Zihuatanejo © 2023 Jane Simon Ammeson

Relax for the day in picture-perfect Zihuatanejo

We take the coastal road south as it winds through the tree-covered Sierra Madre del Sur mountains and past vistas of the blue waters of the Pacific far below, traveling to Zihuatanejo, pronounced Zi-Wat-En-Ay-O, as anyone who has ever heard the song of the same name knows. Often called Zihua for short, the name comes […]

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Manuel Zago putting the cheese in molds. © Joseph Sorrentino, 2023

Chipilo, Puebla: an Italian town with the best Italian food in Mexico

Chipilo, Puebla is different from other Mexican pueblos. Very different. That’s because it is an Italian pueblo, settled in 1882 by Italians from Veneto, in northern Italy. In the late 1880s, the Mexican government wanted to modernize its agricultural sector and recruited Europeans. Seventy-nine families arrived in Chipilo, worked hard and eventually succeeded in establishing […]

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El Palomar monument, Guadalajara © Paul Hudson 2023

Luis Barragán’s architectural legacy in Guadalajara

In March 2023 the city of Guadalajara dedicated a new monument to world-renowned engineer-architect Luis Barragán. The monument, El Palomar, was originally designed by Barragán in the 1970s but did not come to fruition until many years after his death. Barragán’s career has been extensively documented. However, the emphasis has usually been  on his later […]

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Fishing boats sit idle on the beach, Isla Holbox, Mexico © Ryan Biller, 2021

Whale shark ecotourism brings new hope to fishing communities in Isla Holbox, Quintana Roo

Each year, the Mexican state of Quintana Roo is swarmed by foreign tourists. Even in 2020, in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Cancún alone saw upwards of two million tourists. Being that the region was one of the few permitting entry to foreigners, I decided to make the journey from […]

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Viñedos Aztecas © 2021 Jane Simon Ammeson

Sampling fine wines on the Querétaro Wine Trail

In a land of smokey mezcals, rompopes, single-distilled raicillas, cervezas, tequilas, and Kahlua—that thick, sweet coffee liqueur made in Veracruz whose name in Nahuatl means the house of the Acolhua people—wine would seem to scarcely merit a mention. But in the 30 miles stretching between San Juan del Río and Bernal, known as the Querétaro […]

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whale shark

Swimming with whale sharks in Cancun: An underwater safari

About 25 miles off Cancún’s northeastern coast, past Isla Mujeres and far into the Caribbean waters, some of the largest known sea creatures loll their summers away. They are whale sharks, a gray-and-white spotted fish that can measure up to 40 feet long and weigh more than 15 tons. That’s bigger than many dinosaurs.

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