Last night was the final celebration for Mazatlan's Carnaval, and I am relieved! What started off as a novelty for us ended up getting very old. It wasn't the crowds; it was the noise. Mexican bands played loudly until 2 or 3 a.m. every night, except for last night when the band played until 4 a.m. at our street corner.
Every morning, the Malecon (seawall sidewalk) was trashed with food, paper, and liquids of dubious origin. The city street cleaners managed to clean it up every day--only to have it trashed the next night again.
We paid for a ticket to see the Saturday night parade from the Hacienda Hotel and joined some pickleball friends there.
The food, drink, and company was great, but the parade (and the bands) went on and on and on. Julia stayed until the bitter end.
I had to get up and move my cramped body from the small plastic chair into the open space at the rear of the hotel, where I could breathe.
Now that the Mardi Gras celebration is over, I'm hoping to get back to normal life in Mazatlan. We played pickleball today. I found my sweet spot today and won five out of six games. We will try to go out to eat to tonight at a place that serves regional specialties, hoping that no reservations will be needed.
