Friday, February 1, 2019

Noche El Pescador

Six Word Saturday Madrid  


We had a lazy morning and then headed out for an early burger at Mary's.

Took a quick stroll along Gaviota.

Dropped into Onilikan, a distiller of liqueurs using Mexican flavours such as mangos.



Tequilas flavoured with hot peppers.




Pouring a sample.


Sampling mezcal, something we have never tried.

Mezcal (or mescal) is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from any type of agave. The word mezcal comes from Nahuatl mexcalli  (metl and ixcalli) which means "oven-cooked agave". Mezcal is still made from the heart of the agave plant, called the piña, in much the same way as it was 200 years ago. In Mexico, mezcal is generally consumed straight and has a strong smoky flavor.

Yes, very smoky...


A new shop for baseball souvenirs.
Venados de Mazatlán (English: Mazatlán Deer) are a baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League. In 2016, the team won the Mexican Pacific League Championship and went on to win their second Caribbean Series, which was played in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.







Then back to the condo and spent the rest of the afternoon reading while John continued watching a series.


Heading downtown as we both had an urge for fish, this was our bus. Sure am glad we have Our Lady of Guadalupe looking out for us or is she keeping a watchful eye on the driver? It's not unusual for the driver to be on his phone.
No cracks, either in the windshield on this one.

Carol mentioned not to take the one with the flames on it!




Sunday
Inspired Sunday Copala Mexico
One Word Sunday Voyage
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge UNEXPECTED

John did potatoes, eggs and tomatoes for breakfast. We are moving units tomorrow so we wanted to get rid of some leftovers.

We packed and spent some time at the pool.




Monday 
Foto Tunes Madrid
Monday Mural Madrid
Wordless Mazatlan

We finished up packing. When moving units the resort makes it easy. You simply pack your stuff, including the foods in the pantry/fridge, check out and the bellboys will move the stuff to your new unit once it is ready.

So we settled under a palapa and had lunch.
My shrimp aguachile was delicious! John had his favourite nachos.




The bellboy remembered John and was just moving our stuff when John ran into him. We unpacked and headed to Soriana's for more groceries.







Everything unpacked and settled for six weeks!
We forgot it was the weekly welcome party and enjoyed the mariachis from our balcony. We'll go to it next week.

We had bought two steaks at Soriana's as they looked good. Good? John cooked one for us to share and it was definitely the best steak we've ever had in Mexico. It was cooked to perfection. I am drooling as I write this.

This is what a $10 steak looks like. And there was enough left for Tuesday!



Tuesday

Cee's Fun Foto Challenge Rainbow must contain 4 colours 
Tuesday Treasures Dusseldorf Germany
Dutch's Tuesday Photo Challenge ROSE

Chores for the day, get a haircut, do laundry. Nope, none checked off.

I did go down to the tienda (convenience store at resort) as I remembered I had bought a fajita spice mix in previous years. At home I make my own.
I also scored the last sour cream! So dinner was steak fajitas with fried onions, cabbage, tomatoes, jalapenos, delicious.




BUT instead we chose to go to the aquarium after lunch. And several Mazatlan To Dos got done.

Click here to see the fishy tale.



The Acuario is located in the middle of Playa Norte about 1 block east of the malecon, about halfway between Playa Olas Altas and the Zona Dorado.

Two sculptures and the aquarium on the right.

The orange building is the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Secretaría de Salud, it handles workers union health issues.


Don Cruz Lizárraga
Banda Sinaloense el Recodo de Don Cruz Lizárraga, often referred to as Banda el Recodo, is a Mexican banda formed in Mazatlán in 1938.
I'll feature more of him in Tuesday Treasures.



Neptune beckons us in.


The Mazatlán Aquarium is one of the best of its kind in Mexico. It boasts more than 200 species of fish spread across more than 50 tanks. And there is more than just fish. Outside the aquarium, behind the building are displays of snakes, crocodiles, deer, flamingos and birds. Unfortunately the sea lions' home was under renovation.






Mexican junk food.


A live show featuring snakes, the guide is asking for volunteers to come down and get their photo with a snake around their neck.




Fun planters.


Sidewalk art.


It doesn't matter where you are you have to "exit through the gift shop".


A couple more ticks/checkmarks on our list that we've whizzed past in a car/bus.

Monumento el Venadito


The central library.



We should have crossed the street as we were on the unpaved, very dusty side, but we didn't, and were covered in dust by an a$$hole driving very quickly on the shoulder.

I mentioned the Venados baseball team above. This is their stadium, Estadio Teodoro Mariscal and it can seat 15,000.




