Day 4 Tuesday 12/13

The American baker told us yesterday about a Tuesday farmers market a block from us so we went there in the morning. It turned out to be much more than produce – local crafts and prepared foods as well. We bought some souvenirs and also food for lunch and bakery goods. Al also spotted a little poster announcing a guitar concert tonight at the Alliance Francaise. After lunch at home, we decided to walk to the Alliance (about 10 blocks) to get tickets. On the way we stopped in a pottery place (Ibarra’s pottery) and got some more souvenirs. The Alliance building was closed, but a nice young man heard our banging and opened the door and sold us tickets. We decided to have dinner before the concert in a restaurant we checked out a couple of days ago – Juana la Loca – just a block away. We tried to eat there last night, but they were closed. Unfortunately, they were closed again (even though they had told us they were open until 11 pm). We walked another block to a tapas place we saw on our way to Malecon – this one was closed too. As last resort, we walked to Malecon and tried a big restaurant on the boardwalk where we had drinks the first night. Our friendly waiter (from Nevada) told us that they were just closing. All this was more than strange. He recommended a taco place in the street behind (Lola’s). We didn’t have much choice at that point since we had to drive to the concert so we went to the taco place. It was completely empty and turned out to be a combination taco and mescal/tequila bar. We ordered tacos al pastor, guacamole and drinks and prayed it would be OK. It turned out to be delicious food and great drinks. Definitely a keeper. The concert was in a large courtyard and surprisingly started on time. There were about 40+ people there. A young classical guitarist played solo for an hour – pieces by Spanish composers first, then Latin American, including Mexican, Brazilian and Argentinian. He also narrated and explained each piece (only in Spanish). The second half was old music (12-14 century) where he played the lute first, then mandolin and then the guitar accompanied by percussion. After the concert, they served refreshments and wine. We were surprised by the amount of food – lots of various sandwiches, vegetables, fruit, cheese and sausage, etc. People stayed and chatted. It was a very pleasant evening.