February 17

February 17

Our second last day here! I spent a day just soaking up the Mexican culture and the Mexican sunshine. I have finished 7 novels and I started on my 8th. Yes, I read quickly from 60+ years of intensive reading. I only read words if the person writing what I am reading uses words that are not in ordinary use. Otherwise my eyes and my brain absorb sentences at a time. I can't explain it but it works for me.
 
I have developed my sandbag role at the pool to the fullest. I have made many new friends here by engaging people in conversation. I especially like torturing the Mexicans in and around the pool with my Spanish. The language comes a little easier each day. And then when I get home, I lose it because I don't use it. Next year I will have to repeat the whole learning process again.

Patti and I have got the last of our souvenirs. She did a lot of beachcombing here and we will be bringing back a lot of materials for an art project she has in mind. I will be sacrificing a lot of my old stuff to make way for our treasures which is what I had planned to do.

I left the hotel around 5 p.m. to make my way slowly down the Malecon. I say slowly because my hips and legs were letting me know they were feeling some stress. I forged on slowly and got to Banc Banorte where I recharged my wallet with a few more pesos. I did a lot of people watching and I came to the conclusion that this would be a good place to live if there weren't so many of us tourists.

At Corona Street I turned inland. The first 3 short blocks put me about 25 metres above the Malecon. The next block had 98 steps interspersed in the sidewalk leading up to Matamoros Avenida which raised me up about another 25 metres. Then 20 more steps up Matamoros brought me to the Chez Elena Restaurant. In the restaurant there were a lot more stairs leading up to the roof top patio. I was tired when I sat down at a table overlooking the Bay of Banduras. We were on the same level as the top of the spire on the Cathedral near the Main Plaza. The waiter reserved 6 more chairs for me and I order a restorative mango margarita and enjoyed the scenery and the sun starting its descent into the ocean far out on the bay.

The rest of the group arrived shortly after 6...we had reservations for 7 p.m. There were quite a few whales breaching in the bay and we saw many water spouts before we filed down 2 levels to the restaurant part.

The group ordered. It being Fat Tuesday in PV and since I hadn't had any pasta since Winnipeg, I ordered fettucini alfredo con camarones and I must say that it was very delicious. I also had a cuba libre and the waiter and I were then had a running dialogue about Cuba for the rest of the meal. I received the nickname of Fidel. Herb ordered a special coffee drink for dessert.

After we left the Elena, I made my way down the stairs...going down was much easier than coming up!

At the hotel I caught up on all the news and sports and did some web-surfing and read more of my novel. Patti came home shortly after. She mentioned that they missed the parade but some friends had seen it and that it was disappointing. It seemed that the rainbowgroup was disproportionately represented and that there were few Mexicans in it!

On Juarez we separated and the group headed south on the Malecon hoping to catch the tailend of the Mardi Gras parade and to get some new ice cream sensation. I waited for a bus along with 100 others. There were none coming. I determined that they were being blocked by the parade. After 10 minutes with no bus - they usually run every minute or 2 - I headed down to the Malecon and enjoyed a slow evening stroll. There were just too many of us tourists and because tomorrow was Ash Wednesday there were many Mexicans starting a pre-holiday celebration.

At the hotel I caught up on all the news and sports and did some web-surfing and read more of my novel. Patti came home shortly after. She mentioned that they missed the parade but some friends had seen it and that it was disappointing. It seemed that the rainbowgroup was disproportionately represented and that there were few Mexicans in it!