From romance to religion, to crimes of passion and crimes of the heart, masks have intrigued, beguiled, and fascinated us from pre-historic cave dwellers to the present. Although masks are found in virtually every culture in the world perhaps no culture has embraced the art of the mask as in Mexico. What lies behind the […]
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From the book “CASA MEXICANA” ©1989 Tim Street-Porter, published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York. Reproduced by special permission of the publisher and author. Photographs by Tim Street-Porter © Barragan Foundation, Switzerland / ProLitteris, Zurich, Switzerland Luis Barragán was born in Guadalajara in 1902 of a prosperous, aristocratic family, and grew up on a large […]
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From the book “CASA MEXICANA” ©1989 Tim Street-Porter, published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York. Reproduced by special permission of the publisher and author. The climatic contrast between Mexico’s high-altitude cities on the Central Plateau and the coastal resorts which line the Pacific Coast is dramatic. A quick thirty minute flight on Mexicana transports the […]
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Here’s a place for retirees and snowbirds to seriously consider. I previously extolled the charms of Morelia and wondered aloud why there weren’t more ex-pats living there. After continuing our tour of several colonial cities throughout Central Mexico I’m even more puzzled as to why Xalapa hasn’t become more of a permanent residence for Americans […]
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On my last visit to Cabo San Lucas in 1997, the city had installed its second traffic light four months ago. It stands on the northwestern outskirts of town, where Mexico Hwy. 19 begins its winding journey to Todos Santos, 45 miles away. So far no one had bothered to turn it on, but I […]
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“The mountain, she is not innocent….” Senor Reyes’ voice trailed off as his words hung in the dry air of the climber’s hostel in Tlachichuca. John and I toned down our giddy anticipation and shifted uncomfortably in the sudden gravity of the moment. Reyes was perfect, exactly the type of mountain man you expected to […]
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Crooked under one arm, he lovingly hugs a water-beaten body board as if it were his best friend. A mass of dirty blonde dreadlocks crowns his scalp and from under sun-faded Hawaiian shorts, his bronzed muscular body depicts a carefree, beach bum lifestyle. He bids us a “G’day, mates,” and I have to remind myself […]
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Xilitla has so many structures it would be impossible to count them, such as this fragment of arches, columns and windows of the most varied architectural styles, built for the simple pleasure of feeling the wind, the dampness and the freedom that pervades every moment in this magical place… Endless stairs leading to unsuspected destinations. […]
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I recently had the pleasure of seeing a living legend, the Atayde Hermanos circus. Founded by Aurelio Atayde Guizar and his brothers in Zacatecas on August 26, 1888, it is the longest living circus in Mexico. Señor Atayde Guisar ran away from his home in Saltillo as a child to find work in a traveling […]
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Israel Gonzalez, of the circus family known as the Kaylicoas, is the tightrope walker of the Vazquez Hermanos Circus. He also performs an act of gymnastics, balancing on alternating hands, and breezes through a number of other physically demanding stunts. A third act involves his submersing himself under water in a glass cylinder holding his […]
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