Holidays

Category

Mazatlán Monument Monday #1

Pedro Infante was born in Mazatlán in 1917, and the monument at the South end of the malecon at Olas Altas  pays homage to him and commemorates his movie role in A Toda Maquina. He died in a plane crash in Merida in 1957 piloting a plane bound for Mexico City....

Rainy day parade

Paul and I headed out in the drizzly morning to watch the Independence Day parade.  We got a little bit of a late start as we waited for our housekeeper to arrive…which meant that we missed the horses at the beginning, but here’s a bit of what we saw.  Above, you see schoolgirls marching with a flag.  Pretty much every school in Mazatlán was represented, some with the Mexican flag, some with their school flag, and some with banners. There...

Tourism in the City

Confetti at night   One of the things I am discovering that I love about Mazatlán is the way it changes throughout the year. As the visitors change, so does the feel of the city. Here’s a snapshot: November is when the snowbirds arrive from the US and Canada. US and Canadian tourists, too. The malecon is loaded with white skinned people wearing funny hats and fanny packs worn backwards. The cruise ships start arriving more regularly, usually three on...

Semana Santa at the Beach

Semana Santa at the beach is a pretty amazing adventure. People watching is the order of the day. We arrived at our favorite palapa restaurant around 11 and the beach was more busy than usual. But by 2 pm, it was packed.   The beach vendors were out in force…here are mangos on a stick. …and ice cream… …and pastries… The lifeguards were keeping an eye on everything… …while Paul and Jessica shared a meal of grilled fish… Some people...

Carnaval is over…

  Carnaval was loud, crazy, full of beer, hot dogs, kids with neon light sabers and confetti. And it was fun.   We’d heard lots of stories about how wild and noisy it was – and it’s true that the later you are out the louder and younger the crowd gets. But we learned that we can choose what we want to do and stay home when we don’t feel like it.   The dogs survived, too – although neither...

I need a nap

Carnaval festivities continue to dominate Mazatlan. The hotels are at capacity, with most tourists being Mexican nationals. I think most of them arrived yesterday and everyone was ready for a party last night. At eight there was the ceremonial Burning of Bad Humor. The effigy burned was one of the ruffians from Culiacan who lassoed the Venado monument at Olas Altas last year, pulling it off its pedestal and destroying it. The Venado (deer) is the symbol of Mazatlan and...

Mazatlan knows how to party!

So far Carnaval is wonderful. The first night, Thursday, was cold and windy. I know – all of you reading this from the frozen North – it wasn’t cold by your standards but it was cold for here. I think that really put a crimp on the celebration. We were out in the early evening because the King of Joy was going to be crowned at 7:00 al punto which means on the dot. People were milling about but it...

We’re bracing ourselves for…Carnaval!

We’ve heard stories about what a big event Carnaval is ever since we first visited here. Some people choose to leave town for the week and others get into the spirit in a big way. This being our first year we have asked a lot of advice but in general are taking a relaxed perspective on the celebration. If we feel like it, we’ll do it – otherwise our fridge is full and we can crank up the tunes at...

Even bloggers take a holiday break!

It seems like a lot of the blogs I read have been sporadic in their postings for the last week or so. I took a bit of a break myself. But that doesn’t mean that nothing has been going on! So I thought this post could be a random one about odds and ends. Friends – We are really loving Mazatlan for the new friends we have met. Over the last couple of weeks we have had several dinners out...

This life is good!

Of course, we knew it would be, but we never thought it would be this good! Although, Friday when Paul and I went out for Day of the Dead festivities, Henry (the dog) got into the room with the sand the salitre repair guys are using and tracked it all over the house! So a fair bit of time Saturday was spent vacuuming and mopping. But the house gleamed afterwards, which is amazing given the amount of dust that gets...

Happy New Year!

  We spent the last few days enjoying a visit from Number One Son and his family, which includes our two delightful grandchildren. New Year’s Day meant a feast and festivities with them and also my younger sister and her family. Of course it was wonderful. It was also a passage. Next New Year’s we won’t be here. We’ll be in Mexico. So, the passage to 2007 was a big one for us – one that makes us feel very...