Beach Bliss

Our long weekend at the beaches in Mazatlan was so very wonderful! It was just Jenna, Erin, Emily, and I and we were all very chill, go with the flow kind of girls with this vacation, it was very relaxing, and of course fun!
It started out with the 12 hr bus ride there. This was not so pleasant as the air seemed to be set to a very mild 15° C, and at my second complaint to the driver he told me the air was off. Blanketless and clearly catching a breeze, Jenna and I tried to forget about the cold through short, fitfull naps; Erin and Emily broke out the towels they brought along as their warmth.
Directly out of the bus station we were met with the mazatlan-unique open air taxis called Pulmonias. Thankfully our hotel let us check in at 9ish when we arrived so we could get cleaned up and refreshed ready to head out to find some breakfast. Our hotel was in old town and we found a cute little plaza nearby filled with restaurants; this would come to be a favorite destination. After a tasty breakfast and a little unpacking, we took a little snooze. I was wiped, I think Jenna and I were the only ones really excited about napping, but it was much needed.
We took a bus to the more touristy area and hit the beach and shops for a bit. Erin Emily and I worked a lady down from $38 for our dresses to $20. For lunch we decided to eat in the square near our hotel again, and supper brought us to the hotels restaurant, El Shrimp Bucket! The shrimp was just ok unfortunately, but the pina colada was good :) We all sat dazzled by the gorgeous sunset appearing right off our balcony over the water! It was great, an amazing first day of our vacation.
Sunday
No alarms were set for today! We woke up to the ocean music and the little bit of sun peaking through the curtains. Right next to our hotel is a little restaurant that boasts the 'top chef of last year' so we thought we would try that for breakfast. It was quite spectacular! best meal yet I'd say. I had huevos rancheros: fried egg on top of a hard shell covered in homemade salsa with a side of beans. oh man was that tasty! The homemade bread to start was good too. After I finished my meal, Emily unfortunately couldn't finish hers, so I offered to help her out ;) She had pancakes with fresh fruit topping! Also homemade batter I presume, they were delectable! Oh, and to top it off we got fresh squeezed OJ! as if I have to state it, we all left quite satisfied.
Our afternoon entertainment was walking along the beachfront sidewalk taking pics with the statues. I love to imitate things that way, its always good for a laugh. So we walked almost half I'd guess of the 10km stretch between our neighborhood and the touristy area. Then, the statues were no more and the sun was too hot so we hailed a taxi! After all that walking in the sun, we wanted to chill on the beach and relax. We rented an umbrella for a few pesos each and between dips in the ocean, we chilled in the shade. This part of the beach is expecially fun because closer to the shore it is deeper than further away! it was really fun because the drop off was almost immediately and then it got much more shallow so you could walk out really far into the bigger waves but only be up to your knee, or you could swim/wade around closer in the more calm area. perfection :) The only slightly annoying part of this beach was the horde of vendors asking for hideous prices. But you get over it, they don't budge much for bargaining because, I suppose, it's a tourist trap.. though they try to suck you in with their winsome "casi gratis, almost free, for you today"
Supper was once again in our beloved square at a place called Pedro and Lola's, named for the famous singers of course (I dont know them either). We sat at an outdoor table in the very pleasant air (Torreon is not so ..fresh) I ordered skirt steak and sangria to remind me of spain. It was better than the previous night and we got mime entertainment! It was so funny. He had a singer/guitarist accompany him and he did silent card tricks, he pulled out all the classic mime moves, showing his love/distaste with winks and tongue-sticking out and other body language. He made me laugh more than once :) After a few tricks I figured out one of his cheats -he bent the card into a c shape to 'show us' but really that allowed him to see the fold from his side of the card... if that makes sense. So i pointed this out, like the kind soul that i am?! Emily told me that wasn't nice so I said I didn't mean to be mean, because 'I like him!' At that he gave his best bashful pose and blew me an italian 'perfecto' type kiss :) Thankfully that wasn't his only trick though because immediately after I blew that part, he blew me out of the water. Another beautiful day, and I was once again ready for bed.
Monday - last day
We woke up to a cloudy morning, it was more humid than before and in another situation may have been dreary but not on my vacation! :) We hit our new favorite breakfast spot which again produced happy stomachs. I went all out today, I got the big meal: Eggs, hasbrowns, pancakes, and fresh fruit. Our waiter friend got us some DELICIOUS fresh-homemade biscuits and fresh squeezed mimosas to start off with too! I wouldn't be able to resist that place everyday if I lived there. The weather was only bad during our meal, thankfully there is an overhang over the tables so we were protected when it started to rain a bit, well mostly, the wind also picked up, but I think the food was too good to mind much.
As it is our last day, we had to check out of the hotel. they were willing to hold our bags though because our bus didn't leave until 1030pm. We wandered around a bit more in our neighborhood, hit up a couple book stores, one even in English that the girls bought a few $10peso books at, then we found a cute little cafe to get some refreshment from the humidity. My pear smoothie was delicious, I watched him cut the pear in front of me and throw it in a blender with some honey! The lounge area was dim lighting and complete with magazines and a tv so we chilled there for quite some time. All we had was time today, no hotel and bus leaving in the night, we decided to check if we could get on the earlier bus so our maitre d' called to check for us which wasn't really all that helpful, so we figured out the bus to get there which took some time in itself and got to the actual bus station only to find out there was no room at the earlier time. So we found a taxi and told him we would give him $50 pesos (cheap for a taxi, because once again they gouge tourists) if he would take us to his favorite restaurant. Without really waiting for an OK on the price we hopped in as our agreement and he took us to a place called Panama, good mexican food he said. He was right! I got three huge tasty tostadas and we killed a lot more time! We hung out there for honestly about 2 hrs I bet. We played a game or two on paper and had a bunch of laughs. Then we figured it was finally time to get our stuff together and get to the bus station. We throught it left at 10, though the tickets clearly stated it was 1035, so we were extra early.... THEN, on top of that we go outside to the bus and I step on as the driver shoos me away and says he will be back shortly. ok. we wait 10 mins or so and go in search of it. It is in the washing station, because we all know you can't drive a dirty bus. now, the windsheild I can understand but the bottom and the back.... unnecessary. AN HOUR later, the bus finally pulls back into the loading zone. to top this amazing bus station experience, our driver put his family into our chosen seats that we paid for and told Jenna and I to go to another pair of seats. annoying, but ok. not 5 mins later some guy comes up to me and says he has those tickets. So I go out to the driver and tell him the situation and his only remark is a rather rude "vete" which is a command that basically means 'go away' I could not believe it! "How Rude!" in the words of Stephanie Tanner. This bus trip wasn't as cold though Jenna did buy a mexican blanket there that we put to use. I slept much more this time so the 12 hrs flew by.
It was a great trip, I am sad it is over only because that means back to school. At least it is only a three day week! Friday is already almost here ;)
If you want to look at my pictures I put them in an online album instead of loading them here because A)it takes forever and B) i would have to chose a small selection which i cannot do. so here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/millerbreanna/Mazatlan enjoy :)