Ahh, the final post.
Up around 7am, It's storming outside; no walk on the beach this morning. Left the window open overnight, and my pile of dirty clothes on the floor are all wet. Throw them in the dryer for a little while so I don't have to lug soaking clothes around with me. Made Cat some tea and hosed off in the shower.
Clothes are dry, and I take care of packing everything up. I'm a little sad about leaving Cat, Puerto Morelos and México, but it's ok.
As we hop in the car, I say bye to Alex. Cat takes the scenic route back to the airport, more like the service roads around some of the hotel zone north of Puerto. She points out the various hotels and centers for marine study along the way. The sun is shining now, and we hold hands during the short trip to the airport. I'm feeling better now, and defiantly smiling again.
We say our goodbyes in front of Terminal 2. Both of us had a great time together and will miss each other, but now it's time for me to explore the rest of my life.
"I choose love."
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Day 14.6
I'm noticing my belt and pants keep falling off (unintentionally). I don't have access to a scale, but I might actually be loosing weight eating all this good food here.. Man.
Cat returned from Riding, and the three of us fixed some drinks and made our way out to dinner at Ed's restaurant. They have German food here. I end up with some sort of shrimp dish with garlic. Cat ordered something unpronounceable which was pretty tasty. We sat around after dinner and bitched about the USA for a while.
Back home, I played bartender for the girls, which Cat found amusing. All of us are pretty tired, and after a couple of rounds, it's bedtime for the last time in México.
Cat returned from Riding, and the three of us fixed some drinks and made our way out to dinner at Ed's restaurant. They have German food here. I end up with some sort of shrimp dish with garlic. Cat ordered something unpronounceable which was pretty tasty. We sat around after dinner and bitched about the USA for a while.
Back home, I played bartender for the girls, which Cat found amusing. All of us are pretty tired, and after a couple of rounds, it's bedtime for the last time in México.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Day 14
Last full day in México.
Make our way to the beach for a morning walk around 8am. It's mostly cloudy and the water doesn't feel all that warm so neither of us indulge in the water today. Breakfast is a fresh fruit smoothy, coffee and some oatmeal.
Make our way out to el Rey country club to help load up the horses on a trailer for transport to Mérida for their match on Sunday. They haven't done this before, and I can tell since they're quite disorganized on who's doing what, and what's needed. Apparently they need paperwork to transport the horses across state lines which they don't have, although bribes work. Cat washes her horses, and I stroll the around in the tropical forest. The club is about 15km inland from the sea. Almost squashed a tarantula trying to cross the road on the way there.
We meet up with two of the regular polo guys from Saturday, Alex and Melolo. While we're waiting for the Menolo has to run up to a cenote down the road to pay them for a tour which was comming through. I rode with Alex and him to check it out. After winding through the forest on an unpaved road, we came to Centoe Siete Bocas or 'Cenote of 7 mouths.' I don't have swim gear, but Alex shows me around. There are 7 simple holes in the ground, going down about 15-20 feet, and all are connected underwater. I walk down the steep steps in a couple of the openings and look around. This is much more impressive than one cenote I've been to near Tulum. Alex fills me in on some interesting facts, such that some of them are as deep as 500m. In a larger hole, a tour group was jumping down the 15 ft drop into the water, looked like fun.
Headed back and grabbed lunch at the clubhouse with Catriona while waiting for the trailer. Help out where I can. We leave and I handle a teleconference with work and a customer on the way back. Cat drops me off at the square and I walk the beach back to her home to take care of some work, she's going back out to ride and practice for Sunday's tournament.
Make our way to the beach for a morning walk around 8am. It's mostly cloudy and the water doesn't feel all that warm so neither of us indulge in the water today. Breakfast is a fresh fruit smoothy, coffee and some oatmeal.
Make our way out to el Rey country club to help load up the horses on a trailer for transport to Mérida for their match on Sunday. They haven't done this before, and I can tell since they're quite disorganized on who's doing what, and what's needed. Apparently they need paperwork to transport the horses across state lines which they don't have, although bribes work. Cat washes her horses, and I stroll the around in the tropical forest. The club is about 15km inland from the sea. Almost squashed a tarantula trying to cross the road on the way there.
