Nada por Nada

One and all,

Very little to report. This photo may sum up our current existence

Just sort of hunkered down, enjoying the ever improving weather. Two nights ago was just lovely and while yesterday was quite humid, the evening down on the beach was bordering on cool. Very tropical sea breeze blowing.

While there about 15 different strolling musicians wandered by. They are nearly as ubiquitous here as guys asking for a dollar at freeway entrances are in Portland. Some are pretty good and some are just horrible. We managed to catch this father and son on guitar and harp.

They were wonderful with their rendition of "Perfidio." The son has a very nice voice and, in fact, told us that the two of them play nightly at Casa Isabel. This was there night off, so they were strolling (trolling) the beach. I am so glad we caught them.

Otherwise it has been sun and "TWM": tequila, wine and margaritas! Life is good.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Dramatic Skies and Pleasant Nights

One and all,

As we begin to approach our last week here, we have been enjoying the simple beauty of PV. Our days have been mostly uneventful. We are working feverishly to put the final touches on our tans. We want to be prepared for some serious, but understated gloating at the gym and in Pilates!

I did manage in our time sitting around to finish the Booker award winner, "The Luminaries," all 800 pages! I enjoyed 75% of it a great deal, but the ending (the other 25%) both Polley and I found very disappointing. Still it is quite an amazing accomplishment for someone who must have been about 23 when she started it. I have now switched to the 2nd Harry Potter book for a little relaxation. Polley is reading Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl," which she is really enjoying.

Each evening of the last couple of days has consisted of trips to the Malécon or down on the beach. The nights are really turning lovely. It is beginning to feel more like January and February. You can also tell that it is changing because some of the regular "snow birds" from the US and Canada are showing up. There are certain people you come to recognize over the years and I am beginning to see their faces.

The night skies and sunsets have been very dramatic of late.

Two nights ago, there were even a few rain drops as some dramatic clouds move in

However, it soon cleared off and there was, to quote Tennessee Williams, "a tiny silver slipper of a moon."

Lst evening we were at Roberto's and Mother Nature, again, did not disappoint.

It started with this intense golden ball of fire forcing its way between the clouds, and then grew in color across the whole sky

Fabulous!

One of the other things we enjoy about sitting right along the Malécon, is that eventually you will see everyone you know pass by. Last night Ricardo, one of our wait-friends at Langosta, wandered by with his wife and new baby.

We were here last March when she was born, but had not captured her on camera

Very cute! There are so many cute Mexican children. Anyway, it was a great couple of nights doing very little, but enjoying it to the MAX!

 

Posted with Blogsy

The Living Dead

One and all,

Well El Día de Los Muertos has come and gone and I must admit, that for us, there was little visible celebration apart from the shrines that were scattered about the town. I will admit that we tend to "die" earlier than most, so there may have been late night activities that we missed. With sunset now arriving about 6:30 in the evening, we find that by 9 we are ready to trudge up the hill to our humble, but airy abode.

I did manage to capture these little goblins on Saturday evening,

They were fluttering up and down the Malécon with their parents trying to keep up. The mothers were nice enough to let me capture the group. Very cute!

The days here have been very hot. The humidity continues to recede, now it is just hot. Yesterday we were at the beach and it was an intense 90-degrees. Taking the sun ("Tomar del Sol") comes in very small doses and one never strays further than 10 feet from one's Corona! That was pretty much the weekend. Some sun, a siesta and retiring to Roberto's for a half bottle of vino.

Last night, Sunday evening is normally our night at Vitea. We had enjoyed a substantial lunch of Shrimp Ceviche in the apartment adn by the time we went down for sunset, realized that we were still not hungry. It was a disappointing sunset, but we managed to drown our sorrows in a bottle of wine, cancelling our reservation at Vitea and just sitting and watching the activity on the Malécon.

We had promised our musician friends that we would let them seranade us at Vitea and, of course, when we weren't there, they came looking for us. We allowed them to entertain us with a couple of songs, one happy and the other romantico.

Our befriending of various musicians has become a rather expensive proposition. At this point I am supporting strolling two trios and a mirimba player. "Familiarity breeds increased tipping!"

That really is it for now. We are in our final two weeks and we are simply trying to soak up the sun and the atmosphere. It truly is relaxing and we don't want to make any effort to disturb that devine state!

