Our first stop in Ajijic was at the Victoria Inn, where we stayed for two nights until the home we are renting was ready (the owners were headed back to Florida for a month). We once again used our semi-trusty GPS systems to find the inn, nestled on a quaint side street in old town Ajijic. I’ll post some pictures later today (we just got our internet connection to work here at the house, so these posts are off by a couple days).
As we pulled up in front of the old inn, our hosts Rob and Colin greeted us on the sidewalk dressed in Day of the Dead costumes. Both had beautifully painted faces and were wearing bright pink tutu’s….quite the sight! Turns out that they were marching in a parade later that night that started at the graveyard outside of town and ended at the town square. Rob and Colin are both from Canada and bought the inn last year. Super nice guys who made us feel instantly at home. We were just in time for their Friday night Happy Hour and within 15 minutes of checking in, we were handed the best marguerita’s we’ve ever had, made of course with only fresh-squeezed lime juice and local tequila. Yummm…..a well deserved strong drink after three hard days of driving. Tuck met Colin’s sweet dog Marguerita and fell instantly in love (pics to follow).
We unloaded some basic clothes from the car, fed Tuck and headed into town to try and watch the parade. For those of you not familiar with Dia de los Muertos, you probably should watch some videos (or the amazing Pixar movie Coco) to understand this beautiful and ancient custom. I’ll summarize it by saying that families honor their deceased loved ones by making small shrines that are beautifully decorated and have pictures of the deceased displayed in the little shrines. Unfortunately for us, the town square was a complete zoo with thousands of people milling around, music playing, fireworks going off….and we could get no closer than a couple blocks from the parade. No worries, we heard some singing on the nearby plaza and found a local choral group singing traditional songs. Beautiful voices! We tried to record it, but Iphone’s have really lousy microphones. No matter, it was a memorable night.
We spent the next day wandering around Ajijic and learning to walk on really rough cobblestone streets. Guess what, the cobblestone streets are 350 years old! Are they rough"? Are they hard to walk on? You bet! With my still healing back, I have to watch each and every step, as falling down during the first year after surgery is a really, really bad thing. On top of that, in Mexico dogs are allowed to run free and there are two or three sweet little dogs on every block (and the occasionally husky or pit bull mix that isn’t so sweet). Tuck had to pull me or Claudia to meet each and every one….which combined with the cobblestone streets makes for an interesting walk. We wandered into the little shops and did our best to interact with the local people, who by the way are super sweet, very welcoming and will go out of their way to make you feel comfortable. It’s not an act put on for tourists….it’s just the way they are. Note to our evil president….we haven’t met or seen any rapists or murderers since entering the country. But President Trump, here’s who we have met: local merchants selling beautiful hand-woven goods from little stalls on the street, small boys riding horses down the street (yep), old men selling roasted nuts by the road, young restaurant owners making some of the most delicious food we’ve ever had, bakers crafting baguettes as good as any we had in France, old women sweeping the street in front of their ancient homes with hand-made brooms to make sure it looks nice, farmers selling coconuts from their old battered trucks (they chop off the top, drill a hole, make a sweet mixture of coconut milk, sugar cane juice and different flavors) and on and on.
Now, on to the vet. Tuck has been battling an ear infection for the past couple weeks, that our local vet has been unable to cure (we’re changing vets when we get home). So, we stopped Colin at the inn and asked him where we could find a good local vet. He immediately told us to go see Dr. Luis and gave us the directions. We walked about 3 blocks and easily found his quaint, small office. In we walked and we were greeted in perfect English by Dr. Luis. What a gem! We explained the problem, he kneeled down and inspected his ear, smelled it and came back with a small vial of medicine. He explained that this medicine was a combination of anti-biotic, anti-fungal and best of all, some pain-numbing ingredients. Tuck somehow sensed that Dr. Luis was a gentle soul and a dog-whisperer and let him put the drops in without even pulling away or whining, which is no small feat. And within 10 minutes of going in, we were done. The charge for the visit and the medicine was about $15 US! Back in the states, the bill would have been around $250, as every bill we get at a vet runs at least that much. Amazing. Within a hour or so, Tuck quit shaking his head and digging at his ear. So a small village vet in Mexico knew more than our la-di-da vet in Scottsdale……and was light years sweeter to boot.
That’s it for now. I’ll finally be able to post some pictures later today, as we have our internet connection solved at the home we’re renting,
Thanks for joining us in this cool journey!
Hasta luego,
Wayne, Claudia & Tuck