Hampton Inn Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico

Accommodation <br><br>Hotel La Siesta, Acuna No. 9, Tel: (01 842) 422-0374. Their current rates were 300 + 400 peso for 1 or 2 persons. The small, en-suite rooms come with cable TV but are a little overpriced for what's on offer.

For Friday dinner, the visiting brothers and I, head over to Señora Clara Morenos. Her son, Alvero Moreno is in the work whom we also met in Chile. Her husband just had a stroke, but also came to convention. MartaVeloz came over to visit as well. Fidel Veloz, her son, lives in the Baja. Saturday we all gathered at Señora Anitas for lunch. She worked as a ...

... for the night. They have three boys and have just presented me with a gift from mexico. Friday has been quite free. Spent a couple hours "touring". Tortilla factories; men renovating houses. Early supper we went to Sra. Moreno's for supper. Her husband does not profess, but she stays faithful. A few of us drove to the park and played soccer till it was dark.

... sized park, as well as a number of other plazas and gardens. Very busy and colorful- we found a parking lot and walked for awhile. Many beautiful buildings, churches and statues-- I'm glad we'll be spending a couple of days here. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant, splitting a bowl of soup and an appetizer platter and having a couple of beers ($135). A good ending to what didn't start off that way!

... on the way to or on their way back from some sort of fiesta. this city has a great energy. there is always some concert or performance going on. this is by far my favourite spot in Mexico. Next morning i leave for Mexico`s second city Guadalajara to stay with Brian`s (a friend of mine) friends. Her name is Rocio and when she was younger herself and her sisters stayed in Brian´s house to learn english. So Brian and Rita generously organised for me to stay here.

... large drums being played and the dancing was amazing to watch. Sometimes several groups would be dancing in the square simultaneously to their own drumming. As the evening approached a music system was set up on one side of the square. Many people in what resembled Halloween or carnival costumes came out to dance. There was a tweety bird, minnie and mickey mouse, lots of men and women characters with skeleton heads. The dancing went on for many hours. Then suddenly the dancers ...

... interesting city with lot´s to offer, but being a country girl at heart it´s hard living in a city with all the noise especially. At the end of the week we will be heading to Morelia and then to the monarch butterfly sanctuario.And we will visit the playa (beach) before heading back stateside. I´ll try to write more later, It´s been a long day and I have salsa (dance) lessons tonight!

... afternoon in Spanish classes. I am making progress though at times it seems pretty slow.I finally have room to get out my paints, but not a lot of time to use them. In our first day´s here we met Pedro, who cooks at a restuarant.He has lived in the states some and done lot´s of things. His woman friend Morgan came the next week. She has lived in Portland for many years and in Seattle the last 5 and is going to move ...

... the carriages watching the views slide by, munching on bread and cakes from a bakery in Los Mochis (great foresight on my part the day before - buying water and a packet of crisps on the train cost about 5 quid!!) and listening to Sara McLachlan, Tom Waits (and a bit of my country collection - it seemed appropriate!). We stopped at one place for about 15 minutes - time to stretch legs, wander round a small collection of stalls, and ...

... It was a great feeling to wake up the following morning and know that we didn't have to catch a bus - we had the whole day to do as we pleased - bliss! After a long lie in, we walked into the central plaza and had coffee and cake at the highly recommended Cafe y Neveria Acropylis. We wandered up and down the main street, Avenue Hidalgo, taking photos of many of the historic buildings as we went. Then we began climbing the winding streets up ...