Not a lot to report, but since it is pouring down rain at the moment, it seemed a good time to touch base. The weather actually turned gray yesterday and we decided not to go up river as we planned. We had anticipated a day at the river at Kurt Sinner’s place, El Rio BBQ, but, while it was not really raining, it also was far from sunny. So, we decided to save it for another day.
Thursday, the big outing was Polley and I walking all the way to Lay’s grocery store. Maybe going to market does not seem a big deal, but as it was my longest journey since we arrived (a month ago next Thursday, it was a landmark event. It is really the first time we have done any serious grocery shopping. We did wimp-out by taking a cab back, but I am now moving almost naturally and most likely could have made it back.
As we walked along the Malécon, we did come across this “living statue;” he is an angel, but the amazing thing is that he floats in the air with no visible means of support!
This is the new take on this statue idea, which you now see in tourists places the world over. There is another guy in town who appears to be a waiter carrying a tray of glasses and bottles on a tray, falling backwards, with nothing holding him up. I will try to get a photo of that as well.
After our daily visit to La Fuente, we headed up the hill to enjoy the fruits of our trip. Lay’s has a wonderful Mexican deli (is that an oxymoran?) with a great selection and we loaded up on guacamole and shrimp ceviche. Delicous. The daily siesta was next and that evening we headed out, we believed, to meet our friends for our weekly music and beer session at Nacho Daddy’s. It turned out that a new acquaintance, Reg, from Winnipeg, was the only one to show up. Did have a nice visit with him. Fascinating fellow, who at 60 or so, has been single all his life. Comes down by himself every year and just bounces around town for 5 months before returning to his wheat and canola fields in Canada. The fact that it was just him, allowed us to get to know him a bit better. We have run into him a couple of times down town. So we are becoming pretty close, but only as close as a determined bachelor will allow one to get. After listening to our friend, Bobby, so his set, another band came on. It was a unique collection of instruments, featuring a sitar! This is not a very good photo, but the light was not great in Nacho Daddy’s.
Apparently this group of musicians, from all around the Americas, get together 3 times a year and this was their opening concert. Besides the sitar, there was one of Mexico’s best clarinet players, a renowned bass player from Argentina, a electric keyboard player and drums. Surprisingly, it was a very satisfying blend of instruments and it was amazing what popular music lent it self to the sitar, especially. Polley and I followed the music up with dinner down the street at Bistro Balsamar. It is a relativlely new place, but the food is good. We had a stuffed Poblano pepper with pork, chicken and sort of Middle Eastern spices covered in goat cheese cream sauce. It was all served with a side of perfectly cooked vegetables at room temperature and was delicious. Home for the night, but a quite satisfying day out of one that did not look that promising.
Yesterday, it was still rather bleak. We stayed in all morning as it commenced to drizzle, occasionally quite seriously. So we managed to make it just down the hill for a couple of beers during Happy Hour. If I have failed to mention it, it is always Happy Hour somewhere in PV. We had not planned on having lunch, but as we always enjoy the food at La Fuente, we decided to put this Mexican restaurant to the ultimate test: we ordered a Hamburger! While we always enjoy their food and believe they have the best calamari we have every had, our expectations for the most American of meals was not very high. After all, at least once a month we have a burger at the T-Room and little can beat that! Well, I am here to report that La Fuente’s Hamburgesa was fabulous! It is was not the same as an American burger, but it was delicious. The addition of some flavorful grilled onions did not hurt one bit. It will now have to go into our regular rotation of offerings there.
The afternoon, of course, was siesta and reading. I am reading Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot and thoroughly enjoying it. We loved his Virgin Suicides and Middlesex and I think this one is every bit as good. Despite the threat of rain, we did manage to tear ourselves away and make it down the hill to El Patio, our other favorite haunt. We were just going for a glass of wine, but ended up with four glasses of wine and a bowl of wonderful olives as we got into a conversation of a delightful couple, Phil and LeJule Gant, from Chicago. They were really fun and, after exchanging e-mail addresses, we hope to get together with them before they go home on 23 February. About 9 we staggered home and had a homemade dinner and read until nearly 11.
It rained most of the night, however, and continues to pour down this morning, Saturday, February 11. So, I think, as our social calendar is empty today, we will not be straying very far. More later.
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