Spain

The airplane tickets have been bought, the cruise has been purchased, the hotel room has been reserved, the transfers are all in line. Spain and Italy here we come. We've been planning this fiftieth anniversary trip for several months but it didn't become real until today. I am so excited I can hardly breathe.

Just checking again. Going to use thus for Barcelona.

Mexico

Just checking to see if my blog is still viable

It's been a while

Will continue blog when we arrive in Mexico. Here now, staying in an adorable house with a small pool. Too bad the water temperature is 93 degrees

How did we get so lucky?

We still haven't figured this out. Why did Jeanette trust us with her most valuable possessions, her kitty Silk, and her beautiful Mexican home? She hardly knows us.

On New Year's Eve I received and email from our friend Jeanette wishing us a Happy New year and commenting that since our mutual friend Lisa was still laid up in Portland, she was looking for a house/cat sitter for her month-long trip to New Zealand. I quickly printed out the letter and asked my reluctant husband to read it NOW. When he finished I asked "would you consider going back down to Mazatlan for about five weeks in Feb/Mar?" I think he said "hell yes". Moments later I asked a similar question electronically to Jeanette, "would you consider us?" I checked Travelocity and they had 2 seats left for the time we wanted so I booked them. One hour from start to finish. I didn't sleep well wondering if there was something we forgot that would prevent us from going.

If you were ever a teenage girl you may remember making a list of what you required in a husband. Tall, dark and handsome, must have a good sense of humor, must be a good dancer etc. Never did I add "must love Mexico as much as I do" to the list,but I got it anyway. It's a miracle!! By the way I didn't get everything on the list (dancing)

I know I've been remiss in my blogging---I have so much to say I don't know where to start. So here's the beginning.

Hacienda Las Moras

The transition from sunny, warm, Mazatlan to cool, cloudy, Beaverton was not as bad as I expected. After a day or two of walking from window to window trying to get some light in my brain and dressing myself in flannel and shawls I'm back to normal. It's good to be with my stuff. (even though at my advanced age I have way too much stuff) Our trip to the hacienda which occurred on Nov 10th was so fabulous I had to write about it even though it was a couple weeks ago.

We set off about 12:15 from our condo with Gary and Carol to go to lunch and visit a tequila factory, Los Osuna. We drove up the Malecon, past all the beautiful hotels and shops in the Zona Dorada, out into the country north and west of Mazatlan. Gary, who can't see worth a whit sat in the backseat of his car with me and Marshmellow (the dog), while Carol drove with Rick riding shotgun. And we drove and drove, and drove. Gary knew where the place was but was at a disadvantage being half blind and trying to give directions from the rear. The roads are poorly marked in Mexico. Finally we found the cut-off for the road to Noria and the Hacienda Las Moras (mulberries). Gary told Carol to drive carefully because there could be goats and burros crossing the road. That verbal cue plus the visual of the Mexican landscape must have woken up an ancient memory of my first trip to Mexico in 1964. Tears welled up in my eyes and I had to stop myself from crying. My friends Nancy Teeter and Carol Gruber took a month long road trip here so many years ago.

We followed the signs for the Hacienda---difficult because there were so many side roads (dirt). On a hill we spotted a small church which belonged to the property so we knew we were close. Gary asked us if we wanted to eat first or see the tequila place first and we all yelled out in unison---EAT!!! We found the parking lot after taking a dangerous service road. Rick got out of the car and opened the gate. We were the only people there, but soon an English-speaking caretaker arrived and said the dining room was open. Someone said if it wasn't, Gary was walking home. It was 2:15

The hacienda was magical, grand and old, colorful paint, carved furniture, fountains and flowers. We walked to the covered outdoor dining room through a huge lobby(?) with very high ceilings and huge paintings on the walls. We found a big, round table and a nice waiter handed us the English/Spanish menus Carol and I ordered mango margaritas, Pacifico for the guys.

