TPThursday: Getting Stoned in Mascota, Mexico

Our trip down Mexico’s Memory Lane took us last Saturday to the small town of Mascota, Mexico, nestled high in the Sierra Madre’s behind Puerto Vallarta.

We were delighted to see that little had changed since our last visit nearly a decade ago. The pasteleria (bakery), the iglesia (church), the zocalo (town square), the archeological museum; all were as we remembered them. 

As we toured our favorites, Joel recalled ‘that house made of stone' and we set off to stand on the sidewalk and admire its construction as we’d done on previous visits.



What made it so amazing was that the stones used in the border on this two-story home’s façade were so small they could  easily fit in one’s hand. It obviously had been meticulous, painstakingly detailed work.



However, we were no longer  forced to admire the home from the sidewalk because seven years ago it had become a museum; El Pedregal Museo, The Stone Museum. Paying the 10 peso per person admission fee (less than $1US) gave us entry to one of those quirky, unexpected experiences that make this life of travel so wonderful.

We were greeted by the owner, curator, artist and our personal guide, all rolled into one Don Francisco Rodriguez, who told me I could photograph anything in the place with the exception of the dozens of historic photos that line the walls (each in a stone frame, of course).



Perhaps because we were the only visitors at the time or because we were genuinely interested in his work, we toured the upstairs living area as well as the downstairs gallery. (Note the coffee table and the television surfaces as well as the walls are stone.)



The dark diamond shape designs around the bed’s headboard and base are created by hundreds of black stones set into hundreds of gray stones that make up the background. “This is Fred Flintstone’s bed,” Don Rodriguez joked, as he provided a running commentary in Spanish.


Everything and every surface in the gallery was covered with stone, including the guitars, and vases displayed at a stone planter.

Tables and chairs, whimsical and practical, you couldn’t help but be ‘stoned’ by the displays.

 

Even the public restrooms in the gallery were stone, from the toilet to the sink and waste basket (yes, this really is the ladies room).

“Pero, por que piedra? (But, why stone?), Joel asked of our 76-year-old artist as he explained how he goes to the river and searches for rocks, loads them into a wheelbarrow and hauls them back to his work table in the museum.

“Porque es mi pasion, (Because it is my passion),” he answered simply with a shrug and a grin. 

We spent far more time in the little museum than we had planned; his photos and the stories he told about them provided a fascinating history of this town in which he has lived his life.

I told him I planned to write about him and his museum for this blog. It was only then that he told me he was also a writer,  he’s authored four books on various historical aspects of the town and its culture.  (We later saw them displayed all over town). 

Writing is another of his passions and to that one I could relate!

Note:  If you find yourself in Mascota, (a 2.5 hour drive from Puerto Vallarta) the Stone Museum is two blocks beyond the town square and church. It is open ‘all the time’ according to Don Rodriguez (and if it isn’t, it would be worth going back to when it was). 

Today is Travel Photo Thursday so rock on over to Budget Travelers Sandbox to take a photo tour of other great places in the world.

Adios Riviera Nayarit ~ Hola Sierra Madres

We are spending our last day in Riviera Nayarit at this week’s ‘home away from home’ - our beach front, Villa del Palmar Flamingos.

Our deluxe studio (the smaller lock-off side of this timeshare resort two-bedroom unit) has provided us a huge ‘home’ and a beautiful view out over the grounds and to the Bahia de Banderas (Banderas Bay).  It’s North America’s second largest bay.


We nabbed this ‘home’ on an Interval World Getaway package that brought the cost to $60US a night (regular rate is $200US).  Again, we are reminded of why we are loving the timeshare world. We are sold on our membership benefits in this exchange company and recommend it to all of you who also have fractional ownership properties.





We are back in the zona turistica, the tourist zone, between Puerto Vallarta and Bucerias, so there’s been a lot more resort-like feel to this location than our digs further out towards Punta Mita last week.  We would be hard pressed to choose between them, so we have decided a good solution would be a two-week stay again, split between them.


We are an easy walk back into our old stomping grounds of Bucerias, and less than a 10 minute drive from it.  So although we’ve eaten at home a couple evenings, our social life with old friends has picked up and prompted a number of dinners out.  I’ll tell you about our old haunts in a future post.