We meet up with two of the regular polo guys from Saturday, Alex and Melolo. While we're waiting for the Menolo has to run up to a cenote down the road to pay them for a tour which was comming through. I rode with Alex and him to check it out. After winding through the forest on an unpaved road, we came to Centoe Siete Bocas or 'Cenote of 7 mouths.' I don't have swim gear, but Alex shows me around. There are 7 simple holes in the ground, going down about 15-20 feet, and all are connected underwater. I walk down the steep steps in a couple of the openings and look around. This is much more impressive than one cenote I've been to near Tulum. Alex fills me in on some interesting facts, such that some of them are as deep as 500m. In a larger hole, a tour group was jumping down the 15 ft drop into the water, looked like fun.
 |
| From México |
Headed back and grabbed lunch at the clubhouse with Catriona while waiting for the trailer. Help out where I can. We leave and I handle a teleconference with work and a customer on the way back. Cat drops me off at the square and I walk the beach back to her home to take care of some work, she's going back out to ride and practice for Sunday's tournament.
 |
| From México |
Monday, October 19, 2009
Day 13
Hmmm. Yet another day in paradise.
This morning I chauffeur Cat down the Playa del Carmen for an appointment for her back. Apparently one of her horses got spooked (the one I rode) and she partially fell off and screwed up a couple vertebrae in her back, requiring weekly injections of ozone gas to help heal.
We ran over to an organic produce store which has a tiny cafe. We had fruit salad and fresh fruit smoothies. $90 for breakfast for two.
Today is a beautiful day for the beach. Mostly sunny. around 85 F and a steady breeze. After returning around noon, Alex knows where we're going, she leads the way winding through 4 blocks to the street entrance. Catriona is off to work and pick up a friend from the airport.
I leave my stuff around a post and hop in the water. The wind is much stronger and steady on the beach. The waves are strong, and the water is comfortable. The beach is empty except for Alex and I.
I lay down the beach towel, and quickly sit down to prevent it from blowing away. Laying on my back, I can feel the sand being blown against me and it's a great feeling. I must avoid opening my eyes or mouth. The sun is hot, but the wind helps cool me off. All I hear is the wind past my ears, layered with the constant rolling of the waves, and rustling of nearby palm trees. Occasionally the voices of a couple taking an afternoon beach-walk, or the sound of the sand being blown down the beach. It sounds like soft static from a distant radio station.
Alex lays down in the sand and waits patiently about a yard from me feet. She rises when I turn over, as if expecting to go. "Not yet," I tell her. We get up to move on. The towel is covered in sand except where I was laying. I'm pretty much covered too.
We make our way north, walking for about a third of a mile and turn around before reaching the next resort. Alex finds a chunk of an old coconut floating near the shore she seems to be interested in and brings it back down the beach with him. A passing couple remarks, 'you have a pet coconut too, now.'
I ask Alex to take me to find Sarah at the beach bar, who has a key back into Catriona's house. He seems to understand and leads me directly there, walks around wooden the beach shack. The bar is closed so we make our way further down the beach towards town.
I realize I should drop Alex off at home and wander around the town for a bit on my own. I ask Alex to take me home, and we make our way back to the road, although at a different place than where we entered. As I was farther south as this point, I expected to make a right. I walked up the road a bit, but Alex crossed the street and waited off to the left. I called for him, and she stood there with a look as if saying, "you're lost dummy. Follow me." So I did. We wind around a few blocks, myself chasing Alex, and yes, I'm lost at this point. Alex stops at an unfamiliar white house. He paces in front of the gate. A neighbor drives by and comments, "Looks like that dog is walking you!" I said that was definitely the case, and that I told her to take me home. They said she took you to her old house. I look up and see the back of Cat's house, her new is built directly behind her old one as she had bought 4 adjacent lots. Good dog.
Door was open so sat in the sun on the roof for a bit, out of the sand. Washed the sand out of my hair and walked a decent amount of the town. It's really cute, with a little playground, basketball court and stage in the center. All kinds of little shops and restaurants as well.
Cat returns later with her friend 'KK' from the airport, she's quite a funny girl. They catch up and unpack her stuff. KK brought an iPod for Cat from the states, and I help setup it up on her Mac. KK's off to visit a friend five houses down the road, Cat's off to a town meeting and I take a stroll around the residential area admiring the houses, taking pictures of some which were for sale.