Cool house light.


Taken to remind myself!


Dusty walk requires a beer on the Malecon.






Wednesday
ABC Wednesday Letter D

We finally did do laundry.


But how bad can it be, when you can sit on the patio and read in the sun while sucking on a popsicle?

Limon for John, jamaica (hibiscus flowers) for me.



We were so thrilled to see that the Indian restaurant that we had liked in the past had opened again. We planned to go tonight as there was a Beatles tribute being performed by Los Cryps outside, around the corner.

Walking to dinner.



Pulmonias lined up in anticipation of a customer.


Garage doors were closed so we could see the full mural of Don Quixote and his sidekick, Sancho Panza.


Musician playing outside restaurant.


At least the restaurant, Taste of India, looked pretty...


But honestly, this had to be the worst Indian we have ever had. The spinach pakoras were bland and tasty ashy. At least the mango chutney (probably from a jar) had some flavour to it.


Lamb korma at front and chicken tikka masala behind. Both sauces tasted the same, without a hint of Indian spice. It tasted like a tin of Campbell's tomato soup with some cilantro.
"Indian salad" and a reheated aloo gobi.


Gaia, where the band was performing, had put black screens behind the band to block the view.


A quick clip.




Thursday
Thursday Doors Mazatlan
A Photo A Week Unexpected Window

Today was a palapa day with a picnic lunch.


I sent off photos from Spain of the couple we met there.
I also copied 2018, 2017, 2016 Annual Recaps into Google Docs as a backup.


Friday
Pull Up a Seat Toronto
Weekend Roundup Letter E
Weekend Reflections Mazatlan Aquarium
Wit's End Weekly Photo Challenge Warm and Cosy
Skywatch Friday Mazatlan


We decided to walk to Cerritos and ended up with 11,221 steps or 8.7 km.


Destination = lunch




Food = average



Entertainment = fun


Bewitches the palate!


On the walk back.





BOOKS

My e-reader is not keeping a charge longer than a couple of hours so after I finished the two hard copy books I brought with me, I checked out the books in the library here. There isn't much to my taste, but I did start one that I finally liked.

Body Surfing is a decent, by the pool read.

I'm re-reading The Thrill of it All by Joseph O'Connor, I could never get tired of his writing. Even on the second read, I had a tear in my eye at the end.

When I started Luckiest Girl Alive (popped up as a suggested read at the library) I almost quit reading after the first chapter, but I'll admit I got suckered into the story. It had horrible reviews but... Is it well-written, no, but is it a good poolside read, yes.



LINKING UP WITH
Beth hosts Weekend Cooking where you can post anything food related.
Saturday Snapshots is hosted by A Web of Stories.
Sundays in my City
Seasons
Monday Walks
Monday Morning Blog Club
Through My Lens Monday
#Travel Tuesday
Our World Tuesday
Wanderful Wednesday #wanderfulwednesday Facebook 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Weekly Postcard Friday
Feet Do Travel Friday 
#WeekendWanderlust

13 comments:

  1. What could be worse than anticipating a nice meal and being disappointed. Indian food around the world is interesting. Generally here it is very good. We had pretty ordinary Indian meals in London and in Kuala Lumpur but surprisingly we had an excellent Indian meal in a small town in Japan.

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  2. YOu’re still having fun, I see. Nice photos.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  3. Wow, so many lovely scenes...and the food! I also love all the colors. Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

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  4. Yay for being settled for 6 weeks! I sure wish I were soaking up the sights, sounds, and warmth of Mexico right now! It's so cold up here. Bummer on the two disappointing meals, but you've got some time to make up for it. :)

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  5. Every time I see your gorgeous photos from Mazatlan, my desire to visit grows. One of these days....
    In today’s Saturday Snapshot post I’m venturing outside my comfort zone.

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  6. Hi,
    Awesome shots. Thanks for sharing your
    travels..Have a great day!

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  7. Only slightly jealous here in Georgia! I am ready for winter to be over! The beach sounds wonderful! Have a great week of adventures this week.

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  8. Looking miserable where you are, Jackie! :) :) Be warned- winter temperatures in the Algarve won't match these!

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  9. Fun to chat over the SOTU address -- hope you had a few margaritas to recover!

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  10. You are truly 'living the life'!
    Thank you for sharing!

    - Lisa

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  11. All of these meals look delicious. I'm definitely craving Mexican food for breakfast now. ;) That view is incredible - it looks so peaceful. I don't know that I could have made it through the chili tequilas though - I can hardly stomach regular tequila so that seems extremely intense! ;) I think I might be convinced to do the tasting though. ;)

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