Day 11 in Mazatlan - Thursday 29 Jan - early risings, markets, art galleries, buses and more.

woke early and watched downtown abbey

 Then we caught a new bus to go downtown. How exciting and there was a detour too so Diane saw new things too. We went to the bead shops first and then two blocks up from the market and to the cathedral.
With directions on how to get to the Machado square (two blocks over and three blocks up from the cathedral) (or was it three blocks over and four blocks up?) We headed off in unfamiliar territory. We did in fact find the square with only one stop to ask a tall good looking gentleman directions. He was very helpful.

Before we came to Mach ado square we saw several interesting old buildings in ruins although some of them were in worse shape than others.  may have been lovely once apon a time but no more, or maybe just lovely in a different sort of uninhabitable sort of way.
Once we got to the square and got our bearings we headed off to find Sixto Osuana street and the art gallery across the street from theefore we came to Mach ado square we saw several interesting old buildings in ruins although some of them were in worse shape than others.  may have been lovely once apon a time but no more, or maybe just lovely in a different sort of uninhabitable sort of way.

We passed several walls and or doors that were painted wonderfully. an art walk on our way to the art gallery. it was getting hot and so we were trying to stay in the shade even though I had my hat on and sunscreen I still try to stay in the shade as much as possible.

We passed several interesting restaurants as well including the one we had brunch at earlier in the week.
We stopped in at one, the Allegro..... for eggs Benedict .... heard they were the best in town and they were, in fact, very good.
Francis our waiter spoke english very well and was very friendly giving us lots of information about the owners who did not live  above the restaurant..  after a very filling and tasty eggs benedict (next time I will order one half size or split it with someone) we waddled out to find the art gallery.

On our way we came across a few private galleries which of course we went into and I found some more postcards and bookmarks and ceramic pendants for necklaces. A dragon belt buckle was a find that i paid 12 pesos for.  I don't think I will ever wear it but it is cool and maybe I will have it mounted into a frame and hum]ng on the wall.
we then went and found the art gallery which was very interesting though small.

There was only one salon open with about 30 paintings in it by two artists and although they were very good and interesting, I was expecting something a little bigger. but there was a gift shop where I found some post cards for Mary and John of fish from the aquarium. Funny I didn't see any of these postcards at the aquarium.

After the gallery I wanted to see if we could find the church with the wonderful spire that we had seen on our walk to the lighthouse. It was very tall and we could see the boatyards and docks behind it. kind of a yellow cross of adobe.

 Francis at the restaurant had asked some of the other waiters and waitresses and found out that it was called the Maria del Mar.
Mary of the Sea.
Lovely.
 So intrepid explorers that we were, we headed off into unknown territory with a map provided by the friend of francs, I guess then we actually did kind of have directions but we were still intrepid.

New streets with new treats. Old beside new, colour upon colour. grillwork windows,  walls painted like a jungle, sidewalks of a variety of heights and sizes all on one block. Newer renovations beside really, really old buildings. So exciting and all so quiet, not hardly any traffic so we thought maybe everyone was at work or just quiet in their homes. If we walked through a residential neighbourhood in the afternoon back home I am sure it would be very quiet too.

We followed our map and found our way to a very busy street. after navigating it safely continued on and asked a street vendor where the church was. My pronuciation of Maria del mar must have been pretty bad but he finally figured out what we wanted and pointed down the street holding up three of his fingers which I interpreted to mean three blocks.

We passed yards with flowers in bloom and lions guarding the gates, grillwork, grillwork, grillwork every where. Back home it is very expensive to have wrought iron so I am surprised to see it everywhere here.
We continued on the road and finally saw the steeple. Not too much further now. By that time we were almost at the docks I am sure.

yes we did finally arrive at the church of Maria del Mar. a circular church, divided in half with half being the church proper and the other half being for meeting rooms and such. there was a school next door so assumed that it would be the catholic school. It was a very nice church with mosaic pictures all around the side buildings of the church and as we walked up to the church door a young gentleman came out of a side building unlocked the front door and let us in. It was nice and cool inside with descending steps to the altar and a statue of Mary on one side. I said some hail Mary's for Shauna and Bill and lit a candle. (an electric candle but it is the thought that counts). Walked around there for a bit  more. One window looked a sitting buddah, nice I wonder if they know it.

We headed back and it was getting very hot out now . I did bring a hat but we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. We kind of, almost, got lost coming back into downtown but a nice gentleman showed us which road (Carnival ) to take back to Machado. He was going that way to pick up his car so it was no inconvenience.

Carnival street has a blue line  painted down the middle of the road and would take us right to Machada square. Wonderful. so many nice people out there.  It seems they painted the line on the road for the tourists from the cruise ships so they could get back to their ships.
1t was a nice walk.

 Machado Square was a very welcoming site with lots of folks sitting and lunching and having coffee. We tried to get into the Peralto theatre but they had a show that evening so we could not sneak a peek. sad . Walked around the square and decided to catch a bus home from the market. Walked down to the market passing the cathedral again.
What a fun full day.

We got home got changed and headed for the Inn at Mazatlan and got a lovely cool mango juice - straight. Yes just mango juice, need something healthy too. A nice dip in the pool to cool off and sip mango juice under the coconut trees. What a life. We are truly blessed. Chatted about the day and what we were going to do for tomorrow. Popcorn and pigeons. What a routine.

Then we went for a wander of a walk down the beach towards downtown and it turned out that we could could not get around the point as the tide was coming in so we had to come back in the dark on a beach that was getting narrower and narrower with the tide coming in. We passed one hotel on the beach that is closed still due to the hurricane that ripped through Mazatlan last fall. When we were just passing it two big dogs came running out barking and growling at us, quite large dogs, a little unnerving. They were confined to the hotel area but still made me uneasy until we were well past.
Found our way back to the road and headed home for a light supper, watched a bit of Downtown Abbey, uploaded, downloaded edited and went to bed. happy healthy and rich with the Mazatlan memories of today.