For the golf enthusiasts out there, we are surrounded by three golf courses. 


But all good things come to an end, so tomorrow we are leaving the beach area and heading up into the Sierra Madres for a step back in time and a bit more Mexican adventure.  We found some small town treasures up yonder in those hills a few years back. . .we want to see if they still exist.  We’ll let you know next week.
Happy Cinco De Mayo!

TPThursday: Mexico Magic ~ Un Fiesta Grande

Travel Photo Thursday finds us continuing our travels in Mexico ~ land of song and dance ~ living la vida buena  (the good life).  And nothing says good life  better than a fiesta. . .so let the party begin!



We’d been talked into buying tickets, about $40US each, to this fiesta by one of our waiters at the place we are staying this week, Villa del Palmar Flamingos.  Would it be too touristy, we wondered, after our purchase.  Would it be worth what we had paid?

Toes begin tapping in the audience – made up of both Mexican and foreign visitors - with the first notes of the rousing songs performed by Mariachis, those iconic singing, strumming minstrels of Mexico. . .



And then they added some most-talented dancers in colorful dress. . .



And while we watched  these talented folks we danced our way between tables laden with ensaladas (salads), sopas (soups) and tortillas con salsa and tamales, and chicken en mole salsa, and frijoles (beans) and thankfully didn’t have room for the postres (deserts). . .but then what’s a  fiesta without food and drink!?

 
One of my favorite dances is the Dance of the Viejos (the old ones) which brings dance steps and slapstick comedy to the show.

Masked young men, tapping those canes, do a riveting job of jumping, falling and bringing on rounds of laughter during this routine.












Somehow the early evening twilight had become nighttime darkness.  Those thoughts of ‘touristy’ were long gone; they were lost to the Mexico Magic of their songs and dances. 

 
That’s a view of Mexico for this week’s contribution to Travel Photo Thursday.  To see what else is happening in the world, dance on over to Budget Travelers Sandbox.

Casa de la Playa: Asi es la Vida

‘Asi es la vida’, in Spanish means, “such is life.” 

We didn’t rush to the small beach road. It wasn’t until our third trip to Bucerias, a small beach town north of Puerto Vallarta, last week that Joel suggested we  go visit our ‘old place.’  Walking down the beach road as we had done so many hundreds of times before brought back a flood of memories – both good and bad.



Our Casa de la Playa, House of the Beach,  once reigned at the end of this road.  Now the road is blocked by a tall fence that encloses a condominium building called The Albatros. Our old Grand Dame was bulldozed within months of our sale to new owners from Mexico City. 

Somehow their assurances at the time of the sale that they loved the casa and would use it for years to come made saying ‘adios’ a bit easier.  They obviously hadn’t loved it as much as they claimed.

Ah, but, asi es la vida.

There’s a prison-like feel to the large solid metal fence enclosing the place these days.
 
The garden area once at the side of the casa is now a very snug parking lot. The Albatros is one of a half dozen such multi-storied condo buildings that line the Bucerias beachfront these days – each vying for buyers.

We smiled as we noted the many “For Sale’ signs plastered to the front of this five unit building. And continued smiling as we walked down the beach.

Yes, Asi, es la vida.

Rancho Banderas: At ‘home’ in Riviera Nayarit Mexico

From the time we booked it, we knew this trip was different from those of the past. But that was never more evident than as the plane was making its approach at the Puerto Vallarta airport:  We weren’t scribbling a ‘to do’ list of home improvement projects that had to be completed while we were here.

This trip, seven years after the sale of our last home in Bucerias, is strictly for pleasure. We have entered the timeshare world, where those ‘to do’ lists are someone else’s worry.

And while I may have said we like this new lifestyle in earlier posts –  let me tell you this trip has made us realize we are loving it!

We are spending two weeks on Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit, an area just north of Puerto Vallarta. Our time is split between two timeshare resorts, the first is Rancho Banderas on Playa Destiladeras about half way between the town of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and Punta de Mita.  (Our deck is to the left of the resort’s restaurant palapa, that conical thatched roof in the photo above and the infinity swimming pools cascade down the cliff side to the right of the restaurant.)

