I've been remiss in writing blogs of late. Probably because I have been having the most amazing time in Mexico. So here's a catch up big blog of all that has been happening and where I have been over the past few months. Now that I have this down, I will promise to keep up with my blogging and write more regularly.

So since I arrived in Mexico back in September we have been in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, Chapala and Ajijic.  In no particular order (I did mention this is a big catch up blog!) here's some of the highlights of the places I have visited and what we got up to.

Xochimilco (Mexico City)

Xochimilco is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its canals stretching more than 100 square miles. The gardens, or chinampas, were constructed by the Aztecs from juniper branches, allowing them to cultivate crops on the little man-made islands and it was how the whole of Mexico city was in the past.

We journied down the Xochimilco canals formed by these islands in a colorful "trajinera" boat and enjoyed the sights and wildlife.

It was a lot of fun, very chilled out, and I even drank Tequila mixed with a Mexican Mango drink!

Casa Azul, Mexico City

we got to visit Frida Kahlo's "Casa Azul" along with Diego Rivera's monumental temple of art "Anahuacalli".

Such an enjoyable visit to both along with our Mexican guide Mireya and Casa Lu Sur Artists

Luis Barragan in Tlalpan

We visited the incredible Capuchin Poor St Clare's Convent Chapel, designed by the great Mexican Architect Luis Barragán.

Entry is at the discretion of the Mother Superior and everyone hands up their phone as they enter as the convent is a place of quiet and worship.

Photos are not allowed so unfortunately I can't show you what this modernist masterpiece of design is like - and this photo of the very ordinary front door does not indicate in any way what awaits behind it.

After the tour with one of the Sisters, Ciaran bought these great handmade rosary beads. The nuns also sell a special egg nog like drink for Christmas which includes the special ingredient of Tequila One man on our tour bought 3 bottles!

Juan O'Gorman Library Building Mural, Mexico City

Visited the National University of Mexico yesterday and got to see the most amazing library.

In 1948, Juan O'Gorman (his father was Irish!) was invited to create a mural on the library building - and what a mural he created on all four walls showing the history of Mexico.

A university education is practically free here in Mexico costing just 1 peso (50c) a year. But of course it can be challenging for many to attend with the costs of books and supplies and the need of many families for their children to go out to work and earn money as soon as they leave school.

It was a beautiful campus with stunning buildings and there was a great atmosphere in the whole place. We visited the School of Architecture and the MUCA Art Exhibition Space. Anyone who gets to study here is very lucky, and I loved it all!

Back in Ajijic

We have returned to Ajijic staying in the 360XQMX Art Residency (PIGSY is working towards a solo art exhibition in January). Below are some of the things that we are currently up to.

Spanish Lessons

We are back taking Spanish lessons since we arrived back in Ajijic. We are doing two classes a week with Javier - hopefully we can gain some fluency. 

Christmas Plans

The big event for us will be the "Feast of the 7 Fishes" on Christmas Eve. We are doing this with a group of Art Residency friends and we are all bringing a dish or two. Ciaran is bringing a Fish Dip Appetizer with crackers while I am making a Tilapia fish dish with a side of brussel sprouts (Ciaran's a fan of these!)

Trivia Nights

On Wedsday evenings we have been going to Triva in The Cocktail Bar (Tom's Bar) which has been a lot of fun. It's finished for the Christmas break but we will be back at it in January.

Saturdays take us to La Fiesta from 4pm to 6pm to watch the very good "Old Souls" band with Northern Irish lead singer Yvonne Watterson.

Fireworks in the morning!

Dia de Muertos in Mexico

It has been a time of celebration here in Mexico for the past few days.

We are in Ajijic and have been able to view and join in all of the festivities including the Virgen del Rosario celebrations, Halloween and of course Dia de Muertos.

There has been fireworks (VERY loud bangers) going off at dawn all over the town leading up to the Virgen del Rosario and then an amazing parade that went past where we are staying.

For Halloween, we bought a huge amount of sweets that we passed out to local children - who surprizingly arrived for trick or treating in cars or whole families loaded on to motorbikes!!

Ixtlahuacán de Membrillos 

And then it was on to the Dia de Muertos festivities with a highlight being a visit to Ixtlahuacán de Membrillos  to see the incredible memorial altars and also all of the ladies dressed as Catrina's for a competition to select the best Catrina. Another highlight was getting my makeup done by JJ in his local beauty salon - didn't he do a great job?!

Here's some pics from all of the different places we have visited including Ixtlahuacán de Membrillos, Tonalá and Tlaquepaque.

Mexico City

Wow Mexico city is incredible!

We've had the most amazing few days after arriving with Aeromexico from Madrid on a super flight.

Literally by the end of the first day we had already visited 2 museums, stopping in to the Women's Museum to see their permanent exhibition and also viewing the Jan Hendrix (pic above) exhibition in Citibanamex Cultural Palace.

We also found time to stop off for a little brunch of eggs, served with a beer and a mimosa.

