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Posts Tagged ‘el cazadore italiano’

Nary a Clue

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Shopping, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , , , on January 15, 2013 | 3 Comments »

as usual, you say….the towns’ composition of bars/restaurants is continuing to morph….more closures, more moves, more tectonic shifts.

The venerable Panchoy Restaurant on 6th Ave, across from dos Reilly’s, calling it quits after 15-20 years, the ex-Pizza Mia space on 4th Ave, across from the ex-Ixcot/Pangea spaces will have a new tenant soon…who is bailing from a space on 4th Calle per the competition…a long time bar in town reputedly getting the boot per repeated infractions of this and that..

on the other hand(five fingers)…La Sala pumping Salsa Night with a Cuban foursome…La Casbah doing electronic music on the weekends only…hey, he owns the building and doesn’t need the $$$, ok?

and yes….the first installment of last weekends’ jaunt…and a partially new crew

http://www.examiner.com/article/hi-yo-silver-1

Riki’s..the old Riki’s space? lost another possible tenant per the costs of rehab…Ritual, on 5th Ave, across from the Posada Don Rodrigo…closing…on 5th Ave? the golden zone of town? yep…at least Ocelot/Lava are doing fine…slammed by folks at 5 and 6pm…and the new owners/tenants of what was Pangea still dithering….no clues as to menu/direction other than ‘wine and beer’….

and it looks like another ‘road trip’ is shaping up for next month…Rabinal/copper/malachite stuff…the silver ore that Mike D found is okay, but it’s in a mine that’s already being worked, so fuggedaboutdat..it was a practice run anyway..now that we know where to find the topo maps and directions, we can find our butts a lot easier…the crew may change a bit, depending on the terrain/roads..it was different this time, being in a new car with brakes/good tires and so on…one forgets those simple pleasures and/or lack of concerns..one does…and I like Henrik’s new black Land Rover…way cool…or is it a Range Rover? who cares..Luciano is back at El Cazadore Italiano and they’ve got their groove back, after Marcel cashed out…and a good thing.

and the ex-Mayor’s daughter, working the La  Leyenda Hotel on 4th Ave? she’s aged….really aged, recently…we smile at each other, etc..however, on the good side, the ever elegant Victoria C is back in town and judging from her clothes at 5pm, working somewhere on 4th Calle..we had a conversation across the street from each other, ok? is she still hanging out in Norway sometimes? Reid C says he finally saw Miss 8:30 yesterday….how did he recognize her? outstanding assets, he said…yeah, that’s her…if you’re in the park at 8:30, et cetera..can you say ‘pulchitrude?’..can I spel it rite?

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Dingleberries

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Shopping, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , , , , , on January 7, 2013 | 2 Comments »

in a way, kind of a metaphor for stuff going on around town…the signs are off at what was Riki’s and Ixcot….Braulio’s is four months behind in their rent and even worse…wurst? that old time place at the end of 1st Avenida with the great terrace views? nailed/stickered with a big SAT tax poster(so I was told)….alas…if so, another low blow to an already bad year of tax/paperwork/screwups…

a movie being shot in A-Town? interiors this morning along 3rd calle and this evening…the City Hall closed off, with chicken buses, extras and so on…wtf? judging from the equipment, a low budget kinda flick..yeah, I’ve been around movie making/makers for awhile…the clue is the number of cameras, the dollies(not the ones in spandex) and the director and his staff…

and yes, the ‘beat’ goes on…tomorrow the big City for topo maps…searching for the long lost Spanish Fly Silver Mines by Hue Hue next weekend..oops…spanish fly? did they fly or did they use buttons? who cares?

David Hoffman was questioning my count of 8 times that Pinata Boy was thrown out of Lava…he was too busy kicking the stuffing outa PB, who is supposedly at the Lake today…and yes, the so-called ‘security guard’ got canned that night for non-performance of his duties..

