There are many things to see and do in Mazatlan and we haven't wasted any time exploring.
Mariscos Palapas off the main Malecon - on the beach
After we said our goodbyes to Meredith on our first day here, we walked most of the way back to the marina from the La Paz ferry. On the malecon we noticed palapas along the beach – all were advertising seafood. Neither Doug nor I are great white fish eaters but, when we smelt the heavenly aroma of whole fish grilling over a mesquite wood fire, we started to salivate. We vowed we would be back to sample the wares and we have – once to celebrate our anniversary and another time with Paul and Laura from Chirpy (and we may go again before we leave Mazatlan!). Both times we went to Mariscos Puerto Azul and the following pictures will give you an idea of just how wonderful these fish dinners were – at a cost of approximately $18. Including ice cold beer!
Red Snapper over wood fire, piled with onion, green pepper and tomato
The finished product served with vegetable rice & salsa! According to the chef - marinate in soya, garlic, salt & pepper
Is this man happy, or what?
Paul and Laura from Chirpy are in for a treat!
Artwalk in the Historical Distict of Mazatlan
On the first Friday of every month, the Historical District of Mazatlan hosts an Artwalk. (http://www.artwalkmazatlan.com/) After the positive experience we had in San Jose Del Cabo we were very interested in attending. A couple days before, as we were enjoying our coffee in the cockpit, we looked up to see Mystic pulling into a slip a couple docks down. This was the couple we met at San Gabriel who invited us to a delightful dinner aboard their well appointed motor yacht and who gave me my treasured Joy of Cooking. I figured Betsy and David would be interested in the Artwalk and convinced them to join us, along with another couple who had been travelling with them.
We met downtown late in the afternoon and strolled into the very elegant historical district.
Typical street in Historico Centro - D.H. Lawrence spent some time in this district in the 1920's caring for his tuberculosis and writing prolifically. One of my favourite poems of his, Snake, was written here. (http://homepages.wmich.edu/~cooneys/poems/dhl.snake.html)
We had this map to follow as we wandered through many studios to view gorgeous paintings, sculpture, jewellry, and many other artforms depicting the artists' experiences of Mexico.
Many of the studios could be found in the sidestreets leading from the Plazuela Machado, a gorgeous park with a central pavilion surrounded by restaurants and cafes, as well as small hotels.
Plazuela Machado - at sunset the streets surrounding the plaza were closed to traffic, making it easy to stroll from studio to studio
The building in the background houses "Il Mosto" - a Mediterranean restaurant owned by a Mexican Greek and where we had a delicious dinner after the walk
Although the artwork was lovely, I was most impressed by the architecture of the buildings.
A beautiful B&B close to the plaza - the inside was full of artwork, fountains, arches, little alcoves - a gorgeous place to stay
A shady park in front of the Art Museum and across the street from the B&B pictured above.
Two blocks from the Machado is the cathedral. The square in front of it was filled with food vendors and shoe shine boys.
After dinner at Il Mosto we headed back into the plaza. Hundreds of people were there enjoying live music and there was a definite festive feel to the place. Because the traffic had been blocked off, the cafes had set up their tables in the streets and many people were out enjoying themselves, though there was a definite shortage of Mexicans. We stayed for a bit, then hailed another unique form of Mazatlan transportation for an exhilerating ride home to the marina.
Yahoo! Do these puppies ever go!
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