Later we go rescue KK from the friends down the road since she's already half in the bag. Dinner is at a Asian restaurant on the square. The three of us share some beef-on-a-stick kinda appetizer, I try the wonton soup, and we split a whole, deep-fried fish with stir-fried veggies over it, all of which is excellent. I'm pretty sure the fish was probably caught earlier in the day here. I'm told Puerto Morelos is known as "A drinking town with a fishing problem."
We make our way home, light some candles behind the bar and fix a few drinks for the three of us. Cat and KK are dancing to music in the living room, until KK falls down and knocks over a plant. Cat and I dance for a bit. Helped KK up the stairs to her bedroom, Cat and I finish our drinks and call it a night.
This morning I chauffeur Cat down the Playa del Carmen for an appointment for her back. Apparently one of her horses got spooked (the one I rode) and she partially fell off and screwed up a couple vertebrae in her back, requiring weekly injections of ozone gas to help heal.
We ran over to an organic produce store which has a tiny cafe. We had fruit salad and fresh fruit smoothies. $90 for breakfast for two.
Today is a beautiful day for the beach. Mostly sunny. around 85 F and a steady breeze. After returning around noon, Alex knows where we're going, she leads the way winding through 4 blocks to the street entrance. Catriona is off to work and pick up a friend from the airport.
I leave my stuff around a post and hop in the water. The wind is much stronger and steady on the beach. The waves are strong, and the water is comfortable. The beach is empty except for Alex and I.
I lay down the beach towel, and quickly sit down to prevent it from blowing away. Laying on my back, I can feel the sand being blown against me and it's a great feeling. I must avoid opening my eyes or mouth. The sun is hot, but the wind helps cool me off. All I hear is the wind past my ears, layered with the constant rolling of the waves, and rustling of nearby palm trees. Occasionally the voices of a couple taking an afternoon beach-walk, or the sound of the sand being blown down the beach. It sounds like soft static from a distant radio station.
Alex lays down in the sand and waits patiently about a yard from me feet. She rises when I turn over, as if expecting to go. "Not yet," I tell her. We get up to move on. The towel is covered in sand except where I was laying. I'm pretty much covered too.
We make our way north, walking for about a third of a mile and turn around before reaching the next resort. Alex finds a chunk of an old coconut floating near the shore she seems to be interested in and brings it back down the beach with him. A passing couple remarks, 'you have a pet coconut too, now.'
I ask Alex to take me to find Sarah at the beach bar, who has a key back into Catriona's house. He seems to understand and leads me directly there, walks around wooden the beach shack. The bar is closed so we make our way further down the beach towards town.
I realize I should drop Alex off at home and wander around the town for a bit on my own. I ask Alex to take me home, and we make our way back to the road, although at a different place than where we entered. As I was farther south as this point, I expected to make a right. I walked up the road a bit, but Alex crossed the street and waited off to the left. I called for him, and she stood there with a look as if saying, "you're lost dummy. Follow me." So I did. We wind around a few blocks, myself chasing Alex, and yes, I'm lost at this point. Alex stops at an unfamiliar white house. He paces in front of the gate. A neighbor drives by and comments, "Looks like that dog is walking you!" I said that was definitely the case, and that I told her to take me home. They said she took you to her old house. I look up and see the back of Cat's house, her new is built directly behind her old one as she had bought 4 adjacent lots. Good dog.
Door was open so sat in the sun on the roof for a bit, out of the sand. Washed the sand out of my hair and walked a decent amount of the town. It's really cute, with a little playground, basketball court and stage in the center. All kinds of little shops and restaurants as well.
Cat returns later with her friend 'KK' from the airport, she's quite a funny girl. They catch up and unpack her stuff. KK brought an iPod for Cat from the states, and I help setup it up on her Mac. KK's off to visit a friend five houses down the road, Cat's off to a town meeting and I take a stroll around the residential area admiring the houses, taking pictures of some which were for sale.
Later we go rescue KK from the friends down the road since she's already half in the bag. Dinner is at a Asian restaurant on the square. The three of us share some beef-on-a-stick kinda appetizer, I try the wonton soup, and we split a whole, deep-fried fish with stir-fried veggies over it, all of which is excellent. I'm pretty sure the fish was probably caught earlier in the day here. I'm told Puerto Morelos is known as "A drinking town with a fishing problem."
