Well - here we are - three months down the line. Heading home tomorrow to I know not what. All objectives fulfilled: speaking, writing, reading and understanding (mas o menos) Spanish. All done: studying; travelling alone, and with company; new places; new foods; new friends, new experiences. And today I went alone for the first time on the Metro and spent most of the day wandering about (without incidence I'm glad to report). Quite proud of myself.
So: to bring you up to date: Monday was Dulce's birthday. To start the day Fausto played the birthday song on his piano and then followed it up with the piece of Bach which was played at our wedding, which of course reduced me to tears: Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring. We went to 'L'Opera' restaurant downtown for lunch. It's an old cantina where Pancho Villa is alleged to have discharged his rifle into the ceiling. Lovely old building with old fashioned service.
I've just realised that I haven't told you about our visit earlier in the week to Xochimilco. The Aztecs, when they received the sign of the Eagle with the snake in its beak, built the city of Tenochtitlan on an island in the lake which covered much of the floor of the Valle de Mexico around 1325. They built it on a grid plan with canals as throughfares and causeways to the lakeshore. They created artifical floating meadows, chinampas, which gave 3 or 4 harvests a year. Some of these still survive at Xochimilco, Nahuatl for 'place where flowers grow', and are now used as nurseries. We took a trajinera for an hour or so. It's a Unesco World Heritage site but, to be honest, I found it very dirty and polluted. Maybe some one needs to come back from UNESCO for a follow up visit.
On the other hand, on Tuesday we went to Polanco - what a contrast. There is a huge, huge gulf in Estados Unidos Mexicanos between the rich and the poor. Polanco is a very affluent district, north of Chapultepec and the Castle, with beautiful California Colonial style houses and very modern restaurants, hotels and bars.
Thursday there was a parade of all of the schools in the district which started under Dulce and Fausto's balcony. How handy! Because I'm quite blond (and other colors) now some of the children couldn't help but stare at the 'Guerrita' taking photos. A wave made them smile :)That night we had Chiles en Nogado prepared by Dulce and watched 'el grito' by the President on TV.
Yesterday, Dia de Independencia - 16/9 - we watched the military parade on TV and then Dulce and I took the Metro to Reforma to watch it for real. The day celebrates the success of the movement, 200 years ago last year, which overthrew Spanish rule.
Today I took the Metro to Auditorio and, from there walked down Reforma to visit the Anthropological Museum, saw the Voladores in the buff (not literally but as opposed to the statue of them in Veracruz), went to Chapultepec Park and walked around one of the lakes, visited the Auditorio (where they have all of the big concerts - Tears for Fears on 24/9. What a pity I'll miss them) and then came back on the Metro via Parque Bicentennial, opened for 2010 and very ecology conscious, which is on the previously polluted site of the old Refinery where Dulce's father worked.
So, I think that's us up to date. No plans as yet for tomorrow during the day - I would like to go into the historic centre for a last look around. My plane hopefully takes off at 21.45 arriving in Amsterdam at 15.00 on Monday. Thence to Dublin with Aer Lingus and home by bus.
Thank you all so much for sticking with me - it's been really lovely receiving your emails and comments. And knowing that you were all there for me. Hand on heart I didn't feel lonely or homesick once due mainly to the fact that I had my Blog, Album and emails to work on in the evenings. And my music from home of course.
So - maybe you'll join me again next time?
xx
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Monday, 12 September 2011
What can I say about Acapulco?
I don't know what exactly I was expecting. A bit of high-end Costa, a bit of Las Vegas and a large dollop of Mexico perhaps. Maybe it was like that in its hey day but no longer.
The weather for the first two days was inclement to say the least. There are 2 or 3 tropical storms and the remnants fo a hurricane about at the minute. Think flooded roads, sidewalks, sand bags - even the beach. So we just bought a larger umbrella to shelter the two of us and continued on regardless. Even went swimming in the rain (sin umbrella of course).
We visited the Zocalo, the Cathedral and the pentagonal Fuerte de San Diego: which was very interesting and a great place to be on a very wet, but warm, day.
OK -a question worthy of Trivial Pursuit (I can see your ears pricking up Rocky): Why were the Philipines so called?
Read on:- Magellan accidentally discovered the islands on St Patrick's Day 1521, the Spanish colonised them in 1565, after Friar Andres de Urdante, leaving from Acapulco, discovered Pacific tradewinds which allowed ships to safely and quickly reach the Orient, and they were given their name in honour of the King of Spain - Philip II. Pie!!
The Fort was built in 1616 to protect the Spanish 'naos' (galleys),which traded between the Philipines and Acapulco for 250 years, from Dutch and English buccaneers. It's home to the Museo Historico de Acapulco, charting the history of the trading between Nueva Espana and Asia. It was very well done - different sections housed in the different rooms of the Fort.
The next day was a bit dryer so we took a local bus - 5 pesos each (6 pesos if the bus was air conditioned!) for a half hour trip all the way to one end of the Bay.
This is the real Acapulco - Caletilla (with its beach packed with local people in the calm waters and boys diving for shells and corals to sell) and Caleta - where well to do Mexicans holidayed after a paved road from DF was built in 1927. By the '50s it was a glitzy jet set resort with American and Mexican film stars building homes there. JFK and Jackie honeymooned in the Hotel Caleta. The Mexican comedian, stage and film star Cantinflas - born 100 years ago this year - had a house (photo in album)at the edge of the sea. John Wayne, Johnny Tarzan Weissmuller and others owned the Hotel Los Flamingos. I think I would have liked to have experienced it in those days.
We then took another bus, or should I say mobile disco without the dancing but with the heart stopping bass speakers, all the way to the other end of the Bay via the centre of the town. Another 5 pesos and one hour later, deafened and with numb bums, we got off at Costa Diamante - the newly developed part of Acapulco. High rise hotels, posh shops, up market restaurants. Such a contrast to the centre of the town which I thought was dirty, run down, uncared for and with crazy traffic and non existent car/pedestrian etiquette.
The local buses were fun though - most decorated and pimped to the hilt,including sound systems and various stuffed toys, balloons and other adornments hanging from the front windows. We even saw one with 'fue nino' painted on both sides. The driver obviously had become a Dad and was broadcasting it to all and sundry.
Our Hotel Emporio was in the middle part of La Costera - the road which runs right around the Bay - with its own private access to the beach, 11 floors, all rooms with an ocean view balcony, 3 swimming pools, 3 restaurants, 1 cockatoo, 1 parakeet, 1 very sad looking toucan and a dozen or so turtles.
On Friday we woke up to the Acapulco in the brochures. The sun had come out. Blue, blue skies and not a cloud in sight.
After our morning stroll along the beach, swim and breakfast in one of two restaurants across the road, we took a bus to the Zocalo and from there walked uphill to la Quebrada and the Clavadistas: the famous cliff divers. One experience I didn't want to miss.
When we got there we saw 6 or 7 boys already in the water of the very narrow cove. The water was so rough and they were trying to hang on to the rocks but the waves kept washing them off. I don't know how they weren't hurt. Then they climbed up onto the rocks on our side to practice their dives. There was one chubby one who stayed on the other side and 'scored' them after they had re surfaced. They were having so much fun.
At 1 o'clock 8 of them climbed the 35 metres of sheer rock. Two separate divers went from maybe 10 metres lower down, 2 jumped together from the same height and then the remaining four did different dives from the top. The last guy came down backwards: into a cove with a really rough sea washing in and out. It was breath taking.
After that we walked back down to the beach and took a glass bottomed launch out for a trip in the bay to an island called Isla de la Roqueta. Saw some Frigate Birds and two different types of pelicans but there weren't that many birds about - same in Huatulco.
We had our own private Clavadista with us who did a dive into the water thrashing aginst the rocks from a sheer cliff face, swam under the boat with food so that we could see the fishes and showed us the la Virgen de las Mares, a submerged bronze statue of the Virgen of Guadalupe.
We also found the Titanic, and there we were thinking it had sunk - another launch which was linked up to one of the kitchen/bar/shop boats servicing the day trippers.
And went we disembarked I actually bought the photograph of me with the Captain's cap on! Must have been the sun.
We enjoyed our wee holiday, and the excellent bus service to and from Mexico DF.
I guess that, if the weather is normal in Acapulco - i.e. warm, hot, hotter - most people don't venture far from their hotels and the beach. We weren't able to go in the sea because the surf and currents are too dangerous at this time of year but it's a beautiful golden beach cleaned every morning.
But, you know what? I'm coming to realise that, as beaches go, nothing I've seen has come close to Culdaff Strand in Donegal on a good sunny day :)
I'm now back in D.F. It was Dulce's birthday today - will tell you how we celebrated in the next post.
xx
PS: I don't know what I would have done on this trip without my birthday present from Peter and Claire - my "bible" : Lonely Planet's "Mexico". Excellent book which has told me everything I could ever have needed to know about everywhere I've gone. Weighs a ton but worth it.
The weather for the first two days was inclement to say the least. There are 2 or 3 tropical storms and the remnants fo a hurricane about at the minute. Think flooded roads, sidewalks, sand bags - even the beach. So we just bought a larger umbrella to shelter the two of us and continued on regardless. Even went swimming in the rain (sin umbrella of course).
We visited the Zocalo, the Cathedral and the pentagonal Fuerte de San Diego: which was very interesting and a great place to be on a very wet, but warm, day.
OK -a question worthy of Trivial Pursuit (I can see your ears pricking up Rocky): Why were the Philipines so called?
Read on:- Magellan accidentally discovered the islands on St Patrick's Day 1521, the Spanish colonised them in 1565, after Friar Andres de Urdante, leaving from Acapulco, discovered Pacific tradewinds which allowed ships to safely and quickly reach the Orient, and they were given their name in honour of the King of Spain - Philip II. Pie!!
The Fort was built in 1616 to protect the Spanish 'naos' (galleys),which traded between the Philipines and Acapulco for 250 years, from Dutch and English buccaneers. It's home to the Museo Historico de Acapulco, charting the history of the trading between Nueva Espana and Asia. It was very well done - different sections housed in the different rooms of the Fort.
The next day was a bit dryer so we took a local bus - 5 pesos each (6 pesos if the bus was air conditioned!) for a half hour trip all the way to one end of the Bay.
This is the real Acapulco - Caletilla (with its beach packed with local people in the calm waters and boys diving for shells and corals to sell) and Caleta - where well to do Mexicans holidayed after a paved road from DF was built in 1927. By the '50s it was a glitzy jet set resort with American and Mexican film stars building homes there. JFK and Jackie honeymooned in the Hotel Caleta. The Mexican comedian, stage and film star Cantinflas - born 100 years ago this year - had a house (photo in album)at the edge of the sea. John Wayne, Johnny Tarzan Weissmuller and others owned the Hotel Los Flamingos. I think I would have liked to have experienced it in those days.
We then took another bus, or should I say mobile disco without the dancing but with the heart stopping bass speakers, all the way to the other end of the Bay via the centre of the town. Another 5 pesos and one hour later, deafened and with numb bums, we got off at Costa Diamante - the newly developed part of Acapulco. High rise hotels, posh shops, up market restaurants. Such a contrast to the centre of the town which I thought was dirty, run down, uncared for and with crazy traffic and non existent car/pedestrian etiquette.
The local buses were fun though - most decorated and pimped to the hilt,including sound systems and various stuffed toys, balloons and other adornments hanging from the front windows. We even saw one with 'fue nino' painted on both sides. The driver obviously had become a Dad and was broadcasting it to all and sundry.
Our Hotel Emporio was in the middle part of La Costera - the road which runs right around the Bay - with its own private access to the beach, 11 floors, all rooms with an ocean view balcony, 3 swimming pools, 3 restaurants, 1 cockatoo, 1 parakeet, 1 very sad looking toucan and a dozen or so turtles.
