Did you know that February 14 is International Book Giving Day? #bookgivingday Mexico is one of 44 participating countries and I have the perfect book for you to gift a child in Mexico!
Erma Note has written a delightful story about a bicultural 9-year old Grace who lives in Mexico City. Her American cousin Connor is coming to visit and Grace wants to show him all the amazing things there are to see and do in the area.
For those of you that are not in Mexico, you can find Travels with Grace on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. A portion of all book sales is donated to Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos orphanage. To learn more about how you can contribute to helping the children of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos orphanage, please visit their site here.
Nothing beats a beautifully illustrated hardcover children’s book! So today I’d like to offer a signed copy of Travels With Grace to one lucky winner here in Mexico. Enter HERE.
Note: Winners must provide a mailing address in Mexico to be eligible.
Are you looking for other ways to give the gift of reading? You can download bookmarks and bookplates for International Book Giving Day and include them in the books you give today! Take the time to read with a child today!
Be on the lookout for other ways to participate with the hashtag #bookgivingday. Check out the official International Book Giving Day site and see if there are any events near you.
Well, with the current gas situation going on, vacation driving becomes a risky venture. Since we are hunkering down in our ol’ ranchito La Yacata, I thought I’d take a virtual vacation this week. Destination Ixtapa, Guerrero. Every couple of months, I’ll see posterboard signs up announcing a group trip to one place or other. Ixtapa is one destination that comes up time and time again.
So why should you head to Ixtapa? Because there’s a beach! Apparently, the landlocked Guanajuatenses (people from the state of Guanajuato) long for the salt sea air and head to this particular beach by the busload. It’s the 9th most visited beach in Mexico, coming ahead Cozumel but behind nearby Acapulco.
But Ixtapa is far more than just a pretty beach along the Pacific.
Ixtapa is part of the larger Zihuatanejo de Azueta in the state of Guerrero. The name Ixtapa comes from thenáhuatl term Iztal, pa which refers to salt or something white which of course is the perfect name for the salty coastline. It used to be a coconut plantation and mangrove estuary until it became THE place to be sometime in the 1970s. The town was designed by master architects Enrique and Agustín Landa Verdugo.
Mexican Telenovela Marimar was filmed here in 1994 and more recently parts of the 1987 film Hot Pursuit, which is a funny movie to be sure!
Besides your typical beach activities like laying in the sun and splashing about in the ocean waves, there are several other noteworthy tourist attractions. Why not swim with the dolphins at Delfiniti? Or visit the Xihuacan Museum and Archaeological Site and see the Soledad de Marciel pyramid ruins? How about a round of golf at the Marina Ixtapa Nautica Golf Club? Or go snorkeling at Isla de Ixtapa? You could always play a little BlackJack at the WinClub Casino or bike the Ciclopista de Ixtapa.
Ah! Now wasn’t that virtual vacation imagining yourself soaking up rays on the white beaches of Ixtapa refreshing? Next time those posterboards go up, I’m going to have to check into the packages offered. It would be nice to get away for a bit.
I’m not a big fan of Mexican movies, but every now and then, one catches my fancy. Our latest tourist adventure was inspired by 2014 movie En El Último Trago. Three old geezers set out on a whirlwind adventure, well, as whirlwind as 3 old geezers can spin, to Dolores Hidalgo, specifically to the José Alfredo Jiménez museum. The movie is a hoot. There was nothing for it but to recreate their journey to Dolores Hidalgo ourselves.
It’s only about 3 hours from our home, so it was an easy day trip. Thank god, we had no vehicle problems or no random police stops. Nearly all of my proposed visit sites were clustered near the centro, so we parked and hoofed it.
After stopping for refreshment at a torta place, we began our tourist adventure with the Casa Museo José Alfredo Jiménez. I even got some pictures of the signature of José Alfredo Jiménez, which is a key feature of the movie. Entrance is $40 pesos with a discount for teachers and students with appropriate ID. We bought most of our souvenirs here, which meant lugging them around the rest of the day, but after seeing the other gift shops, we decided it was worth it.
We went to El Museo del Bicentenario which was disappointing. I wasn’t able to exactly understand how the displays came together. The nearest I could figure each room represented an oppressed society. One had posters about censorship in Russia, another Vietnam, 2 full rooms were devoted to China and the last room was all about Israel. There were some exceptional stained glass windows in one room and a few spectacular Catrinas in another, but that was about it as regards to Mexico. Oh, and the two full wall surrealist murals were something to see. Admission was $20 pesos, half price for students and teachers.
Our next stop was La Casa de Los Descendientes de Hidalgo (the House of the descendants of Miguel Hidalgo), which was also an upscale restaurant. The entrance was $30 pesos per person and $10 for camera use. As the name implies, this was the home of the 5th generation descendants of Miguel Hidalgo, the last remaining descendant having just celebrated her 106th birthday. Apparently, after the 5 generations, the blood is no longer pure and the generation count begins again. So the children of the 5th generation, are no longer descendants of Miguel Hidalgo, or so our tour guide told us. This was my favorite museum. There were dioramas depicting some of the most relevant aspects of the fight for Independence. I have to admit, I always wanted to have my own handmade wooden dollhouse and these little scenes made my heart go pitter patter with longing.
We then took a turn around the centro, which was very pleasant, and had some ice cream (another reference to the movie). There were a few nice statues, lots of benches to sit on, and a whole lotta shoe polishing carts. We admired La Casa de Visitas from our park bench.
We hiked a few blocks to the Museo del Vino and the Casa de Hidalgo. Both had a $45 peso admission fee, which seemed a little steep now that we’d been to a few of the other museums. We opted not to tour either. I did peek in Hidalgo’s house and was reminded of another movie Hidalgo la Historia Jamás Contadawhich as far as historical movies go, wasn’t bad.
Of course, it could be that Hidalgo, who fathered children with two different women and spearheaded the national fight for Independence, was not quite what you would expect from a Catholic priest. Hidalgo had his own vineyards which were burnt in punishment for his treason against the crown, so the Museo de Vino wasn’t a far stretch of the imagination right there next to his house in what used to be a hospital. We did hit the gift shop and bought a locally produced bottle of wine called Lloro de Tierra. It was a nice, sweet, fruity rose and we enjoyed it immensely when we got home.
We did not get to the Museo de la Independencia, nor did we stop to see la Tumba de José Alfredo Jiménez en the Panteon. When we asked for directions to the cemetery, hoping it was close enough to walk to, we were told we’d have to walk “un chingo” to get there. My son’s flat feet were starting to ache and we were getting tired, so walking un chingo didn’t seem like something we were interested in doing. On the way out of the town, we stopped in another nice park with statues, a playground, some nice fountains (without any water) and benches that resembled sofas.As far as Pueblos Mágicos go, Dolores Hidalgo should be on your must-see list, not for the quality of the museums because they were rather ho-hum, but for the historical significance of the area, and the wine. I would recommend staying more than one day since there are so many things to see.
On the way out of the town, we stopped in another nice park with statues, a playground, some nice fountains (without any water) and benches that resembled sofas.
As far as 
Surviving Mexico 