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Panamá Part 4: Casco Viejo's Plaza Independencia & the Golden Altar of...
Panamá's famous Altar of Gold is located within Iglesia San José. Later in this posting, I will tell you about the legend of the Golden Altar. Plaza Independencia, and the nearby Iglesia San José (St....
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Panamá Part 5: Modern Panamá City
Modern Panamá City, viewed over the mudflats along the seashore, looking east. The stunning skyline stretches all along the Bahía de Panamá for over 18 km (11 mi). The first time I saw this amazing...
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San Luis Potosí Part 2: The magnificent Plaza de Armas
Plaza de Armas is the most beautiful of San Luis Potosí's several lovely plazas. In Part 1 we visited Plaza de los Fundadores. Plaza de Armas is one block east of it on Avenida Venustiano Carranza. The...
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Panamá Part 6: How the Canal works and how it came to be
Aerial view of the Pedro Miguel locks and the Centennial Bridge. The single chamber of the Pedro Miguel Locks is 9.5 m (31 ft) deep. In addition to those at Pedro Miguel, there are two other sets of...
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Panamá Part 7: The Emberá people of the Rio Chagres
An Emberá village leader gives a demonstration of palm weaving. He wears an impressive crown fashioned from hammered silver coins and topped with the profile of a hawk. Although there were older men in...
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Panamá Part 8: Animals of the isthmus
A tree frog dozes on its perch at Panamá's Nispero Zoo and Botanical Garden. Panamá has been described as a "fountain of biodiversity" and a "bridge of life". This tiny Central American country, about...
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San Luis Potosi Part 6: Masks of the Post-Conquest Era
Figure dressed for the Dance of the Moors and the Christians. Although the North African Moors were a brown-skinned people, indigenous mask makers in Mexico usually portray them with white faces....
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Panamá Part 9: The Gamboa Rainforest Resort and its Orchid Nursery and...
Orchids at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort Orchid Nursery. The flower above is called Ascocenda Brighton Fuchsia. It likes warm climates and blooms in summer and fall. Gamboa Rainforest resort was one of...
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Historic Haciendas of Zapopan Part 1: La Venta del Astillero & La Primavera
Entrance to the casa grande of the historic Hacienda La Venta del Astillero. Several years ago, I began recruiting a group of fellow expats to help me search for old haciendas. We go out into the...
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Historic Haciendas of Zapopan Part 2: Santa Lucia
Hacienda Santa Lucia was once one of the Guadalajara area's great estates. The casa grande (main house) is the rust colored building with the row of arches. The capilla (chapel) looms above it. Both...
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Historic Haciendas of Zapopan Part 3: Santa Lucia's chapel and tequila factory
A wagon wheel, wooden cask, and part of a column found in Santa Lucia's old tequila taberna. In my previous posting, I showed you some of the exterior and interior features of Hacienda Santa...
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San Luis Potosí Part 1: Silver city on the frontier of the great northern...
Edificio Ipiña occupies the whole block forming the west side of the Plaza de los Fundadores. The building was named after Don Encarnación Ipiña who commissioned it in an attempt to recreate the famous...
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San Luis Potosí Part 2: The magnificent Plaza de Armas
Plaza de Armas is the most beautiful of San Luis Potosí's several lovely plazas. In Part 1 we visited Plaza de los Fundadores. Plaza de Armas is one block east of it on Avenida Venustiano Carranza. The...
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San Luis Potosí Part 3: The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Luis Rey
La Catedral Metropolitana de San Luis Rey glows in the late afternoon sun.The Catedral stands on the southeast corner of the Plaza de Armas, also known as the Plaza Principal. In this posting we'll...
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San Luis Potosí Part 4: The lovely & lively Plaza del Carmen
A large bronze fountain forms the centrepiece of the Plaza del Carmen. This lovely plaza lies two blocks east of Plaza de Armas on Calle Manuel José Othón. The first of those two blocks is another of...
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San Luis Potosí Part 5: The Marti Mansion and its Mask Museum
Wooden devil mask from the state of Michoacan. Carole and I have always been fascinated by the indigenous masks of Mexico, as well as the dances associated with them. In fact, we have assembled our own...
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San Luis Potosi Part 6: Masks of the Post-Conquest Era
Figure dressed for the Dance of the Moors and the Christians. Although the North African Moors were a brown-skinned people, indigenous mask makers in Mexico usually portray them with white faces....
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San Luis Potosí Part 7: The colonial-era displays of Museo del Virreinato
Beautifully crafted keys and locks on display at San Luis'Museo del Virreinato. This fine museum is devoted to the 300-year colonial period when Spain ruled Nueva España (today's Mexico). Carole and I...
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San Luis Potosí Part 8: The ornate Templo del Carmen
Inside the great dome of the Templo del Carmen. Any visit to San Luis's Plaza del Carmen should include a look at this ornate church. Of the great complex built by the Orden de Carmelitas Descalzos...
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The lush meadows and dramatic vistas of the Windy Point Trail
The blue ridges of the Sierra del Tigre stretch off toward the south west. Several years ago, Carole and I and some others visited a dramatic mirador (viewpoint) on top of a plateau on the South Shore...
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