On Friday we woke up to the Acapulco in the brochures. The sun had come out. Blue, blue skies and not a cloud in sight.
After our morning stroll along the beach, swim and breakfast in one of two restaurants across the road, we took a bus to the Zocalo and from there walked uphill to la Quebrada and the Clavadistas: the famous cliff divers. One experience I didn't want to miss.
When we got there we saw 6 or 7 boys already in the water of the very narrow cove. The water was so rough and they were trying to hang on to the rocks but the waves kept washing them off. I don't know how they weren't hurt. Then they climbed up onto the rocks on our side to practice their dives. There was one chubby one who stayed on the other side and 'scored' them after they had re surfaced. They were having so much fun.
At 1 o'clock 8 of them climbed the 35 metres of sheer rock. Two separate divers went from maybe 10 metres lower down, 2 jumped together from the same height and then the remaining four did different dives from the top. The last guy came down backwards: into a cove with a really rough sea washing in and out. It was breath taking.
After that we walked back down to the beach and took a glass bottomed launch out for a trip in the bay to an island called Isla de la Roqueta. Saw some Frigate Birds and two different types of pelicans but there weren't that many birds about - same in Huatulco.
We had our own private Clavadista with us who did a dive into the water thrashing aginst the rocks from a sheer cliff face, swam under the boat with food so that we could see the fishes and showed us the la Virgen de las Mares, a submerged bronze statue of the Virgen of Guadalupe.
We also found the Titanic, and there we were thinking it had sunk - another launch which was linked up to one of the kitchen/bar/shop boats servicing the day trippers.
And went we disembarked I actually bought the photograph of me with the Captain's cap on! Must have been the sun.
We enjoyed our wee holiday, and the excellent bus service to and from Mexico DF.
I guess that, if the weather is normal in Acapulco - i.e. warm, hot, hotter - most people don't venture far from their hotels and the beach. We weren't able to go in the sea because the surf and currents are too dangerous at this time of year but it's a beautiful golden beach cleaned every morning.
But, you know what? I'm coming to realise that, as beaches go, nothing I've seen has come close to Culdaff Strand in Donegal on a good sunny day :)
I'm now back in D.F. It was Dulce's birthday today - will tell you how we celebrated in the next post.
xx
PS: I don't know what I would have done on this trip without my birthday present from Peter and Claire - my "bible" : Lonely Planet's "Mexico". Excellent book which has told me everything I could ever have needed to know about everywhere I've gone. Weighs a ton but worth it.
Monday, 5 September 2011
Acapulco here we come!!!!!
Hi again. Had a lovely weekend in Xalapa with Betty's sister, husband and two lovely kids. No sightseeing - you'll all be glad to hear - but two delicious meals out, a shopping expedition and plenty of craic. And also plenty of opportunity to speak spanish.
On Saturday we had lunch at a trout farm - I ordered trout wrapped in, and stuffed with, bacon. Yum. On Sunday morning we went for brunch to an Italian restaurant. How's this for value? A half litre carafe of orange juice (per person!), bottomless coffee, Chilequiles (crispy tortilla pieces topped with a salsa suiza (sort of creamy green sauce, slightly picante)melted cheese and strips of Arrachera (very succulent thin flank steak)plus of course the dreaded refried beans and gorgeous warm bread. All for mx$88 - about £4.50. You couldn't beat that with a big stick! I wonder how that translates into spanish :0)
On Saturday night, over a few drinks, the five of us played Dominoes cubana. Anyone heard of that? It was great fun. Set of double 12s (91) dominoes. I didn't even know there was such a thing. Went on for absolutely ages but brilliant game - I went to bed at 2.30am and left the four of them still chatting.
We headed back to Cordoba on Sunday afternoon - 200km maybe - Betty driving and the closer we got the darker it was becoming.
Ran into a cloudburst: not unusual, rains most days heavily in the afternoon: but when we got to the entrance to their street there was a traffic jam. The usually gently flowing stream under the pretty bridge was so full of water that it was pouring over the bridge instead of under it and even the Jeeps couldn't get through. It's also the entrance road to a very upmarket gated development and it was really funny to see all these gorgeous women in their finery and super high heels teetering down to see the torrent.
We turned around and took refuge in a restaurant for an hour and a half by which time the flood had subsided and we were able to get through. The road was littered with foliage and bits of trees and of course yucky mud.
The stream behind the house had also turned into a raging torrent and risen by meters. Fortunately it's quite far below so it still had a fair bit of room before there would be a problem.
I travelled up to D.F. this afternoon by bus and took a taxi here to Nilo. El taxista was really chatty and talked the whole way. I was pleased that I was more or less able to understand him and chatted away with him. He was very interested in knowing all about Ireland. My spanish is good enough now that I can communicate with, and be understood by, people but I'm still struggling to understand what people say to me. It's getting better though. I'll be here with Dulce and Fausto for the next 2 weeks so there'll be plenty of practice as Fausto doesn't (as opposed to can't) speak english :) He's lovely - got a new car today and is so excited - reminds me of my Dad.
Dulce and I are heading to Acapulco tomorrow - Hotel Emporio - looks great. Next post after we come back on Saturday. Hasta luego x
On Saturday we had lunch at a trout farm - I ordered trout wrapped in, and stuffed with, bacon. Yum. On Sunday morning we went for brunch to an Italian restaurant. How's this for value? A half litre carafe of orange juice (per person!), bottomless coffee, Chilequiles (crispy tortilla pieces topped with a salsa suiza (sort of creamy green sauce, slightly picante)melted cheese and strips of Arrachera (very succulent thin flank steak)plus of course the dreaded refried beans and gorgeous warm bread. All for mx$88 - about £4.50. You couldn't beat that with a big stick! I wonder how that translates into spanish :0)
On Saturday night, over a few drinks, the five of us played Dominoes cubana. Anyone heard of that? It was great fun. Set of double 12s (91) dominoes. I didn't even know there was such a thing. Went on for absolutely ages but brilliant game - I went to bed at 2.30am and left the four of them still chatting.
We headed back to Cordoba on Sunday afternoon - 200km maybe - Betty driving and the closer we got the darker it was becoming.
Ran into a cloudburst: not unusual, rains most days heavily in the afternoon: but when we got to the entrance to their street there was a traffic jam. The usually gently flowing stream under the pretty bridge was so full of water that it was pouring over the bridge instead of under it and even the Jeeps couldn't get through. It's also the entrance road to a very upmarket gated development and it was really funny to see all these gorgeous women in their finery and super high heels teetering down to see the torrent.
We turned around and took refuge in a restaurant for an hour and a half by which time the flood had subsided and we were able to get through. The road was littered with foliage and bits of trees and of course yucky mud.
The stream behind the house had also turned into a raging torrent and risen by meters. Fortunately it's quite far below so it still had a fair bit of room before there would be a problem.
I travelled up to D.F. this afternoon by bus and took a taxi here to Nilo. El taxista was really chatty and talked the whole way. I was pleased that I was more or less able to understand him and chatted away with him. He was very interested in knowing all about Ireland. My spanish is good enough now that I can communicate with, and be understood by, people but I'm still struggling to understand what people say to me. It's getting better though. I'll be here with Dulce and Fausto for the next 2 weeks so there'll be plenty of practice as Fausto doesn't (as opposed to can't) speak english :) He's lovely - got a new car today and is so excited - reminds me of my Dad.
Dulce and I are heading to Acapulco tomorrow - Hotel Emporio - looks great. Next post after we come back on Saturday. Hasta luego x
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Triathlon a great success!
We had a great weekend in Veracruz. Betty was very pleased with her result in the Sprint Triathlon: 750 metres swim, 20 K bike and 5 K run - in 35 degrees c! She finished in 1hr 50 mins which was a few minutes faster than in her last event. She was particularly chuffed with her swimming time - 17 mins - because she's had no opportunity to train in the sea. It's a difficult event not least because of the heat and humidity. There have been drownings in the past but the sea part was extremely well monitored. Lots of canoes, boats and divers and they swam in a sort of semi circle so that they were exiting the water in a separate part of the beach. There were 3,000 competitors between the Olympic and Sprint events I think and they started in age groups (different coloured swim caps). I always find the logistics of these things fascinating. They all wore an ankle bracelet with a chip (?) in it which was activated/deactivated by passing over a mat at the beginning/end of each discipline. We saw one guy trying to cheat: there were a few people who had had to drop out of the swim for whatever reason and they were brought back to the beach, just where we were standing, by one of the boats. This chubby guy - about my age: off the boat, turned right towards the finish place, back into the water and the swimmers, swam a few metres and out as though he had done it all! I wonder did their system catch him out? Hmmm.
Anyway, despite lots of people telling us not to go, we saw no trouble apart from a fair bit of police activity outside one of the Casinos, just opposite the hotel, on Saturday night. But you know things are a bit iffy when your son says to you, as you are driving along the Boulevard in Boca del Rio gazing out at the Gulf of Mexico shimmering under a blue, blue sky with pelicans flying overhead: "what would you do if you heard gunfire Mum?"
With my years of training in Norn Ireland I would have been down in the footwell of that Jeep pdq. Thank goodness there was no need.
The Hotel Gran Diligencias was good - great location overlooking the Zocalo with its marimbas and mariachis - with a lovely outdoor pool on the first floor with a great view of the centre of Veracruz. Watched 'El Danzon' on Friday night, but not too close in case I got asked to dance! I think it has Cuban origins and was created at the end of the 19th century. Very slow and intricate: a bygone era still being enacted. The ladies were so elegant with their dresses and fans and the gentlemen all dressed in white wearing hats.
Betty found a lovely restaurant in the brand new Hotel Emporio on the Malecon (seafront). I had fish stuffed with seafood which is a Veracruzana speciality. Very tasty it was too. We breakfasted in Sanbornes (the hotel was looking for US$13 a person for brekkie so we declined) which is a chain of very traditional Mexican restauarants/stores, usually housed in historic buildings (e.g.House of Tiles in D.F.) The waitresses all wear traditional dress and they serve, well, traditional food strangely enough :D
Off to Xalapa on Friday - next post after that x
Anyway, despite lots of people telling us not to go, we saw no trouble apart from a fair bit of police activity outside one of the Casinos, just opposite the hotel, on Saturday night. But you know things are a bit iffy when your son says to you, as you are driving along the Boulevard in Boca del Rio gazing out at the Gulf of Mexico shimmering under a blue, blue sky with pelicans flying overhead: "what would you do if you heard gunfire Mum?"
With my years of training in Norn Ireland I would have been down in the footwell of that Jeep pdq. Thank goodness there was no need.
The Hotel Gran Diligencias was good - great location overlooking the Zocalo with its marimbas and mariachis - with a lovely outdoor pool on the first floor with a great view of the centre of Veracruz. Watched 'El Danzon' on Friday night, but not too close in case I got asked to dance! I think it has Cuban origins and was created at the end of the 19th century. Very slow and intricate: a bygone era still being enacted. The ladies were so elegant with their dresses and fans and the gentlemen all dressed in white wearing hats.
Betty found a lovely restaurant in the brand new Hotel Emporio on the Malecon (seafront). I had fish stuffed with seafood which is a Veracruzana speciality. Very tasty it was too. We breakfasted in Sanbornes (the hotel was looking for US$13 a person for brekkie so we declined) which is a chain of very traditional Mexican restauarants/stores, usually housed in historic buildings (e.g.House of Tiles in D.F.) The waitresses all wear traditional dress and they serve, well, traditional food strangely enough :D
Off to Xalapa on Friday - next post after that x
Friday, 26 August 2011
New plans - horray!
Hi everyone. Had a pretty uneventful week so not much to report. Betty tried, without success ufortunately, to find a dressmaker here for me as I have found some beautiful dress fabric. Anybody know anyone in Norn Ireland who can make up dresses?
That was the bad news . The good news is that I have lots of plans made:D
This afternoon we are off to Veracruz Puerto and Gran Hotel Diligencias for the weekend and Betty's Tri-athlon on Sunday.
