One flu over the cuckoo's nest,,,

Hello Everyone,

The recent news of swine flu outbreak emanating from Mexico has prompted a few friends to email me about our condition here in Bucerias, Nayarit. We are doing great and doing our usual routine with extra precaution. The states of Nayarit and Jalisco have no known cases of this flu virus. The Department of Education has suspended all classes until May 6 to keep schoolchildren from being infected (as a precaution). If you are tired of listening to your local Canadian or American news, here is a link to the Bay of Banderas news http://www.banderasnews.com/index.htm. It has different views of this situation. I hope that the WHO will find a vaccine and the flu will stop spreading (as the news say???)

We’ve had a long run at the Adriatico this year. We are still performing but with reduced days to Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30 to 10:30 pm. Please call Adriatico at (329) 298-6038 or email at adriatico@adriaticoristorante.com. The food is great, service is attentive and the bar is gorgeous. Don’t forget the band is really good too! I will be heading back to Vancouver towards the end of May. So my last day here at Adriatico would be May 15 (I hope!).

My current band:

Armi Grano-Vocal
Julio Palacio-Keyboard
Javier Nunez/Doug Demeerleer-Bass
Danny Lopez-Drums

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who visited, recommended and supported us throughout this season. It has been a difficult year but your encouragement and company has sustained us through. I’d like to extend a big thank you to all the media members in the Vallarta and Vancouver area for supporting and promoting our show. I also would like to thank all the wonderful musicians who played with me this season, Bill Street, Gerry Palken, Richard Gordon, Eduardo Rubio, Julio Palacio, Doug Demeerleer, Danny Lopez, Javier Nunez and Georgina Enriquez. Muchas Gracias, Hasta Luego!

Saludos,

Armi Grano

Shop till you drop....

April 21, 2009


Dear Everyone,

We just got back from a weekend trip to Guadalajara, a much needed break for me and a little shopping on the side. We decided to use the highway towards Mascota which to our surprise, was a very nice and quiet road. It was windy and it took us about 2 hours to reach Mascota where we had lunch at a café called Napoles. The church in the square was beautiful and so is the town itself. After about an hour, we continued with our driving and headed east on the Highway 90/70 until we reached Ameca. It only took us 2 and half hours and I guess we were already in the outskirts of Guadalajara. The drive was quite pleasant and quiet except when we get to the towns, where they put tons of topes (speed bumps), it’s hard for the car if you don’t slow down. Since it is our first time to drive that way, I studied the map thoroughly and we got to our friend’s house in the Guadalajara Centro with no problem. I had to shop for a dining room set so that was first on our agenda for that day and I found it. Dinner was at the Sirloin Stockade which was quite good.

I woke up early the following day because we were going to Tonala. I was excited! It was a thirty minutes drive from the Centro. We found parking in the market and my eyes were already scoping the hundreds of stalls as we were looking for a parking space. It is a great market, a feast for the eyes. All the artisans display their work and are still working as fast as they can sell their wares. I found everything I wanted in the first hour of shopping. I made a mental note of everything I wanted to buy then we proceeded to walk and look at more stalls! Wow! And everything is cheap and you can bargain too.

We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant beside Kentucky Fried Chicken, it was not good I should have gone to KFC. I was excited to go back to my shopping so the food didn’t really matter to me. I bought huge vases, mirrors, paintings, lamps etc….all for 200 dollars. I was in heaven. I was so happy so I cooked dinner that evening. It was pasta with chicken, yummy. Much better than eating out.

I woke up early again because we are heading back to Bucerias today. But before that, I had to make a trip to the shoe alley which is 3 blocks from my friend’s house. It is about ten blocks of shoe stores. I was getting frustrated at first because I couldn’t find anything that would fit me. In the background, John is impatient. Then voila, I found 2 pairs in one store and another pair in the next store. I was a happy shopper.

We took Highway 15 back to Bucerias. It was a nice toll road which came to about $270 pesos. It went as far as Compostela and then we drove the Highway 200 down the windy road to the coast. I actually liked the Mascota road better and it’s free.

Hasta Luego,
Armi

Down by the riverside....

April 12, 2009

Hello Everyone,

Happy Easter , Feliz Pascua! I am still here in Bucerias and enjoying the mild weather. We attended Easter Mass at the Nuestra Senora la Paz Church which was well attended and I felt lucky to get a seat. Then we had a nice brunch at a Huichol Gallery with their organic freshly roasted coffee…hmmm and the live music of a local latin trio. The beach area is so crowded because of the long Easter weekend and the local tourists have all descended from the inland cities such as Mexico, Leon, Guadalajara. We decided to head towards the road to Mascota and stopped by a roadside seafood restaurant by Rio Mascota. The fresh shrimps and deep fried snapper was a treat! It was interesting to watch the people and children swimming and playing by the river.

We are still playing at Adriatico every Tuesdays through Fridays for an indefinite time so please drop by when you are in town.


Adriatico Ristorante-Galeana and Lazaro Cardenas Streets, Bucerias
Tel 329-298-3820
Armi Grano-Vocals
Julio Palacio-Keyboard
Javier Nunez/Doug Demeerleer-Bass
Danny Lopez-Drums

Thank you for your support!

Ciao!