Great visit with family.....

Greg's brother, Ralph and wife, Judy and his sister Nona Mae have been visiting us here in Mazatlan for a few weeks. We have so enjoyed their visit. Here are a few photos of our time together. I am leaving for Seattle today and will be returning in a few weeks with my sister, Cindy, on May 17th. Enjoy the photos, more to come when I return.

Motorcycle Week here in Maz

Well this is the last day of Motorcycle Week and boy are we ready for it to come to an end.

Thousands of motorcyclists from the US, Canada and Mexico descended on Mazatlan for a week of contests, shows and parties. It has been extremely loud with the noise from the motorcyles, music and rallies. Their parties/rallies go until 2:00 am and then they begin cruising the malecon.

Last evening there was a street parade on the malecon that we viewed from our terrace. Here are a few photos of the thousands of cycles that came by. Just a reminder, be sure to double-click the image to enlarge it.

Our first Symphony here in Mazatlan

Last evening, Greg and I attended our first Symphony here in Mazatlan at the Angela Peralta Theater. The concert was performed by the Sinaloa Symphonic Orchestra of Arts out of Culiacan, about 200 miles north of Maz. The performance was entitled "Noche de (Nights of) Scheherazade" by Rimsky Korsakov. It was a powerful and beautiful performance that we enjoyed very much. We were amazed at the excellence of the musicians. Also, the admission for these performances is just incredible. Depending on the seats, they range $60 - $120 pesos (less than $6 - $12 US) and the theater is only about 10 minutes from our condo and parking is not an issue. We had $12 seats and a great view. See the photos below.

We have now attended an opera, a flameco dance and a symphony at this theater. Next is the ballet. Greg is digging his heals in though and refusing to attend the ballet. So I have some work to do to convince him he needs this to continue his cultural experience here in Mazatlan. :)

Our new wall murals

We recently had a local artist paint some wall murals in our condo. He is known around Mazatlan as "Picasso" but his real name is Rafael. He does all the painting for Senor Frogs and a popular restaurant called Ernie Tomatoes. He has also done some beautiful murals in some of the small villages outside Mazatlan.


Picasso has painted an underwater scene on one of the walls in the guest bathroom. We think the grandchildren will really enjoy this mural. It even has Nimo on it. The other mural is one of a cathedral/stairway scene in our powder room. We are very pleased with his work. Here are a few photos of the murals we wanted to share with you.

Semana Santa (Holy week here in Mazatlan)

We are well into Semana Santa (Holy week) here in Mazatlan. It is just incredible the droves of mexican families that have arrived and flooding the beaches. Take a look at these pictures and the attached link with an explaination of this event here in Mexico.

For those of you that have been to Mazatlan, the last two pictures were taken just north of Valentino's. The others are taken from the beach right in front of our building. We have never seen the beach with this many people. The families seem to be having a great time enjoying the ocean with lots of food and music too. Oh and I am sure lots of cervezas too. The traffic is very heavy and the noise is at a level that we are sleeping in the guest room in the back of our condo. But, it is just for a few nights, so we will make it through yet another "party" in Mazatlan.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g150792-i257-k1094075-Semana_Santa_explained_Sort_of-Mazatlan_Pacific_Coast.html

Our new restaurant opens.....

This week the restaurant on our ground floor level opened. It is an Italian restaurant called Picasso Ristorante & Bar. They are serving just about every Italian dish you could want. Everything from pizza to pasta dishes to salads and soups and of course a bar with lots of wine choices. We tried it out opening night and it was delicious. They are offering room service for the owners here in Las Gavias and eventually poolside and beach service. Can't wait to share our new restaurant with you. :)

Here are a few pictures we took opening night. The two gentlemen on the left are the owners, Ernesto and Ciro from Cabo.