If we survive that: the next weekend we are staying with Betty's sister and her family in Xalapa which is the Capital city of Veracruz state - about an hour and a half from Cordoba.
I will leave Cordoba on Monday 5/9, go to D.F. and then,on Tuesday 6/9, Dulce and I are going to Acapulco! How exciting is that?
It's about a 5 hour journey by bus. I've booked us into Emporio Acapulco Hotel which is right on the beach in the middle of the strip - and the one thing I really want to do when we're there is to see the cliff divers. Dulce's been there before so she'll be a great guide, as always.
Then it'll be back to Mexico City for Dulce's birthday and, as it's Independence Day on 16/9, DD, BB and I are spending 2 nights, my treat, in Gran Melia Hotel on Reforma. There are 2 main Avenues in D.F.which intersect the city: Insurgentes and Reforma. We'll be close to the Zocalo where, on 15th September, from a balcony in Palacio Nacional, the President delivers 'el grito' - Hidalgo's call to arms 201 years ago made from the steps of a church in Dolores Hidalgo in Guanajuato state.
I leave Mexico for home on the 18th and hope to be back in " the oul' sod" on the 19th, all being well, via Amsterdam and Dublin.
However - more posts and pics to come - 3 more weeks left - and 3 more hotels. How I love hotels!
Watch this space.....x
That was the bad news . The good news is that I have lots of plans made:D
This afternoon we are off to Veracruz Puerto and Gran Hotel Diligencias for the weekend and Betty's Tri-athlon on Sunday.
If we survive that: the next weekend we are staying with Betty's sister and her family in Xalapa which is the Capital city of Veracruz state - about an hour and a half from Cordoba.
I will leave Cordoba on Monday 5/9, go to D.F. and then,on Tuesday 6/9, Dulce and I are going to Acapulco! How exciting is that?
It's about a 5 hour journey by bus. I've booked us into Emporio Acapulco Hotel which is right on the beach in the middle of the strip - and the one thing I really want to do when we're there is to see the cliff divers. Dulce's been there before so she'll be a great guide, as always.
Then it'll be back to Mexico City for Dulce's birthday and, as it's Independence Day on 16/9, DD, BB and I are spending 2 nights, my treat, in Gran Melia Hotel on Reforma. There are 2 main Avenues in D.F.which intersect the city: Insurgentes and Reforma. We'll be close to the Zocalo where, on 15th September, from a balcony in Palacio Nacional, the President delivers 'el grito' - Hidalgo's call to arms 201 years ago made from the steps of a church in Dolores Hidalgo in Guanajuato state.
I leave Mexico for home on the 18th and hope to be back in " the oul' sod" on the 19th, all being well, via Amsterdam and Dublin.
However - more posts and pics to come - 3 more weeks left - and 3 more hotels. How I love hotels!
Watch this space.....x
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Change of plan.
As you know I had intended to travel to Veracruz at the beginning of next week. However, there was some more trouble in Boca del Rio last weekend. It would seem that Marines were in pursuit of some gunmen, one of whom threw a grenade outside the Aquarium which killed one person and injured 3 others, including 2 children. There have been violent incidents in Veracruz City/Boca del Rio over the past months which are being blamed on the war between the Los Zetos, Gulf and La Familia Michoacana drug Cartels. Whilst my hotel was right in the centre, on the Zocalo, and I probably would have been safe enough, David advised me to change my booking. I'm now going to travel with Betty and him in the car next Friday night instead and back with them on Sunday night after the Triathlon.
Betty and I had a lovely lunch yesterday at Frank and Ania's new house in Cosco with some very interesting people. There were 8 of us adults and a 4 year old very lively boy. At least 4 languages were being spoken: Polish (Ania and Martha) Spanish (everyone) English (for sure)and possibly Italian - the older gentleman, an anthropologist still lecturing at the age of 85, was born in Florence. His wife was American but they spoke together in Spanish. Their son spoke Spanish and English, his wife is Polish and they were talking to the little boy in 3 languages at the same time (but not the usual bi-lingual thing of each parent speaking in their own native tongue to the child). I get the feeling it was a tad confusing for him - he wasn't as talkative as you would have expected a child of that age to be.
Anyway, Ania had cooked everything from scratch. We had the most delicious hummous and flatbread along with a dry yoghurt dip with sun dried tomatoes and olive oil.
Main course was chicken curry with rice cooked with raisins, a clove and cardoman.
Fab food with good conversation and quite acceptable mexican red wine.
And all of this half-way up another mountain with the most perfect view of El Pico. Frank's hobby is building houses and experimenting with solar power and other engineering type things - he's a fascinating man.
So - I've got the trusty Lonely Planet Guide to Mexico out again checking where else the buses from Cordoba go ...........
Betty and I had a lovely lunch yesterday at Frank and Ania's new house in Cosco with some very interesting people. There were 8 of us adults and a 4 year old very lively boy. At least 4 languages were being spoken: Polish (Ania and Martha) Spanish (everyone) English (for sure)and possibly Italian - the older gentleman, an anthropologist still lecturing at the age of 85, was born in Florence. His wife was American but they spoke together in Spanish. Their son spoke Spanish and English, his wife is Polish and they were talking to the little boy in 3 languages at the same time (but not the usual bi-lingual thing of each parent speaking in their own native tongue to the child). I get the feeling it was a tad confusing for him - he wasn't as talkative as you would have expected a child of that age to be.
Anyway, Ania had cooked everything from scratch. We had the most delicious hummous and flatbread along with a dry yoghurt dip with sun dried tomatoes and olive oil.
Main course was chicken curry with rice cooked with raisins, a clove and cardoman.
Fab food with good conversation and quite acceptable mexican red wine.
And all of this half-way up another mountain with the most perfect view of El Pico. Frank's hobby is building houses and experimenting with solar power and other engineering type things - he's a fascinating man.
So - I've got the trusty Lonely Planet Guide to Mexico out again checking where else the buses from Cordoba go ...........
Sunday, 14 August 2011
All cultured out...
I loved Queretaro - not many tours but fabulous historic buildings, exquisitely decorated churches, great shops and craft markets and a safe, clean and friendly environment with a lovely climate and NO MOSQUITOES and NO SISMOS.
Said goodbye on Friday and travelled by bus to Puebla - founded by Spanish settlers in 1531 as Ciudad de los Angeles.
I stayed at Hotel Provincia Express, five minutes from the Zocalo, which is a chain, but this one housed in a remarkable building, for mx$400 (£20) a night, incl. breakfast. My room was like a nun's cell with the most amazingly decorated vaulted ceiling. The receptionist told me this morning that the house was bought by an Arab 300 years ago and it was he who decorated all of the rooms; and they have subsequently been subdivided when it became a hotel. All of the corridors, stairs, ceilings - everything - were decorated with tiles or painted patterns.
Where Queretaro had its amazing craftsmanship mainly on the inside of the buldings, Puebla has its on the outside: talavera de Puebla - glazed tiles.
After being there for only an hour I was taking a city tour on a Tranvia Tram and had another one booked for Saturday morning to Cholula, home to the widest pyramid ever built: Piramide Tepanapapa. It's also on the other side of Popocatepetl & Iztaccihuatl (D.F.'s 2 volcanoes) plus an extra one: La Malinche, named for the very smart indigenous woman who was interpreter (and most probably more) to Hernan Cortes. The last 2 are dormant but el Popo is very much still active. If it blows 30 million people will be in jeopardy.
We visited Sanctuario de Nuestra Senora de los Remedios - a classic symbol of the Spanish building churches on the top of Aztec, or pagan, sites as a msrk of conquest.
But the one place which really touched me was Santa Maria Tonantzintla - the most beautiful church built by Franciscan monks in the churrigueresque style. Thousands of caras and caritas (faces)on the inside walls and ceilings supposed to represent all of the peoples of Puebla It has no crosses inside it, only outside, because (I think - the tour was in Spanish only) the indigenous people were afraid of that symbolism. While we were there some young people were being confirmed and, at 12 noon, the bells pealed 'Ave Maria' in its entirety - a totally memorable few minutes for me.
Puebla city, while historic, lacked the empathy of other cities I've visited. Maybe I'm overloaded. But, on the Friday night, in el centro, I started to notice armed police (nothing unusual in that) but with paddy wagons and riot shields stacked on riot helmets (like millefeuille supported by raspberries) and I thought - hold on: what's happening here? My taxi driver this morning said maybe it was a precaution. But against what I wonder. Anyway - nothing seemed to have happened. A football derby somewhere perhaps?
The most positive thing about my three days in Puebla was thst I was totally immersed in Spanish: talking, listening, understanding more and more: cos not a single person that I met spoke english.
I'm back in Cordoba now. Travelled back 2 hrs 45 mins (200+ km?) this afternoon first class: mx$180 - £9. Buses here are remarkably cheap, but sophisticated. In the top echalon you have First Class, Deluxe, GL and Platinum. The best ones are like business class - reclining seats, foot stools, individual video/music thingies, free snack and drink, toilets etc. And most non stop, or maybe one stop, to your destination.
Will post more photos tomorrow.
Thanks for keeping reading my ramblings xxx
Said goodbye on Friday and travelled by bus to Puebla - founded by Spanish settlers in 1531 as Ciudad de los Angeles.
I stayed at Hotel Provincia Express, five minutes from the Zocalo, which is a chain, but this one housed in a remarkable building, for mx$400 (£20) a night, incl. breakfast. My room was like a nun's cell with the most amazingly decorated vaulted ceiling. The receptionist told me this morning that the house was bought by an Arab 300 years ago and it was he who decorated all of the rooms; and they have subsequently been subdivided when it became a hotel. All of the corridors, stairs, ceilings - everything - were decorated with tiles or painted patterns.
Where Queretaro had its amazing craftsmanship mainly on the inside of the buldings, Puebla has its on the outside: talavera de Puebla - glazed tiles.
After being there for only an hour I was taking a city tour on a Tranvia Tram and had another one booked for Saturday morning to Cholula, home to the widest pyramid ever built: Piramide Tepanapapa. It's also on the other side of Popocatepetl & Iztaccihuatl (D.F.'s 2 volcanoes) plus an extra one: La Malinche, named for the very smart indigenous woman who was interpreter (and most probably more) to Hernan Cortes. The last 2 are dormant but el Popo is very much still active. If it blows 30 million people will be in jeopardy.
We visited Sanctuario de Nuestra Senora de los Remedios - a classic symbol of the Spanish building churches on the top of Aztec, or pagan, sites as a msrk of conquest.
But the one place which really touched me was Santa Maria Tonantzintla - the most beautiful church built by Franciscan monks in the churrigueresque style. Thousands of caras and caritas (faces)on the inside walls and ceilings supposed to represent all of the peoples of Puebla It has no crosses inside it, only outside, because (I think - the tour was in Spanish only) the indigenous people were afraid of that symbolism. While we were there some young people were being confirmed and, at 12 noon, the bells pealed 'Ave Maria' in its entirety - a totally memorable few minutes for me.
Puebla city, while historic, lacked the empathy of other cities I've visited. Maybe I'm overloaded. But, on the Friday night, in el centro, I started to notice armed police (nothing unusual in that) but with paddy wagons and riot shields stacked on riot helmets (like millefeuille supported by raspberries) and I thought - hold on: what's happening here? My taxi driver this morning said maybe it was a precaution. But against what I wonder. Anyway - nothing seemed to have happened. A football derby somewhere perhaps?
The most positive thing about my three days in Puebla was thst I was totally immersed in Spanish: talking, listening, understanding more and more: cos not a single person that I met spoke english.
I'm back in Cordoba now. Travelled back 2 hrs 45 mins (200+ km?) this afternoon first class: mx$180 - £9. Buses here are remarkably cheap, but sophisticated. In the top echalon you have First Class, Deluxe, GL and Platinum. The best ones are like business class - reclining seats, foot stools, individual video/music thingies, free snack and drink, toilets etc. And most non stop, or maybe one stop, to your destination.
