Mexico Shows its “Passion” for Jesus – Pictures of Passion Plays

Most people know something about Mexico’s Passion Plays; these plays act out the last hours of Jesus’ life in which he is put on trial, carries his cross and is crucified.

 

The extent to which these events are acted out and the realism of them varies from region to region and community to community.  At the very least, they include someone acting the role of Jesus carrying often large and heavy crosses for fairly long distances.  In the most extreme cases, they actually have someone physically strike Jesus with a with a whip, and even tie him onto the cross which is raised as though it were a real crucifixion with the person Jesus on it, although such extremes are rare! (I haven’t heard of any cases where they actually use nails or anything like that …)

 

Take a look at the pictures below:

 

Retirement Living in Mexico - Religions Events

 

Retirement Living in Mexico - Religions Events

 

Retirement Living in Mexico - Religions Events

 

Retirement Living in Mexico - Religions Events

 

So, do I think this stuff is a good idea? Well, it’s certainly very different, and a very foreign expression of very different values.  What I will say is that they certainly take their religion seriously!  It is worth noting, however, that it’s very rare that Mexicans are push about their religion; they prefer to show their passion (no pun intended) rather than tell you about it or try to convince you of it.

 

-by Thomas Lloyd

 

Mexico Real Estate Testimonials

Celebrate the Equinox in Mexico – Joyfully Welcoming the Spring

The spring equinox is a beautiful time anywhere, but especially in Mexico, there are some places that excel in charm, beauty and spiritual strength.

On Wednesday, Tom posted about the spring Equinox at Chichen Itza, and yesterday about welcoming the spring in Playa del Carmen.

The following are a few more of the key places where people gathered for spiritual enlightenment, beauty or simply for the pleasure of seeing the sunrise on the first day of spring:

Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan – an Aztec city just north of Mexico City

Retirement Travel in Mexico

Retirement Travel in Mexico

Retirement Travel in Mexico

El Tajin Pyramid, in Veracruz, on the Golf of Mexico

Retirement Travel in Mexico

Retirement Travel in Mexico

Retirement Travel in Mexico

Dzibilchaltun Pyramid, Yucatan

Retirement Travel in Mexico

Retirement Travel in Mexico

I hope that next year, you can make it to one of these magical places to welcome the spring!

-by Bea Lozano

Mexico Real Estate Testimonials

How Did Playa del Carmen Welcome the Spring?

Although the true Equinox was yesterday (March 20 this year,) in most parts of Mexico people continue to celebrate on the 21st every year. This morning, across the country, people gathered at ancient pyramids, beaches or other beautiful and meaningful places to welcome the spring at sunrise.

Yesterday, I wrote about Chichen Itza, one of the most exciting places to celebrate the equinox.

Today, let’s take a look at what took place right here in Playa del Carmen on the beach:

Retirement activities in Mexico

Retirement activities in Mexico

Retirement activities in Mexico

Retirement activities in Mexico

Finally, just one more nice picture of Chichen Itza on the equinox, in which you can see the snake shape clearly on the steps, with the head of the snake at the base:

Retirement activities in Mexico

Tomorrow, we will see pictures of celebrations around Mexico.

-by Thomas Lloyd

Mexico Real Estate Testimonials

Want to See Mexico’s Wildlife Upclose? Go to Xcaret (Part 3)

Places to see for Mexico retirementMexico is a country rich in wildlife and nature.  As with so many other attractive aspects of things to see and experience in Mexico, Xcaret offers  a very good taste of the kinds of colorful birds, wild cats and nature you will find – at least for the Yucatan Peninsula.

 

For the intro to Xcaret, click here.  For a gallery of photos on the architecture and art, click here.

 

Today I’m going to share  a series of pictures on wildlife and nature. I’m trying something new and sharing it as a slideshow.  It will automatically go through all the pictures, but if you move the cursor over the pictures, you will see buttons for back, forward and pause so you can have some control.

