03-08-2007
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#1 (permalink) |
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aņejo
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 5,108
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I'm still Bi.....Coastal that is; Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo/Morelia Trip Report
I have been to Ixtapa/Zihuantanejo 8 times but hadn't been back for 3 years. I have since fallen in love with Playa and wasn't sure whether I was still 'Bi-Coastal' or not. I need not have worried as I still loved Ixtapa/Zihua as much as ever. I think I will always need to alternate my trips between Playa and Ixtapa. They each have a very different charm and beauty.
I went on this trip with my older sister. It was a very relaxing, bonding trip and brought lots of new family memories. Flying into Zihuatanejo is nothing like the busy airport in Cancun...   A quick trip through Mr. Green Light and we're on our way to the Barcelo. It's an AI and the only reason I did it was because my sister isn't very comfortable going out all the time at night. As it was, I drug her all over the area and she held up pretty well... This is the Barcelo (used to be the Sheraton)  This is the hotel zone in Ixtapa. The beach is about 2 1/2 miles long and there are only these few major hotels on it. It continues to build as I saw a new condo/hotel built on the extra property the Krystal had. The new building pretty much screws the view for the one side of the Dorado Pacifico. A HUGE new condo building went up next to the Barcelo. There used to be an old hotel called the Aristos there that was heavily damaged several years ago in the earthquake.  One of the best things about Ixtapa is the sunsets. They are knock down dead gorgeous and they are like this every night I've been there in my 8 trips....you can pretty much count on this!     Walked down to the Marina the next morning to see how the poor people lived   There are some really nice condos built around the Marina...  And this just plain struck me as funny....in my typical sick sense of humor  
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03-08-2007
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#5 (permalink) |
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aņejo
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 5,108
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Sunday we went into Zihua (a quick cab ride over the hill) cause I thought I had a peep meet with Rissask. I was a day late but that's another sad story.
There was a small family festival going on at the main square. Lot's of yummy food!!! I had never seen a skillet like this. It had a raised center where they warmed the tortillas and the small onions. The trough around it was where the meet cooked. The tortillas were to die for...  This really beautiful lady made the yummiest homemade tamales and she had this watermelon juice that I had to try...   This has to be my favorite photo I've ever taken in Mexico. These two guys were fishermen and they all gather around these big beach tackle boxes at the end of the day and visit. These two were sharing a game of checkers (note the bottle caps as checkers) and probably telling great fishing stories to each other....  A couple of shots of Zihuatanejo bay   Some of the fishing boats were still coming into the dock and I spotted this little deck hand who seemed to be doing pretty darn well considering ....  Got to my favorite bar and the place I thought I was meeting Rissask at....La Sirena Gorda 'The Fat Mermaid'. I especially like the name sake's picture behind the bar. This oil painting is HUGE, not to mention that Sirena herself seems to be a big boned girl    After 3 yummy margies, I figured I wasn't going to find Rissask so we wandered back down the pedestrian walkway that fronts the beach.   And sat in on the music and games at the festival for awhile with the locals. Can't remember what this lady was selling but whatever it was, the locals were buying her out! She didn't always look this crabby....I think I just caught her at a bad moment 
Last edited by xqqzme; 03-08-2007 at 02:10 PM.. |
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03-08-2007
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#6 (permalink) |
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aņejo
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 5,108
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Drug my sister on a cat trip the next day. The catameran 'Picante' is 75' long and 45' wide....nice boat. They do a sunset cruise but we went on the snorkel trip that turns into a booze run on the way back. They stop at La Ropa and put out the spinnaker for spinnaker rides. I definitely wasn't crazy enough to do that but enjoyed watching it!
 My sis and me....  
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03-08-2007
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#8 (permalink) |
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aņejo
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 5,108
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Strolled around Zihuatanejo a few evenings. Found a great shop that sells Talavera pottery and other good stuff....
  Spotted this very cool house in Zihua....  and captured this shot at the florist who had some floral arrangements sitting outside his shop....  The Barcelo has a swim up bar and a couple of pools but I've always been a beach person with the sand in my toes!!!!!  This was my little slice of Paradise I saw from my favorite shady beach palapa...   I'm not much into the AI thing but there was one very cool feature of the Barcelo (unfortunately I did not get a photo of it). Besides the swim up bar, they have a little out of way bar at the place that sets out a bottles of rum, vodka and tequila....they sit next to the glasses and the 3 slushy machines of strawberry daquiri, pina colada and margarita.....it was like a 7-11 slurpee but better!!!!!!! I want one of those slushy machines at my house!!! |
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03-08-2007
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#10 (permalink) |
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aņejo
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 5,108
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Some of the tour companies offer a one day trip to Morelia with 6 people in a van. There were no pending van trips so we made some connections and hired a great cab driver to make the trip with us. Morelia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site - built in the 16th century, the capital of the State of Michoacan, about 650K population, and 150 miles north/east of Ixtapa. It took about 3 hours either way on Hwy 37D which is a toll road. Costs about $20 worth of tolls. We paid our driver $170 each and tipped him too. He stuck right with us in Morelia and walked everywhere we did. I think he was worried about us two gringas wandering off. The historic district is also a University district and the streets were filled with University students. There is also a large music conservatory there and we had a chance to drop in and sit in on some practice in a fantastic old building with amazing acoustics. There are approximately 12 cathedrals/churches within a 12 square block area. The historic district is expansive, the streets are narrow and quaint, lots of beautiful wrought iron work, everything is very clean, the sites were awesome and we were the only two Anglos I saw there. That alone was great....knowing I'd broken away from the typical Anglo tourist routine!
We spotted some wonderful small hotels in the historic district and my next trip to Ixtapa will include a couple of nights in Morelia to continue to explore this gorgeous city. I'll just post random pictures from this awesome day....      The drive took us through high mountains, farm lands, desert, pinetrees, lakes, rivers .... some sites of Mexico I never knew existed....   Will post more Morelia pics as soon as I get them loaded.... |
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03-08-2007
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#13 (permalink) | |
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Canada Dry
 Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 49,645
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Quote:
I only waited for you for two beers the night before.  our hotel never had a boozy slush machine. *pout* We were going to go on that Picante sunset dinner cruise and never did, next time. I didn't even know you could arrange a tour to Morelia so easily. Good for you. Now I really am itching to see these pics!! 
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03-08-2007
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#14 (permalink) |
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aņejo
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 5,108
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Our last morning before our flight out that afternoon and my sister is still hitting the slushy machine....I love her
 Get to the airport, Delta cancelled our flight home so we spent 6 hours trying to arrange for another flight out. I finally lost my sense of humor with the 'sit down lady, only 5 minutes more.....', threw a total shit fit and got 2 seats out on the next to the last flight of the day... Sitting on the plane, looking at the flight that just came in......and the cycle begins all over again...   and the clouds on the mountains.... 
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