Our one-bedroom unit is located on the top floor of this small development (there are less than 50 units here) and provides us an incredible deck on which we do nothing. Yes, do nothing. We’ve not had time to do nothing before in Mexico and are finding it quite enjoyable.

  Each  day we have walked  the beach, often playing in the warm ocean waters in the late afternoon. We have daily maid service so there isn’t much housework to do. We’ve eaten most of our meals at home (but with a deck with a view  like we have, who needs to go elsewhere?)

Our kitchen and dining room are just the right size as is the living area and bedroom.

The cost of our week’s stay in this ocean-front condo was only the price of a $119 booking fee, or about $17 a day, as part of a promotion offered by our timeshare exchange company, Interval International. 

We will move to our new place at Nuevo Vallarta on Saturday. 

As we made our final stroll on this beach we speculated: Can it get better than this?

Stay tuned, we’ll let you know.

‘Basting Away’ in Margaritaville, Mexico

We are basting ourselves with suntan lotion on this Travel Photo Thursday as we play on the sand and in the sea  20  miles north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. 

We are in the midst of our first of two weeks on Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit; this week on Playa Destiladeras. So slide into that empty chair below, there’s a margarita just waiting for you as we celebrate another great day in paradise.



We drank the margarita pictured above at El Dorado, on Playa Anclote, near Punta de Mita, and a few miles north of where we are staying.  We’ve come to this restaurant for more than two decades to spend a few late afternoon hours and usher in sunset.
 
 

We’d begun our sunset celebration in this Mexican Margaritaville at another long-time hangout on this same beach,  El Anclote, which has been around since the mid-1980’s.  Our entertainment there was watching the beach vendors peddle their wares: jewelry, wood carvings, hammocks, rugs, and clothing  One of the most popular was the candy/nut vendor:



I wasn’t the only one pulled to his display like metal to a magnet:



Sunset and margaritas seem to go hand-in-hand in Mexico but this time of year the sun doesn’t set until after 8 p.m. – long after we’d sipped our margaritas. We toasted this day in tropical paradise with a glass of vino as we watched the sunset from our deck at the condo where we are staying.



Many of you know this trip is taking us down Memory Lane. It’s our first visit since we sold the last of our homes here seven years ago. It has been a blend of discovery and nostalgia. I’ll tell you more about our Memory Lane, the places we are staying and Bucerias in future posts.

For now it is Travel Photo Thursday so stop by Budget Travelers Sandbox for another great photo journey around the world.

Dining at Carnival’s “Chef’s Table”

The cooks moved in synchronized precision preparing and handing off  plates to the parade of wait staff who would deliver them to the hundreds of fellow cruisers eating that night in Carnival Spirit’s formal dining room.

We watched the  choreographed movements from the pastry table at one side of the ship’s shining stainless steel galley; a culinary arts gallery, not galley, we thought.  We also sipped a glass of Prosecco, (that white Italian wine with just a bit fewer bubbles than champagne), with our Head Chef Jerry Furtado.

Actually our Chef Jerry only sipped only enough to make a welcome toast to the 13 of us who were embarking on a near three-hour, eight-course gastronomic odyssey known as “The Chef’s Table,” ~ a fine dining experience that surpassed anything we’ve ever experienced on any of our previous cruises.

Our extravaganza began with a tour of the galley, and a private reception there which included a sampling of appetizers with such goodies as: Chorizo and dates, Piquilo Sofrito and Langoustine and Sundried Tomato Jam Fritters. (sorry, photos weren’t allowed in the galley).

Then it was on to our private dining room and a parade of food so delicious that even writing about it now, several weeks later, can make my mouth water.   There is not enough room to show you it all, but here’s a taster:

Our wait staff  hovered throughout the meal to make sure everything was as it should be, asking repeatedly, “Is it to your liking?”





This garlic brioche was too much for my will-power. It was baked in a miniature flower pot. Way too cute and way too tasty. . .I ate it all and they brought another!


The Chef’s Table was launched as a pilot on a few Carnival ships in 2010 and as result of its popularity it is now offered on all 23 ships in the fleet. 

We had been on the ship for only two hours when we learned of the dinner and that there were only a couple of spaces were left. Make note, word is out: this experience is popular!

The cost was $75 per person which included unlimited wine (as if you had room to drink to excess) and included the galley tour and souvenir photo.

