Whirlwind intro to Maz

Our friends Liz and Ritchie are here for a very short time--only four full days. So we've been giving them the whirlwind tour.  Yesterday was a walking tour of the centro area including the mercado, the historic old town and the Olas Altas area. Here are a few highlights.

 Oranges and nuts outside the mercado...

A hibiscus in the park beside the cathedral...

A beautifully restored building for sale down by the Plazuela.

A peek inside the restored Angela Peralta Theatre and a photo from before the restoration.

A quick look into one of the centro art galleries....

A quick tour of the Belmar Hotel, built in the 1920s and now rather dated.

Dinner last night was a big blow-out at El Presidio to celebrate Ritchies birthday and his attaining Canadian citizenship.


Today included a bus trip into the Golden Zone for some jewelry shopping, a little swim in a hotel pool and a walk around a  more upscale neighbourhood. This evening we took in the sunset at the top of the Freeman and then walked back over  Icebox Hill for a quick Mexican antojito dinner at La Copita just down the road.

Liz going down a water slide...                                 posing on a vintage street...

The evening event was going up to the top of the Freeman Hotel (built in 1944) with its gorgeous rooftop view. Hey you three, you're supposed to look down at the view not up in the air!

The sunset faded slowly and the lights came on to welcome another beautiful evening.

Walking back over the hill we came upon a lighted Guadalupe and a street full of food vendors.

Our food was pretty authentic at la Copita too, nothing fancy but very delicious.  

In the next two days we plan to cram in a panga trip to Stone Island for some beach time, cycling on the Malecon, and a shrimp barbecue on the roof.  We'll see how much we get done. The sultry climate here doesn't encourage rushing around.  Whatever we manage to do will be fine.