Carnaval is Over

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.

Carnaval: Mazatlan

In New Orleans, it may be spelled Carnival, but in Mazatlan all of the signs say Carnaval.  The partying began last night.  I slept on my good ear beautifully throughout the night, oblivious to the noise, but Julia assured me that it went until at least 3:30 a.m. 

I walk Callie for four miles every morning here, starting at 5:30 a.m., along the Malecon.  Some mornings we see people coming home from the bars--just as the sun is coming up at 6 a.m.  What was interesting this morning is all of the people who slept on the Malecon last night in lawn chairs, sleeping bags, and tents.  

For many poorer Mexicans, the hotels are simply out of reach in price, but that doesn't mean others can't participate in Carnival celebration if you are creative about where to spend the night.  These weren't just drunks, although there were a few of those.  Entire families crowded together to keep warm, young and old. 

Also, as the sun was coming up, the Malecon became full of people rolling suitcases down the street.  I can only assume that they arrived on an early morning bus.  

Anyway, Callie and I had quite the obstacle course, and neither of us do well in crowds.

I think I've mentioned before that Mazatlan is the shrimp capital of the world.   On a street called Aquiles Serdan, there is a shrimp market for about two blocks, where you can buy just about any size or type of shrimp or other shellfish.  Here is one stand:

The state of Sinaloa, where Mazatlan is located, is famous for a dish called aquachile, which is made of raw shrimp submerged in liquid seasoned with peppers, lime juice, salt, slides of cucumber and onion. 

The shrimp was delicious, and sunset contributed to a wonderful meal.  

 

 view from our second floor table

Valentine's Day 2023

Julia and I walked down to the big mercado today and bought a half kilo of carne adobada (marinated meat) and some green bean.s  Then we bought brownies (that tasted more like cake) from a bakery.  With some fresh bread that we picked up from the grocery store near us, we had the makings of our Valentine's Dinner.

The dinner was made complete when our landlady dropped off flowers and a bottle of wine to make up for the repairs to the swimming pool/hot tub this week, putting it temporarily out of commission.   Totally unnecessary but very sweet.  Customer service is a thing in Mexico--even in the absence of complaints.  She asked me in Spanish if I was happy with our place.    I said, "Claro que si!"     (Of course)

I also bought some Chiapas coffee beans from the local roaster.  I was running out of my home roast.  

It was cooler today--temperatures in the high 70's but breezy.  Tonight it's supposed to drop to 46.  

We met our neighbors who are here from Oregon for a wedding.  They were very interested in our road trip and would like to visit the interior of Mexico and bring their dog. 

The Observatory and the Lighthouse

After leaving the market, we wound our way through the city streets, first climbing to the Observatorio 1873.  This is a new attraction that opened up in 2021.  There is an original observatory that was built in 1873, furnished from that time period.  A tram takes ticket holders there.  Tickets were $25 each.  I decided to enjoy the view from below.

Now, we needed to go down to come back up.  Hiking along the streets toward the Baja and Stone Island Ferries, we crossed a narrow peninsula to the bottom of the El Farrow Lighthouse hike.  

There is no fee to enter, but there is a ticket to be purchased in order to walk out on to a see-through ledge for "the very best views."  This ticket was only 30 pesos each (less than $2).  In hindsight, I would have paid $5 not to go out on the ledge.

The trail is steep, but people of all ages, mostly locals, were hiking alongside us. One young woman overheated and was receiving first aid from several rangers.   There were multiple switchbacks with spectacular views of Old Historical Mazatlan and nearby islands.

There are a lot of steps. 

Once we made it to the top, we actually had to walk down a few steps to get in line for the “paid view.”

It’s possible that I started grumbling here.

After what seemed like hours (Julia said less than one), we were instructed to remove our shoes and walk out in groups of ten to the see-thru landing strip for the view.  Each group was given three minutes.

On the way down, we saw a few of the famous cats that live near the top. They have the good sense to enjoy the free views.

Los Mercados

We did a lot of exploring today, but I’ll break it down into multiple posts so that I have something to blog about on pickleball days.

The primary downtown Mazatlan market is about thirty minutes walk from our rental place. We could walk about half that distance on the easy-to-walk Malecón, but then had to take to the streets for the rest of the way. Sidewalks in Mazatlan are dangerous and require a high degree of alertness with one’s head on a swivel. They are often uneven, broken, narrow, and sometimes they just disappear. When possible, I prefer to walk in the street against traffic. 

Before reaching the main market, we unexpectedly found the Saturday Organic Market a few blocks away at Plaza  Zaragoza.  

The customers here appeared to be overwhelmingly Americans and Canadians. Prices were high—about what you would expect in the U.S.  We checked it out in ten minutes or so (it’s very small) and continued on our way.

El Mercado Pino Suarez is a huge market with vendors selling just about anything you can imagine. 

Julia picked up some rings at a sewing supply vendor to complete some pot holders that she has been weaving. Here the customers were overwhelmingly Mexican.  English-speaking vendors were the exception rather than the rule.

I was especially interested in buying some produce and meat, but we had several hours of walking and a steep hike (more on that next time) to do, so that would have to wait.

A Friday in Mazatlan

The weekend is when Mazatlan really opens up and blossoms.  Mexicans from the interior of Mexico come here on the weekends to vacation and party.  By Friday afternoon, there were twice as many people on the beaches as earlier in the week.  Bands were playing.  Kids were running in the surf.  Popup bars, taco stands, and street vendors showed up in places that we had not seen before.

 

This morning, I was up early trying to tire Callie out so that we could leave her for most of the day in the condo in her crate.  I did a brisk walk of 4.5 miles on the Malecon (the beachside walkway), while Julia went for a short run. After breakfast, we walked a mile up to a local college for our first day of pickleball club.  The club is called the Mazatlan Pickleball Academy, which maybe should have been my first hint that this was going to be a higher level of play than the recreational style to which we are accustomed.

These players are intense. The day started off with drills, which I found helpful, but it was totally unexpected.   Each day of play (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), a round robin tournament is held during which scores and outcomes are meticulously kept, and players move to higher or lower courts, based upon outcomes.  I did okay so will probably keep my place, neither moving up or down. 

Julia had a rough day and will probably move to a lower level which will be more fun for her (I hope).  I ended up playing for almost four hours before my court's tournament was completed.  

We headed over to the beachfront restaurant for a late lunch.  Julia had grilled dorado (fish).  I had a craving for hamburger and fries, so that's what I had.  

Finally, we freed Callie and later took her along on a Malecon and beach walk as the sun set.  

We made sandwiches at home tonight and have settled in for a night of reading.  The weekend fireworks along the beach have already started.