The Big Bang without the Theory…1st Camerata Campbell Sunday afternoon concert of 2019

Today we were off to our first concert of the season.  I bought tickets for six Sunday afternoon concerts a few weeks ago.  Eric is a convert after his first concert last year!  Sharen and George gave us tickets for a choir last year and once Eric went he was hooked.  This is a special memory and gift for us as Sharen has since passed away in a tragic motor vehicle accident that took place last May in Oregon.  A very special lady.

That is Sharen at her St. Patrick’s Day party last March.  George her husband on the left and good friend Manny on the right. 

We were off on the bus at 11am and downtown by 11:30 for the mere price of 11 pesos or 77 cents Canadian.   Here you can see Eric looking at the architecture as we walk down Constitucion towards the Plaza Machado.

A beautiful old building all painted up.

                 

The wood doors on some of the homes are spectacular. 

The plaza still has a lot of Christmas decorations.       

               

                  Today’s program.

We are seated in the first balcony in seats 11 and 12.  Last year the chairs were just padded without arms.  This year they have redone them all and now there are only 2 seats between each post.  Much better but the seats are fixed and don’t swivel…but at least they are comfortable.   Gordon Campbell is welcoming us and starts by telling us that there is no theory with the big bang…then he laughs and says “ Well…a little theory!”

This is a percussion band and Gordon is explaining the various instruments from marimbas to xylophones, drums and more. 

The six performers.  Today is their musical debut and this is a large venue. 

The marimba and xylophone instruments are similar and I am not well versed enough to tell the difference.  Here two young men are playing one or the other!

Each number was different and the sounds that they extracted were just amazing.

It was very obvious to the audience how talented this young man was.  His expertise on the marimba and xylophone was just amazing.

A number by the whole group.  At the end of each piece the audience gave them huge applause and the band leader had to keep reminding them to bow!

Here I am standing out in the open air lobby where it is warm.  There is some problem with the air conditioning in the theatre and everyone was just freezing.  It was the same last year and even though Eric and I remembered to bring a warm jacket or sweater we were still cold.  Not pleasant.

At the start of the second part of the performance Gordon asked each member of the group to come out and be introduced. 

The director and teacher of the group Fernando Correa Rodriguez.  He plays also in the Sinaloa Symphony.   

The director is likely in his forties but his members range in age from 13 to 20!  Two are thirteen, one fifteen and two are around 20 and the young man on the far right is the directors son.  So much talent in such young performers. 

This number is called “ Smash!” 

The final number and they really had fun with it. 

The “ Blue Plate Special” and they were playing water glasses with spoons. 

Here is the unlikely waitress….their principal drummer in an apron and wig. 

They laughed and joked and when the number was over the crowd was on it’s feet.  The applause was a roar and carried on until they came back for …..

…..a final number.

The drum sticks were lit up, the lights were dimmed and we were treated to one final number.

Mesmerizing.  This was a wonderful start for this young group and the audience enjoyed every minute.  Who knew you could create such beautiful music with only percussion instruments even Prelude #1 by Bach.   

Concert over and time to go outside to warm up and find something to eat.  It was 2pm and we hadn’t had lunch.

               

                          Off down Carnaval St. 

Past Casa Hasa where there will be a Gordon Campbell concert on February 10th.

We arrive at Marisco’s Chon which is just a tiny restaurant on Carnaval St.   It has been in business since 1946 so it’s the same age as Eric.  Good food.  Today Eric had marlin burritos and I had red snapper with rice and salad. 

That’s what was left!   I forgot to take a picture of the meal before we ate.  Lunch/dinner is over and time to head home on the bus. 

This building right across from the restaurant is being redone.  Looks like a church but it’s actually a house.  Eric says those are mostly telephone wires and they are big eyesore.

Lovely. 

Home by 4:30 just in time for happy hour.   Supper was a few crackers and cheese.   A good day.

Fred & Marion’s surprise visit and Ladies Lunch

On Saturday morning I was getting ready for Ladies lunch.  Isn’t ladies lunch supposed to be on Wednesday?  Well is was but Ruth changed it because she wants to play cards at the Friends restaurant on Wednesdays so we’ll see how it all works out. 

Just as I was getting ready I saw a couple of familiar figures walking towards the RV….and then I realized it was Marion and Fred.  What the heck….where did they spring from.   Marion and I had a big hug and said how much we’ve missed each other.  Same for Fred!  Eric came home from his bicycle ride just as they arrived and I got him to take a picture.  For those of you who don’t know them Fred and Marion were in the the Las Jaibas park with all of us until a couple of years ago and all of my older blogs show pictures of them.  They are two of our favorite people! 

This picture is a really good one and they both look great.  I told Fred he didn’t look a day over 80 and he just laughed and said “ Not bad for ????”  I will let you guess! The man is a genetic marvel as well as keeping himself in good shape and….being a farmer probably didn’t hurt either.    They are here for two weeks and are staying at the Luna Palace. I had to dash off but we’ll catch up soon.  They’d already spent the morning working their way through the park saying hi to all of their long time RV friends.  

So todays pick for lunch was the Fabula restaurant downtown.  We have eaten there before and it was good but today it didn’t turn out to be the best all round experience .   We started off with a nasty red truck ride to get there.   It was an older vehicle that was dirty, had horrible exhaust smell and in the end the driver didn’t really know where he was going and he drove really roughly.   We arrived at the restaurant to find the front section being set up for cards so we were seated in the next section where it was quite dark.  Not very pleasant.   This restaurant is know for it’s huge selection of books which you are free to take but it does give the place an old musty book smell. 

Only one waiter on and it took him a while to get our drink and food orders.  Some of us were getting cranky!  Once the drinks showed up we all calmed down and it didn’t take long for the food to arrive.  That’s Connie with….a Connie look!

I had trouble with the new camera today which was my fault.  It was quite dark in the restaurant and I’d turned the auto flash off which meant I needed to hold the camera steady while  I was taking photos.  I didn’t and a few of the photos were too blurry to use.  This is one is of a Fabula signature salad… a Linda I think which was very good.  Above the salad you can see zucchini sticks which were also delicious.  There was another salad and shrimp tacos that were also good and I had fish and chips.  The fish inside was tasty but the batter was heavy and greasy and the fries were out of a bag so they were mediocre.  I should have ordered a salad! 

Pat had tacos which came with beets in them which was a bit odd.  She said they were good, just not what she expected. 

I made a quick dash to the Angela Peralta ticket office just as we were finishing lunch.  By this time it was quarter to two and the box office closes from 2 to 5 and then reopens for a couple of hours.  I was on a mission to get Fred and Marion two tickets to next Sunday’s performance at the Angela Peralta for ….The Messiah.   I was successful and then it was time to hop on a bus and head home.
A decent lunch for most ….just not me.   Better luck next time. 

Feliz Cumpleanos Connie and a hike up El Faro to celebrate.

First a couple of photos that don’t fit in today’s blog. 

A couple of days ago Eric changed the first side of two replacement springs on one side of the back axle on the RV (today while I was out he did the other side.)  These were bought locally and replace the last two original springs.  He also put on two new tires that he bought from John and Jeri when they were here in December.  John had brought them as a back up in case he had a flat on the RV but in the end he didn’t need them.  Now we are all prepared for the end of March when we head home.  Fingers crossed!

New Years Day dinner and it was a dandy.  Potatoes roasted in foil on the bbcue, pork rib ends on the bbcue, marinated chopped veggies, avocado and fresh tomato….delicious.

Connie had been insistent that some of us hike up El Faro with her on January 3rd.  Now I knew that her birthday was at the beginning of January but….I’d forgotten that it was January 3rd!  What better way to celebrate than taking an early morning hike up El Faro.  Connie met Eddie and I at the front of the park at 7am and off we went.   Carol and Richard hike El Faro every Thursday just for fun!!! and they were on the bus too.  Dennis hopped on down the street and away we went.  For 11 pesos or about 77 cents Canadian you can ride from the very north end of Mazatlan to the very south end of the city where El Faro sits. 

We road the bus to the end of the line and got off at the ferry docks which is the same area where you can catch a panga to Stone Island.

Dennis and I walked on the right side of the street and Connie and Eddie walked on the other side of the street.  Wonder why….well the waves were crashing over the walkway.  Nothing like an early morning shower!

So here we are ready to start our ascent.  The last time I climbed El Faro in 2010 or 2011 the trail was all sand with only a few concrete steps.  Over the last few years it has all been redone.