The food was delicious. I had bean soup, as did Rick, and Huatinago Veracruzana. Rick also had fonduta which was melted Chihuahua cheese covered with diced spicy chorizo.
Afer lunch we strolled around the grounds among the peacocks and roosters roaming free and down the hill to the paddocks for the horses. The caretaker came back and asked Carol and I if we wanted to see the rooms. When he opened the door, Carol took a deep breath and said, "what a place for an affair". It was beautiful, massive, antique furniture, dark colors, no telephone and no television. OH yeah!!!

All of us except Gary came very close to throwing up our hand and yelling "uncle" when we were driving around, tired, hungry, thirsty, and frustrated. I'm so happy we didn't. The hacienda was one of the best things that happened to us in Mexico. It took us twenty minutes to get home. We never did get to see the tequila place---next time.

While we were driving in the countryside we came upon something that could have been a movie scene, I swear. We came around a corner and there were, under a shady tree, two police cars one one side and a police pick-up on the other. There was just enough space for a car to maneuver through. There were at least a dozen Federales in full regalia, guns, assault rifles and bandelaros. They stopped us, of course. Gary spoke to them in Spanish, popped the trunk for a quick inspection and off we went.

I'll post some pictures which do not fully explain the feeling of being in this beautiful place. Rick says when we go back we are going to spend a few days there.

Jeanette

On our El Dia de los Muertos excursion to the Plazuela Machado, we met a woman from New Zealand with a delightful accent. She had a blond dutch-boy haircut, and was wearing a simple but beautiful orange shift and shoulder wrap that she had created. She is a world traveler, having recently arrived here from Victoria BC where she had lived for many years. To my great surprise I received and e-mail from her inviting us for sangria and "nibbles". She lives in a restored house in Centro Historico and I knew from talking to this creative woman that the house would be spectacular. I wasn't disappointed. We walked down the street from the Puerto Viajo, past the Casa de Leyendas, to her cream and terra cotta colored house. The doors to the houses in Mexico are right on the sidewalk--no front yards. You can't see what is inside until you go in. When Jeanette opened the door we walked into the living and I gasped. Tall ceilings, of course and dark tiled floors covered in some areas with Oriental carpets. The drapes covering the high windows were white, a panel of lace then a panel of plain, with rosettes spaced evenly at the top. The stuffed and comfortable-looking furniture were also covered with white slipcovers. The other furniture was perfect in that space, including a carved armoire she had brought from Italy via Victoria.
There were two bedrooms on the first floor, converted into and office and a sewing room. Each had a white covered day bed with white mosquito netting above. Colorful cookbooks were propped on the blue-tiled kitchen counter, a kitchen you could easily create a meal in. On a table leading to the kitchen there were 2-3 large ironstone soup tureens and other tasteful articles---I forget exactly what they were.
Jeanette then led us up the tiled staircase with wrought iron hand rails each of us carrying some food and drink to her bedroom and outdoor living areas. The bed was covered in beautiful white textiles including cut-work toss pillows. Her seventeen year old orange cat, Seth, making a nice contrast on the bed. There was a small covered terrace with a table and chairs on one side of the room and a huge rooftop terrace on the other. Another gasp!!! She had three green umbrella covered tables, one umbrella was like a flower and comfortable chairs placed for conversation. In the middle was a portable firepit. It's still too hot here to use it.
On the terrace there was a feast. We had red wine sangria, the best I've ever had---fruity but not too sweet. There were curried deviled eggs, nuts, bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, toasted bread cups for the wonderful and colorful cold marinated large shrimp. I hope she will give me the recipe.
This remarkable woman left her comfort zone and a seventeen year long relationship because she was tired of being cold. Her other option was India but she opted for Mazatlan because it is only a four hour flight to Vancouver, BC where she has a son who is ill.
I have become Rick's little girl since we've been here. He holds my had on the bumpy sidewalks and crossing the street. I can not imagine at sixty-four years old, selling my house, doing all the paper work required, packing my household for shipping--literally--it goes to Manzanillo by ship, and then trucked to Maz--- and moving to Mexico by myself

Good for you, Jeanette. I'm really glad I met you

By the way, she know Lisa. I'm not even surprised anymore.