Constitution Plaza is a stunning place to visit - it is absolutely huge and the buildings surrounding it are immense including the palacio.

The weather is just perfect. However, it is the rainy season so every afternoon a thunder and lightning storm rolls in with rain - but in fairness even while it is raining it is not too cold, so all is fine with a light jacket. 

Menu del dia

Have you heard of the Menu del Dia?

So Menu del Dia is a thing in Spain for when everyone is having their large meal at lunch time during Monday to Friday. It's a set price menu from about 12.30pm to 4pm and it generally consists of a starter, main and dessert along with a fizzy drink or an alcoholic drink like a beer or wine.

In Malaga the menu del dia cost was generally about €11 or €12 while in Madrid it is about €13-15 or so.... there are more expensive ones in high end restaurants, and then there are also cheaper menu del dias in local restaurants.

Yesterday we visited Mexkhal Cantina near Estrecho on line 1 for their menu del dia.

For €13.50 each we got all of this food, plus a coke zero and also a dessert which was either a slice of cheesecake or chocolate cake.

All really tasty and ultimately a very cost effective way of eating out!

And so having not had a menu del dia the entire time we were in both Malaga and Madrid, we then ended up having 2 within two days.

It just so happened that we had arranged to meet for lunch today with the director of the art residency that PIGSY is currently in Madrid doing (last day is tomorrow) and we went fot the most amazing menu del dia today in a Japanese sushi restaurant called Matcha. OMG, it was incredible!!  And actually consisted of 2 starter courses (one of which was 12 shi sushi) and a main plus a dessert. 

I'm so glad that we did not know about it earlier as we would be hard pressed not to go there every day!!!

Sunday Cinema - Cine Verdi

 It was a cinema day in Madrid yesterday, with a visit to the gorgeous Cine Verdi to see "Alien Romulus". To get to the cinema we took the subway to Iglesia and from there it is a short walk. 

The movie was great.....especially since I had never seen another Alien film ever before!

We went to the 4pm show time which meant that the tickets were a bargain price of €4.90 and we were then home in time for dinner at 7pm.

When we got out of the cinema we decided to walk a little of the way as it had cooled down a little bit. So we walked to Cuatro Caminos and then got on the subway there. When we got out at our stop we then went to the supermarket where I bought some prawns for dinner. For some reason I had been hankering prawns in garlic and butter and in fairness they hit the spot!

Date night in Madrid

We celebrated our Wedding Anniversary the other day (23 years!!) by going out for a lovely meal in Madrid city.

On a visit to the Carmen Thyssen Museum a few days previously we had wandered past Primo Mexican Restaurant with both of us thinking that it looked like a nice place to eat. So we made a reservation for 7.30pm - we really didn't need to make a reservation as (1) it's August - Madrid is empty and (2) no one eats this early in Madrid! Lol

We got the metro to Sol and the restaurant is just a short walk from here

We ordered Duck Tacos to share for what we thought would be a starter - but all the food came out together. This was fine, as in fairness, the food was perfectly timed and did not come out too quickly.

I had skirt steak for my main and Ciaran had a burrito.

The duck tacos were devine and I would order them again. The skirt steak came with a mole that had a really intense flavour to it, so delicious.

The burrito was huge!! This photo does not show how packed full of cheese, rice and meat it was. 

All of the food was so tasty and really filling - so filling that we certainly didn't have room for dessert!

After dinner we wandered around the city in order to walk our dinner off. The temperature was perfect as it cooled off after the high temp of the day.

Above is a pic of the cocktail bar in Galeria Canelajas which is a high end luxury mall (pic of the building is below) that is attached to the Four Seasons Hotel in Madrid. We went down to the foodhall as we considered getting a dessert if there was a nice cheesecake on offer. However as we were very full after dinner we forgo it, anyway there was only a gelato and crepe dessert offering so this wasn't something that really interested us.

Look at that beautiful blue sky!

After a lovely time in the city, we headed home to relax for the evening. I think it was about 10pm when we got home which is late for us! 

All in all an absolutely great celebration.......

Sevilla is sensational

 I've left Malaga for Madrid. However, before I left Malaga I went on a little trip to Sevilla.

We got the train which was just great. It left exactly on time and was very compfortable. We stayed in the Querencia Autograph Hotel which had a fantastic location in the centre of Seville with the most amazing view of the cathedral from the rooftop of the hotel.

We packed loads in to our 24 hour stay and hooked up with our friend Tony who is a writer and who writes about Flamenco. Tony brought us to a traditional Flamenco bar where we saw Flamenco music and dancing. Really incredible and I don't think we would have happened on this place without Tony's guidance!

Dinner was in "Zelai" as recommended by another friend. It was excellent with the food being a contemporary fusion of traditonal Spanish food.

With a visit to both the bullring and Plaza de Espana we felt like we saw and experienced lots in Sevilla - however, we hope we get back another time to experience more!

Here's a few pics of our trip: