Our big fat Greco-Mexicano-Franco-Italo-Gringo lunch

We went up to Colima for look at, what else, more tiles. After two very successful stops (see below) we went to one of our favorite Colima restaurants. It has a Greek name, Cronos, Mexican ambiance, Mexican beer, Spanish-speaking staff, French and Italian menu (crepes and pastas), and today's musical selections were Charles Aznovour (French), some Aznovour wannabe (Spanish), and Frank Sinatra. Did I forget any country or group? It is a lovely little spot, really an oasis (Arabic?) on a busy street but protected by thick shrubs and trees.
This fountain, unfortunately not working today ("No sierve") usually adds just the right touch to an al fresco lunch. We are also always checking out fountains for the possibilities of our garden. The Patient wants a nice big fountain smack in the middle of the back yard. This in lieu of a swimming pool!

Now for the great tile hunt. I think we have found the floor tiles we want. We will need about 2,000 of them to do two floors, plus an additional 250 for the third floor. Those are a different size and will probably be a different color/style than the others, but that's OK. So today we went to two different outlets. One carries mainly "rustic" tiles, the hand-painted small tiles (4"x4") that you see in photos of Mexican kitchens and bathrooms. There were at least 50 different designs to choose from. I am looking for both our kitchen and bathroom and, unfortunately, already have an idea of what I want. Still, I found a new design that I could live with if I can't find more of my original choice.

These are the tiles for the bathroom. We bought a gorgeous basin in Delores Hidalgo last year; don't have a photo but will take one to add here. The "border" tile (center) matches the basin. I found the "floral" today and thought it would "go" beautifully. The solid color goes with both; still looking for the right green.

These are my original choice for the kitchen. A border of a dark color, either the terra cotta or, seen below, a dark blue. Then the cream color, terra cotta, gold and the pattern. I bought ONE of the pattern tile in Delores last year but can I find more? No. So I may be out of luck and have to fall back on choice #2.

These are choice #2. I don't think the patterned tile is as pretty as the first one, but I could live with it. There is one more patterned tile I liked, but the gold color is more yellow, and I am not a yellow person. As you can see it also has dark blue in it, which I like, but I am trying to keep the kitchen as light as possible. (I am also contemplating busting two big holes in one of the kitchen walls and putting in windows light and air.)

The prospect of giving our lovely house a bit of a face lift is great fun. Mexico has such beautiful crafts. The sad thing is that what many families want now is something from El Norte, not what they have here. It's us Norte Americanos that keep this "Mexican" style alive.