Mexico Insight

Just a few years ago, Patzcuaro was a town that few foreign expatriates had heard of, and much less considered as a place to settle in Mexico.   Today, the town is attracting an increasing amount of attention, especially from Baby Boomers eyeing-up a retirement home here. Patzcuaro’s real estate market has experienced a considerable renaissance [...]

As of January 12th 2009, the United States government will require all persons traveling to or via the USA using the “Visa Waiver” program to pre-apply for their waiver. The US Visa Waiver Program enables citizens from a pre-defined list of countries to enter the United States for leisure or business trips without a formal [...]

As we have written about before now, traveling by bus in Mexico is a world-away from traveling by bus in the USA or UK.  Forget cramped seats and no legroom: the executive-class buses which connect towns and cities across Mexico offer luxuriously comfortable passenger cabins with just twenty-four wide seats on board which recline right [...]

There are no official figures published showing the number of expatriates living in Patzcuaro, full-time or part-time, although when asked, most resident expats guess with a number ranging between 150 and 200.  Some foreigners live here full-time, others share their life’s spaces between their home country and Patzcuaro, as circumstances may allow.  Most are of [...]

December 16th marks the start of the annual Posadas Navideñas in Mexico. Posada is a Spanish word for “inn”, and the Posadas Navideñas, which recall events leading up to the Nativity of Jesus, are a huge Christmas tradition in Mexico.  A Posada begins with street a procession that re-enacts Mary and Joseph’s search for an inn [...]

Last Friday, December 12th, was Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe, one of Mexico’s most important religious events.  In the evening, many of Patzcuaro’s townsfolk headed for the basilica to attend the special mass held on that day; the children went all dressed up in costumes with their offerings.  Here in Patzcuaro, as in many [...]

Following-on with our Mexico blog reviews, this article focuses upon three personal blogs written by expats living here. The first blog in this review trio is written and kept updated by John Wood.  He’s currently in India and blogging about his experiences there, and cleverly entwining his knowledge of Mexico within the India articles, drawing [...]

Settling-in to Patzcuaro and getting your bearings is easy.  This small mountain town is laid out in a grid pattern, in tandem with most colonial settlements across Mexico.  The town’s main square, or Plaza Grande, features a statue of Don Vasco de Quiroga, the locally-revered Spaniard who arrived and settled here in the 16th Century [...]

Mexico is a mountainous country, and many of its towns and cities away from the coasts are situated at altitudes of least 5,000 feet above sea-level, and often higher than 7,000 feet above sea-level. If you are living or retiring in Mexico, or plan to visit here on a self-catering vacation, a consideration to take [...]

December is one of the busiest festive months of the year in Mexico. In villages, towns and cities across the country, local communities prepare for and celebrate a range of Christmas and New Year festivities, with particular emphasis on Posadas, processions which re-enact Joseph and Mary’s search for an inn, and which end with a party, featuring music, dance, [...]