Will post more photos tomorrow.
Thanks for keeping reading my ramblings xxx
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Good news and bad news
Hi again.
The good news is that there are tour companies in Queretaro but the bad news is that they all need a minumum of 4 people to enable a tour to go ahead and none of them seem to be at all pro-active in making this happen! I left my telephone number with 2 of them and am still waiting! Usually in tourist cities there are boards everywhere advertising tours of the surrounding countryside. Here there aren't so I'm wondering do a large proportion of the tourists here bring their own cars with them? Very few Europeans - or Americans for that matter. So: no visit to Freixenet and the cheese artisans this trip. Next time I'm bringing three friends with me. Any volunteers?
However, plenty to do and see in the city and all within easy walking distance. Tomorrow I'm going to count the number of churches - must be dozens. So have enjoyed it immensely. I love the terrace here outside my room - I'm quite happy sitting there under a parasol in the late afternoon watching the world go by. At the minute sitting at my desk I've got a front row seat to a 'son et lumiere' show. Spectacular thunder and forked lighting.
Leave here on Friday and travel to Puebla for the weekend. Next post from there I hope.
x
The good news is that there are tour companies in Queretaro but the bad news is that they all need a minumum of 4 people to enable a tour to go ahead and none of them seem to be at all pro-active in making this happen! I left my telephone number with 2 of them and am still waiting! Usually in tourist cities there are boards everywhere advertising tours of the surrounding countryside. Here there aren't so I'm wondering do a large proportion of the tourists here bring their own cars with them? Very few Europeans - or Americans for that matter. So: no visit to Freixenet and the cheese artisans this trip. Next time I'm bringing three friends with me. Any volunteers?
However, plenty to do and see in the city and all within easy walking distance. Tomorrow I'm going to count the number of churches - must be dozens. So have enjoyed it immensely. I love the terrace here outside my room - I'm quite happy sitting there under a parasol in the late afternoon watching the world go by. At the minute sitting at my desk I've got a front row seat to a 'son et lumiere' show. Spectacular thunder and forked lighting.
Leave here on Friday and travel to Puebla for the weekend. Next post from there I hope.
x
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Santiago de Queretaro
Internet connection established, thanks to Leonardo the housekeeper's 11 year old son yesterday when I arrived, here I am in a centrally located guest house owned by a Canadian lady. I'm on the top floor looking out from my desk onto a pretty terrace with views over the city.
The history of the city dates back to the 15th century (according to my trusty Lonely Planet Guide to Mexico) when a settlement was founded by the Otomi. "That was soon absorbed by the Aztecs and then by the Spaniards in 1531. Franciscan monks used it as a missionary base not only to Mexico but also to what is now southwestern USA."
It also played a major part in the Independencia movement 200 years ago. So - plenty to see and visit. Beautiful pedestrian areas with lovely old buildings and shady plazas lined with restaurants.
Have included, this time, some photos of food (N.B. Rocky!) taken at a restaurant three of us ate in last night.
Went with Shelley to the market this morning and this afternoon returned to a cultural space I found yesterday with loads of stalls and an artists' centre. Sat and watched local people dancing to different traditional Queretano bands. The music is wonderful (some I recognised from the soundtrack of the movie 'Frida') and there were people of all ages dancing, some in traditional dress.
The state of Queretaro is primarily known for agriculture, ranching and, of course, opals. Less well known is that it is an important cheese making and wine producing region.
The Spaniards brought wine over in the early 16th century and Carlos 1 sent vine shoots and olives over in every ship going to the 'new territories'. However in 1595 his son, Carlos 11, prohibited Mexican wine production and the industry collapsed. It was revived in the 19th century and today there are three Queretaro wine companies: La Redonda, founded in 1972, Freixenet (who would have thought?) in 1979 and Los Azteca which began to plant in 2006.
I'm going to see if I can find a tour going to one of them and will report back later on in the week.
x
The history of the city dates back to the 15th century (according to my trusty Lonely Planet Guide to Mexico) when a settlement was founded by the Otomi. "That was soon absorbed by the Aztecs and then by the Spaniards in 1531. Franciscan monks used it as a missionary base not only to Mexico but also to what is now southwestern USA."
It also played a major part in the Independencia movement 200 years ago. So - plenty to see and visit. Beautiful pedestrian areas with lovely old buildings and shady plazas lined with restaurants.
Have included, this time, some photos of food (N.B. Rocky!) taken at a restaurant three of us ate in last night.
Went with Shelley to the market this morning and this afternoon returned to a cultural space I found yesterday with loads of stalls and an artists' centre. Sat and watched local people dancing to different traditional Queretano bands. The music is wonderful (some I recognised from the soundtrack of the movie 'Frida') and there were people of all ages dancing, some in traditional dress.
The state of Queretaro is primarily known for agriculture, ranching and, of course, opals. Less well known is that it is an important cheese making and wine producing region.
The Spaniards brought wine over in the early 16th century and Carlos 1 sent vine shoots and olives over in every ship going to the 'new territories'. However in 1595 his son, Carlos 11, prohibited Mexican wine production and the industry collapsed. It was revived in the 19th century and today there are three Queretaro wine companies: La Redonda, founded in 1972, Freixenet (who would have thought?) in 1979 and Los Azteca which began to plant in 2006.
I'm going to see if I can find a tour going to one of them and will report back later on in the week.
x
Friday, 5 August 2011
Shopping, shopping, all shopped out.
Taxco was gorgeous and Hotel Mi Casita really beautiful. All you girlies out there would have loved both. Wall to wall silver shops and arcades with really narrow steep cobbled streets and old, old buildings. It was founded in the 16 century just after the conquest when the Spaniards were looking for tin. Of course they found silver instead....
Mi Casita overlooks the Csthedral and has 12 individually furnished rooms, all with wonderful tiled bathrooms.
Bought two silver rings - one with a whole fire opal set into it, still in its geode, and the other with amber from Chiapas. Thank you DEM for my birthday presents:)
Off to Queretaro in the morning - hope there's an internet connection where I'm staying. x
Mi Casita overlooks the Csthedral and has 12 individually furnished rooms, all with wonderful tiled bathrooms.
Bought two silver rings - one with a whole fire opal set into it, still in its geode, and the other with amber from Chiapas. Thank you DEM for my birthday presents:)
Off to Queretaro in the morning - hope there's an internet connection where I'm staying. x
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Can anyone remember the movie 'Signs'?
Went to Frank and Ania's cabin on Saturday. 1,800 metres up in the mountains near El Pico. Just as well DD has a Jeep: you never in your life saw such a road up to it! A pretty rough existence for the people living along it. Nothing for miles. They all seem to have their livestock,donkeys, cows, pigs, goats, sheep and all sorts of fowl, and a bit of land so I assume they must be quite self sufficient.
We had a good old time collecting firewood (reminded me of Castle Archdale) then walked down through Frank's pine forest to the river (and back up again - it was soooo steep). It was just like home: complete with a little drizzle. The only thing was...... it was only 10 metres from a stand of maize. Every time the wind rustled the corn I headed indoors. And unfortunately we couldn't find any tin foil to put on our heads! If the dogs hadn't been with us I would'nt have slept a wink.
I'm now in Mexico City (D.F.) with Betty. Visited UNAM today:- Universidad Nacional Automona de Mexico - it has the largest enrolment of any university in the Americas and is a World Heritage site. It was built in the 1950s and must have been super modern at the time. Fabulous murals by the best 20th century Mexican muralists: Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Sigueiros and, my special favourite. Juan O'Gorman. Saw one of his murals in Chapultepec Castle the first time I was here: an obvious Irish connection somewhere along the line.
We're going to Taxco tomorrow to, hopefully, do some jewellery shopping. We're staying overnight and coming back to D.F. on Thursday. On Saturday BB goes back to Cordoba and I'm travelling up to Santiago de Queretaro, another World Heritage Site, by myself for nearly a week. Queretaro state is where the wonderful Mexican fire opals are mined. Looking forward to it - will keep you all posted. x
We had a good old time collecting firewood (reminded me of Castle Archdale) then walked down through Frank's pine forest to the river (and back up again - it was soooo steep). It was just like home: complete with a little drizzle. The only thing was...... it was only 10 metres from a stand of maize. Every time the wind rustled the corn I headed indoors. And unfortunately we couldn't find any tin foil to put on our heads! If the dogs hadn't been with us I would'nt have slept a wink.
I'm now in Mexico City (D.F.) with Betty. Visited UNAM today:- Universidad Nacional Automona de Mexico - it has the largest enrolment of any university in the Americas and is a World Heritage site. It was built in the 1950s and must have been super modern at the time. Fabulous murals by the best 20th century Mexican muralists: Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Sigueiros and, my special favourite. Juan O'Gorman. Saw one of his murals in Chapultepec Castle the first time I was here: an obvious Irish connection somewhere along the line.
We're going to Taxco tomorrow to, hopefully, do some jewellery shopping. We're staying overnight and coming back to D.F. on Thursday. On Saturday BB goes back to Cordoba and I'm travelling up to Santiago de Queretaro, another World Heritage Site, by myself for nearly a week. Queretaro state is where the wonderful Mexican fire opals are mined. Looking forward to it - will keep you all posted. x
Friday, 29 July 2011
El cuento de las dos serpientes!
The tale of the two snakes! Well:- on Sunday just after I had done my last post we were sitting in the study talking when David said to me 'get the dogs out of the room!' I thought there was a spider or a cockroach or something but it was a snake - half in and half out of the garden door. Lucy (the maid)was summoned as an authoirty on such occurrences and she promptly said: 'kill it!' Of course DD couldn't so he persuaded it to go outside with the aid of Lucy's window cleaning tool. It was about a meter long and black with green markings on its scales - it might have been a Mexican King Snake - that was the closest I could find on the internet.
Anyway:- they've never had a snake in the house before, to their knowledge, so it was even more of a shock on Monday, as Betty was lying in their bedroom talking on the fone to her Mum, when David encountered another snake in the downstairs hallway which promptly disappeared into said bedroom. Betty had said to me earlier on in the afternoon that she thought she had seen a snake in there but, when she and I went (very carefully) to check, there were a lot of cables and things and she thought she was mistaken.
So dogs were again banished to the back yard, the window cleaning thingy was located and DD managed to trap this snake (not the same one - this one was much smaller and a different colour) in one of his furniture cubes on the top of which he put a mat. He tried, unsuccessfully, to contact the gardener for advice and then attempted to encourage the snake to go into a pillowcase (a la Steve Irwin RIP). Snakey wasn't having any of it and got extremely agressive and actually jumped out of the cube at one stage and curled itself around the handle of the tool. So, poor David had no option but to dispatch it - with some difficulty. Not nice.
The gardener came the next day and checked outside for more but found nothing. There's a river below the garden down a steep slope and he thinks they came from there. It's rainy season and there are quite spectacular thunderstorms most afternoons/evenings (think Roffy).
Needless to say now my bed's comprehensively checked before I get into it at night!
What else. We went out for dinner on Wednesday night to a very good tapas bar and were invited to the opening of the guy's new restaurant - 'La Canita' - last night. It was great! Free wine and tapas from 8pm to after 11pm. The owner lived in Madrid for some years so the tapas are authentically spanish.
Earlier in the day we had Frank, an american friend of DD and Betty's in whose garden bungalow they lived when they first came to Cordoba, for lunch and then DD and I went to the weekly poker game in Frank's house before the restaurant opening. Good fun - the stakes are very low and the dealer chooses what type of poker to play that hand.
We're taking the dogs tomorrow to Frank and Anya's cabin in the mountains near Cosco and will stay the night - looking forward to it.
