Michael Tolleson Robles let’s his “Autism do The Painting” As he Creates Museum Worthy Art at Galeria Robles in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Michael Tolleson Robles Picked up a Brush 10 years ago, and found he could Produce Gallery Quality Art with No Training
Puerto Vallarta Has a New Mail Service for Expats, Mail Express Vallarta
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Hello fellow travelers, welcome this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel show. I am your host Barry Kessler, and I am just so happy to be introducing you to my favorite vacation destination, and maybe even yours, Puerto Vallarta Mexico.
That music you were just listening to is performed by Alberto Perez, the owner of the La Palapa Group of Restaurants. Those are La Palapa, Puerto Vallarta’s Oldest Restaurant on the famous Los Muertos Beach, and The El Dorado Restaurant and Beach Club right
next door so you can enjoy that fantastic view of the Los Muertos Pier all lit up at night in beautiful colors, or during the day in its grand splendor for breakfast, lunch or dinner, seated with your toes in the sand right at the water’s edge. It’s so romantic, it’s so, Puerto Vallarta my friends.
This week we are going to a new art gallery in Vallarta, it’s called Galeria Robles and it’s owner is Michael Tolleson Robles, Michael is an Autistic Savant Artist. His story is very interesting, and he is a true entrepreneur, he has his hands on a lot of plans, it’s gonna be big so stay tuned, but before we get to Michael, let’s see what’s happening in Puerto Vallarta this week, the 8th of September, 2022.
Contact Information for Galeria Robles, Puerto Vallarta
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057568234798
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeltollesonartist/?hl=en
- Website: https://michaeltolleson.info/
- Address: 400 Calle Juarez, Centro Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Phone: +52 999 725 8627
Hurricane Season in Puerto Vallarta
It’s hurricane season and Vallarta had it’s first real brush with one…Hurricane Kay passed by yesterday and it’s being felt locally by high tides and some rain. Turtle Camp
up in Boca de Tomates felt the effects of the high tides, they got swamped. Remember them when you donate to your favorite causes. They are rebuilding and reinforcing and fighting the good fight. Building castles in the sand isn’t a business for the faint of heart I gotta tell you.
Funny enough, Hurricane Kay is lashing the Baja coast and by Sunday, I’ll be feeling the effects of Hurricane Kay up here in Los Angeles. Might have to cancel my client’s open house…We are expecting rain.
20th Anniversary of Hurricane Kenna October 25th
The anniversary of Hurricane Kenna is fast approaching…October the 25th will mark the 20th anniversary of Kenna which hit the morning of October 25th 2002. One of these days I’ll get a group of people I know to tell their experiences of when Kenna passed by the bay, creating giant waves and a tidal surge that they still talk about today. I’ll do that my next trip down with microphone in hand. That should be interesting.
Surprisingly enough, the month of August finished up without any named storms for the first time in decades.
It’s Septi-Hombre
Sept hombre is a term used here in Vallarta describing the time of the year, September, when many of the restaurants in town close down for a few weeks to give the employees time off, and to do renovations on restaurants before high season kicks in.
Septi as in septimebre, September in Spanish, and hombre, which means hungry in Spanish, combined becomes septi-hombre….September is a hungry month.
With that in mind, remember when you get hungry some of your favorite restaurants may not be open right now. Check ahead or have another option in mind when you go out to eat this month.
Speaking of hungry people I did notice an influx of homeless people in town, living along the rio cuale.
I even saw a makeshift tent set up behind the municipal market along the riverbank. I actually was a bit startled to see it there and had to do a double take. I’m seeing more and more homeless in Zona Romantica, usually opening doors of OXXOs and ATM cajeros for people, hoping to have the customer drop a few pesos into their hands as they exit the establishment. And of course I see them sleeping on the streets and sidewalks and doorways more than I ever did before. The pandemic, well, the government’s reaction to the pandemic has made many who were on the edge, homeless. It’s a worldwide phenomenon…thanks to our brave world leaders…..well, useless spineless politicians are nothing new. A dime a dozen it seems. A billion a dozen in today’s open market.
