10 Feb 2018 - Friday - day 11 trip - cathedrals , markets and beaches

We had a great sleep after our busy day at stone island . we had decided to go out for brunch so only had tea and toast for an early breakfast.
 We did our duty and fed the birds and when Diane came down and met us we headed off to brunch at the Ramada.

 There were quite a few of us so we needed a big table. the entry way has a very large canyon tree that took turns getting photos in. first the group shots and then the couples and sister shots.

Breakfast el fresco next to the beach is wonderful. They say that the best meals are good food and good company so we had an excellent meal. I really like Mazatlan for the scenery as much as the weather and the people. we said our good byes to our hosts as they were going back to Alberta that day.

We walked over to the Malecon and got a few pics there of the big mazatlan sign. there was a young girl all dressed up getting her photo taken whoo would not leave until they had taken a thousand photos I think so we just took our photos with her in the shot.

We caught the bus to downtown and the market. Kelly was overwhelmed by the hard sell that the sales ladies at the front door to the market give the customers. very forceful and actually,  rude to our way of shopping. She wanted to just leave so we walked around the market,  to catch the bus on the other side and one door of the market that we went by seemed quieter  so Kelly wandered in a little ways and when she was not accosted by sales ladies, decided to stay and buy a few souvenirs.

After the market we wandered over to the Cathedral and central square there. Mazatlan is a big mixture of houses in great shape and some in terrible shape. the ones that in terrible shape are actually quite pretty with trees growing out of them.

The Cathedral is lovely and large and we spent a bit of time in there. We lit candles and said a few prayers for family and friends.

Across for the cathedral is a square with pigeons that you can purchase food for so Margie and I fed the pigeons. We decided that we needed beach and pool time so we headed back to Gaviotas gardens and our beach time. catching the bus back and then dropping our things off at Gaviotas, getting changed and off to the beach for a well deserved drink at happy hour.

the Iguanas were waiting for us and the beach was lovely as usual. We had a guacamole snack, it is so good made fresh, and the happy hour drinks seemed especially delicious. What a lovely day.
Lingering by the pool, wading in the water, jumping a few waves.. life is good for us folks on vacation. I don't know could I do this all year? hard to say.

9 Feb 2018 - Thursday - Day 10 of trip - stone island

Wake up and feed the birds. Enjoy the morning sunshine.
Enjoy the flowers on the patio and the giant black bees which, thankfully,  seem to only be interested in the giant flowers.

Had a nice breakfast.


Diane came down and we were off on another adventure.

Bus to stone Island ferry. the ferry only costs 30 pesos return so it is cheap enough for anyone who wants to go to a more secluded beach. To get there one must pass a fishing boat area with lots of chickens and roosters running around all over. Some of them are quite pretty.

Ferry ride over went without a hitch. after disembarking where a young man and his father helped us off the boat, we walked across the road and along the path to the stone island beach which is very very long. At the side closest to the ferry are all the restaurants and recreational things for rent on the beach.

We walked down the beach to find the restaurant that we usually go to and can never remember the name.
we all had some food, guacamole of course and also
drinks all around. Kelly is into margaritas big time.

Kelly and Dennie went for a long walk down the beach and collected some shells. We did not even go that far only about 35 minutes out and then 45 minutes back. Margie and Diane stayed back and after a while were wondering where the heck Kelly and I had got to. When we got back we were very tired and desperately wanted a drink.  the waiter obliged us very promptly and we downed them pretty quickly.

The young dancers came by and entertained us with very energetic dancing and music. they came around after thier set and collected donations in a bucket. some folks were not that generous but we did give them a nice donation as they deserved it.

We walked back to the ferry  and rode it back across the bay. back on the bus to Gviotas to have a nice dinner and then a not so quiet game of ten thousand and we did go to bed earlier than usual as stone island had wore us out.

8 Feb 2018 - Thursday - Day 9 Trip - Mazatlan - Aquarium, Zoo and Beach

  woke up a bit late as our night out kept us up a little late.  Had a lovely breakfast,
Did our duty and fed the birds. there are so. many different birds here, it is wonderful.

Diane came and our adventures for the day began. We caught a bus from home to the Aquarium and Zoo. Diane told us about the terrible accident that had occurred at the aquarium in the fall. It seems that the lovely new giant glass wall  of the new Aquarium failed, breaking and dumping thousand of gallons of water and hundreds of fish out into the lobby and street. Oh NO!

We had seen the new aquarium last year and it was beautiful and now it was gone. What was left of the aquarium seemed actually smaller than at the first time I had seen it three years earlier.
Kelly was impressed with the ray tank and pet them. I did not.

We wandered around the zoo catching a few shows with the foxes and the birds. I always liked the little zoo but always felt bad for the seals. too small an enclosure really , or at least I thought so.

They had some interesting art displays up and around the zoo. One exhibit was giant red ants. kind of cool. We wandered back through the zoo and out to catch our bus home. We were getting tired and were ready for a break from our vacation. We dropped off our things at Gaviotas and headed for the Beach.

It did not take us long and we were there, frolicking in the waves and sipping our drinks, lounging pool side and chatting away about the days adventures. Mazatlan has lots to offer for those who are relaxed and beach people.
A nice supper of guacamole on Tostitos was nummy and that night we watched Cranford on my computer.

