Pickle Ball Craze

 We have been earning how to play pickle ball, and found it to be a lot of fun. We have met a new group of people, and it's a form of exercise to add to our walks, and my yoga. Emanuel, who runs the club, is a talented athlete, who uses humor and skill to teach the game. He charges 50 pesos a person and you can play for 3 hours. That's the cheapest form of exercise I've ever come across!

                                    Emanuel Pickleball....he's on facebook....look his page up, you'll see Hoss!

 

With about 16 people at pickle ball today, a handful of us were able to go with Emanuel and his family for lunch. What a great restaurant, "Cocina Economica Reyna". We'll be eating here again! Delicious food! Thank you Emanuel for the invite!

Playa Blanca and Playa Larga

We spent the afternoon at Playa Blanca, a beautiful beach 18 kms south of our studio suite. 

                                            My beautiful friend, Lynne.

We then headed back to Zihua stopping at Playa Larga which is about 10 kms out from our accommodations. 

                                               Which way?!

                                       A bit of a communication problem! But it did get straightened out!😜

                                                    No lack of sand in either direction!

                                              El Rincon De Los Briagos, nice little restaurant.

Playa La Ropa

 One of our favourite places in Zihua is Playa La Ropa. We have spent many hours sitting at this beach on our own chairs and under our own umbrella. We usually bask in the sun, cool off in the ocean, take walks on the beach, visit with a variety of people, and sometimes order appies and drinks from the nearby restaurant. Of course, this year is a much different experience. All umbrellas and chairs are forbidden on the beaches of Zihua, including those belonging to the restaurants. So we are finding alternate beaches where this is still allowed. We went for a walk one day and ended up at La Ropa, and had a drink at a familiar restaurant.

                                         A view of Playa La Madera on our walk back home.

Terrace Delights

Outside our small studio suite there is a garden terrace. A wonderful, exotic cactus flower bloomed the other day that I had to share with you.

                                               I eagerly awaited for the blooms to open!

                                             I was quite delighted to see the reveal!

 

Christmas Day

Part of Christmas Day was spent at Playa Blanca beach enjoying what we love... the beach, the great outdoors and warm sunshine.

This young man was selling churros which are a snack made of fried-dough pastry. They originate from Spain and Portugal, but made their way to Mexico. Mexican churros are coated in a cinnamon sugar mixture and served with chocolate, caramel, whipped cream, or plain. I guess they were good...Hoss ate the whole bag I bought!

Parking is tight at the restaurant we went to at Playa Blanca. Whenever someone wants to leave the owner rounds up people to move their cars to let you out. Our friend, Claude, was first in, so three cars had to be moved to let us out. No one ever seems to be upset.

Christmas supper was hosted by Claude and Lynne with a delicious spaghetti and meat sauce meal. 

      Another couple from Alberta joined us for the Christmas celebration. Pat and Wendy have been coming to Zihua for many years. 

 

Christmas Eve

 Hoss was hungry for a traditional Christmas meal. We found a restaurant that offered a turkey special with all the sides, and Ruffos didn't disappoint. 

 

The Kiota traffic circle, which is just around the corner from us, is always so pretty at Christmas time.

 

Ruffo's offered some great music along with it's Christmas Eve meal!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Market Street

The local open market area is a short walk of about 3-4 minutes from our accommodations. We walk through the market on a daily basis to shop for our fruits and veggies and sometimes meat, and frequently use it as a short cut to get to Centro Zihua. It's always busy and bustling with vendors, shoppers.

Brenda's Bar

 Brenda's Bar in Centro Zihua has been a favourite drinking hole of ours. Brenda has worked hard to create a successful business, and it shows with repeat customers who enjoy her banter, and excellent service.

Many people who visit Brenda's Bar have created friendships with people from all over Canada and the States. It's a welcoming  place to meet old friends, create new friends, visit, people watch, and enjoy the vibe that Zihua has to offer.

Playa La Madera

Playa La Madera is one of four beaches in the Bay of Zihuatanejo. It is an ideal beach to have accommodations at, although it isn't a favourite beach of ours. But, we do it enjoy an occasional afternoon visit, because of its wonderful beach walkway that was just completed last year. We have wishful dreams of the walkway being continued to the the next beach which is Playa La Ropa.

                                                 Merry Christmas from Santa's elves.

Here we are at La Tasca, a small bar/restaurant at the start of Playa La Madera. It's a nice place to come for a drink during the day, and in the evening the view of the bay is spectacular with all the twinkling lights from buildings and boats.

We were a bit choked because the restaurant pressured us order some food with our drinks. We've never experienced this at La Tasca before. Hopefully, this doesn't ruin future visits.

 

Playa Linda

Playa Linda is a beach at the north end of Ixtapa. If you drive a little further up the road you will find an entrance to an unadulterated beach, with wild waves, few people, and miles of sand that is free of restaurants and bars. We spent a lovely afternoon enjoying this relaxing setting without invasion of trinket sellers. This was the beach we camped our motorhome on on many years ago when we traveled for a year with our children. We have fond memories of this beach.

Playa Las Gatas

 Playa las Gatas is a beach at the far end of Zihuatanejo Bay. It is accessible by boat taxi, called a panga which is a modest sized outboard-powered fishing vessel common through the developing world, and commonly operated directly off beaches. Zihua pangas pick-up and deliver their passengers up from the pier. You can also walk to Playa Las Gatas following a narrow foot path that takes you over a rocky trail that is somewhat hazardous if you are not sure-footed!