While we have plenty to do in Ajijic, we decided to take an extended weekend
get away into the mountains west of Ajijic. On the way home, we stopped to
eat at 'Raul's Fine Dining. The kitchen is this barbeque pit with rebar
as skewers for chicken, quail, rabbit, beef and pork.
Randy and Andy (second couple on the left) celebrated their anniversary at
Adelita's, a truly fine restaurant.
Friends Howard and Leslie are
lip-syncing to Bob Hope and Shirley Ross "Thanks for the Memories." at
LIP-SYNC an annual fundraising event.
Glorine's Conexiones Enter Amigos (Connections Among Friends) was a hit with
the Canadian Consulate and the owner of the soon to be opened Ribera's
Medical Center in Ajijic.
Larry 73rd birthday started with
dinner with friends, then onto a night club, where these young men, who got
their start at the San Juan Cosala's Children's Choir, were an awesome opening
act.
Brandon and James were the main act and did not disappoint us. Brandon
made it to the final round on America's Got Talent as an operatic soloist.
Fun Birthday.
We met up with friends Kay and Gary
at the 4th annual Mariachi Festival held on the grounds of the Lake Chapala
Society where bands from the USA and Mexico entertained us with old and modern
melodies.
Mariachi Estrellas de Chula Vista from Los Angela's has won Grammy Awards
and champions at the Albuquerque Mariachi Spectacular. Never a dull
moment.
TED Talks is a weekly series that
provides streaming on 'ideas worth sharing'. Gary is one of the moderators
that sets the stage for an 18 minute presentation, followed by questions and
comments on the topic.
Our weekend getaway road trip included a stop in Union de Tula (pop 13,000)
to stretch our legs. As is the case in all MX communities, the
Catholic church is in the main plaza and is adorned with gold.
A two-story building adjoining the
church was lined with rooms full of crypts. Most of which were covered
with flowers, ribbons and notes.
Our first destination was El Grullo, about three hours from Ajijic, mostly a
farming town, but is billed as an up and coming tourist destination,
including a health spa that draws clients from throughout Mexico and USA.
One of our goals was to visit this
company that buys used gym equipment from the USA, refurbishes them back to
nearly new condition and then sells them. This is one of two buildings
which is full of equipment.
On our way back to the hotel, a men's soccer game was being played, so we
took advantage of the free admissions. Quite the match.
Unlike Ajijic, the streets were
paved, the sidewalks were tiled and the store fronts were glass doors without
garage doors.
Our GPS gave us an option of taking this shortcut, so we took it. It
was windy, hilly and awesome views.
While we are
used to stray dogs and cats, these stray cows gave us a scare. We all survived.
Our next stop was
Tapalpa, which is classified as a magic city. It sits at 6,330' in
elevation and surrounded by a pine forest.
Our hotel room was cool, so cool in
fact that we borrowed a heater from the front desk. It was located a few
blocks from downtown, were we spent most of our time.
Tapalpa has two churches on the main plaza, one built in 1590. The
plaza was lined with mostly tourists from Guadalajara.
The
buildings were white washed with red clay tiles. Most of the wait staff
spoke English and went out of their way to cater to tourist outside of Mexico.
Besides the tallest water fall in Jalisco (which we missed) are these
spectacular rock formations sitting out in the middle of a cow pasture.
Raul's son Geraldo was the chef when
we stopped there on the way back to Ajijic. It had been several years since
we had dined here before, but much the same.
We have been celebrating birthday month with Chuck, Jean and Brian since we
met back in 2007. Great music, great food and a bit of fireworks
(candles).
When Carmen and Mike were here for
the holiday's they were introduced to Mexican Coffee at Frida's Restaurant.
Larry went back to get the recipe to take back to CA in February.
January's web page includes January 1 through January 31.