In the slide show, you will see jaguars, panthers, flamingos, birds of various kinds, bird eggs, and another animal called a tapir, I believe.  There are also some nature shots:

 

beatlo's Wildlife - Xcaret album on Photobucket

(If you can’t see the slideshow, click here.)

 

by Thomas Lloyd

 

Mexico Real Estate Testimonials

Discover Mexico’s Culture and History at Xcaret (Part 2)

Activities for Retirement in MexicoOn Friday, I gave an introduction to the beautiful eco theme park call Xcaret, giving an overview and sharing some pictures.  (See In Xcaret, Mexico Comes Together in One Place – Part 1 – Intro.)  Today I’m continuing this little series on Xcaret to share pictures about Mexico’s culture and history in this park.

 

The park presents a wide variety of aspect of country’s history and culture ranging from the old estates to the Mayan hut villages, to a traditional cemetery.  Take a look.

 

Throughout Xcaret, you will find traditional Mayan homes and architecture:

 

Activities for Retirement in Mexico

 

Activities for Retirement in Mexico

 

… Mayan artifacts and artwork:

 

Activities for Retirement in Mexico

 

Activities for Retirement in Mexico

 

Activities for Retirement in Mexico

 

… colonial and traditional Mexican architecture:

 

Activities for Retirement in Mexico

 

Activities for Retirement in Mexico

 

Activities for Retirement in Mexico

 

… and finally displays and reenactments of traditional lifestyle:

 

Activities for Retirement in Mexico

 

Activities for Retirement in Mexico

 

Activities for Retirement in Mexico

 

Tomorrow, we will see pictures of wildlife in Xcaret, followed by a couple of posts on the various reenactments and shows.

 

TOPMexicoRealEstate.com; Mexico’s Leading Network of Specialists for Finding and Purchasing Mexican Properties Safely

 

Mexico Real Estate Testimonials

Let’s Go to Valladolid, Again! Gallery Part 3 – Monastery

Yesterday and the day before I posted some pictures of the main square and various sights around town in Valladolid, a beautiful, quaint and very non-touristy colonial Mayan town in Yucatan. (See Let’s Go to Valladolid, Again! Gallery Part 2 – Around Town.)

 

Something you’ll note if you go to Valladolid, as is the case with many colonial and old European towns, it’s surprising how many churches and chapels there are in a town that you can probably walk across in half an hour (and I don’t mean just the downtown – that’s from one end of town to the other!)

 

On Monday, I put up some pictures of the main church.  Today I am going to share some pictures of the town’s large monastery (which I believe is still used as a monastery, which is rather rare for colonial Mexican monasteries and convents) and the surrounding neighborhood:

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

It’s rare to find a town that is so charming and authentic, yet almost completely undiscovered that is so close to major tourist centers like Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Merida and Chichen Itza (in fact, it is smack dab in the middle of all of these, and only between 30 min and 2 hours away from each of them.)  This is truly an undiscovered gem and great place for retirement travel in Mexico.

TOPMexicoRealEstate.com; Mexico’s Leading Network of Specialists for Finding and Purchasing Mexican Properties Safely

 

Mexico Real Estate e-book

Let’s Go to Valladolid, Again! Gallery Part 2 – Around Town

Yesterday, I shared some pictures of Valladolid’s main church and town square. (See Let’s Go to Valladolid, Again! Gallery Part 1 – Church & Town Square.) Today, I’m going to continue with pictures of various scenes from around this charming, colonial Mayan town.  As I said yesterday, the town is not touristy, but it gains it’s charm from being more of the “real Mexico” with old-time shoemakers, local butcher shops tended by mustached men with cowboy hats and meat cleavers and the like.

 

First of all, the hotel where we stayed.  All of the hotels are smaller, local, colonial inns that are as charming as the town itself:

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

And now, just some random scenes from around town:

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico
(By the way, anyone who knows Mexico will know that “Palacio de Hiero” is an nice, modern, upscale department store – I wonder if they had permission to use the name?!)

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Tomorrow will be the final post in this series with pictures of the monastery.