Anyway, it’s septi-hombre multiplied…keep your eyes peeled. They are hungry out there.
Road to Paso Ancho is Repaired and Complete
Last week I mentioned that El Rio BBQ up in Paso Ancho will be open for one more season, and if you were wondering, the road to Paso Ancho has been completed. If you remember during hurricane Nora half of the road got washed away, and they needed to widen the road by piling rocks from the river bed, up to the level of the road, and pave it. I was wondering if they would finish the work before the rainy season started, and they did a great job. So you can get up to El Rio BBQ, and beyond this coming high season.
September is Patriot Month in Mexico. So while waiters are starving….just kidding…I think…Mexico celebrates their independence from Spain. Let’s review a little history with the names of people you recognize because you drive on streets, and through neighborhoods named after them. Right?
From the Gobierno Estado del Mexico s very own website…..
The national holidays are celebrated in the month of September for the anniversary of the so-called Cry of Independence, which was given by the priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla in 1810, this occurred in the early hours of September 16, when, while ringing the bell of the church of Dolores Hidalgo summoned the people to rise up in arms against the domination of the Spaniards.
The War of Independence began one morning in the city of Dolores Hidalgo under the command of the priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, together with generals Ignacio Allende and Juan Aldama.
Miguel Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende, Juan Aldama and Mariano Abasolo were part of a group that conspired against the Spanish government. When the conspiracy was discovered, the arrest of the four was ordered. Remember, they were all members of the book of the month club set up by Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez.
Really, look it up….and this gang really hits all the street names in town don’t it?
Anyways…11 years later, finally, the Independence of Mexico was consummated on September 27, 1821 under the Plan of Iguala, proclaimed by Austin de Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero.
The areas that currently comprise Mexico, Central America, and the southern United States had remained in the hands of Spain when Hernán Cortés overthrew the government of Mexico Tenochtitlán in 1521.
In the year 1845, President Antonio López de Santa Anna officially celebrated the ‘Cry “Grito” Ceremony’ to remember the priest Hidalgo and the heroes who fought for independence. He established that the ceremony would take place every September 15 at 11:00 p.m. In turn, to be able to celebrate Hidalgo’s 80th birthday.
And the cry, or the Grito as it’s called in Spanish goes a little like this….
“The exact words of this most famous of all Mexican speeches are not known, or, rather, they are reproduced in almost as many variations as there are historians to reproduce them.”
…the essential spirit of the message is… ‘My children: a new dispensation comes to us today. Will you receive it? Will you free yourselves? Will you recover the lands stolen three hundred years ago from your forefathers by the hated Spaniards? We must act at once… Will you defend your religion and your rights as true patriots? Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe! Death to bad government! Death to the Gachupines!’
Damn, just think…if Hidalgo said that today, the government would unleash their network patsies the social media companies on him and have him publicly shamed and cancelled.
But alas…no, it happened in 1810, so the government just had him executed. Some may say, it’s the same regardless….What a Cruel world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cry_of_Dolores
In Vallarta the Cry of Dolores, the Grito is recited by the residing mayor, who recites the cry from the balcony at City Hall to the throngs awaiting the event on the Malecon and the Plaza de Armas. And on the 15th of September at 11:00 PM, as it is all over Mexico in plazas, and city halls all over the country, mayors and governors and the president of Mexico, will recite the Grito. What an amazing thing.
Enrique and The Margarita Grill
A couple of weeks ago I reported on the disappearance of and suspected death of Enrique, the owner of the Margarita Grill and Merida Grill in the Romantic Zone. Enrique had gone out on a very stormy night, on his surf board and never came home.
I have an interview that I did with Enrique that hasn’t aired, so I wanted to talk with his family about maybe airing the interview posthumously as a tribute to him and to his businesses. I found the taco stand where his sister works and let her know that I will edit the audio, and give it to her to have a listen, and if she agrees, I will have the interview as a tribute to his work, and maybe I can add the voices and sentiments of his family members to the episode. I hope she agrees to that…we’ll see. I have some editing to do.