Piano Mike outa here Friday for a month…back to the YouEssof A for another stab at romance..applause, please…just like Woody Allen once said, 90% of life is just showing up and as one who’s been down that rocky path of hopes, mopes and dopes…let there be luck!

and thanks, one and all, for comments on my health ‘issues’…the cold, that beast, has apparently been banished from my bod…no meds today…well, almost none…’maintenance’, you know…ask Hogan about that stuff..

supposedly the old Pangea space had a looky loo…a potential renter, ok? a lady with a white little dog on a leash, a t-shirt that read “I Love Las Vegas’, a sugar daddy and no…no sign of gold lame slippers..lame’, not lame…altho one is as good as the other..Allen at the ‘Menu’ dishing out the dinners, Scott S/Pablo A at El Cazadore for an early dinner, Luciano workin’ the bar…Marcel probably laughing a lot, somewhere, at getting out while the getting was good..dos Reilly’s with as many staff as drinkers..and when will the old Reilly’s on 5th ave norte ever reopen? they keep dragging in trucks of sand, gravel and what-not…has it been two years since?..1st calle by Merced…lights out at the bars/restaurants…a quiet night in town..and yes, a few more familiar faces from the frozen north in town…welcome back!

Fusion dead, El Nido Antigua, the shopping mall in back equally so…altho the Choco Museo across the street? maybe its the hats or the staff but they continue to drag in people..and on…the proposed expedition to Puerto Quetzal this week? off…had to leave at 5am Wednesday…wrong, scotch-breath..the only thing i do at 5am is make another visit to the….WC..and yes, for those who are into pork…jameswdurham2@ gmail.com is still in business…the very best in pork chops,sausage and so on..pork me? no, pork you..have a great week…yeah, the weather is weird but.. 

 

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Two Weddings and a Funeral

Posted in El Salvador, Granada, Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Nicaragua, Restaurants, Shopping, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 24, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Blooie! the mortar bombs at La Merced were great….the earlier aerial fireworks show at what might’ve been Capuchina…I try not to get to close to wedding ceremonies, as I break out in a cold sweat thinking about one.

‘the Perfesser, Mike Donley, is back in town…with a tale of two boats…ask him…it was a narrow escape and a….per he, Reid the Choate is due back, once his son graduates from the Police Academy..no, not the movie…

Alabama Bob, likewise back from El Salvador (and Evelyn)….rumors starting to build about another ‘road trip’, this time up the Pacific Coast towards Take a Lick Abaj…look out Reyo!

our loss…the delightful Miss M aka Marbel…left us for India…actually Nepal..yeah, she had her ‘issues’ but I liked her: we laughed well together. What the hell did she do with her drum set? in the living room of her apartment on 6th avenida, was a full on pro drum set…kinda makes sense, in that her ex-boyfriend of ten years was a drummer for Lenny Kravitz…god speed and vaya con dios. I suspect she’s in for a bit of culture shock.

der Henrik, back from an inspection tour of the new Reillys in Granada, Nicaragua…yeah…2 thumbs up…Granada, unlike this burg, likes to party and is officially encouraged to do so, fueled by Flor de Cana rum and Tono beer…it’s like Antigua, visually except they paved their cobblestone streets and its hot and humid…perfect for ordering another round of adult sports beverages.

4th Calle, the ‘golden gulch’ of A-Town…quiet…Micho’s doin’ a bit of biz, and El Cazadore Italiano packed with the glitzy city crowd..Caffe Bourbon doin’ well…Da Vinci a dead zone but the annual Christmas tree and decorations are xlnt, as usual…worth a look…Flor(escent)of Dasha open late, doing biz..Travel Menu doing two tables of 4, the bartenderess complaining….and where’s my book holder? 

dos Reilly’s filling up early…Ocelot/Lava quiet but it was early…Ixcot other known as the Cemetery, dead..stick a fork in ‘em…Sangre? with a 25q cover charge and some kinda ‘all you can drink’ special? folks..wrong concept: pay people 25q to get in and then hit ‘em with the ‘all you can swill’ idea…La Casbah lit up, music on and a full staff…welcome back!

the funeral? Figueroas on 6th avenida norte…a full crowd..business is dead concept in full play…and another ‘only in Guatemala’ adventure…

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-brakes-failed-on-the-way-to-thanksgiving

Ricardos’ Tabacos y Vinos, by the Arches? packed to capacity..!

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Post No Bills

Posted in El Salvador, Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , , , on November 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

’twas the night before….oops, wrong holiday…gotta get a new calendar, assuming that after the 21st of December, we’re all still here…there’s a ton of hype about the ‘end of the world’ coming…even worst than the Harmonica Convergence a few years back..I’ve been invited to go see/observe/whiff some copal up country about then…might be better than the flying saucer conventions on the West Coast that my folks used to take me to..

Marcel, late of El Cazadore Italiano, taking life easy…swapped the blue Chevelle for a gray Camaro…Ignacio, our somewhat truncated Cuban musician? looking spiffy again and says he’s playing at PV, La Sala and Cafe No Se…doing better than a lot of other musicians, eh? PM? off to take a dip in the Sea of Love…another triumph of hope over experience…i wish him well..

