Malpica

Yesterday we took a day trip. Jumped in the car with our captured tourists and headed to Malpica and Concordia. The toll on the bypass has gone up a few pesos to 54 for a car. Getting off the bypass at  villa Union we took the old road 40 east. 

I've mentioned before how green the foliage still is. Due to all the rain last summer I guess. Pretty drive.

Our first stop was the little town of Malpica.  Here is some information I found about the town. The over all population of Malpica is 666 persons, 318 of them are male and 348 of them are female. Of these households 179 are common houses or apartments, 7 are without floor and about 6 consist of one room only. 151 of the normal households have sanitary installations, 170 are connected to the public water supply, 174 have access to electricity. The economic situation allows 10 households to own a computer, 130 own a washing machine and 164 households are equipped with one ore more televisions.

Entering the town through its arch. 

It is a very small town.

All cobblestone streets.  Lots of flowering trees and plants. 

Oh my gosh, there is going to be a semi high rise in town. A hotel maybe? Or a really big home? Or a store of some sort? 

Just pictures of the homes and colors in town. 

The front of the house is a nice new green paint. The sides and back the unplastered brick. 

Love the colors. 

Oh! What is this? Did our favorite bakery move into a new building. Just took a picture of the sign As there was a big tour bus there with all the people lined up to go in. More about it later.

Walking towards the original bakery Bill stopped to get a hug from his "girlfriend" The woman talking to him. They have been friends for years. Some catching up to do. Wonderful lady and everyone is so friendly. 

Oh good, the old Malpica Panaderia is still there and open.  Why was every one at the other one? 

Walking through the living room into the big bakery.

Bill talking the the lady who does the baking. It smells so good in there. There were still rolls and bread in the oven. 

Her husband opened the oven to show us. They put the wood in the oven about  4 o'clock so by the time they are ready to bake the coals are burned down and glowing. Every thing is made and baked here.

He has a paddle on the end of a long pole that he uses to remove the pans from the oven. The girl helping is the daughter of the next door neighbor. 

Yum bread fresh out of the oven. 

All the preparation and making of dough etc. is done right here.

He has had both of his knees replaced in the last four years so it is so good to see him up and active again. 

Just some of the baked goods. We got some of the cookies, very good. 

So nice to see that things are improving in the town. This home is getting a second story. 

A house across the street. 

So back to the new "bakery". The tourist bus was gone so I went in to see it. Unfortunately I forgot to take many pictures. This is the adobe oven in the back yard. 

There was a kitchen inside with a small house oven and a sink. No equipment to make the batter and dough for baked goods, no store room for flour, eggs, sugar etc to make baked goods. Hum... In the selling room were a couple racks with pans on them. On the pans were some sad looking pastries and good smell of baked goods. Intend to find out more about it next time we go there. As far as I can tell the "goods" are brought in from somewhere else. Just my opinion, no facts to back it up. 

For those of you who have followed this blog for a long time I just want to let you know Jorge, the tile maker, is doing much better this year health wise. We went to see him but he was putting on a tile making demonstration for about 20 tour bus people. So we just waved said hi and left. Next time. 

Leaving Malpica some more pictures. The entire front of this home is covered in tiles, bad picture, very pretty. 

Another house with a new second story. 

Back on the highway to Concordia. Using a mowing machine to clear weeds from side of road. 

A little further on men with machetes' clearing the brush. This is what we usually see. 

Before getting into the town of Concordia we took a detour to see the Laundry Ladies. Yesterday we got there kind of late so there was only one lady there doing her laundry. The government built this facility years ago. There is a natural hot spring in the area so they build large pools for the water to come in. The first pool is very hot. Then the rest of the pools the water gets cooler and cooler. The first pool is not used to wash clothes. Next to the pools are built in wash board sinks where the laundry is done. 

Bill talking to the lady and her daughters. 

So will stop here for today. Concordia tomorrow. 

It is very cloudy and hazy out this morning. Hopefully the temperature will be lower and the humidity will back off some.