7 February 2018 - Wednesday - Day 8 - beach, Music at the Rec and Brazilian BBQ

Woke up and did our morning routine of:
feed the birds, breakfast and head for the Beach.
 We love the beach and the Inn at Mazatlan. Such a rough day. swimming, wave jumping, reading, sipping drinks, swimming, wave jumping, reading, sipping drinks... you get the picture.
We had decided to do the music at the Recreo and then had a Brazilian dinner theme going for the evening (we had panned on this the night before at the pot luck so it was other spur of the moment), so around three we headed back to get changed for the evening.
 Diane brought us downtown safely enough by bus but then took us on a circuitous route to the Rec room.  We did get there in plenty of time to get  a chair. The music was very good. They jam every Wednesday evening and it is different folks playing each week depending on who is in town.  They are all very talented and we enjoyed it very much. We had to leave before the evening was finished as we had reservations to keep. walking over to the restaurant was quick as it was only about three blocks away.

Brazilian BBQ was on the agenda for the evening meal there was a special for groups so some one in the group had made reservations for us all.
 It was great food for both vegetarians and carnivors.  A lovely long salad bar and the bbq pineapple was delicious. They just kept coming around with big skewers of different meats, chicken, beef, pork. I kept covering my plate but they eventually figured it out as far as I was concerned and they stoped offering meat to me.  I did go for seconds of the pineapple.
We all had more than enough and at a very good price too

Left the recreation and walked down to the stage set up for Carnaval and listened for awhile. it was very loud. The Mexicans love love love their horns. We walked a bit further down the Malecon past some kids swimming in the ocean pool. it looked like they were having fun. We passed some stands with food and lots of people out and about in the warm evening. Someone  decided that our dinner had settled enough so  we started to look for a bus or taxi to take us home, but as there were quite a few of us so we decided on the good old mazatlan truck taxi.

A ride home in the back of a truck was something that I would have done in my youth and since we were all feeling pretty youthful, we hopped in. Trying to figure out how much each of us owed  was quite comical. We had to divide the total of 120 pesos by 6 or 7, which it seemed was very difficult for us. Maybe the wine and beer had gone to our heads. We had a great ride home and were dropped off at our corner so only had to walk one block to Gaviotas while the others carried on to their apartment blocks further on. What a lovely evening. I walked Diane up to her apartment and then came back to play ten thousand with Margie and Kelly on the upstairs patio.

6 February 2018 - Tuesday - Day 4 - A tour of Mazatlan with Jesus and a potluck

Our morning routine was getting pretty ingrained. a relaxing cup of tea or coffee, breakfast, feed the birds.
Today we had a tour planned with Jesus in the morning and then maybe the aquarium in the afternoon  and then a potluck.

Jesus picked us up and Kelly sat in the front as it was her first time to Mazatlan. Jesus was wonderful as usual.
They have rebuilt the Malecon so that you cannot really stop anywhere along it now. there is a new bicycle section which is great but no parking anymore. Although we did not stop at the seal statue he drove past it very slowly also we could get some photos. the same with some of the Carnaval statues. further down the road there was parking so we could get out and take proper photos which was nice too.

Then on to the pelican and frigate feeding. It was fun to watch Kelly nd Margie feeding the birds. Margie was the same last year as Kelly was this year. I was probably the same the first time I fed them too. You pay a couple of peso for fish and they put it on a stick for you. The idea is that you hold the stick up and the birds fly by and take it off the stick. Well the first few times you do this, you invariable hold the stick down and so the birds fly very low to try and get the fish which makes you duck and hold the stick even lower which causes the birds to fly even lower. You get the picture. "Hold the stick up,  hold the stick up".
Onward around the Malecon, past many Carnaval statues, to the dolphin fountain  with a nice stop there for photos of the fountain and the views. Kelly was enjoying the tour and the history of which there is a lot.
and then onto watch the divers. I think that I would never do this as it looks too dangerous. We all watched and then gave our pesos to the fellow collecting money for the divers.

 The tour continued around the Malecon and up into old town winding up through some very steep roads, passing very big houses, stopping for some very magnificent views of the whole of Mazatlan and the bay.


Onto the other side of the big hill to see the lighthouse. Diane and I walked up it two years ago and feel that we do not need to repeat that effort again. Jesus told us all about the history of Mazatlan and the shrimp industry and his kids and family. He is such a nice guy. A nice bite of lunch at Machado square and then we were back home. Thanks Jesus for another great tour of Mazatlan.

The waves were calling us so we were off to the Inn and the beach for the afternoon. Had a great time as usual and lovely happy hour drinks.  Kelly could live on the beach. She really could. well to be honest, so could I.  When Happy hour was over we headed back to Gaviotas and got ready for the to luck at Colleen's and Mary's apartments. We brought eggplant parmesan, a nice vegetarian dish for me. we walked over toothier place and a good time was had by all. every Tuesday there is a BYOB and potluck there attended y about 12 to 14 people. Diane friends and now my friends too.
at eh end of the evening we walked back to Gaviotas and played ten thousand again it is a pretty good game.