December 18, 2016 – Hanging Out Around Town
Not too much to report, the past week has been spent settling in, checking out some of the local eateries, and walking about to get the lay of the land.
The local bus has a main end-of-route stop about a block from our door, so we use that a lot to get to downtown Crucecita. It’s five pesos each, and there’s always something to see. But that’s the only bus route we know so far; what we need to do (and we will soon!) is get on the damned thing and stay on to see where it goes! Probably hooks into a bunch more, I’ve got a mapping app on my phone, and there’s cabs everywhere, so it’s not like we can get seriously lost….
A few days ago, we were on the hunt for odds and ends for the house, which meant we had to find the little hardware store that Enrique took us to last week, which meant we had to walk up and down every street in Crucecita for an hour or so. Did I mention it’s ALWAYS hot out? We never found the store, but we had fun.
Well, that’s reassuring, I guess.
The zocalo in Crucecita, a pretty little park in the town centre.
Carving…this guy had his work cut out for him.
This tree and truck have learned to co-exist.
The looms that create those tableclothes/blankets etc.
We’ve been watching a guy just across the street rebuild his pizza oven whilst he renovates his café. Fascinating to watch, its a beehive clay thing and he’s been mortaring, patching, adding a weird twisted stove-pipe thing….
Then I looked down from the patio a couple nights ago and there were table-cloths on the tables!
We rushed right down and managed to be the first customers for the Grand Opening. They make an excellent thin-crust pizza, the house special plus four beers and a healthy tip was $20, so I guess we’ve found our fall-back option for those days when it’s just toooooo hard to make dinner!
Does this man look like he’s just had 4 beers?
Jupiter sneaking past a palm tree, from our table.
A few days back, Deb decided it was time for an adventure, so we decided to walk over to Tangolunda, which is roughly 5 km as the myna bird flies. Unfortunately, we got started a bit late (3 am would have probably been about right), and of course, we had to stop and look at everything, and then there were pee stops (just another one of the little insults that go along with getting older). All very nice, but after we passed the 2 km mark at the Chahue Marina, it was getting pretty hot, we had run out of shade, we found ourselves in the countryside, so no ducking into some air-conditioned place for respite, and the road started to go uphill. This was rapidly becoming the Tangolunda Death March, but happily, a taxi came by and rescued us. Tangolunda was disappointing for us, as it’s pretty much all-inclusives and roads, unless you’re IN the all-inclusive. Having said that, it’s a beautiful spot, and I’m sure the folks inside are in paradise. Just don’t walk there. We did find a little treasure on the way. This is a retired Magic Bus
That evening (Wednesday) there were dance lessons at the Hotel Santa Cruz just across the street. Salsa, one hour of lessons plus two hours of dancing to the live band. I never fell down once, we had a great time, and we’ll be back next week! This is Clara & Mohamud. They knew all kinds of dances and all the music sounded like it was Salsa, but there is a difference..its all Greek to me.
Yesterday was a cool day. We went for a walk in the morning, which consisted of a march up to the top of the Gulch of Death and then around the Santa Cruz beach area. Then over to the pool for a couple of hours of sun and fresh water. The pool is deserted as usual, as we go over around noon with all the mad dogs and Englishmen, when no self-respecting Mexican would be caught dead in a pool. They use the pools at night. So that means we have a private pool! Then, around 4 pm, we decided to check out the beach. It was stinking hot around the apartment, but once we got to the beach, there was a nice breeze, and it was actually really comfortable. We need to spend the afternoons down here a LOT more often!
The walkway from Santa Cruz to Crucecita, aka ‘The Gulch of Death’.
They built little slides into the staircases on the Gulch of Death. Couldn’t keep Debbi off of them.
The pool in the evening.
Debbi beside her (almost) private pool.
Santa Cruz beach in the late afternoon.
The Nativity Scene adapted for the beach.
A perfectly acceptable way to spend the afternoon.
Here in Santa Cruz we have a really nice Zocolo in the next block. And surprise surprise, I found the wine tree! Unfortunately, someone found it before me and left me the empties.
I thought someone would come at night and refill those bottles but alas, no one came.
The wine tree during the day.
The Santa Cruz Zocolo.