More on that later......x
Anyway:- they've never had a snake in the house before, to their knowledge, so it was even more of a shock on Monday, as Betty was lying in their bedroom talking on the fone to her Mum, when David encountered another snake in the downstairs hallway which promptly disappeared into said bedroom. Betty had said to me earlier on in the afternoon that she thought she had seen a snake in there but, when she and I went (very carefully) to check, there were a lot of cables and things and she thought she was mistaken.
So dogs were again banished to the back yard, the window cleaning thingy was located and DD managed to trap this snake (not the same one - this one was much smaller and a different colour) in one of his furniture cubes on the top of which he put a mat. He tried, unsuccessfully, to contact the gardener for advice and then attempted to encourage the snake to go into a pillowcase (a la Steve Irwin RIP). Snakey wasn't having any of it and got extremely agressive and actually jumped out of the cube at one stage and curled itself around the handle of the tool. So, poor David had no option but to dispatch it - with some difficulty. Not nice.
The gardener came the next day and checked outside for more but found nothing. There's a river below the garden down a steep slope and he thinks they came from there. It's rainy season and there are quite spectacular thunderstorms most afternoons/evenings (think Roffy).
Needless to say now my bed's comprehensively checked before I get into it at night!
What else. We went out for dinner on Wednesday night to a very good tapas bar and were invited to the opening of the guy's new restaurant - 'La Canita' - last night. It was great! Free wine and tapas from 8pm to after 11pm. The owner lived in Madrid for some years so the tapas are authentically spanish.
Earlier in the day we had Frank, an american friend of DD and Betty's in whose garden bungalow they lived when they first came to Cordoba, for lunch and then DD and I went to the weekly poker game in Frank's house before the restaurant opening. Good fun - the stakes are very low and the dealer chooses what type of poker to play that hand.
We're taking the dogs tomorrow to Frank and Anya's cabin in the mountains near Cosco and will stay the night - looking forward to it.
More on that later......x
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Sunday 24th July (I think)
DD and I spent yesterday and last night in Coscomatepec, which is 24 km north of Cordoba, at the hotel of a business colleague of his. Grand View Rancho Santa Barbara is situated in the foothills of Citlatepetl,(Star Mountain) in the Nahuatl language, with a 360 degree view of the town and surrounding mountains. At 5611 metres high it's the highest mountain/volcano in Mexico {according to Lonely Planet as are rest of descriptions} and the 3rd highest in North America: only Mt McKinley in Alaska and Mt Logan in Canada are higher. It's commonly known as 'El Pico' de Orizaba and can be seen from miles around. DD has a great view of it from el Tec.
The town itself is very pretty: steep cobbled streets, pink church, Zocalo and just a nice feel about it. It's famous for its bread: baked in wood ovens using oak; saddle making and hand rolled cigars: Winston Churchill and de Gaulle are said to have been clients. The main crops seem to be Sugar Cane, Maize and Chayotes - small green squashes which are grown over stakes: much like vines on the terraces of houses and restaurants in Europe. You can see them in my pics.
There were also lots and lots of donkeys, cows, sheep, goats, pigs and fowl everywhere. I haven't seen much livestock in the fields I assume because of the climate being so hot, but in the mountains the pastures go really high up, like in Switzerland, and it's much cooler than farther down so, in Cosco, every house we passed had its quota of piglets, turkeys etc running about - it was lovely.
Here in Cordoba I'm keeping busy - 2/3 hours of study in the mornings (weekdays only!), then a walk somewhere and I'm doing a bit of cooking and helping with the washing etc.
So far I've made a few soups (Mexicans don't half eat a lot of soup! At least once a day), Chili Oil, Lemon and Cinnamon Oil and a new red and white tablecloth. You could spend days in the fabric shops - and there are so many of them.
Talking about food: DD and I ate in a restaurant in Cosco yesterday afternoon. He had beef and I pork (a plate full), garnished with Picaditas: small fried tortillas, one with green sauce and one with red,a few fried potatoes and spring onions, platanos machos (fried banana)and salad. You always also get a dish of pickled vegetables {to soak up the cholesterol!}, tortilla chips and sauces while you're waiting. We had 2 Beers each (me Corona and DD Negro Modela) and the bill came to mx$212 - about £10. That would be dear side for here. Comida Corrida at lunchtime in restaurants and comedors is prob. from mx$35 (£1.80) to mx$70 ($3.50) for soup, tortillas, meat, rice, a simple pudding and a jug of Agua de fruta: water made with fruit puree: pineapple, orange, or mango etc.
Will upload a few more photos now - hasta luego x
The town itself is very pretty: steep cobbled streets, pink church, Zocalo and just a nice feel about it. It's famous for its bread: baked in wood ovens using oak; saddle making and hand rolled cigars: Winston Churchill and de Gaulle are said to have been clients. The main crops seem to be Sugar Cane, Maize and Chayotes - small green squashes which are grown over stakes: much like vines on the terraces of houses and restaurants in Europe. You can see them in my pics.
There were also lots and lots of donkeys, cows, sheep, goats, pigs and fowl everywhere. I haven't seen much livestock in the fields I assume because of the climate being so hot, but in the mountains the pastures go really high up, like in Switzerland, and it's much cooler than farther down so, in Cosco, every house we passed had its quota of piglets, turkeys etc running about - it was lovely.
Here in Cordoba I'm keeping busy - 2/3 hours of study in the mornings (weekdays only!), then a walk somewhere and I'm doing a bit of cooking and helping with the washing etc.
So far I've made a few soups (Mexicans don't half eat a lot of soup! At least once a day), Chili Oil, Lemon and Cinnamon Oil and a new red and white tablecloth. You could spend days in the fabric shops - and there are so many of them.
Talking about food: DD and I ate in a restaurant in Cosco yesterday afternoon. He had beef and I pork (a plate full), garnished with Picaditas: small fried tortillas, one with green sauce and one with red,a few fried potatoes and spring onions, platanos machos (fried banana)and salad. You always also get a dish of pickled vegetables {to soak up the cholesterol!}, tortilla chips and sauces while you're waiting. We had 2 Beers each (me Corona and DD Negro Modela) and the bill came to mx$212 - about £10. That would be dear side for here. Comida Corrida at lunchtime in restaurants and comedors is prob. from mx$35 (£1.80) to mx$70 ($3.50) for soup, tortillas, meat, rice, a simple pudding and a jug of Agua de fruta: water made with fruit puree: pineapple, orange, or mango etc.
Will upload a few more photos now - hasta luego x
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
One month gone already
As I write this it is almost exactly the time, one month ago, when I got out of bed ready to start my adventure.
And what an adventure driving back from Huatulco yesterday was. First of all: the rain damage. Boulders the size of cars lying beside the roads and, in one case, on the road being pushed over the edge by a digger. We were glad we hadn't been trying to get through an hour earlier. The highways have been cut through hillsides leaving quite sheer soil and boulder slopes on on side or the other. Cars coming towards you will flash their lights, or have their hazard warnings on, and you know there is something up ahead. Maybe a boulder or two, maybe a soil slip across the road, a shrub or a small tree or maybe the side of the road has disappeared! We came across one bridge which had collapsed but was shored up enough to let a single file of traffic through. All of the storm drains and rivers and streams were in full spate and a lot of standing water and new lakes on the lower ground.
We made it to the outskirts of Salina Cruz - a refinery city - where there is a brand new toll road we needed to take. But it was closed: a major bridge down. We got back onto the main highway only to be re-directed about a mile further on because there was a crowd of people blocking the road. No point enquiring why - some sort of 'manifestation' as I think it's called here. We drove on ever deteriorating roads right into the refinery port and then into a 'barrio' (like a poor neighbourhood). The alleys were aflood with water and ruts and every time we came to an intersection we had to ask which way. It was pretty hairy and we were very relieved when we rejoined the main highway again.
So - a fair bit of high speed driving - lots of 'topes': speed reducers; and potholes to negotiate. Only got stopped by the Police once - for overtaking a bus on a tope - but luckily (apparently) it was the Federal Police and not the Municipal (or was it State?): who allegedly might have been looking for a fine or two. So, nine hours later, we arrived in Cordoba. Betty and DD had driven from the Pacific Coast to the Gulf of Mexico at the narrowest part of the Americas.
And it was as well we left because Hurrican Dora is effecting the southern Pacific coast just about where we were all the way up to Acapulco and heading north.
Cordoba on the other hand today was 31c and sunny :)
DD and B went back to work this morning. I spent 2 hours+ studying on the patio this morning and then walked into the centre to check out what was new since last time. Forgot to take my camera so will do that tomorrow. Am posting some photos of the house and one dog - the other wouldn't pose - now: mas manana x
And what an adventure driving back from Huatulco yesterday was. First of all: the rain damage. Boulders the size of cars lying beside the roads and, in one case, on the road being pushed over the edge by a digger. We were glad we hadn't been trying to get through an hour earlier. The highways have been cut through hillsides leaving quite sheer soil and boulder slopes on on side or the other. Cars coming towards you will flash their lights, or have their hazard warnings on, and you know there is something up ahead. Maybe a boulder or two, maybe a soil slip across the road, a shrub or a small tree or maybe the side of the road has disappeared! We came across one bridge which had collapsed but was shored up enough to let a single file of traffic through. All of the storm drains and rivers and streams were in full spate and a lot of standing water and new lakes on the lower ground.
We made it to the outskirts of Salina Cruz - a refinery city - where there is a brand new toll road we needed to take. But it was closed: a major bridge down. We got back onto the main highway only to be re-directed about a mile further on because there was a crowd of people blocking the road. No point enquiring why - some sort of 'manifestation' as I think it's called here. We drove on ever deteriorating roads right into the refinery port and then into a 'barrio' (like a poor neighbourhood). The alleys were aflood with water and ruts and every time we came to an intersection we had to ask which way. It was pretty hairy and we were very relieved when we rejoined the main highway again.
So - a fair bit of high speed driving - lots of 'topes': speed reducers; and potholes to negotiate. Only got stopped by the Police once - for overtaking a bus on a tope - but luckily (apparently) it was the Federal Police and not the Municipal (or was it State?): who allegedly might have been looking for a fine or two. So, nine hours later, we arrived in Cordoba. Betty and DD had driven from the Pacific Coast to the Gulf of Mexico at the narrowest part of the Americas.
And it was as well we left because Hurrican Dora is effecting the southern Pacific coast just about where we were all the way up to Acapulco and heading north.
Cordoba on the other hand today was 31c and sunny :)
DD and B went back to work this morning. I spent 2 hours+ studying on the patio this morning and then walked into the centre to check out what was new since last time. Forgot to take my camera so will do that tomorrow. Am posting some photos of the house and one dog - the other wouldn't pose - now: mas manana x
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Sunday - Huatulco
Hi all. It's been a very lazy week here. Found a library downstairs so both David and I have been reading proper books with paper pages intead of our e-readers. Betty arrived on the bus Friday morning to join us. It rained pretty much solidly from Friday afternoon through to this morning. Think torrential rain: floods: villages being evacuated higher up in the Sierra Madre. I have never seen the like of it - and the noise. However today has been gorgeous and we remembered why we had driven so far to come to the Pacific. There are 7 beaches and bays which make up Las Bahias de Huatulco. We are on Playa Chahue so, this afternoon, we visited 3 more: Playa de Maguey, Entraga y Santa Cruz. All of them were as I had envisaged the Pacific beaches to be: palapas (thatched shelters) on jungle fringed, white sanded bays with turquoise sea and lots of exotic birds: pelicans, frigate birds, the ever present zopilotes (black vultures). What I hadn't reckoned on was the number of people on them! People helping you park your car, choose your restaurant, hire a lounger and then the tourists! Mexican mainly cos the schools have just got out. We spent a maximum of 10 minutes on each and then hurried back to Chahue: no palapas, no touts, just white sand, surf, little interesting shells and 2 minutes walk from the condo. Think I'm too used to our beautiful beaches in Ireland - if there are 3 people on them it's 2 too many!
