Just about an hour from Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco, there’s a little town (population 17,740) with a big reputation: Tequila. Meaning “the rock that cuts” in the Nahuatl language, Tequila is the home of the famous Agave Azul cactus. Under the shadow of an extinct 9,000 foot volcano, this is the only place […]
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Angela Peralta is a big name in Mazatlán (mah-saht-LAHN). And practically everyone, especially the locals, are happy to tell you “the real story” about this legendary, Mexican diva. Only every story you hear is different. So after a lot of research, here’s the authentic saga of Angela Peralta. So they say: When Angela Peralta, lovingly […]
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Cogan’s Reviews Here’s a rather unusual approach to learning Spanish. It’s not intended for beginners but rather for people who have already spent some time studying the language and want to go further, especially in the direction of becoming more adept at conversation. It is specifically aimed at we people who have some ability to […]
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Cogan’s Reviews With these two thrillers we find ourselves in the world of hard-boiled private eyes – a la Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler – but with a difference. Both stories are squarely set in Mexico. Murdoch Hughes has created a private eye, Rick Gage, who has given up his former career as a detective […]
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Regardless whether you translate la frontera as “border” or “frontier,” the images evoked are often negative: lawlessness, dusty streets, harsh climes, and a general disregard for human life. Even in an historical context, frontier life means living on the edges of civilization. When outsiders first encounter a Texas-Mexico border town, such images are often brutally reinforced. The […]
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Teotihuacan (pronounced teh-oh-tee-wah-KAHN or teh-oh-tee-WAH-kan — experts differ on which is correct) is an archaeological site some 50 kilometers north of downtown Mexico City but still in the Valle de Mexico (the bowl surrounded by mountains in which Mexico City is on the southwest side). To get here go to the northern bus station from […]
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As you drive the winding road into town, you catch glimpses of it perched like an eagle’s aerie on a ridge of the mountains that ring the valley. The small archaeological site, which overlooks Malinalco, is probably the best-preserved Aztec site in Mexico, but this charming town, set amid spectacular scenery has a lot more […]
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The small fishing town of Tecolutla straddles the Gulf of Mexico and the Rio Tecolutla in the northern part of Veracruz State. Apart from school vacations and the annual fishing tournament nothing much happens around here – which is why we like it. One has the feeling of being lost in another time and place […]
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From many streets away, we could hear the band playing the distinctive music. It was Carnival in Tepoztlán, and the Chinelos were dancing. We headed in the direction of the music to a small clearing outside the entrance to the church where children, dressed in spectacular costumes and wearing bearded masks, were jumping and hopping […]
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Chalma, about an hour and a half by car from Cuernavaca, is a rather grubby little town, which few foreigners visit. Yet on weekends and holy days, the place is packed with pilgrims, who come to worship the Dark Lord on the cross. Drawn by its magical spirit, they come by bus, car, bicycle and […]
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