Listener Emails
I have some mail I need to get back to, but my friend Reggie asked if I would ask my listeners if they would share the one place that you go in Vallarta, for dinner, that you never miss.
For Reggie, it’s Archie’s Wok.
Okay, Reggie…I’m asking you all now, where is that one restaurant you never miss when you come to Vallarta?
For me, it’s Tortilla Soup with chicken, at Cuates y Cuetes, and chilaquiles verdes con pollo for breakfast, also at Cuates y Cuetes.
And I can’t miss a breakfast, at least one breakfast per visit, at La Palapa. Toes in the sand, and their crab cake eggs benedict is all I need. A glass of juice and that’s it. For dinner, I just don’t have that one place, but for breakfast and lunch, although I have had the Tortilla Soup for dinner on multiple occasions so I guess yeah, you could say Cuates y Cuetes is my go to place for dinner too.
So how about you? What is the place that you never miss when you come to paradise. Email me at pvtravelshow@gmail.com and let me know.
La Catrina Cantina is a New Favorite For Live Entertainment
La Catrina Cantina is now one of my newest favorite places to catch entertainment in town. It’s on Lazaro Cardenas and upstairs. The setup is very intimate, the staff is on their game and the entertainment is over the top. Singing acts. My buddy Marcia Blondin has taken me there twice and both times the show was just outstanding. The
owner has developed an app that you need on your phone if you are at all interested in shows around town and what’s happening in entertainment in Vallarta. The app is called PV Now and you can get it at the app store. There’s an events calendar and more. They also sell tours and you know what I have to say about that. Use JR for your tours but do use this app for the many other cool things it offers. And it is pretty cool….PVNow at your app store.
Okay, let’s get to our interview shall we?
Galeria Robles, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
I heard about Michael Tolleson Robles through my friend, the aforementioned Marcia Blondin from the PV Mirror. We were out to dinner one evening and she asked if I’d seen the new gallery on Juarez and Iturbide, the Umbrella street, and I said yes I’d seen it. And she says you need to interview Michael. He’s amazing. So I reached out to Michael and asked him if he would come on, and introduce himself to my listeners and he graciously agreed. I did drop Marcia’s name…I’m pretty sure that didn’t hurt.
And when you walk into the gallery, It’s filled with beautiful canvases, large canvases of Michael’s stunning work. What makes Michaels art even more interesting, is intertwined with his story…which you will hear from him in just a moment…
Now, Michael refers to himself on his website as an Autistic Artistic Savant.
So, what is a savant? What is an artistic savant? Well, from an article written by Lisa Jo Rudy at verywellhealth.com, entitled What is a Savant? She writes….
A savant is someone who has extraordinarily detailed knowledge or ability in a particular area despite having a serious mental disability or developmental disorder. People can have savant skills in art, mathematics, music, or memory recall.
Known as savant syndrome, this is exceedingly rare. It is commonly associated with autism but can occur alongside other conditions. Dustin Hoffman’s character Raymond Babbitt in the movie Rain Man was a savant.
What Is Savant Syndrome?
Savant syndrome is a rare condition where someone with a developmental or intellectual disability shows extreme giftedness in one or more areas. It is not an official diagnosis, and there are no diagnostic criteria for savant syndrome.
Someone with savant syndrome may have a very low IQ or other mental challenges—and yet show almost super-human strengths in one very specific area. Savants often have extraordinary abilities in the areas of:
- Music
- Art
- Calendar calculating
- Mathematics
- Mechanical/spatial skills
For example, famous savant Kim Peek—who inspired Rain Man—could almost instantly calculate dates for any event hundreds of years into the past or the future.
Savants may or may not be autistic, though savant syndrome is more common in people with autism.
