Our Year-End Trip to Central Mexico in 2013-14

Celeste on the Beach in Cabo San Lucas (2010)

Over the last few years our immediate family (Bob & Karen Ford and our two sons Colby and Bryan and his wife Anya and our granddaughter Celeste) have made it a practice to "go somewhere WARM" for the Christmas and New Year's Holidays.  We've gone in the past to Baja California/Cabo San Lucas in 2010 and to Palm Springs/Las Vegas and Southern California in 2009, 2011 and 2012.  Now, here are a few pictures recapping our most recent trip to Central Mexico and Acapulco (2013-2014).




To our friends, followers and family--my apologies for being late on posting about our last "warm weather" trip.  My excuse is our being very busy over the last six weeks on major events that kept us super busy: the Arts to Zion Studio Tour and the St George Utah monthly Art on Main Gallery Stroll which both occurred in January 2014 in St George where I opened a new permanent exhibit of my photography at Split Rock Gallery in Ancestor Square St George Utah and other family and business business such as getting my photo business launched more seriously, including joining the Xanadu Gallery online artists (based in Scottsdale Arizona) and, finally posting over 650+ photo images on iStock photos by Getty Images over the last few months.  We'e also been very busy in our local community (me as a Rockville Town Commissioner and other activities that I can discuss later).

Celeste with Grandma in Southern California
for Christmas in 2012

Celeste & Grandad (Bob) at our Christmas time
around Las Vegas and Southern Utah (2011)

The Mexico Trip--Dec. 24, 2013 - Jan. 11, 2014:

Colby (our son who is doing graduate study in geology in Southern California) joined Karen and I (Bob) in Las Vegas on December 24, 2013 from where we flew to Mexico City arriving early afternoon.  A few hours later Bryan and Anya (our older son and daughter-in-law who are professors at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut) arrived just leaving Hartford in time to miss a huge snowstorm!  They arrived with their daughter--Celeste--in time for a lovely Christmas Eve dinner.  Over the next week (until after New Year's Day) we explored some of the great "colonial cities" of central Mexico, e.g. Mexico City, Puebla, Taxco, and Cuernavaca.  There were large crowds for sure because schools are out, but there was also a lot of excitement, color, fun, and beauty in the events, museums, and cities we visited.  See some of the photos below showing some highlights!

MEXICO CITY:

Zocalo, Mexico City

The Mexico Stock Exchange--Paseo Reforma

Christmas tree at Chapultepec Castle

View over Chapultepec Park to City

Juarez Monument Alameda Park
Mexico City

Mariachi bands in Xochililco Gardens

Xochilco Gardens

Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico City)

Gran Hotel Lobby Mexico City

Latin American Tower Historic City Center

I had forgotten how wonderful these major festival and holiday events can be in Hispanic America--all the shopping for "end-of-year" gift giving which is traditional in much of Latin America, and the many family and community events, lights, color and fun!  Though the highland cities of central Mexico were a little "chilly" (in weather) and there were occasional rainy days--when we saw the snow up north in the USA (on the news) it felt very WARM in Mexico!  The flowers were still out, i.e. in Xochimilco's floating gardens or in the Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, and the bright colors and sublime "spring-like weather" and SUN in Taxco, Puebla and Cuernavaca.  For Mexicans this is the "cold season" but to us--who had just come from the coldest winter in 40 years in southern Utah--found it warm indeed.

PUEBLA--CITY OF CHURCHES:

 

 
 

CUERNAVACA--CITY OF ETERNAL SPRING:

 

 

 

TAXCO--THE SILVER CITY:

 

THEN....TO BE REALLY WARM WE SPENT A WEEK ON THE BEACH IN ACAPULCO:

You can see more of these pictures on FACEBOOK--on our ALBUM:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201826537722417.1073741844.1151689949&type=1&l=2be85211ab

I do hope you enjoy the photos and come back to see more from an upcoming Spring trip to northern California, e.g. Napa Valley, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, and the Monterey Bay Area.

My best (Geobob)