Monday, 11 July 2011
Casa Bella, Sueno del Mar, Bahia Chahue, Huatulco
Buenos noches from the Pacific! It's 10.30pm and 27c. I feel as though I'm really on my hols.
We left Oaxaca at 8.45am and got here at 2.45pm. The road was very good apart from when we were crossing the Sierra Madre Occidental - bit curvy then with sheer precipices at the side of the road and wonderful cactus forests every so often. Lots of animals - black pigs, oxen, cattle, goats, mules, burritos, horses. An iguana crossing the road at one stage, lizards, loads of Zopilotes (black vultures), hundreds of beautiful butterflies. It was a lovely journey.
The Condo is just as we expected. On the 3rd floor of a pirvate development. 2 huge ensuite bedrooms, open plan kitchen, dining room and living room with a terrace overlooking the swimming pools and ocean.
Haven't made it down onto the beach yet - just unpacked and went to the supermarket to stock up.
Drove into the centre of La Crucecita - maybe a mile away - tonight and couldn't believe the buzz. The Zocalo was packed with people walking and talking. Lined with dozens of restaurants and bars and nice craft shops (leaving those for another day - will have to ration myself). Had some good food - a Tlayuda for DD and Enchilladas with chicken and mole negro for me. Of course, every meal seems to come with tortilla chips (as in fried pieces of tortilla)with salsa and green and red sauces. And, of course, a few beers. We then found an open air restaurant/bar on the first floor of an adjacent building with live music and sat up there for a while. I had the most scrummy thing I have had in ages - a Moka Frappucino topped with cream, chocolate sprinkles and a maraschino cherry! A zillion calories I would guess but so delicious. I'm going there every night to work my way through all the flavours.
Well - off to bed. Passed a transparent gecko on the way up the stairs and a scorpion in the carpark. There is a chorus of frogs outside the window (without Paul McCartney)so might need the earplugs.
Will take loads of photos tomorrow.
xx
We left Oaxaca at 8.45am and got here at 2.45pm. The road was very good apart from when we were crossing the Sierra Madre Occidental - bit curvy then with sheer precipices at the side of the road and wonderful cactus forests every so often. Lots of animals - black pigs, oxen, cattle, goats, mules, burritos, horses. An iguana crossing the road at one stage, lizards, loads of Zopilotes (black vultures), hundreds of beautiful butterflies. It was a lovely journey.
The Condo is just as we expected. On the 3rd floor of a pirvate development. 2 huge ensuite bedrooms, open plan kitchen, dining room and living room with a terrace overlooking the swimming pools and ocean.
Haven't made it down onto the beach yet - just unpacked and went to the supermarket to stock up.
Drove into the centre of La Crucecita - maybe a mile away - tonight and couldn't believe the buzz. The Zocalo was packed with people walking and talking. Lined with dozens of restaurants and bars and nice craft shops (leaving those for another day - will have to ration myself). Had some good food - a Tlayuda for DD and Enchilladas with chicken and mole negro for me. Of course, every meal seems to come with tortilla chips (as in fried pieces of tortilla)with salsa and green and red sauces. And, of course, a few beers. We then found an open air restaurant/bar on the first floor of an adjacent building with live music and sat up there for a while. I had the most scrummy thing I have had in ages - a Moka Frappucino topped with cream, chocolate sprinkles and a maraschino cherry! A zillion calories I would guess but so delicious. I'm going there every night to work my way through all the flavours.
Well - off to bed. Passed a transparent gecko on the way up the stairs and a scorpion in the carpark. There is a chorus of frogs outside the window (without Paul McCartney)so might need the earplugs.
Will take loads of photos tomorrow.
xx
Sunday, 10 July 2011
Mexico has just won the Under 17 World Cup - much jubilation
They do like their football here. Much craic in the restaurants and bars tonight.
Well- it's Sunday again and my last night (17th) in Oaxaca. Finished weaving on Thursday and school on Friday (paper to prove it)- two weeks was exactly the right amount of time.
Went to a Guelaguetza Show on Friday evening at the 5* Camino Real Hotel which is in an ex convent. It was a lovely evening. First a buffet featuring Oaxacena dishes like Mole Negro (a black thick sauce with chocolate in it served with,usually,chicken), Mole Rojo with little dumplings made from maize flour, Flautas (tortillas rolled around a meat filling and deep fried), Frijoles (black beans) with Chorizo, lovely salads, local cheeses,rice and salsas and puddings to die for - a whole table just for them.
The show lasted for 2 hours and featured 6 or 7 dances by indigenous people from different parts of Oaxaca state which you would see at Guelaguetza which is held the last two Mondays in July. The word is Zapotec for offering and the festival is a combination of pre-christian rites and the celebration of a Saint's Day in the Catholic Church. Dulce and I were going to come back for it but I decided not to. The Show in the hotel was a lot more comfortable I think: and not so long.
I was going to have a lie in yesterday morning until I felt the bed shake - earthquake - followed by sirens and loudspeaker shouting I know not what! Threw on my jogging suit over my pyjamas, grabbed passport, money, bag and out the door. Then I saw la Senora calmly in the process of making breakfast in the courtyard so I sneaked sheepishly back into my studio. It was a 4.3 quake about half way between Oaxaca and Huatulco. This is an earthquake zone so the locals are well used to them. Not a great way to start a Saturday morning.
DD arrived early yesterday afternoon so we have had a lovely time catching up. We're leaving for Huatulco in the morning so: next time: photos I hope of a blue Pacific Ocean bathed in sunlight. Fingers crossed. x
Well- it's Sunday again and my last night (17th) in Oaxaca. Finished weaving on Thursday and school on Friday (paper to prove it)- two weeks was exactly the right amount of time.
Went to a Guelaguetza Show on Friday evening at the 5* Camino Real Hotel which is in an ex convent. It was a lovely evening. First a buffet featuring Oaxacena dishes like Mole Negro (a black thick sauce with chocolate in it served with,usually,chicken), Mole Rojo with little dumplings made from maize flour, Flautas (tortillas rolled around a meat filling and deep fried), Frijoles (black beans) with Chorizo, lovely salads, local cheeses,rice and salsas and puddings to die for - a whole table just for them.
The show lasted for 2 hours and featured 6 or 7 dances by indigenous people from different parts of Oaxaca state which you would see at Guelaguetza which is held the last two Mondays in July. The word is Zapotec for offering and the festival is a combination of pre-christian rites and the celebration of a Saint's Day in the Catholic Church. Dulce and I were going to come back for it but I decided not to. The Show in the hotel was a lot more comfortable I think: and not so long.
I was going to have a lie in yesterday morning until I felt the bed shake - earthquake - followed by sirens and loudspeaker shouting I know not what! Threw on my jogging suit over my pyjamas, grabbed passport, money, bag and out the door. Then I saw la Senora calmly in the process of making breakfast in the courtyard so I sneaked sheepishly back into my studio. It was a 4.3 quake about half way between Oaxaca and Huatulco. This is an earthquake zone so the locals are well used to them. Not a great way to start a Saturday morning.
DD arrived early yesterday afternoon so we have had a lovely time catching up. We're leaving for Huatulco in the morning so: next time: photos I hope of a blue Pacific Ocean bathed in sunlight. Fingers crossed. x
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Tejido
Hi. Have just put a few more photos into the album, On Sunday morning I went downtown with some new students who I met at the Institute. We went into what was the Governor's Palace (free entry on a Sunday). Great interactive exhibits. Then for lunch. Monday I had a difficult day in my class - 6 new students - all of whom speak more Spanish than Katie and I (the only 2 left from last week). I was really struggling, especially as Angeles was explaining the Subjunctive tense (which I don't think exists in English)in Spanish. Anyway, cheered up after Dania explained it better to me during Intercambio and even more when I started my weaving class.
Then Kelly and I walked down to the Zocalo at 7pm for a large Michelada with everything. That's a tankard one third full of tomato concasse, chili, salt, lime and ice cubes, rimmed with chili salt, into which you pour your beer (Corona in my case). Comes with a bowl of salted, fresh roasted peanuts and segments of lime. And all for $33 - about £1.75. Hasppy days.
Class was much better today. Much more conversation and getting to know each other - and I realised that I wasn't the only one struggling. Weaving coming on well - very relaxing. I wonder could I make a loom at home?
DD arriving, all being well, on Saturday. Can't wait to see him again:)
Ciao for now x
Then Kelly and I walked down to the Zocalo at 7pm for a large Michelada with everything. That's a tankard one third full of tomato concasse, chili, salt, lime and ice cubes, rimmed with chili salt, into which you pour your beer (Corona in my case). Comes with a bowl of salted, fresh roasted peanuts and segments of lime. And all for $33 - about £1.75. Hasppy days.
Class was much better today. Much more conversation and getting to know each other - and I realised that I wasn't the only one struggling. Weaving coming on well - very relaxing. I wonder could I make a loom at home?
DD arriving, all being well, on Saturday. Can't wait to see him again:)
Ciao for now x
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Lazy Sunday in Oaxaca
Sitting in my studio with a teeny glass of Crema de Maguey, mango flavour. It's mezcal flavoured with fruit and cream - only the tourists buy it - bit like Baileys.
Had a great week by the end of which I was really talking Spanish. Our whole class on Friday was conversation and we chatted - the four of us and our teacher, Angeles, from 9am to pretty much 1pm. It was great! I was so pleased with myself.
My intercambio, Dania, arrived unexpectedly at las Mariposas on Friday afternoon and offered to take me downtown and show me some places. She had seen that there was a wedding at Santo Domingo and thought I might be interested, which of course I was. She took me to La Basilica de la Soledad (the patron saint of Oaxaca) and then to a market. Wasn't the one I thought we were going to. Turned out to be Mercado Central de Abastos - literally on the wrong side of the tracks. We wandered through, me warily, this enormous market - and I mean: enormous. Narrow aisles, loads of people, me with my hand on my purse in my pocket tied to my belt. Everything you could ever need: fruit, bread, vegetables, cheese, meat, shoes, hats, cooking utensils, You name it, it was there, alive or dead: different section for each. The colours and the smells were amazing. Bought some Oaxacan cheese ( like cheese strings?)and found the reboza (shawl) I was looking for. One similar to what the peasant women wear wrapped round their heads underneath the canastas (baskets) they carry on their heads. Or they'll wrap them diagonally around themselves and carry their babies or children in a sling. Pure cotton and hand woven it was 45pesos - about £3. Put them in the pretty portable bag my friend Lynn had given me which I put over my shoulder. We then went off to 'the hat department'.
Turned down an narrow aisle and I saw a man with a handcart coming towards us so I stepped aside to let him past. A tall man then came past from behind us and said 'pase,pase' to Dania who, up until then, had always been walking behind me and sort of ushered her past me. Then, all of a sudden, these 4 or 5 men appeared and started to, very gently, walk round around me, bumping me.I knew one of two things was happening so used my elbows and some anglosaxon expletives to get clear of them. Poor Dania wasn't worth tuppence halfpenny. She kept saying 'my mother will kill me when she finds out I've brought you to a place like this'! She had never ever had any problem there before but then she is Mexican. Anyway, I was fine - had the hand on the purse and no other bag with me except the thin shopper. And then we discovered that they had slashed the shopper with a blade. How lucky was I that they didn't get away with my cheese - or my reboza :s
Anyway - we got out of there pretty smartish and poor Dania kept looking behind her all the way to the centre of town.
On to safer things. Took another tour yesterday to San Bartolo where they make the distinctive barro negro - burnished black pottery. Then on to an alebrije workshop which was fascinating. This, and the weaving, are major Zapotec crafts, using natural dyes from plants, fruits and insects and incorporating the creatures from the zapotec calendar and the symbols which pre date writing eg: for mountains, cycle of life, rivers, etc. The alibrijes range in size from the huge ones carved from a single piece of copal wood and allowed to dry out for at least a year before painting to the tiny ones, no bigger that a 5p piece. They can also have loads of pieces which remove for packing. Think porcupine or cactus plant with flowers, or insects.