Klaus of the Jardin Bavaria, back from Spain/Germany…stories varied…John the Rexer, back in town, ‘taking meetings’ in the sun…Ilegal Mezcal is everywhere these days(except in my cupboard) and yes, we’re losing another SYT….i admit to having had an ‘avuncular interest’ but it’s time for her to blow town and go on to bigger/better things/places…there are times when i forget that this is a transient town…some that I’d wish would stay, don’t and some that I’d wish would leave…don’t..

somewhere, in the last week, I noticed a new sign  up for a hotel/restaurant and a ‘spor bar’….did they mean ‘spore’ or what? spore, i can believe, as in mushrooms, keep ‘em in the dark and feed ‘em horseshit..perfect…and the Prensa Libre referred to our mayor by another name…does this mean that Adolfo has had it?  well, yes…and yes, there’s a certain place, where if you go upstairs and ask nicely for an ashtray, they’re available…no names, eh?

got one of those insipid e-cards today, from a lady friend who used to reside in ‘Vegas…now hiding out in the Dom Rep….the message was…what are you thankful for this year? good question…I’m thankful for not being on my ass in a 3rd rate hospital in the City, not still in the clutches of the IRS and so on…my life is good and I don’t take that lightly…off to the Jet Set tomorrow! whoop whoop, as Yo-Yo is fond of saying…and where the hell is Buck Wheat? still in El Salvador with Evelyn?  the country isn’t that big, eh? have a great day tomorrow…this is truly an ‘american holiday’…eat till you burst, burp and ask for seconds..or thin may be in, but fat is where it’s at..

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The Twinkie Demise

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , , , on November 16, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

one of the iconic symbols of American snacks went outa bizness today….fired the workers, some 18000 and said…adios. If you were around San Francisco is the late 70′s, a disgruntled city supervisor who’d lost his job gunned down the Mayor and the first openly gay supervisor, Harvey Milk…and then his attorney used the famous “Twinkie Defense”, claiming that Dan White had overdosed on Twinkies, which caused his lapse in values, judgment and so on…yes, acquitted…only in SF..for my 50th birthday, some bizarre notion (that’s new, you ask?)and for a birthday cake I arranged 50 Twinkies (with candles)…yeah, ‘San Francisco values”

ah…the best breakfast in town! where? Micho’s…4th Calle Oriente, #10, where Neil Craig is working his ass off, 18 hours a day, threatening to fire at least one employee…are they skimming? probably…anyway..he’s got a simple ‘American’ breakfast…eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and toast..all done perfectly..35q…the best I’ve had since Kathy’s Waffle House in Granada, Nicaragua…he, as are many in town, is a talented chef and the rest of the menu reflects that…Alex F of Sobremesa gets high marks, as does Alex L  of Fusion…El Cazadore Italiano keeps on keepin on..this particular plate is simple…home cooking, diner style, you name it..I’ll be back..

La Casbah?  fresh exterior paint, the signs back over the front door but the electrical meter is missing?…’heard that Mateo is going to resurrect it…how? wait and see…No! Mateo is back! saw him in the street and at 8 pm the newly resurrected Casbah opens…the murals are gone and it’s totally new inside…will Djinn move back in to their previous space?

that vacant space on 5th Calle, near Organica et al…still vacant…hey, for $3000 bucks a month, why not?

Tourists! hordes…streams of white folks being hustled (one way or the other)from point to point…cruise shippers, most of them…what the hell…a few souvenirs from ‘trusted stores’ and some jade from specific stores, a few commissions here and there…it’s biz, folks..welcom to Antigua-Stan…leave the money, por favor…

and kind of a sad day on the finca where I hang the panama…one of the two older Dobies died this morning..12 and ailing, so it’s probably a good passing…she’ll get a plot (already dug) in the doggie cemetery corner…she was always hiding out in my bedroom and I’ll miss her..Godspeed, ol gal..doggone, damn.. 

and yes…more/further delays for the November version of Our Man…Frener the Printer…had the flashdrive for two weeks…said…”wednesday…then 10 am Thursday…then 10..no, make that 11am on Friday…no, I’ll bring it to your house by 1pm..(today)…aint’ got it…o well, it’s only money and promises, something that Guatemala is short on…good thing I’m not uptight or anal or Type A…

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