Baja California - La Paz, last day and Zarape en Malecon

Today I walked downtown just enjoying the warm weather and light breeze.

How could I resist a sign like that.

Brightly coloured with tassels and ribbons. Some had pictures on them. They were hanging in the parking area/courtyard of a house.

Pinatas, according to wikapedia : The Mexican Catholic interpretation of the piñata rested on the struggle of man against temptation. The seven points represent the seven deadly sins. The pot represents evil and the seasonal fruit and candy inside, the temptations of evil. The person with the stick is blindfolded to represent faith. The turning, singing and shouting represent the disorientation that temptation creates. In some traditions, the participant is turned thirty three times, one for each year of Christ's life. These interpretations were given to the piñata for catechism purposes. As the participant beats the piñata, it is supposed to represent the struggle against temptation and evil. When the piñata breaks, the treats inside then represent the rewards of keeping the faith.^[3][7

It goes on to say that the pinata has largely lost any religious meaning and is now just part of many Mexican celebrations.

This old building holds the tourist information office which I wish I had found on the first day rather than the last. I didn't even bother to go in.

On the other side of this street is the start of a shopping district with lots of narrow streets and small malls. There is a large Sears Store and a 3 Hermanos department store, restaurants and bars as well as smaller independent stores.
I kept going, down to the malecon and walked along, looking for a likely lunch place.

I walked quite a way along the malecon and ended up with this view from my table at Zarapa en Malecon.

My glass of wine came with these botanas; nachos, warm refried beans with white cheese grated on top, fresh salsa (no sloppy stuff here just tomatoes, onions, peppers and cilantro all chopped fine) and what the waiter called "hot dip" and it was.

I can't remember what this was called but it was chicken wrapped in tortillas and covered with mole sauce. The sauce was light and very tasty, I love mole. A salad was supposed to come with it but the waiter apologized, said it would have been too messy on the plate and

served it as a side dish. He bought me oil and vinegar for the dressing but it had a balsamic reduction drizzled over it and that was dressing enough.

By now I had decided that this was definitely my main meal for the day and I had the makings for a salad for supper at home. So I asked if they had flan on the dessert menu. The waiter, who spoke very good English, came back from the kitchen, apologetic, no flan, would I like another kind of dessert. I said no thanks and ordered a coffee. He said they had a special one with molasses, would I like to try it, sure.

When he returned with the coffee he also had some flan, said it was a miracle, the chef found some. I don't know maybe they went next door for it. Chocolate for presentation and fresh mint leaves on top.

The coffee was very good with molasses and cinnamon in it. When he described how the mixture is hard and melts in the coffee pot I realized that this was probably what the weird looking brown cones had been at the grocery store. They were in the produce section, near the spices.
I had sat with my wine and meal for a couple of hours, watching the bay and enjoying just being there. The meal cost me about $20 Canadian including tip.

A Christmas tree was going up on the malecon as I walked back.

So now I need to pack, tidy and clean up the house, fly home and get thinking about Christmas myself.