Then had a short stop at a market selling articles woven on a back strap loom (tejido)- shopping opportunities galore in this state. All you girlies would love it! And everything's sooooo cheap.
OK - off for a shower and some dinner. Then homework - remember that?
More soon x
Had a great week by the end of which I was really talking Spanish. Our whole class on Friday was conversation and we chatted - the four of us and our teacher, Angeles, from 9am to pretty much 1pm. It was great! I was so pleased with myself.
My intercambio, Dania, arrived unexpectedly at las Mariposas on Friday afternoon and offered to take me downtown and show me some places. She had seen that there was a wedding at Santo Domingo and thought I might be interested, which of course I was. She took me to La Basilica de la Soledad (the patron saint of Oaxaca) and then to a market. Wasn't the one I thought we were going to. Turned out to be Mercado Central de Abastos - literally on the wrong side of the tracks. We wandered through, me warily, this enormous market - and I mean: enormous. Narrow aisles, loads of people, me with my hand on my purse in my pocket tied to my belt. Everything you could ever need: fruit, bread, vegetables, cheese, meat, shoes, hats, cooking utensils, You name it, it was there, alive or dead: different section for each. The colours and the smells were amazing. Bought some Oaxacan cheese ( like cheese strings?)and found the reboza (shawl) I was looking for. One similar to what the peasant women wear wrapped round their heads underneath the canastas (baskets) they carry on their heads. Or they'll wrap them diagonally around themselves and carry their babies or children in a sling. Pure cotton and hand woven it was 45pesos - about £3. Put them in the pretty portable bag my friend Lynn had given me which I put over my shoulder. We then went off to 'the hat department'.
Turned down an narrow aisle and I saw a man with a handcart coming towards us so I stepped aside to let him past. A tall man then came past from behind us and said 'pase,pase' to Dania who, up until then, had always been walking behind me and sort of ushered her past me. Then, all of a sudden, these 4 or 5 men appeared and started to, very gently, walk round around me, bumping me.I knew one of two things was happening so used my elbows and some anglosaxon expletives to get clear of them. Poor Dania wasn't worth tuppence halfpenny. She kept saying 'my mother will kill me when she finds out I've brought you to a place like this'! She had never ever had any problem there before but then she is Mexican. Anyway, I was fine - had the hand on the purse and no other bag with me except the thin shopper. And then we discovered that they had slashed the shopper with a blade. How lucky was I that they didn't get away with my cheese - or my reboza :s
Anyway - we got out of there pretty smartish and poor Dania kept looking behind her all the way to the centre of town.
On to safer things. Took another tour yesterday to San Bartolo where they make the distinctive barro negro - burnished black pottery. Then on to an alebrije workshop which was fascinating. This, and the weaving, are major Zapotec crafts, using natural dyes from plants, fruits and insects and incorporating the creatures from the zapotec calendar and the symbols which pre date writing eg: for mountains, cycle of life, rivers, etc. The alibrijes range in size from the huge ones carved from a single piece of copal wood and allowed to dry out for at least a year before painting to the tiny ones, no bigger that a 5p piece. They can also have loads of pieces which remove for packing. Think porcupine or cactus plant with flowers, or insects.
Then had a short stop at a market selling articles woven on a back strap loom (tejido)- shopping opportunities galore in this state. All you girlies would love it! And everything's sooooo cheap.
OK - off for a shower and some dinner. Then homework - remember that?
More soon x
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Studying at el Instituto
It's Wednesday already and I've been in Mexico for a week. Been at el Instituto since Monday morning.
I have classes 9am until 12 with two 10 min breaks and then we move out onto the patio for an hour's conversation with our Tutor. There are 5 of us students in the class so it's very intimate. I return to las Mariposas - a nice 10 minute walk - at 1pm for something light for lunch. Yoghurt and fruit with honey or a sincronizada (2 small tortillas filled with oaxacan cheese, sliced tomatoes and avocado toasted in a pan).
Return to school at 3pm for an hour's intercambio with a lovely girl called Dania who is from Oaxaca and at the end of a degree in Internationa Affairs (I think) at UAM: the huge University city in DF. We are supposed to speak a half hour in each language but she is so eager to learn to speak english better that I let her do so for 3/4 of the time today. My brain was about to explode anyway 'cos we were doing about 5 tenses all at once today.
From 4 - 6 we have a cookery class with a Zapotec lady called Serena, We made, or rather watched her make, and then we ate: Mole amarillo with beef on Monday, mole rojo, white beans and chicken yesterday and mole negro (with chocolate)and rice and chicken today. And, of course, home made tortillas. As you may have guessed Oaxaca is the home of mole.
Everyone's very friendly. Mostly americans but there are 2 irish in the cookery class. Mark from Dublin and Mary from Tipperary who won the trip at their college. They are on their way to the pacific coast to help with conservation projects. They both had no spanish at all so have stopped off on their way for 2 weeks to get the basics.
So - nothing very exciting to report. By the time I have a walk downtown and then get back here it's nearly 8. I shower and tidy up and start my emails etc. Oh - and my homework of course:)
More later on in the week xx
I have classes 9am until 12 with two 10 min breaks and then we move out onto the patio for an hour's conversation with our Tutor. There are 5 of us students in the class so it's very intimate. I return to las Mariposas - a nice 10 minute walk - at 1pm for something light for lunch. Yoghurt and fruit with honey or a sincronizada (2 small tortillas filled with oaxacan cheese, sliced tomatoes and avocado toasted in a pan).
Return to school at 3pm for an hour's intercambio with a lovely girl called Dania who is from Oaxaca and at the end of a degree in Internationa Affairs (I think) at UAM: the huge University city in DF. We are supposed to speak a half hour in each language but she is so eager to learn to speak english better that I let her do so for 3/4 of the time today. My brain was about to explode anyway 'cos we were doing about 5 tenses all at once today.
From 4 - 6 we have a cookery class with a Zapotec lady called Serena, We made, or rather watched her make, and then we ate: Mole amarillo with beef on Monday, mole rojo, white beans and chicken yesterday and mole negro (with chocolate)and rice and chicken today. And, of course, home made tortillas. As you may have guessed Oaxaca is the home of mole.
Everyone's very friendly. Mostly americans but there are 2 irish in the cookery class. Mark from Dublin and Mary from Tipperary who won the trip at their college. They are on their way to the pacific coast to help with conservation projects. They both had no spanish at all so have stopped off on their way for 2 weeks to get the basics.
So - nothing very exciting to report. By the time I have a walk downtown and then get back here it's nearly 8. I shower and tidy up and start my emails etc. Oh - and my homework of course:)
More later on in the week xx
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Exam time at el Instituto Cultural de Oaxaca
It was my recurring nightmare (about having to go back to school to resit my A levels)come true. A 4 page exam paper in a foreign language. First page was alright but as I progressed it got harder and harder and I was guessing more and more. By the time I had finished it I was shaking. Then, after 3 cups of coffee to steady my nerves, came the oral! The nice man (who was v impressed at my casual use of the word 'consuegra' : Dulce) then declared us finished and put me in Intermediate 1!!!!!
I was so pleased with myself. All those hours spent at my PC had paid off.
We then had an orientation class and met all the other students registering this week. About 8 of us. There was a lady from Chicago sitting me and we arranged to meet up later to go explore the town.
Got caught in the rain and got absolutely soaked. But not as wet as the wedding party who came out of the main church to do their procession around the town accompanied by a brass band complete with euphonium. There were some indigenous ladies outside the church doing a roaring trade in blue plastic capes at 10 pesos (50p) which looked slightly at odds with the very expensive wedding outfits/shoes on the ladies and the men's tuxedos.
Met Belinda again this morning and we went on a, as it turned out, private tour (cos there were only the 2 of us)to a Mezcal still: spirit like tequila made from the maguey cactus by hand. Earliest I have ever drunk hard liquor - they had an 8 year old which was just like a good brandy. Then on to a weaving family's premises and a demonstration of carding and spinning wool and colouring it using natural dyes before weaving it into the most amazing traditional Zapotec rugs. Isaac's father is so famous at his craft that he has been mentioned in quite a few books on master craftsman, including Oliver Sachs' diary of Oaxaca. Next the market (largest in Latin America according to our guide)at Tlacolula which was amazing. Full of colour and smells and sounds and the fabulous costumes of the different indigenous people both selling and buying. As I think I have said before: the state of Oaxaca is the most ethnically complex of all the states of Mexico. Bought some lovely flowers and textiles. Then on to the Zapotec archeological site at Mitla which is unique as it is the only one to have stone mosaics. Dates from the 13th century a.d. three centuries before the Spanish conquest. Then finally to 'El Tule' - officially the largest tree in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records. A Montezuma Cypress with a trunk diameter of 11 metres it's at least 1500 years old.
Enough culture already.
Pics tomorrow.
x
I was so pleased with myself. All those hours spent at my PC had paid off.
We then had an orientation class and met all the other students registering this week. About 8 of us. There was a lady from Chicago sitting me and we arranged to meet up later to go explore the town.
Got caught in the rain and got absolutely soaked. But not as wet as the wedding party who came out of the main church to do their procession around the town accompanied by a brass band complete with euphonium. There were some indigenous ladies outside the church doing a roaring trade in blue plastic capes at 10 pesos (50p) which looked slightly at odds with the very expensive wedding outfits/shoes on the ladies and the men's tuxedos.
Met Belinda again this morning and we went on a, as it turned out, private tour (cos there were only the 2 of us)to a Mezcal still: spirit like tequila made from the maguey cactus by hand. Earliest I have ever drunk hard liquor - they had an 8 year old which was just like a good brandy. Then on to a weaving family's premises and a demonstration of carding and spinning wool and colouring it using natural dyes before weaving it into the most amazing traditional Zapotec rugs. Isaac's father is so famous at his craft that he has been mentioned in quite a few books on master craftsman, including Oliver Sachs' diary of Oaxaca. Next the market (largest in Latin America according to our guide)at Tlacolula which was amazing. Full of colour and smells and sounds and the fabulous costumes of the different indigenous people both selling and buying. As I think I have said before: the state of Oaxaca is the most ethnically complex of all the states of Mexico. Bought some lovely flowers and textiles. Then on to the Zapotec archeological site at Mitla which is unique as it is the only one to have stone mosaics. Dates from the 13th century a.d. three centuries before the Spanish conquest. Then finally to 'El Tule' - officially the largest tree in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records. A Montezuma Cypress with a trunk diameter of 11 metres it's at least 1500 years old.
Enough culture already.
Pics tomorrow.
x
Saturday, 25 June 2011
Wi-fi connection now established!
Hello from Oaxaca in the rainy season. Why does the rain follow me wherever I go in the world. At least at this latitude it's warm and in the late afternoon.
Had a lovely, if tiring, two days in DF with Dulce and Fausto. Check out one of the comments under my 'ready for the off' post for an update on first day in Mexico City.
On Thursday we went on a tour to the Basilica de Guadelupe built at the place where the Virgin appeared to Juan Diego. an indigenous Christian convert, in 1531. The Bishop didn't believe him when he told him that the Virgin wanted a church built there until, after more appearances, the Virgin's image was miraculously emblazoned on his cloak and the Bish had to concede.
We then went to Teotihuacan, via an artisan's centre where we drank some pulce and tequila and had craft demonstrations - working with fabulous local stone, obsidian, rose quartz, lapis lazuli and more. Our guide, Miguel, is an anthropologist and was so enthused by the Pyramids. You wouldn't believe how big they are - the photos don't even come close to showing the scale. The Pyramid of the Sun is 65 metres high and the Moon 45. Check out Lonely Planet Guide to Mexico for more details. I wondered why my right bottom cheek was so sore this morning. It was climbing the first part of the Moon - the steps were so high I could only manage four at a time before I had to have a breather. Being 2,400 + metres above sea level: hardly surprising (age had NOTHING to do with it)!
