Centro Historico fantasies

One of the reasons we wanted to be here in the centre of Mazatlan was the proximity to the Centro Historico, the very oldest part of the city.

It's about a 6 block radius around the Plazuela Machado, an elegant plaza with gardens and benches and palm trees surrounded by restored 400 year old buildings.

This is the cultural heart of Mazatlan--for both English and Spanish speaking residents.

















It has a vibrant coffee culture, theatre, film, museums and restaurants, and little stores.






This outdoor coffee shop is adjacent to a big building that is becoming a culinary centre with food market, wine store etc.  Last time we were here the building was vacant.






















This mansion has been fixed up as a recital hall and there will be some concerts taking place there this month.




It's great to see some more development here. But what is of most interest to me is the juxtaposition between decrepit buildings and restored Colonial homes.

 Most of these little attached houses have courtyards in the back.

There's part of me that would love to buy one of these smaller buildings and restore it so we could come down and spend our winters here.  Realistically though, it would cost much more than we can afford. Most of them require major rebuilding, not just a lick of paint.

This building for example might be pretty reasonable. But I think it's beyond restoration.  It's really just a fantasy, because even if we could afford it, we would be limited to traveling to just one place. And we're too much of the vagabond persuasion for it to work for us.