. SoFlo..love it and the visceral part of me wishes we were still SoFlo-ing it.