Sunday Concert Jan 20th……The Romancio Latino Ventura Quartet

Still trying to catch up my blog posts.  I am coping but it is slow and requires more data. Another few days and I should become current.  I could explain the whole painful process but in the end the issue is that Google has placed a stumbling block in the way of Open Live Writer’s ability to post pictures.  I am not alone in this predicament. 

We are seated and the audience is starting to file in for the performance. 

Now how did we get this picture.  Well…we bumped into Colin and Contessa who were seated below us in the center seats.  Contessa is a well know RVing blogger who winters with her husband Colin on Stone Island (Isla de Piedra).  We have become blogging friends over the past few years.  She offered to take a picture of us both….thank-you!

There they are seated in the center of the photo.  Colin is a renowned photographer and accomplished guitarist as well.  He travels to Culiacan each winter to play with other talented guitarists and this year Contessa will go with him.  That would be something to sit in and listen to!  They both know some of today’s performers. 

It’s not a full house but it’s pretty darn close.

I’ll bet you wonder why it’s called a quartet when there are five people.  Well  the young lady in the middle has been invited to join and sometimes they are a quintet. 

Gordon explained how talented this group is and also that they are travelling to Europe this year to play there.  We heard about the history of the group and also a description of the music that they perform.  

We start off with the quartet…from the left and I hope I get this right Marco Vinicio, Mario Velarde, Alfonso Bernal and the lead singer and director Leoncio Bernal Amador. 

Alfonso and Leoncio.  Leoncio  has a very strong and beautiful voice.

And now they are five!  They are joined by Xenia Beltran Najera.   During her first number we were treated to her amazing vocal range.  Should she really let her voice go I think the walls would shake!

Mario on solo.

Each number was introduced in Spanish and then Marco translated into English.  I believe they all have some ability to speak English and it was obvious how much they were enjoying themselves as they joked back and forth.

A little friendly teasing before the next number.

You can see how lovely Xenia is.

I believe this is the final number and Xenia singing was absolutely amazing.  A fine addition to the “ quartet!”
There was a very long standing ovation which was rewarded with a final number.  One of the performers turned his cell phone to the audience to take a picture of our very warm and loud applause. 
It was and absolutely enjoyable performance and I hope we get to see them again. 

Walking down the street to Eric’s favorite restaurant Marisco’s Chon and you can see the beautiful steeple on the house that is being renovated right across the street.

Mazatlan in the early days.  The restaurant was opened in 1949 so this is probably from that time period….the year I was born!

Lots of memorabilia on the walls.

When we arrived the music was playing and look at what it was.  Too funny.  No other gringos in the place at the time so this must be their choice. 

I decided to try tuna for lunch today but got a surprise when it arrived.  It didn’t say “ mixto” but it was. 

Eric thought it might be canned tuna but I believe it was fresh combined with pickled peppers and carrots, fresh cooked carrots and potatoes in a dressing.  I thought it was quite good but it was not Eric’s cup of tea!
So….another successful outing and this coming Sunday is Corky Siegal and his Chamber Blues Ensemble and it will be a winner as well.  That said I don’t think you would ever attend one of these concerts and be disappointed. 

Oh I forgot the flan.  It was vanilla and it was just delicious!

Bowling last Saturday .....January 19th...late due to Blogger issues!

Who’d a thought a bunch of gringos would go bowling in Mexico!  Connie bowls at home in Oregon in the summer so she decided to organize us all for a fun game.  Doug/Cathy, Marilyn/Dennis, Marilyn/Wally, Robyn, Connie, Eddie and I and everyone met up at the Liverpool Mall at 2pm on Saturday for the fun filled event! 

480 pesos per lane for one hour and 35 pesos each for bowling shoes.  Robyn’s sitting down trying her’s on. 

The Alboa lanes and it’s a big place.  We were the only people in there on a Saturday afternoon but the benches looked well used so I’d guess there is some league play here in the evenings.

We didn’t even have to keep score as it was electronic.   The bowling came with with loud music and videos on the screens in the background.  I didn’t mind the music at all!  At least it wasn’t moldy oldies and I think all the construction noise around the park has desensitized me to noise.  I’m always getting ribbed about being “allergic” to barking dogs and loud music but….that depends on whether it’s unmannerly RVers dogs and what kind of music it is and…who’s playing it!  

There were ten of us bowling and….it was ten pin bowling.  I think I might have bowled a few times when we were first married but that was a long time ago.  Here you can see Cathy on the left and Connie on the right.

Marilyn, Cathy and Eddie.   Don’t they look cute in their bowling shoes!

It’s a big place and we really did have fun.  The only real bowler in the bunch was Cathy’s husband Doug.  The rest of us spent a lot of time throwing gutter balls!

That’s Doug getting ready. 
We bowled two game which took almost 2 hours and we had a lot of fun laughing at each other’s style and flubs.  When I collected and paid for the second hour I noticed that the guy on the till passed about 3 hundred pesos over to another guy who put the money in his pocket!   Crooked bowling?  I didn’t get a receipt so who knows what was actually logged into the computer!  
By 4pm we were all tired and ready to head home for happy hour.  Connie and Eddie headed off to the movie theatre to see a show.  The mall has just about anything you want. 