The article from very well health .com continues and you can read it in the show notes…
https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-an-autistic-savant-260033
So let’s go right now to the corner of Juarez and Iturbide, there it is again, dead patriots on every corner….
No really, let’s go to Juarez and Iturbide, an let’s meet a man who’s brain seems to be going a million miles an hour. With ideas, with are, with really cool plans in store for this town, let’s meet Michael Tolleson Robles, Autistic, Artistic Savant, a man of many talents, at Galeria Robles, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
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Contact Information for Galeria Robles, Puerto Vallarta
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057568234798
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeltollesonartist/?hl=en
- Website: https://michaeltolleson.info/
- Address: 400 Calle Juarez, Centro Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Phone: +52 999 725 8627
Thank you Michael….That man has some great ideas and those ideas are coming to fruition.
Mail Express Vallarta is opening up as we speak. I have all the contact information for them in the show notes.
Mail Express Vallarta
- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084715179550
- Website: https://mailexpressvallarta.com/?fbclid=IwAR2ltFemmJQdb84vf6dxdPfJGioYgvp0qC0_8MLmf36TB-Er-Q47RWw9oDY
- Address: Iturbide 236a, Centro, 48300 Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico
- Phone: +52 322 380 23 21
- Email: MailExpressVallarta@gmail.com
Hours:
- Mon 09:00 am – 08:00 pm
- Tue 09:00 am – 08:00 pm
- Wed 09:00 am – 08:00 pm
- Thu 09:00 am – 08:00 pm
- Fri 09:00 am – 08:00 pm
- Sat 10:00 am – 06:00 pm
- Sun Closed
The restaurant is coming along nicely and should be ready to open when High Season arrives. I have some pictures of both of those places in the shownotes, and I can’t wait to tell you the name of the chef and the restaurant Michael has coming to his second floor. You will be thrilled to have dinner there I’m telling you. That announcement is coming soon.
I have links and maps and pictures of Michaels work and of the gallery and you will find all of that at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com
Okay, that should do it for today…next week Stay tuned for more on the ground reports from Puerto Vallarta Mexico, with travel tips, great restaurant and excursion ideas and more. Until then, remember, this is an interactive show where I depend on your
questions and suggestions about all things Puerto Vallarta. If you think of something I should be talking about, please reach out to me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending us your message.
And remember, if you are considering booking any type of tour while you are in Puerto Vallarta, you must go to Vallartainfo.com, JR’s website and reserve your tour through him, right from his website. Remember the value for value proposition. His experience and on the ground knowledge of everything Puerto Vallarta in exchange for your making a purchase of a tour that you would do anyway, you’re just doing it through him as a way
of saying thank you. It costs no more than if you were to use someone else so do it. Really. And when you do take one of these tours, email me about your experiences. Maybe you can come on-board and share with others what you liked or didn’t like about the tour. Again, contact me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending off a message. Don’t forget his maps, his DIY tours and his revitalized Happy Hour Board. I have links to all of those in the show notes.
And once again, if you like this podcast, please take the time and subscribe and follow share with a lover of Puerto Vallarta or give me a good review wherever or however you happen to be listening. That way we can get the word out to more and more people
about the magic of this place. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Remember I made it easy for you to do just that with each episode I create. But if you haven’t been to my website, you really need to have a look there. I have the links to the places we talk about, interesting
pictures and the more all right there in my blog-posts and show-notes for each episode of the show so check them out for sure if you haven’t already all-right? All right.
Thank you to Artistic Autistic Savant Michael Tolleson Robles from Galeria Robles. Get over to his gallery and see these works of art that he creates in like 3 hours. It’s amazing. If you need to get better mail service check out Mail Express Vallarta, and stand by for a big announcement about the restaurant to come. I have maps and links and all you will need. And you can find all that information in the blog shownotes at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com.
And thanks to all of you for listening all the way through this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel Show. This is Barry Kessler signing off with a wish for you all to slow down, be kind and live the Vallarta lifestyle. Nos Vemos amigos.
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