More from Mexico

We took an architecture tour of San Miguel de Allende, led by our friend Barry Zaid, who now resides in SMA. It was very interesting, of course.

Patterns, tiles, colors, good memories.

Can you make out the sign? Yes, that's a Starbuck's, right in the center of SMA.

Catching the sunset from the balcony, from the house on Terraplen calle. Does that tree look like a monster to you?

Mexico (mas)

Being outdoors a lot was so wonderful. The weather was perfect. The only day it rained was on the day we were leaving SMA to Return to Mexico City.

 This is the Virgen of Guadelupe, which was everywhere. See the angel holding her up and the rays of light emanating from her? Everywhere, on buses, on buildings, in restaurants, and, of course, in churches.

Hat seller.

Hats for sale, everywhere.

I like these two people chatting and the third just standing an looking off to the left, the palm tree stuck there. And then there's that pigeon and a leg. Something about this composition was very satisfying to me.

The Parroquia in SMA. There a funny story about this.  It appears that this is the top of a tall cathedral, but it's not. The architect had no idea that this design was part of a larger structure so he built this as the actual church.

Mexico trip (more)

 The grand-girl was a great traveler. She was so easy, took everything in stride. Here she is wearing her safety harness. Rather than carry a bulky car seat, her parents found this cool harness that hooks into the adult seat belts. She like the harness. She said that it was like Frida Kahlo's corsets she had to wear because of her accident. Hard to believe that she knows these things. In this photo, she's a month away from her 4th birthday.  We were taking a break on the road from Mexico City to San Miguel de Allende.

Some chimichurro in a terrific coffee shop, cafe, in San Miguel de Allende.

 We stopped by a cemetery in SMA. We always like visiting cemeteries in countries we visit. They're so peaceful and so different from cemeteries in the U.S.A.

The view, looking up, at a small cafe. A bird, a colorful building.

More birds, right next to us. Very chirpy. The cafe was called Cafe Magico and it was on a main street into SMA called Salida de Saleya. The inner area was tiny, the patio was the main seating area. The owner was friendly and brought Grand-girl a gigantic glass of fresh orange juice. What a treat.

In our friend Barry's house. Devils on display in an interior window. We loved the color of his house. So cheerful.

More MEXICO!

 Tortillas being made by a pretty fascinating machine at the big mercado near Frida Kahlo's house. This is the view from the inside of the market. On the outside, there was a walk-up window where you could by them by the dozen or less or more. Fresh tortillas1

We walked to a plaza and found an area with stands making fresh tortilla things. Can't remember the name of them. Do you know what these are?
The woman made a tortilla, filled it with stuffing of your choice, then fried it and yum, freshly made food! I had cheese, bean, and shared a squash blossom filled one with my DIL. So delicious.

I had some fizzy lemony drink. Pato Pascual!

Here's a photo of the finished food. I'm getting hungry just looking at this, remembering how delicious it was.

I love how the buildings are painted in bright colors. This was a municipal building with a police station in it. It faced a lovely plaza/park area where lots of people were relaxing, enjoying the beautiful weather.

Here's our grand-girl with helado. She was quite quick to learn and remember that word.

I took photos of newspapers during our vacation. It was interesting to see how Mexicans wrote about things.  This article talks about how a higher wall between the U.S. and Mexico won't be an obstacle. This newspaper has a very good reputation for good journalism.

Have you been to Mexico? What were your experiences? We found the people to be very warm and open. Even my family members who don't speak Spanish, were able to get along fine. I was excited to be using my Spanish all the time. 

Remember the Shelf? An update.

Some of my readers may get remember the little shelf on a pole, which changed over time to a "Shelter." It's gotten shabby and the kids who added things to it are now pre-teens and teen, and moved on in different directions.

I decided to use a few items from the goodie back that my honey brought me from a NYC exhibit called Take This or something like that. So he took stuff, including, molded plaster take out coffee lids in two sizes, some "coins," a pin of a man's profile in blue and red, some fortune cookies, which I broke open and looked at the "fortunes." Also, a foil emergency blanket in a little plastic bag and part of the poem from the statue of liberty. I put these into the "shelf" and will check it tomorrow to see if things have been removed.

I'm happy the box is still there. I hope it intrigues people, still.

You can see past posts on this item if you search using the tag - shelf or elflog.

Bienvenida a Mexico

Practicing bull fight moves in the Viveros Coyoacan. We came upon this sight, which was totally amazing for us. We really knew we were in another place, for sure!

Passersby were oblivious to the practicing matador, while we were enchanted by it.

 Aw, a missing Gato, named Planeta. I hope someone found him or he found he way home. He has a flea collar on and a in his left pupil. Pobrecito.

We stopped for coffee at this cafe, not far from Frida Kahlo's house. It's very well known. We pulled plastic garden chairs from a stack set against the little building. We sat outside and had delicious coffee and watched the people going by and listening to a street musician. It was lovely.

We saw so many different types of flowers in bloom, everywhere.
Lots of succulents, of course, and palm trees. Plants seemed big! I'm sure that having so much vegetation was good since the city still has problems with bad air, though I think they're doing better. I think the pollution has lessened.

For me, in the beginning, it was hard to breathe because of the altitude. I had to slow down, but after a couple days, it wasn't noticeable. When we returned to Mexico City, after staying in San Miguel de Allende for a number of days, I didn't notice anything at all. Altitude in Mexico city is over 7,000 feet, I think.

We were so happy to be there. The trip we hadn't thought we'd take!!

Images from Mexico City

Nopales - cactus, which we cut up, fried, & ate

 We stayed in a very modern high rise in Mexico City when we first arrived. Because it was hazy, the mountains surrounding the city couldn't be seen clearly.

 Zinn likes the mirrors in the elevators in the building. She's practice making faces.

 Flowers seen while out on a walk.

 Across the street from the building was the Viveros Coyoacan. A very large park, part of which was used to grow trees and plants that would be planted around the city.

 We walked across this park to get to Frida Kahlo's home.

Plants in pots, gown to be transplanted. There were tiny plants in tiny pots, and large plants and even trees.  The park was full of people jogging, walking, exercising, and even practicing bull fighting poses.