From the internet……

Do not mistake “highest” for “tallest,” as the structure of El Faro itself is not particularly tall. Standing two, maybe two-and-a-half stories or thereabouts, the vertical measure of the actual lighthouse building could be described as “just shy of regular,” as far as lighthouses (and a lot of other different kinds of buildings) are concerned. However, because its foundations rest upon the summit of a hill that towers 515 feet above the pounding surf below, this otherwise modest El Faro operates at a higher elevation than any other lighthouse in the Western Hemisphere, and is second in the world only to the Gibraltar Aerobeacon.

El Faro was originally built in 1879, utilizing an oil-burning lamp whose light was focused using a combination of mirrors and a Fresnel lens. This was a considerable improvement over the signal fires that had previously been lit atop Isla de Creston (as it was called before it was joined to the mainland by a causeway) since 1828. However, the signal of the new lighthouse was stationary and thus often mistaken for a star, so El Faro was upgraded in 1905 to a fully-rotating signal lit by a hydrogen gas lamp. An electric lamp replaced the hydrogen gas apparatus in 1933, and it is this light that shines forth from El Faro to this day. The lighthouse uses a 1,000-watt bulb that produces light equivalent to 600,000 candles that can be seen for 30 nautical miles. ……

 

Dennis took the goat trail short cut in a few places while we stayed on the newly done trail.  He said that way he could sit down while we caught up!

In the distance you can see a large cruise ship in port.

No, that is not a pool at the bottom of the trail….it’s the sewage treatment plant and boy does it stink!

The harbour.

Look at all that nice stonework.  Eddie, Dennis and Connie take a short break.  The steps are difficult because they are not a standard rise and run so you have to kind do a one step…two step up them.

As we got closer to the top Carol and Richard were already on their way down.  Remember they are pros at this and do it every week….good for them to be so dedicated! 

The views are spectacular as you climb.  It is very steep and none of us are young so….yes we did stop and rest a bit on the way up.  There were many, many Mexican tourists with families doing the climb along with us.  We aren’t the only tourists in Mazatlan!

At the top and everyone has had a short rest. 

Pretty fine looking group and Connie doesn’t look a day over ???!  Pretty good achievement and she looks great as always.  Happy Birthday!!! 

                  

Connie on January 3rd 2012… it was a big birthday and I didn’t say which one then and…I  won’t now.  This is a great photo of her!

One last photo and….

….down we go.   Sometimes the trip down is harder on the legs than the trip up.  Advil for me tonight.  I think if we did this every week like Carol and Richard do we’d all be in better shape.  All of us walk every day but a hill really gets the heart pumping and the quads burning. 

You can see the steps downare tricky to maneuver.  Dennis did not take the goat trail short cuts going down…way too steep and the footing is really slippery. 

A beautiful day. 

We walked back to the La Puntilla restaurant for a buffet breakfast.  Connie pushed ahead of us coming in the door and then she paid for all of our breakfasts!  When we protested she said “  It’s my birthday and I can do what I want!”  Alrighty then!!!

A really nice Mexican buffet with all sorts of things to eat from refried beans to Mexican salads or even an omelete made just for you.  At 125 pesos each a bargain and the large crowd shows how much people like eating here.  Connie says on the weekend they are lined up out the door.  Today we were pretty much the only gringos in the place. 

Dennis said he’d had breakfast but what could he do when Connie had already paid…..just call it lunch!

My breakfast…refried beans, tasty potatoes and an omelete.  Yes…I did go back for seconds and some of it was fruit but some of it was small pasteries.  Now you might say what’s the point of doing all that exercise and then having a big breakfast.  I say it’s better than not exercising at all and then having a big breakfast!   For many, many years at home when we were both working Eric and I would go to the gym after work most nights and then once a week on Thursday nights we’d  go drink beer with our friends at the bar.  Again…better to go to the gym and then drink beer than just going to drink beer.  My story….my logic! 

There was a one musician playing and singing while we ate and he was very, very good.  A tad too loud but then we aren’t Mexicans!

Breakfast is over and we’re back on the bus heading home. 

I always enjoy the bus trip as there are so many interesting people and things to look at. 

Thanks for the invite Connie as well as the breakfast.

Happy Birthday.