Next post: Oaxaca and my recurring nightmare come true: having to sit an exam.
Had a lovely, if tiring, two days in DF with Dulce and Fausto. Check out one of the comments under my 'ready for the off' post for an update on first day in Mexico City.
On Thursday we went on a tour to the Basilica de Guadelupe built at the place where the Virgin appeared to Juan Diego. an indigenous Christian convert, in 1531. The Bishop didn't believe him when he told him that the Virgin wanted a church built there until, after more appearances, the Virgin's image was miraculously emblazoned on his cloak and the Bish had to concede.
We then went to Teotihuacan, via an artisan's centre where we drank some pulce and tequila and had craft demonstrations - working with fabulous local stone, obsidian, rose quartz, lapis lazuli and more. Our guide, Miguel, is an anthropologist and was so enthused by the Pyramids. You wouldn't believe how big they are - the photos don't even come close to showing the scale. The Pyramid of the Sun is 65 metres high and the Moon 45. Check out Lonely Planet Guide to Mexico for more details. I wondered why my right bottom cheek was so sore this morning. It was climbing the first part of the Moon - the steps were so high I could only manage four at a time before I had to have a breather. Being 2,400 + metres above sea level: hardly surprising (age had NOTHING to do with it)!
Next post: Oaxaca and my recurring nightmare come true: having to sit an exam.
Monday, 20 June 2011
Ready for the off!
Phew - what a relief - everything, including the kitchen sink, fitted into my trolley bag which, although nearly bursting at the seams only weighs about 15kg. Important that for manhandling on and off buses etc and up stairs - Dulce lives 4 flights up. Does anyone else weigh their luggage by first weighing yourself and then holding the case in your hand and stepping on again? All of you - I hear you mutter :)
So - will be in touch again the first time I can comfortably connect to the internet.
Thanks a million for all your good wishes. Dxx
So - will be in touch again the first time I can comfortably connect to the internet.
Thanks a million for all your good wishes. Dxx
Thursday, 16 June 2011
Retirement 'Do' tonight - great fun
Just back from my retirement party - 17 of us at 'The Dogs' at Ballyskeagh. Great night. Food fab and not too much money squandered on rubbish bets :)
A crowd of us from Smyth Pattersons ran/walked the Lisburn Fun run last night in support of the Motor Neurone Disease Association so it's a wonder we were able to be out so late!
Also had a lovely day last Friday at Richard and Sarah's wedding at Ballydugan Mill. It would have done your heart good to see a couple so happy to be getting wed and so much in love. It was a privilege to have been a part of it.
Well - only another two engagements to go before I head off. Really - this past 5 weeks have been wall to wall partying. I'm not complaining - it's been truly great - I'm going to miss seeing all my wonderful friends for 3 months. But I'll be looking forward to catching up with everyone again come September.
On Tuesday next I'm hoping to take the 5.15am bus from Sprucefield to Dublin Airport. Flying from Dublin to Amsterdam with Aer Lingus and then on with KLM to Mexico City.
I'll be staying with Betta's parents for 3 nights in Colonia Claveria. Dulce's taking me to Teotihuacan, where the huge pyramids of the Sun and the Moon were constructed in the first century AD. Photos, and history lesson of the day, to follow in due course.
On Friday 24th I'm travelling down to Oaxaca City in the south west to enrol in el Instituto Cultural on Saturday morning. Watch this space..........
A crowd of us from Smyth Pattersons ran/walked the Lisburn Fun run last night in support of the Motor Neurone Disease Association so it's a wonder we were able to be out so late!
Also had a lovely day last Friday at Richard and Sarah's wedding at Ballydugan Mill. It would have done your heart good to see a couple so happy to be getting wed and so much in love. It was a privilege to have been a part of it.
Well - only another two engagements to go before I head off. Really - this past 5 weeks have been wall to wall partying. I'm not complaining - it's been truly great - I'm going to miss seeing all my wonderful friends for 3 months. But I'll be looking forward to catching up with everyone again come September.
On Tuesday next I'm hoping to take the 5.15am bus from Sprucefield to Dublin Airport. Flying from Dublin to Amsterdam with Aer Lingus and then on with KLM to Mexico City.
I'll be staying with Betta's parents for 3 nights in Colonia Claveria. Dulce's taking me to Teotihuacan, where the huge pyramids of the Sun and the Moon were constructed in the first century AD. Photos, and history lesson of the day, to follow in due course.
On Friday 24th I'm travelling down to Oaxaca City in the south west to enrol in el Instituto Cultural on Saturday morning. Watch this space..........
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Only 2 weeks to go!
Hopefully, Aer Lingus pilots notwithstanding, this time in two weeks I'll be flying over the Atlantic from Schipol, Amsterdam to Mexico City. Have started to get the clothes etc laid out in the spare room and am now wondering if the small trolley case I had intended to take will, in fact, be big enough for 3 months' worth of things I can't possibly do without. Don't even ask for an inventory - it would be too embarassing. I will just have to keep reminding myself that there are shops and wonderful markets in Oaxaca selling everything I could ever need: infinitely cheaper. And then, when I go to stay with DD and Betty in Cordoba, I can just scrounge from them :)
Friday, 3 June 2011
120th weekend at McGrory's, Culdaff
Hi all.
Sorry I've been a little tardy in updating - the weather's been too good :)
Well .... what a weekend we had. Last Friday eighteen of our closest friends and family joined us at McGrory's in Culdaff at the top of the Inishowen Peninsula, Donegal. Despite our concerns about the forecast (we knew at least the bar was going to be dry!), the weather was very kind to us: albeit a tad on the windy side.
Had a drinks reception followed by a very enjoyable dinner on Friday night. And - another surprise!! - a fabulous bespoke birthday cake, organised by Hannah and Rory, made by Colleen: a colleague of Hannah's. (I believe she's just about ready to take orders), Check out the bottle of Fleurie in the pics - and David's hairline.
We then repaired to the aforementioned bar where a traditional session was already in full swing. A good night's craic was had by all.
On Saturday, after McGrory's hearty Irish breakfast, we went our separate ways - but managed to keep meeting each other: mostly on Five Finger Strand where the wind would, and nearly did, have blown you away.
Some went on to Malin Head and beyond. A few of us met up in Ballyliffin Golf Club for 'refreshments' and a spot of lunch. We enjoyed looking out the picture windows at the poor mad golfers in the links (is that the correct term Brendan?) wondering where on earth their balls were going to end up in the gale. The Formula One fans also got a chance to catch up on the qualifying session.
Saturday night we had a few glasses of wine in our Room, 108, with whomever wasn't watching the Munster/Leinster Final (mainly Robin & Rocky) in the bar. Then down for another excellent meal - prepared by chef Ann McGrory and her team. Absent friends - who we missed dreadfully - were duly toasted.
Los Trios kicked off in the bar at 10pm, with Neil McGrory on bass, and very entertaining they were too. Lots of imbibing and dancing ensued (my personal favorites - Sylvie and Noel - who had obviously had been practising) and a fair amount of joining in with the singing (cue Paddy's hoarseness the next morning). Some of the party had to retire early :s but the stalwarts were awarded by Neil with a big bowl of delicious cocktail sausage rolls at around 2 am. A big thanks to Kim for her superb management of the kitty and drinks orders.
And thanks to everybody - for everything. We both had the most marvellous time. What great friends we are blessed to have.
Sorry I've been a little tardy in updating - the weather's been too good :)
Well .... what a weekend we had. Last Friday eighteen of our closest friends and family joined us at McGrory's in Culdaff at the top of the Inishowen Peninsula, Donegal. Despite our concerns about the forecast (we knew at least the bar was going to be dry!), the weather was very kind to us: albeit a tad on the windy side.
Had a drinks reception followed by a very enjoyable dinner on Friday night. And - another surprise!! - a fabulous bespoke birthday cake, organised by Hannah and Rory, made by Colleen: a colleague of Hannah's. (I believe she's just about ready to take orders), Check out the bottle of Fleurie in the pics - and David's hairline.
We then repaired to the aforementioned bar where a traditional session was already in full swing. A good night's craic was had by all.
On Saturday, after McGrory's hearty Irish breakfast, we went our separate ways - but managed to keep meeting each other: mostly on Five Finger Strand where the wind would, and nearly did, have blown you away.
Some went on to Malin Head and beyond. A few of us met up in Ballyliffin Golf Club for 'refreshments' and a spot of lunch. We enjoyed looking out the picture windows at the poor mad golfers in the links (is that the correct term Brendan?) wondering where on earth their balls were going to end up in the gale. The Formula One fans also got a chance to catch up on the qualifying session.
Saturday night we had a few glasses of wine in our Room, 108, with whomever wasn't watching the Munster/Leinster Final (mainly Robin & Rocky) in the bar. Then down for another excellent meal - prepared by chef Ann McGrory and her team. Absent friends - who we missed dreadfully - were duly toasted.
Los Trios kicked off in the bar at 10pm, with Neil McGrory on bass, and very entertaining they were too. Lots of imbibing and dancing ensued (my personal favorites - Sylvie and Noel - who had obviously had been practising) and a fair amount of joining in with the singing (cue Paddy's hoarseness the next morning). Some of the party had to retire early :s but the stalwarts were awarded by Neil with a big bowl of delicious cocktail sausage rolls at around 2 am. A big thanks to Kim for her superb management of the kitty and drinks orders.
And thanks to everybody - for everything. We both had the most marvellous time. What great friends we are blessed to have.
Thursday, 26 May 2011
The first day of the rest of my life!
And what weather I got for it. Surely it must get better soon.
Last day in work yesterday and what a lovely day it was. Everyone made me feel so valued - I will genuinely miss catching up with the ins and outs of people's lives.
I was opening the post for the last time yesterday morning in S.Ps and recounted my very first 'proper' job after I left school.
It was in Barclay's Bank Foreign Office in the City of London. The first thing I had to do each morning was to go to the mail room and help open the post. We had to slit each envelope round 3 sides, flatten it out, and put the contents into the middle of a huge table so that someone infinitely more senior could sort it.
My working life had definitely come full circle - but at least I could now sort the letters AND deliver them to the recipients :-D
Last day in work yesterday and what a lovely day it was. Everyone made me feel so valued - I will genuinely miss catching up with the ins and outs of people's lives.
I was opening the post for the last time yesterday morning in S.Ps and recounted my very first 'proper' job after I left school.
It was in Barclay's Bank Foreign Office in the City of London. The first thing I had to do each morning was to go to the mail room and help open the post. We had to slit each envelope round 3 sides, flatten it out, and put the contents into the middle of a huge table so that someone infinitely more senior could sort it.
My working life had definitely come full circle - but at least I could now sort the letters AND deliver them to the recipients :-D
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Tuesday 24th May
Thank you to everyone who has emailed me in response to my invitation to share the blog. If you would like to become 'followers' just click on the link to the right. It would be great to receive your comments when I'm in deepest, warmest Mesoamerica.
Tomorrow is my last day working for Smyth Patterson .........
Tomorrow is my last day working for Smyth Patterson .........
Monday, 23 May 2011
Two days into my 7th decade
Testing - testing.
My first retirement project. Doing quite well so far after at least one false start.
I don't seem to be in quite the same time zone as blogger.com. If anyone can help I'd be most grateful.
Hope, by now, you've got the email and seen my photos.
Please be patient with me - it is a virtue :)
My first retirement project. Doing quite well so far after at least one false start.
I don't seem to be in quite the same time zone as blogger.com. If anyone can help I'd be most grateful.
Hope, by now, you've got the email and seen my photos.
Please be patient with me - it is a virtue :)
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