 

TOPMexicoRealEstate.com; Mexico’s Leading Network of Specialists for Finding and Purchasing Mexican Properties Safely

Mexico Insurance Kit

Let’s Go to Valladolid, Again! Gallery Part 1 – Church & Town Square

I love the colonial, Mayan town of Valladolid.  I’ve written about it before (Mexico Retirement Places to See – A Quaint, Colonial Mayan Town.)  It’s definitely a place I can see myself visiting more often when I retire, since it’s just such a relaxing and beautiful place to be.  Valladolid is small but it as nice restaurants, cafes and hotels.  It’s very inexpensive, even by Mexican standards, and it’s completely safe.

 

Part of the reason for this is that it’s off the radar for tourism.  In fact, it’s rare to find international tourists or even larger-scale national tourism, although a handful of tour buses now make stops as tour providers realize how charming and appealing the quiet, unaltered life of this authentic Mayan town is.

 

I went back again a few weeks ago, and got more pictures, which I’ll share over the next three days.  Today, I’ll share pictures of the main church and the town square.  First, the church:

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Now, some scenes of the lovely town square at night (some of which include the church):

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico
(A little blurry, but, hey, night shots are hard!)

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

And finally, a couple of shots during the day:

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Retirement Travel in Mexico

 

Tomorrow, I’ll share some pictures of random items from around town, as well as the hotel we stayed in.  Enjoy!

 

TOPMexicoRealEstate.com; Mexico’s Leading Network of Specialists for Finding and Purchasing Mexican Properties Safely

 

Questionnaire

Discover the Mystery of Coba’s Pyramids in Pictures – Gallery #2

Yesterday, I posted the the first set of pictures from my recent trip to Coba, focusing on the main pyramid. Today, I’m going to share some more pictures of this beautiful and mysterious pyramid site.

 

It’s incredible to imagine that the excavated part that we can see is only a tiny portion of the 80 km2 (about 20,000 acres) that the ancient site occupied!  Enjoy the pictures.

 

You’ll remember in my posts about Chichen Itza that I mentioned the ball court, where the very well-known and very wide-spread ball game of ancient Meso-America was played. Coba likewise has one:

 

Pyramids in Mexico

 

Pyramids in Mexico

 

Pyramids in Mexico

 

Pyramids in Mexico

 

Two more pictures of various structures and scenes:

 

Pyramids in Mexico

 

Pyramids in Mexico

 

This is one of several large lagoons on the site, adjacent to the pyramids:

 

Pyramids in Mexico

 

Whenever you get the chance, be sure to visit Coba! I’m excited to see what archeologists discover in this enormous site and to visit again in the future!

 

TOPMexicoRealEstate.com; Mexico’s Leading Network of Specialists for Finding and Purchasing Mexican Properties Safely

 

Mexico Health Care Kit

Discover the Mystery of Coba’s Pyramids in Pictures – Gallery #1

While Chichen Itza and Tulum are beautiful for the excellent preservation of the ruins, Coba, a pyramid site near Tulum, further back into the jungle, is beautiful because it is only half preserved and less than half discovered.

 

The tumbled ruins still surrounded by jungle – and many parts still entirely covered in jungle – offer a more distant and deeper mystery, leaving your imagination to reach deep into the past, and deep under the jungle for ancient treasures still to be found.

 

Today and tomorrow, I will be sharing some pictures from a recent trip to Coba!

 

Starting in the middle, this is the main pyramid:

 

From the front
Pyramids in Mexico

 

From the side
Pyramids in Mexico

 

Looking down from the top
Pyramids in Mexico

 

Those who survived the climb
Pyramids in Mexico

 

Now, two neat little figures on one of the other buildings:
Pyramids in Mexico

 

Pyramids in Mexico

 

Tomorrow, we will see the ball court and some other scenes from around Coba.

 

TOPMexicoRealEstate.com; Mexico’s Leading Network of Specialists for Finding and Purchasing Mexican Properties Safely

 

First Time Mexico Real Estate Buyer – 7 Steps