Shadow Shot 89 : Mexico City

I am leaving you with a little Mexican street colour whilst I take off to cold and snowy Boston for 5 days with 16 students in tow representing Singapore at the Harvard Model United Nations Conference. On my return, I may be able to post some shadow snow shots to compete with all of you......In the meantime, check out Shadow Shot Sunday by clicking here. Enjoy!

Shadow Shot 88 - Miami South Beach

I have been admiring so many beautiful shadow snow shots from around the world recently, and vicariously enjoying those very cold winters that so many of you have been experiencing, but today I couldn't resist posting some colourful, sunny beach shots from my recent November trip to Miami South Beach....

I really like the combination of the lurid lime of the windsurfer sail with the bright, bright blue of those Miami skies....

The delicate shadow imprint of the mesh and the number of the sail, also adds interest to this beach shot. Aren't the combination of colours just gorgeous in this final shot?

For more shadow shots around the world this week, don't hesitate to click here for Shadow Shot Sunday.....Enjoy!

Meandering in Mazatlan.......

I first encountered Mazatlan over twenty years ago when I was escaping a Siberian winter in Winnipeg where I was living at the time (more commonly called Winterpeg!). Then, in 1989, it was all about a package to the sun, and it certainly didn't disappoint on that score, as we boarded the plane at minus 40 degrees centigrade, and disembarked at plus 30 degrees centigrade in December...a real result!!

Revisiting in December 2010, the delightful warm weather and clear blue skies were still very much in evidence....

Back then in 1989, we rarely left the beach, but I do remember wandering the backstreets one day in the heart of old Mazatlan, and discovering a quiet, charming square with a bust of a woman with a bun in the middle. This image stayed in my mind for some reason, so imagine my surprise when I rediscovered the very same square in 2010 just two blocks back from my hotel. There she is (top left) - the same woman with the bun - an educational benefactor so I discovered this time...

Today Plazuela Machada has been transformed into a beacon of well preserved colonial architecture with delightful restaurants and cafes on the square - a far cry from the rather run down and dilapidated backwater from over twenty years ago. And it all seems thanks to the efforts of the Mazatlan Colonial Preservation Society - with the jewel in the crown being the beautiful Casa Machada - a gorgeous 19th century mansion on the corner of the square which is well worth a visit.......

Mazatlan has developed rapidly from a large rambling old port city to a bustling popular tourist resort, so it is nice to know that Old Mazatlan and its colonial heritage is being preserved...

Where have you returned recently with pleasing results?? For more windows on the world this week, check out My World Tuesday postings by clicking here. Enjoy!

Shadow Shot Sunday 87 - My Apartment Building!!

I haven't been out and about as much as usual ever since a Christmas vicious sting ray barb right through the foot put paid to my usual rapid walking pace and intrepid adventures, - but hey I only need to venture as far as the car park in my building to capture these shadow shots....

They look like complex Escher abstract designs or Bridget Riley Op Art optical illusions, but in reality they are just the car park gates and shadows thrown.....really!!

For more fun with shadows, check out Shadow Shot Sunday by clicking here. Enjoy!!

Puerto Vallarta - Sand and Stone Sculptures...

When you promenade along the Malecon in Puerto Vallarta as the sun is setting, there is always something interesting to see...

On this occasion, it was possible to observe the beautiful, intricate sand sculptures of seasonal nativity scenes and other religious or secular subject matter predominantly pertaining to Christmas, but revealing other significant religious images and scenes too......

Here is a fun image of Santa and his sleigh drawn by all the reindeer........

and here are all the local sand sculptors at work.........

Their work is very impressive, and I have seen it many times, but this was the first time that I saw a stone sculptor at work - or perhaps I should say stone balancer........

This guy spent hours concentrating on choosing and balancing large stones one upon the other with the resulting stone sculptures defying gravity...and then at 10pm knocked them all over, presumably ready to start anew the following day... (The Myth of Sisyphus certainly springs to mind.....) There is always something very interesting about transient, ephemeral art works...

For more windows on the world this week check out the My World Tuesday Posts by clicking here. Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 86 - Bicycles around the World.

Bicycle shots have featured strongly in Shadow Shot Sunday over the past year, and it is not hard to see why... I have always admired the satisfying symmetrical shadows they produce, so I have decided this week to present my selection from recent travels around the world....

The very first one is from my recent trip to Northern Mexico up in Durango - the film set city...whereas the one above is classic Oxford in England where it is absolutely de rigeur to cycle round the city......




















Above is a monochrome shot here in Colonia Roma, Mexico city, whereas below you have the blue skies and waving palm trees of Miami's South Beach - Ocean Drive, as a backdrop to the bike rack....















Next up is the bicycle cabs of Amecameca which is the base town not far from Mexico City where you get the best views of the volcanoes... Smokin Popo and Sleeping Woman......

You will notice that this is the only shot to feature a cyclist, albeit a taxi cab !! We are still not that used to cycling here in Mexico City despite Mayor Marcelo Ebrard's attempts to "green" the place with the cyclathon on Sundays down Reforma, the ecobici scheme with racks of bikes accessed by swipe card, the free bike rentals, and very exciting the new cycle lanes on the main city boulevard Paseo Reforma...

We still have to be shown what a cycle lane is used for with all these rather cute cardboard cutouts introducing us to the joys of cycling in the city.......

I rather like this shot where the cardboard cutout cyclist looks far more real than the actual phantom blur of the eco-bicyclist overtaking her in the new cycle lane. For more shadow shots this week, check out Shadow Shot Sunday by clicking here. Enjoy!!

Musing over Mexican breakfasts..........

My favourite meal of the day here is a hearty full Mexican breakfast, and I certainly have encountered many of them on my travels around the country. Above is huevos rancheros sampled at my favourite breakfast place of all time, La Tostada in Durango - a buzzy place full of locals enjoying good comfort food.... Next up is huevos motolenos sampled recently at La Tramoya on the beautiful Plazuela Machada in the heart of old Mazatlan.....

It is the meal over which I do most musing, meditating, and indeed a great deal of reading. On this particular occasion I was reading Orhan Pamuk's latest "The Museum of Innocence", and can highly recommend this novel to readers... Another of my favourite breakfast spots (very frequently visited) has to be "El Buen Cafe" in San Miguel de Allende - famed for their baked goods such as banana bread as well as the more hearty fare below...

...And you can sit for hours over the breakfast served at Casa Mora, Malinalco consisting of melon, papaya, fresh orange juice, huevos chorizos, refried beans, quesadillas con queso oaxaca, enchiladas, sweet rolls and pastries....

And why wouldn't you sit for hours when this is the view from the breakfast terrace....You will have to forgive me if a note of premature nostalgia starts to creep into my posts over the next six months, as I have decided to leave mexico this summer after six years here, and I am already making a list of oh so many things I am going to miss... For more global glimpses around the world this week, check out My World Tuesday by clicking here. Happy New Year everyone....Where is your favourite breakfast place??