Yep, more Jacaranda pictures. This time with a bit of sunshine and a bit of storm cloud.

El Viernes de Dolores, or The Friday of Sorrows.

Honestly, I know nothing about these religious holidays, so always find myself looking them up after the fact. The purpose of this day is to console the Virgin Mary as she grieves for her son. Here in town this means building all manner of alters in a home’s doorway. Much of centro is closed off to cars and everybody heads out to walk the streets and eat ice cream.

The part I didn’t know about was that when you approach the family at their altar you ask, “¿Ya lloró la Virgen?” Has the Virgin cried yet? The reply is “Sí, ya lloró.” Yes she has cried. And then they offer you her tears, which come mostly in the form of small ice cream cones, or a drink.

The kids were on Spring Break, which meant every single friend had left town to do something fun. We decided to hit the road for a few days, too, and drove down to Valle de Bravo. It’s about a four-hour drive along the toll roads. After this trip I do have to say that the Suzuki Jimny is very much in its element as an around-town vehicle, and very much out of it as a road trip vehicle. I’d say the ol’ Porsche 356 is actually more comfortable.

Valle de Bravo is a reservoir built back in the 1940s. They threw up a dam, flooded the valley, and boom, a resort town was born. It’s under two hours from Mexico City, so it’s an obvious weekend getaway for them.

We had expected to find a beach to go swimming, but discovered very quickly it’s not that kind of place. With this lake, the action is out on the water. We confirmed our boat for the weekend and continued to tour the town.

Taco alley was just a couple blocks from our house and became our go-to place for dinner. Honestly, is there anything better than half a kilo of al pastor, a fat stack of tortillas, all the fixings, and a bunch of hot salsas for ten bucks? I don’t think so.