Life in Mexico, an account by Frances Calderon de la Barca

In 1843, a collection of letters was published under the name of Life in Mexico as a sort of travelogue relating the impressions and observations gleaned and recorded by Madame Frances Calderon de la Barca during her sojourns in Mexico as the wife of Spanish diplomat. It is of special Continue Reading →

Morelia, Michoacan: Historic Center

Morelia is the capital of the state of Michoacan, Mexico. It is Michoacan’s largest city and features an abundance of beautiful colonial architecture. It is the birthplace of José María Morelos y Pavón (1765), a hero of the Mexican independence movement. The city, which was called Valladolid from 1545 to 1828, Continue Reading →

Toniná Chiapas Pyramid

Toniná Chiapas: I just came across an article stating that recent excavations (undertaken since 2010 by INAH, the Mexican National Institute of Archaeology and History) confirm that the “Acropolis” of Toniná, Chiapas, comprises one off the largest pyramids in Mesoamerica.  See the article link below.  The pyramidal structure measures 74 Continue Reading →

5 Exploratory Weekend-or-More Zihuatanejo Side Trips

Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mexico Not only can you enjoy stretches of fabulous Pacific Ocean beaches while vacationing in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, but if you’re staying for a couple of weeks or more, you can take advantage of some quick side trips into the interior of Mexico for a change of scene during your Continue Reading →

5 Day Trips in Zihuatanejo Mexico

Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mexico Zihuatanejo Bay and the beaches in and around it are awesomely beautiful, but when you want a bit of a change, there are plenty of day trips to see different aspects of our tropical paradise. Exploratory day trips out of Zihuatanejo 1 Explore the Xihuacan Museum and Soledad de Continue Reading →

Mexican Codices: Tovar Codex of Juan de Tovar

Searching through the digital libraries that are currently available on-line can render some wonderful finds. Here are a couple of illustrations from the Tovar Codex, attributed to Mexican Jesuit priest Juan de Tovar, from the John Carter Brown library online. Many more illustrations are included in the JCB Archive of Early American Continue Reading →

Tropical Vegetables Container Gardening

Tropical vegetables in containers It has been some time since I did a general update on my tropical vegetables container garden here in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. This year, lacking time to dedicate to the garden and general experimentation, I scaled back and stuck to a few of the tried and true greens Continue Reading →

Orchids of Mexico

Orchids grow in warm, humid climates and are found largely in the tropical areas of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Their unusual, long-lasting blossoms and often heady scents have inspired curiosity and wonder over the ages. A handsome volume titled “The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala,” written by James Bateman, Continue Reading →

Chayote Mexican Squash

The Internet Archive at Archive.org features an old book, The Chayote: A Tropical Vegetable, that details the characteristics and properties of the tropical vine and squash native to Mexico and the Caribbean, citing documentation by Australians, Spaniards, and other Europeans who arrived in the New World during the early colonial Continue Reading →

Sarsaparilla Root Beverage

Sarsaparilla: an old-fashioned beverage made from the root of a tropical vine. Sarsaparilla is a climbing plant native to tropical America; Mexico, Honduras, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Jamaica are important sarsaparilla-producing countries. According to Medicinal Plants of Tropical and Subtropical Regions, a book that is found on-line in the Continue Reading →