These ladies run a little restaurant that is located at the end of a long tunnel in the heart of Old Mazatlan. It was very fun to get here and very delicious as well. There is a popular tourists plaza nearby with many english speaking locals. We asked one of the locals where he eats when he goes "out" for dinner and showed us this place. We were the only ones eating.
A long day of driving takes ingenuity to keep the kids entertained. This photo was one of many taken by Maia.
We visited a very beautiful church in the old part of Mazatlan.
A nice moment on the beach.We have officially driven 5500 kms now. Phew! We are resting in .... MAZATLAN. We apologise for the lack of communication over the past few days, the availability of wifi, or even internet for that matter is not as evident. There certainly isn't any internet in our entire hotel.
Well, we started out driving in Nogales, as you may remember from Adam's last blog entry.
Adam was little nervous about crossing the border, so he threw away my nice bottle of wine that I had been carrying in my purse all the way from California. It turned out that the border crossing from the U.S INTO Mexico is not that difficult. Apparently the other way is a little harder. They didn't even check our car... I could have been sipping that wine right now.
At any rate, we crossed the border without a hitch and immediately, I mean immediately, saw that it was different country. The Nogales on the U.S side, was ugly, but it looked like any American town. The Nogales, directly on the other side was decidedly less wealthy. It shocked me. I am not sure why except that philosophically, my perception is that imaginary borders shouldn't dictate a person's living condidtions.
We made it that night to a small coastal town called San Carlos. We almost stayed at Gringo Pete's, but it was dank and dark... luckily we found a cute little motel, right downtown, which made me, *Princess Emilie, according to Adam*, feel a whole lot better. Here's the thing, I know there are cockroaches in Mexico, I just wasn't mentally prepared to greet them as soon as I walked into the bathroom.
That night we decided to go for bust...The nearest beach was a ten hour drive away from San Carlos, so we got up at 5:45 in the morning, threw everyone in the van and started driving.
Are we crazy? Perhaps...but the kids were really great the whole day, and we finally made it to Mazatlan by about 4 in the afternoon.
There are three prett distinct zones in Mazatlan, the old town, the north beach and then the Zona Dorada. The Zona Dorada is where all of the mega resorts are located, the north beach is where the Mexican people go on their vacations, and the old town is the original site of Mazatlan tourism boom in the 1950's.
We are staying in the north beach at a hotel where noone speaks English. It has been great for our Spanish, and we are learning a few things about this new country.
First of all, we need to live louder. People definetly live louder here than in North America. Last night we had a soccer team partying on the street outside our window until 4 or 5 in the morning. You get used to the noise. I like the colour and vibrancy.
Secondly, I was a disgusting person when I was a smoker. The beach is littered with old cigarette butts. I am sure that I threw mine into the sand as well, back when I smoked. Yuck!
Lastly, find a kind waiter to direct to where the good Mexican food is. We found a restaurant that was hidden in a tunnel across from the theatre here. It was authentic, fresh and muy delicioso. It was called El Tunnel in fact, for those of you who may be in Mazatlan at some point. There is a picture of the women who cooked and served us a little further on.
Thanks for all of your comments this week. Shannon, I hope that your little family joins the adventure at some point. Let us know if you have any questions. Lana, we can't wait to hear any new that you have. Dad and Lauren we are calling you soon. Anna, we would love to meet for tea, and finally Rox...we will take your advice and ask the older and hopefully wiser women for directions and advice.
We are moving on tomorrow...hope to write again soon.
Well, we started out driving in Nogales, as you may remember from Adam's last blog entry.
Adam was little nervous about crossing the border, so he threw away my nice bottle of wine that I had been carrying in my purse all the way from California. It turned out that the border crossing from the U.S INTO Mexico is not that difficult. Apparently the other way is a little harder. They didn't even check our car... I could have been sipping that wine right now.
At any rate, we crossed the border without a hitch and immediately, I mean immediately, saw that it was different country. The Nogales on the U.S side, was ugly, but it looked like any American town. The Nogales, directly on the other side was decidedly less wealthy. It shocked me. I am not sure why except that philosophically, my perception is that imaginary borders shouldn't dictate a person's living condidtions.
We made it that night to a small coastal town called San Carlos. We almost stayed at Gringo Pete's, but it was dank and dark... luckily we found a cute little motel, right downtown, which made me, *Princess Emilie, according to Adam*, feel a whole lot better. Here's the thing, I know there are cockroaches in Mexico, I just wasn't mentally prepared to greet them as soon as I walked into the bathroom.
That night we decided to go for bust...The nearest beach was a ten hour drive away from San Carlos, so we got up at 5:45 in the morning, threw everyone in the van and started driving.
Are we crazy? Perhaps...but the kids were really great the whole day, and we finally made it to Mazatlan by about 4 in the afternoon.
There are three prett distinct zones in Mazatlan, the old town, the north beach and then the Zona Dorada. The Zona Dorada is where all of the mega resorts are located, the north beach is where the Mexican people go on their vacations, and the old town is the original site of Mazatlan tourism boom in the 1950's.
We are staying in the north beach at a hotel where noone speaks English. It has been great for our Spanish, and we are learning a few things about this new country.
First of all, we need to live louder. People definetly live louder here than in North America. Last night we had a soccer team partying on the street outside our window until 4 or 5 in the morning. You get used to the noise. I like the colour and vibrancy.
Secondly, I was a disgusting person when I was a smoker. The beach is littered with old cigarette butts. I am sure that I threw mine into the sand as well, back when I smoked. Yuck!
Lastly, find a kind waiter to direct to where the good Mexican food is. We found a restaurant that was hidden in a tunnel across from the theatre here. It was authentic, fresh and muy delicioso. It was called El Tunnel in fact, for those of you who may be in Mazatlan at some point. There is a picture of the women who cooked and served us a little further on.
Thanks for all of your comments this week. Shannon, I hope that your little family joins the adventure at some point. Let us know if you have any questions. Lana, we can't wait to hear any new that you have. Dad and Lauren we are calling you soon. Anna, we would love to meet for tea, and finally Rox...we will take your advice and ask the older and hopefully wiser women for directions and advice.
We are moving on tomorrow...hope to write again soon.
3 comments:
it is so crqazy to think how far you've gone, and in such a short amount of time. We so enjoy readeing about your adventures. We love the picture of little Naomi, Jay thought it looked so much like Emilie.
No news on our baby yet, just teaching us a little more about patience I guess. Sahtu sends his love, and really enjoys seeing all the pictures of Maya. Love to all. xoxoxoxo our family to yours xoxoxoxo
I love all the pictures too..please send more. I can't believe how adorable and chubby little Naomi has become. Thinking of you all the time!
xoxoxoxooxoxox
maia gets the photo award for that lovely shot of naomi. good picture maia. love grandma la
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