Manzanillo -- Barcelo Karmina

If you would like staying at a fabulous resort on the beach, try out the all-inclusive resort in the Barcelo Hotel Group called Barcelo Karmina Palace Deluxe, located in Manzanillo.

We chose Karmina because it is only 4 hours away from our home at Lake Chapala.  Here are pictures I took of the lush gardens and the many pools (family pools, adults-only pool, whirlpool).

All-Inclusive Resort

Beautiful !

Mexican restaurant (Agave)

Looking toward the ocean

Mike, enjoying the sun

One of the many pools

Your own private jacuzzi

View from the Italian restaurant (Capri)

"All-inclusive" means that all meals in the buffet restaurant are included in the price of the room.  And if you upgrade to Premium Level, then the specialty restaurants (Agave, Capri, Kyoto) are included also. 

There are many hotels in the Barcelo Hotel Group around the world.  I think our next stay will be at the Royal Hideaway Playacar, along the Riviera Maya on Mexico's Caribbean coast.

Trip to Guanajuato (Part 3 of 3)

We spent a day in San Miguel de Allende.  It's about a 90-minute drive from Guanajuato.  

We took a city tour, walked around the main plaza, and had lunch at a neat restaurant (can't remember the name though).  A woman stopped and talked to me about my camera as she was taking a photography class and was interested in what kind of camera to buy.  She's an American lady who's been living in San Miguel for about 18 months.  I asked her how she liked it and she thought for a second and then said that she wished there were more men there -- she said it's a city of women, and not enough men!

The weather wasn't very good and after threatening to rain all day, it finally started raining just as we were heading to our bus to go back to Guanajuato, so our timing was good.

This city reminds me of a cross between Cuenca and Cotacachi in Ecuador.

Here are my pictures:

An overlook of the city (reminds me of Cuenca)

The parish church, and main square

Streets remind me of Cotacachi

A great time was had by all and it was good to get back home after a long weekend away.

Trip to Guanajuato (Part 2 of 3)

Iglesia de la Valenciana

Guanajuato

After lunch at Hacienda Sepulveda, we continued on to city of Guanajuato, which is also the capital of the State of Guanajuato.

Gold and silver were discovered in this area in the 16th century, and the town grew quite rapidly.  In fact, the hotel that we stayed in was once a lodge, supporting the mining industry (among many others in the town that have been turned into hotels).

There are many underground tunnels and roads, which help keep the traffic flowing throughout the city (quite impressive).  There are homes built up on the hillsides above the town which are accessible only on foot, as the roads are too narrow for vehicles.

Here are my photos of Guanajuato:

Monument to the miners, as you come into the city

We took a city tour on this trolley!

One of the Dutch homes in the city

Street scene in one of the main plaza areas

Cervantino-costumed performers (nightly in the main plaza)

Tribute to Cervantes (author of Don Quixote)

The Valenciana Church 

La Valenciaia chuch is an 18th-century Mexican church built at the opening of the La Valenciana mine, the site of the largest vein of silver found in Mexico. It was built by Antonio de Ordóñez y Alcocer, the owner of the mine, to give thanks to his patron saint (Saint Cajetan) for the riches the mine provided. The church is noted for use of gold leaf, especially the main altarpieces which are completely covered in the metal. The church is also a site of the Festival Internacional Cervantino.

 

 

Castillo de Santa Cecilia, a hotel you can stay in!

Part 3 of this blog post will be about the short time we spent in San Miguel de Allende.

Trip to Guanajuato (Part 1 of 3)

We recently went on a 3-day tour to Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende.  It really wasn't enough time in either place, but a good condensed version of why we might want to go back for a longer stay another time.

Hacienda Sepulveda

 

We visited Hacienda Sepulveda in Lagos de Moreno on the way to Guanajuato.  It takes between 4 and 5 hours to get to Guanajuato from Ajijic, so it was nice to break up the drive and to stop and have lunch on the way.

Hacienda Sepulveda is a 17th century mansion, belonging to the Serrano family for three generations.  It has now been turned into a hotel and spa by Juan Alfonson Serrano, through his labor of love over the last 10 years.

Here are my pictures of our visit there:

Our tour group

Who's throwing who into the water!

We had a nice buffet lunch outside, under the trees

We then continue with our trip on to Guanajuato, which is the subject of the next blog post.

Andares Mall

We recently went into Guadalajara to take our car to the Mazda dealership to have it serviced.  Since it was a major service and would take about 4 hours, we decided to go to the Andares Mall, to take a look around.  

Andares Mall is an indoor/outdoor mall and very beautiful.  These pictures were taken in random order, as we were walking around the mall.  

Here are my pictures:

 A lovely young lady at one of the stores

A young boy enjoying the koi in the pond

Play area for the kids

Starbucks (guess who got a beverage here!)

Waiting in line at the ATM

Casino

Best Buy

Large movie theatre

Outdoor covered walkways

Water feature

Krispy Kreme (who would have thought?)