The photo above was of the salmon course (which arrived fifth in a series of scrumptious offerings).  What I found most delightful on this plate was the paper thin red rolls standing to the left of the salmon. They were dehydrated beets and the dark speckles on the carrots were a dusting of truffles.

The salmon was followed by a course called Wagyu, slow stewed short ribs and the dinner finished with the plate pictured to the side, simply titled, “Chef in a Candy Shop”.

Each morsel was mouth-watering, including all those little morsels tucked between the wafers. By the time we got to this course I was in a near coma- state from overeating. . .I sampled half these ‘tasties’ wishing I had just a bit more room.


Should you find yourself on a Carnival cruise in the future we would wholeheartedly recommend signing up – early! -- for The Chef’s Table. You won’t be disappointed.  I can tell you that meal alone is reason enough for me to take another Carnival cruise.

Note:  Google has changed its format and I am on the road, bear with me if the spacing and flow of this post is jumbled.

Traveling and Writing ~ Love and Legacy

On a ‘cool, slightly overcast’ Friday, March 23rd, 1956  -- the Italian freighter, Eugenio C, set sail at 8 p.m. from Dock 5, in Brooklyn, New York  heading to Genoa, Italy.

Among its passengers were a Central Washington State daily newspaper reporter and her photographer husband, Phil and Dean Spuler.

Following their April 8th arrival in Italy and a few days spent with friends on the Riviera; they boarded a train in Chamberey, France bound for Milan, Italy.

(photo of the Spulers departing France)









In Milan they purchased two Lambretta scooters, (earlier versions of the one pictured here),
that would carry them on a year and a half  journey through Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England, Scotland and Ireland.



But their story really doesn’t begin nor end with this journey . . .

Phil and Dean Spuler

Phil (who never used her given name, Phyllis) and Dean  had met in the late 1940’s  while students at San Jose State College in  California;  both worked on the campus paper, the Spartan Daily. Times were tough, money scarce. Romance bloomed, they married and began their careers at the paper now known as the Yakima Herald-Republic in Central Washington State.

It was at that paper, in the early 1980’s, that as a ‘cub reporter’, I worked with -- and became friends with -- the Spulers. They were the seasoned professionals and as such, mentors, in a newsroom bursting with several other near college-age journalists. They’d returned to the newspaper at the conclusion of their European adventure (and stayed until their retirements).






Their European Adventure

It was never clear what had sparked their desire to sell most of their belongings and head to Europe. Perhaps inspired by writer Ernest Hemingway who had returned to Paris in 1944 or Julia Child, of cookbook fame, who arrived in France four years later. . .they never said. Regrettably, I never thought to ask.

Their travel budget was $5 a day and that included all food, lodging and travel expenses. They stayed in youth hostels and rode their scooters in both good and bad weather.

Their travel journals tell of spending  the winter in Paris where they enrolled in a French language school, and spent time exploring art galleries, sidewalk cafes, and attending plays and operas.

Spring found them in Berlin. They returned to the United States the summer of 1957 on a small Italian passenger ship.



Their Love and Legacy

Our friendship grew over three decades and during that time their travels – although shorter and more luxurious than their Europe trip – included cruises and excursions to foreign lands. They drove “dune-buggies’ through the desert surrounding  their Arizona retirement community until age and health slowed them. Then, they told us, they lived vicariously through our travels.

Prior to their deaths – now, a few years ago – they set forth their wishes to help other journalism students at their alma mater, San Jose State University.  Since then we’ve had the pleasure of working with the university to make that happen: Each year two scholarships are available to journalism and photojournalism students. They endowed an annual symposium.








Author’s note: I wrote this post after returning from a whirlwind campus tour of the media and journalism department at San Jose State University this week. Joel and I attended the 4th Annual Spuler Ethics in Media Symposium, we visited the college newspaper and magazine. We met inspiring and enthusiastic professors and students.

Our two-day visit concluded with meeting this year’s journalism scholarship recipient; a soft-spoken, dedicated young man, Francisco Rendon,  former editor of the  Spartan Daily paper and now a contributing writer to it.

When we asked of his future plans. He told us he’ll be writing for an organization in Israel.   Travel and writing. . .we know  Phil and Dean Spuler would be delighted!