MALPICA & CONCORDIA

Since I am still a few days behind on my posts our day out to Malpica and Concordia was actually last Friday.

Once again Bill and Carol offered to take us on a site seeing tour. Malpica and Concordia are favourite destinations of their's - they visit each time they are in Mazatlan.

We'd already heard about the amazing bread at the Malpica Panaderia - it was time to finally sample some.

 From our RV Park we backtracked to the toll highway - 15D. We then headed into and through Mazatlan and along to the 40 which is a left turn into the hills. We will be taking this route as far as the 40 when we leave next week so it was nice to see it ahead of time. 

Although it's quite congested - yikes!

I didn't take a picture right inside the door but you literally walk through the living room to get to the Panaderia in the back.

The croissants - mmmmmm.

The unassuming oven. 

A tour bus had arrived just before we did - another one pulled in just as the first was leaving. So - we toured around a bit before we made our purchases. There's Bill in the back with the hat.

And we visited with the new family - yes - right in the Panaderia.

 Derek and Cassia waiting for the crowd to thin. Plus it was pretty warm inside - and well, outside too. Have I mentioned how HOT it's been in Mexico - in the high 80's everyday. One of Derek's new shirts purchased at the central market, by the way.

Just across the street is a swanky new jewelry store and the tile maker.

Since the tour buses were in town the tile maker was doing his thing. The white concrete is poured into the mould after the colours have been sprinkled on. Lines and swirls are drawn on the concrete with the eraser at the end of a pencil.

Cement is then placed over the concrete. An interesting process to watch - and quick too. I guess he has done this a few times before.

The finished tile is carefully pulled away from the mould. Yikes! Sorry for the blurry picture.

The tiles then cure for 18 hours.

We then made the short walk over to the small plaza fronting the Church.

Derek looking out at the Church and well, yes, Cassia looking at the photographer.

Quite the stair - guess you wouldn't get away with that in Canada.

A house in Malpica - decorating for Christmas in process.

Between Malpica and our next destination - Concordia, we stopped in at a furniture maker/carver shop along the highway.

There were quite a number of furniture shops along our route - sadly they are not as busy as they once were since the cruise ships stopped docking in Mazatlan. 

We stopped for a few minutes to visit with a couple of little girls and their grandmother. We swapped names and ages - about as far as we could get with our Spanish - or lack thereof.

Next, we stopped in to visit with some friends of Bill and Carol's. This fellow is a very skilled carver.

Carrying on down the highway we pulled into a small town and went to visit the laundry.

Yup - this is it! 

The concrete pools are fed by a hot spring. The local ladies come here to wash their clothes.

Then on to Concordia.

The beautiful Church along the central Plaza. I LOVE the asymmetry of the facade. And the red door.

It was so nice to stop for ice cream treated by Bill and Carol. The central plaza was very active since the kids were out from school. We purchased a little wood carving for Cassia from a boy. I so wish I had remembered to photograph him! A great little salesman.

The Concorida Arch on our way out. Every town seems to have an entry arch - pretty neat.

Who knew that there was so much to see around Mazatlan! I wonder how many fly in tourists are able to see a little bit of the real Mexico while they are here. 

We are VERY spoiled to be toured around by Bill and Carol - particularly with Bill's impressive expertise at driving in Mexico. They are happy to show us the places they have found during their travels and we are very willing companions. Even though they have been to these places numerous times before they are still excited to visit.

All for now, another busy day today - I'm pretty wiped! 

I'm slowly but surely catching up on my posts - another 3 should do it. Just in time to - we are scheduled to leave here and head further south on Monday.

Thanks for checking in! 

There is a TON of info that we have learned in Mexico so far - please let me know if you have any questions. In future posts I'm hoping to add more information about actually living and traveling here - what we eat, where we shop, how we do this or do that.....

Remember to visit Carol's blog, The Golden Years, for her take on our trip to Malpica and Concordia.

Teresa

TODAY'S INTERESTING LINK: Know much about bodysurfing? After a week in the ocean riding the waves with a few blowouts - Derek's been doing some research - reading articles and watching a few YouTube videos. Good idea - the water is very powerful as I learned back in my 20's.