Mexico

Plaza Machado, Mazatlan

Dec 202011

In cities large and small all over Mexico, the town plaza is the cultural and social center of life. Plaza Machado in historic Old Town Mazatlan is one of the most enchanting of the plazas I’ve visited. Historic buildings surround the park-like plaza with its typically ornate ironwork kiosko. There are several restaurants with outside seating where guests can enjoy the usually mild evening weather of Mazatlan. One of the things I enjoy most about visiting Mexico is hanging around [read more ...]

¡Viva Mexico!

Sep 162011

16 de Septiembre is commemorated throughout Mexico with perhaps even greater fervor than the 4th of July in the USA. On this day in 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo, the priest of a small town parish, declared Mexico’s independence from Spanish rule. This event generates huge celebrations throughout Mexico, perhaps even more so this year in that Mexicans are celebrating the bicentennial of their independence. Somewhat surprisingly, there has been almost no mention of this in the general American media. Perhaps [read more ...]

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Nov 122009

After a few days break, I’m back to processing photos from my recent visit to Mexico. Part of that trip was a couple of days spent in San Miguel de Allende. This historic city is located in mountainous bajio region of central Mexico, and its colonial architecture, colorful buildings and friendly people have made it very popular as a photo workshop location. During my stay, I spent many hours walking up and down the streets in the central district, photographing [read more ...]

Guanajuato, Mexico

Oct 222009

Home again after ten wonderful days in Mexico, and now I have hundreds of photos to edit, process, caption, keyword and upload. Visiting the city of Guanajuato in central Mexico was my favorite part of the trip. The downtown area or Zona Centro and surrounding neighborhoods are filled with ornate churches, theatres and colorful buildings that are a photographer’s delight. Guanajuato is also a very historic city. There are gold and silver mines dating back to the 1500′s, and there [read more ...]

Mariachi

Oct 172009

Mariachi music is one of the great traditions of Mexico, and Marachi bands are one of the instantly recognizable images of this wonderful country. The musicians play a variety of string and percussion instruments, and typically dress in fancy charro outfits. This unique style of music originated in Mexican colonial times in what is now the state of Jalisco, and is especially popular in Guadalajara. The musician in this photo was part of a band serenading a local couple at [read more ...]

Guadalajara, Mexico

Oct 142009

On a visit to Guadalajara, Mexico, our SATW group took in a charreada, which is sort of a Mexican rodeo. The charros and charras (cowboys and cowgirls) perform in a variety of events demonstrating their skills in horsemanship.

Cosala, Mexico photographs

Mar 222009

To see more photos from my recent trip to Mexico, go to this gallery of photographs of Cosala. This historic mining town in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Mountains has been designated as a “Pueblo Magico” by the Mexican tourism authorities. It makes a nice side trip from Mazatlan, or a great destination in itself if you just want to kick back and enjoy a typical village in the state of Sinaloa. More impressions of Cosala are in a previous post below.

Mazatlan photos

Feb 032009

A link to a web gallery of photographs from a trip to Mazatlan, Mexico.

Cosalá

Jan 272009

Most of my travel-writing friends studiously avoid calling a town “picturesque” because the term has become an over-used cliché, but it aptly describes Cosalá, a historic mining town in the Sierra Madre range northeast of Mazatlan. Founded in 1562, it’s a city of cobblestone streets, colonial style buildings and very friendly people. What it doesn’t have is junky souvenir stands, rowdy bars and timeshare salesmen. In fact, visitors are hard-pressed to find an authentic local momento, and if you want [read more ...]

Mazatlan

Jan 212009

The last time I was in Mazatlan, Penelope and I camped right on the beach, and just across the road was a mosquito-infested wetland swamp. A big hotel was going up at that time, but other than that, there wasn’t much happening in Mazatlan, and the old central part of the city was rather rundown. Needless to say, there’ve been a few changes since that memory-laden trip in 1972. This time I stayed in that big hotel, the El Cid, [read more ...]