 

Posted with Blogsy

El Día de Los Muertos

One and all,

It is "The Day of the Dead" in Mexico. We are not exactly sure what that will mean in terms of activities here in PV, but historically it is a day in which families remember those who have passed on. Some build shrines

to those they wish to remember. Yesterday, while on my walk, I saw a number of public displays at the city hall.

They traditionally have a photo of the person to be remembered, there is a traditional cake

and other foods along with symbols of death.

Here you see the cattle skulls in the foreground along with skulls on display further up the shrine. Day of the Dead skeletons are everywhere and some people even paint the skeleton mask on their faces. I will give you an update of what other things occur as we witness this occasion.

One unique thing that I did come across was actually right here in our own backyard, so to speak. One of the renters here has three (very annoying) dogs which she walks a couple of times each day. She also has a cat. When she walks the dogs, all on leashes, the cat simply follows along. Here she is headed up the hill to our place

It is quite a sight to witness.

Otherwise, we have just been enjoying the change in the weather. Nights and early mornings are very comfortable, with lovely sea breezes replacing the humidity of the past month. Days are warm and the sun is very intense, but again, it is just heat and not humidity.

Polley and I had a lovely dinner last night. A place not far from the beach that we had never tried before, was featuring a fixed price dinner of mussels. It was a feast. A huge pile of them along with an equally sizeable portion of frites (fries). They also served a nice dry white wine which we allowed ourselves to over indulge (so unlike us), so that it was a bit of an unsteady walk up the hill. Still, very nice and very memorable. Home in less than two weeks and beginning to count the days. Nothing like time away, to make you appreciate the old homestead.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Mexican Mother Nature: Virgin and Whore

One and all,

Last night was, I believe, the lovliest evening we have had so far. We sat at Roberto's and despite the lack of a true sunset (it was overcast all day - I didn't say the "loveliest day"!), the evening was just delightful. It was February suddenly at the end of October. What a difference 24 hours can make.

Tuesday evening we were in the same location - same cafe and same table, but from the very beginning of our visit there were distant rumblings. About an hour into our evening, it hit, with a vengeance and customers ran for cover, some without even paying!

People scurrying everywhere as the lightening lit the sky around us.

But, as people can always seem to find a way to make the best of a bad situation, these two conjured the spirit of Gene Kelly and danced through the flood

Polley and I, along with four Italians visiting from Rome made our way to the entire of the cafe where we found ourselves trapped with an endless supply of beer and gelato!

Leave it to Italians to lead us to a stash of gelato. The waiter and waitress in Roberto's were great, as they toweled off chairs, brought us drinks (or cups of ice cream) and generally made us feel at home. Polley and I have gotten caught in one of these many years ago in Toulouse, France. The same thing occured, people got into the spirit of the night, enjoyed the comradery of the moment. After about half an hour and with the water on the Malécon up to people's shins in some places, the rain finally subsided and we made out way to the main street, and with surprising ease, caught a cab up the hill, relatively dry considering the amount of water.

Since I got the picture of the mural that our neighbor is having done, I have been a little bit more aware of ornamentation around town. This little tile collage of the sights of PV sits right across the Malécon from Roberto's

And, when I was walking Tuesday morning through what I have been calling the "Mexican Section" of town (a term I was not very comfortable with), which I now know to be El Coloso, I came across this painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe on a neighborhood wall

I will try and do a better job of keeping my eyes open for this additons to the scenic wonder of this place. More soon.

 

Posted with Blogsy

When Will These Folks Do Something!

One and all,

Well, it certainly wasn't the last two days! As the weather has become more bearable, we have fallen into a glorious routine. We are making a concerted effort to "beach it" everyday. Yesterday, in fact, I had a Mexican tour guide that we have seen for years come up to me to "compare tans!" I didn't win, but he gave me kudos for a valiant effort. Of course, he had a head start, he's Mexican! While I tell this story, I am aware that I will not be including my dematologist in this particular blog.

For those of you looking to Mexico, I can now report that I would not recommend arriving down here any earlier than the 15th of October. We have met a number of "regulars" recently who look for sometime after the 20th. These last two days have really been lovely -- and with very few people.

This view is looking north from our regular place in the chairs at Langosta Loca. Skies have become clear and there is just a slight breeze to keep the humidity down. That last ingredient was missing when we first arrived.

