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We knew nothing at all about Ensenada Mexico before arriving in port this morning, even though it is the fourth-largest municipality in Mexico by land area, larger than five Mexican states!

For our one day stop, we had almost exactly the typical January weather: 20°C/68°F and sunny. There are only 37 rainy days per year on average, so it would have been exceptional to get rained on.

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It’s a commercial port, but one of the nicest of this particular cruise…

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…and we even had a welcoming committee!

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Although it now has a population approaching half a million, it was quite small until the 1930s prohibition years, when its status as a tourist destination was established. The huge Riviera de Ensenada (aka Riviera de Pacifico) was a gathering spot where Hollywood’s rich and famous could drink and gamble. It is now a cultural centre, but unfortunately was not open yet as we walked by.

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We walked through the Plaza Civica, with its huge curved wall down which water runs, and its monuments to young men who died fighting for Mexico in the American-Mexican War, the invasion of Mexico by the United States Army from 1846 to 1848 that resulted in so much Mexican territory becoming part of the US.

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The historic missions here are Dominican since 1768, when the Jesuits, who were the original European settlers, were expelled. The city is currently home to the beautiful Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral, which still has an adjacent Dominican monastery, along with an apothecary dedicated to St Francis of Assisi.

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After walking the 3.6 km/2.2 miles so far, we were ready for lunch at one of the Mexican waterfront cantinas. It was far too early in the day for most local folks to have lunch, so we had the place to ourselves. That gave me a chance for some much-needed Spanish practice with the incredibly friendly and patient owner.

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Ensenada is famous for their seafood, and their fish tacos, neither of which Ted can eat – but I can! We started with beers, which arrived with totopos and salsa verde to snack on. The owner, Beto, suggested asada tacos (spiced meat) on corn tortillas for Ted, to which we added a quesapollo (cheese and chicken) on a flour tortilla. I ordered a fish tostada and 2 shrimp tacos – with extra spicy salsa. Beto was skeptical, but agreed to bring me his home-made habanero paste “on the side”, after also bringing us a huge assortment of sauces, arranged on the table from mildest to spiciest. His concoction was seriously HOT – and also extremely delicious! Beto seemed shocked that we finished almost all of it, until we told him about living in Mérida last winter. It turned out that he was a Yucateco himself, and pronounced that “of course” we could handle the heat in that case!

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After all that heat and deliciousness , there was only one more thing to say: “necesitamos helado!” (we need ice cream!). So off we went to find the perfect ending to an excellent lunch: helado naranja con tequila – orange and tequila ice cream!!

We put in over 14000 steps, and definitely didn’t need dinner, but finished our evening with a comedy show, drinks in the Crow’s Nest, and late night chicken wings.

We’re only 108km/67mi south of the US border, so we didn’t need to set sail until 9:30 p.m. in order to reach San Diego early tomorrow. We disembark between 7:45 and 8:30 a.m., and are then headed directly to drop off luggage (thanks to very amenable hosts, since we’ll be long before check-in time) at our February home in a VRBO in the Mission Hills neighborhood of San Diego. Sightseeing, museums, and long walks beckon!