Thanks Connie….it was fun!

Ladies Lunch at La Marea from Jan. 18th...better late than never!

A couple of weeks ago some of the ladies took a trip up to the La Marea restaurant after our rather disappointing lunch experience at Fabula.  After viewing it (and having a drink!) they thought it would be a great place for Ladies Lunch.  That’s where we were off to today.  It is located in the Playa Sur area by the ferry docks and has just reopened after a name change and a revamp after being closed for a while.

The little blue dot at the top is the RV park…..

The restaurant is close to the little blue dot just below the Baja Ferries sign and just across from the El Faro lighthouse.

La Marea Restaurant. 

 10 of us loaded into 2 auriegas and two were picked up along the way.

Our driver decided that he needed to be in front so he blasted ahead.  It is a mind set in Mexico.

Here we are driving up the long hill to La Marea which is perched at the top.

 Quite the view!  In the left top area of the picture you can see the church which is located just southwest of the mercado.

Baja ferries, Isla de Piedra and Goat island.

                                                                         Goat Island.

               We were let off just below the restaurant and made the short climb up to the top.

               A long way down to the malecon.

                                                A lovely setting with a great view.

Hmmm…..defense at some time in the past.  I should have taken a picture of the plaque telling it’s history.

                We are seated at two tables and our drink orders taken.

Looking out from the restaurant you can see El Faro.  We climbed it on Connie’s birthday!

 Happy faces perusing the menu.  Sue on the right was here the night before and said the food was excellent.  

Pat is deep in thought while Robyn orders.

The waiters were very spiffy, the decor tasteful and the music very relaxing.  Lovely.

 Steffie on the left is from Germany and she and her husband leave their small motorhome in Arizona and then travel south.  The waiter got a very surprised look on his face when she asked him about the menu…she is completely fluent in Spanish.

Smile Connie!  She has been my hardest challenge for good photos

The menu.  The beer part was a bit of a challenge because most of the ones they had listed were not available.  Odd.

The very extensive menu.

Many ladies ordered tacos.

A couple ordered shrimp and chips, one a shrimp burger and I ordered the fresh tuna salad which you can see on the upper right of the menu.

Artful tacos on blue tortillas.  

Not sure but I think that is a tuna poke on the right. 

 Cathy doesn’t look happy but….she is and the meal was good.

In house wedge fries with shrimp in tempura batter.   A comment was made by Sue that she can never find a really thin tempura batter here in Mazatlan.  I said it could be found  in Teacapan at Otto’s Japonesa restaurant and….she agreed! She and Stu RV’d in Teacapan for many years so they should know.  

Happy ladies eating.  From the left another Sue, Ruth, Connie and Eddie.

Pam looks really cute don’t you think?  She has the ability to put together outfits that would just look silly on the rest of us but on her they look great.  She had a shrimp burger and she said it was delicious.

 Two different tacos….one with tempura shrimp.   Looks good.

The wind had quieted down today and it was lovely and warm sitting up high like we were birds

What a view of El Faro.

My tuna salad.  The tuna was very rare (as I ordered it!) and just delicious.  The only mistake I made was that I don’t like goat cheese and I should have asked them to leave it off.  You’d think I would after raising milk goats for thirty years but….not!

My tummy has been off for a few days but I managed to eat just about all of it.

So….what do you need after tacos for lunch….a nice piece of chocolate cake.  

Or Tres Leches cake...

Or….a fruit flan.   That looked good to me. 

I think Ruth was moaning with delight when she ate this!  The desserts were passed from table to table for everyone to have a bite.  I did not have any but I’m sure they were all delicious.

That looks very tempting!

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Just before we headed dow the stairs to the bottom some of the ladies had a look at the lower level of the restaurant which you can see on the left lower down.  On a chilly evening it would be lovely to sit inside and look out over the water while you ate dinner.  Very elegant.

A couple of rather well endowed African American ladies were posing for pictures when we came out of the restaurant.  That is some booty!

A long way down and some of the ladies made a slow descent….hard on the knees. 

 The rise and run of the stairs is not standard so it was a bit of a challenge going down.  That’s Sue farther down with Connie behind.  No her wrist isn’t injured …..it’s her arm case for her cell phone!

It is very steep and a long way down.  Some of us said next time we’d climb up.  If we can do the lighthouse stairs we can do these!

Pretty rock on the way down. 

 Sue and Eddie.  We walked just a block south to catch the Sabalo Centro/Cerritos bus home.

That is quite the climb and quite the location for a restaurant.

It was a very successful outing.  Everyone was happy with their food and….desserts!  The prices were good, the setting was lovely and the company was delightful as usual.  Many of us will return here for another meal and we’ll probably all come back again next year.  A really good choice for Ladies Lunch.