This is the other direction. You can just barely make out the new pier (new last season) in the distance. The point is the weather is great and there are still very few people around.

We did get out to dinner last night. We tried a new place, very Mexican, called San Lucas. During our entire 90 minute dinner, we were the only ones in the place. As we left, thankfully for the staff, another couple made there way up the stairs. We had a garlic shrimp dish that was very good.

Beyond the beach and watching sunset and drinking a little wine, at least one margarita a day, "to keep the doctor away, it has been the sun and our books. I finished the Wally Lamb book, "She's Come Undone," which he actually wrote 20 years ago. Polley has polished off the 800 page Booker Award winner, "The Luminaries, the sage of New Zealanders written by a 28 year-old woman. I am into it now and it is very good. Polley has started the hot new mystery, "The Goldfinch," by Donna Tartt. Every critic has been raving about this, and it must be good, because Polley is into her Kindle if I allow even the briefest of pauses in conversation!

I did mention that we met a fellow who lives just down the hill from us. Dennis is his name. Very nice fellow and absolute fluent in Spanish. Anyway, he had informed us that he lived where the new mural was being painted. Yesterday, we strolled by. It is nearly complete.

It seem to be a nod to Mexico's past.

I have not run across him recently to ask him whose design it was, his or the artists. Anyway, it is right next to the dramatic white bridge and certainly adds a bit of color to the neighborhood.

So, I think that is about it. Not much action; it may not make exciting reading, but it is a great way to live. Hope all is well at home. We are now just a couple of weeks from returning. As always, we will be ready to revisit friends and family. More dull reading soon!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Days Passing By

One and all,

In some ways it is hard to believe that we have moved inside 3 weeks until we return to Oregon. In other ways, it is hard to believe a month has gone by. We look forward to seeing friends and family, but we also have grown a family of friends here as well.

Both and Friday and Saturday were the usual. We managed to get to the beach both days and get a little sun. Sunbathing is a bit difficult at this time of the year; it is still very warm. More than 5 or 10 minutes and you must seek the shade or the water. Friday, for a bit of a change of pace, we took a taxi up to the little village of Paso Ancho to a kind of beach restaurant, El Rio Barbq. Some of you may remember it from last year. The former owner of a beachside restaurant, Época, last his lease and then opened El Rio, which is up the river about 5 miles. The owner, Kurt Sinner, is a former Portlander, and still runs the Blues Festival on 4th of July, bought the land, cleared it, brought in sand and created his own little paradise that runs along the Rio Cuale River.

It really is a gorgeous setting. Friday, it turned out, we stumbled into a wedding party, so we sat on the periphery and enjoyed the beer, the setting and the music. Our friend, Bobby, the bearded Scotsman, and his very talented guitarist, Gilberto, play music for a couple of hours every Friday afternoon. Here you see them accompanied by an amateur stand-in from Seattle.

Couples dance and eat and drink. Here I caught the ring bearer and his little girl friend enjoying a few spins on the concrete dance floor.

We highly recommend an afternoon on the river at El Rio.

We came back from that and were pretty wiped out. We managed to stagger down to Roberto's for a beer and a sunset, but the activity up river had done us in.

Yesterday is was back to the beach for some sun and a few beers (and some excellent guacamole). Just read and relaxed. We did talk with a nice fellow who is always sunning himself on the beach. At some point we do need to learn his name!

We read a bit and got our siesta before deciding that instead of eating out, we would just return to Roberto's for some wine and people watching along the Malécon. I did try some of the grilled corn-on-the-cob from a nearby cart. This was in a cup rather than on the cob and had been mixed with red chili peppers and a Mexican herb, epazote. I then added a bit of a popular sauce, sriracha, which has recently been featured in a number of recipes. It was quite spicy, but I will say that I was less than overwhelmed.

One of the fun things about PV is that it is constantly changing. Yesterday, we discovered some new art work, right across from La Fuente. Catch this handsome iguana.

It is a combination of paint and three-dimensional mosaic type pieces. A lovely addition to the neighborhood.

The weather continues to grow more mild, with more air moving all the time. High season is coming and for the Mexicans, I am pleased. It has been painfully slow in the month we have been here. The burden of carrying the whole PVG economy on our shoulders was beginning to wear. Thankfully others are beginning to contribute!

 

 

 

They

 

Posted with Blogsy