We make our way home, light some candles behind the bar and fix a few drinks for the three of us. Cat and KK are dancing to music in the living room, until KK falls down and knocks over a plant. Cat and I dance for a bit. Helped KK up the stairs to her bedroom, Cat and I finish our drinks and call it a night.
Day 12
Another day in paradise.
Catriona's day off, she makes a great breakfast for us; Mexican scrambled eggs with sautéed red onions, habeñero peppers, tomato, and cooks up some Argentinian sausage with sautéed mushrooms. I took care of the dishes. We went out to run a few errands and meet some people, she's working feverishly on organizing the community Halloween festival as well as getting her school put together to open in December. She's always checking her email and calling people getting things organized. On her day off.
We stop by at one of the beach front rentals she manages to say hi to some new tenants.
We get back and I take care of some work, took a few pictures of her house and relaxed while she out to a meeting for an hour or so..
Catriona returns and I give her a hand in the garden, planting basil and putting up some curtains in the adjacent town-house which is to become the school.
A couple of her friends from Minnesota who have a house in Puerto call to see if we're up for dinner later. We clean up and make our down town to a little restaurant on the south side of the town square called 'la Panza es Primer'. One of the couple is apparently the lead kidney transplant expert and now spends his time travelling the world giving lectures.
Cat and I shared a dish which called 'pollo en cilantro'; cubed chicken breast in a cilantro and cream reduction, served in a small sauce pan alongside tortillas. It was outstanding. We had 3 rounds of house margaritas and talked for a few hours. It was a lot of fun, and a great time!
Back to Cat's place, we chill out on the couch with an old black and white western, fix a few drinks and talk about life.
Catriona's day off, she makes a great breakfast for us; Mexican scrambled eggs with sautéed red onions, habeñero peppers, tomato, and cooks up some Argentinian sausage with sautéed mushrooms. I took care of the dishes. We went out to run a few errands and meet some people, she's working feverishly on organizing the community Halloween festival as well as getting her school put together to open in December. She's always checking her email and calling people getting things organized. On her day off.
We stop by at one of the beach front rentals she manages to say hi to some new tenants.
We get back and I take care of some work, took a few pictures of her house and relaxed while she out to a meeting for an hour or so..
Catriona returns and I give her a hand in the garden, planting basil and putting up some curtains in the adjacent town-house which is to become the school.
A couple of her friends from Minnesota who have a house in Puerto call to see if we're up for dinner later. We clean up and make our down town to a little restaurant on the south side of the town square called 'la Panza es Primer'. One of the couple is apparently the lead kidney transplant expert and now spends his time travelling the world giving lectures.
Cat and I shared a dish which called 'pollo en cilantro'; cubed chicken breast in a cilantro and cream reduction, served in a small sauce pan alongside tortillas. It was outstanding. We had 3 rounds of house margaritas and talked for a few hours. It was a lot of fun, and a great time!
Back to Cat's place, we chill out on the couch with an old black and white western, fix a few drinks and talk about life.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Day 11
Cat and I wake and walk down to the beach for a morning swim with Alex, the dog. Her house is 2 blocks away from the coast. The beach here in Puerto is much nicer than that of Cancún, except for possibly the place my sister and mother stayed earler, but much less touristy and the beach appears to go on for miles. No chairs, no hotels. Just white sand.
She brings her snorkel gear, the water is crystal clear today. She hands me the mask and points out an angel fish and a small stingray. There's almost more sea life here than I've seen in Cosumel; she tells me not to tell anyone. oops.
When Cat originally got Alex, Alex had no experience in water, and was quite timid about it. Now she'll swim from shore out to where Cat is to 'rescue' here. Alex expects Catriona to hold on to her tail and she tows her back to shore. It's adorable.
We make our way back to wash up, Cat's off to track her builder down for some unfinished business, I snooze for a bit.
In the early afternoon we make our way out to the country club to see her horses. It's George's birthday today, the local vet, and we stop there at his home first to say hi briefly.. He's having a barbecue, and we say we'll stop by later after riding to see if they're still around.
We make our way out to the El Rey country club where they're expected to practice before next week's match against the Mérida team, although, all of the members brought a beginner. A girl from Belgium, living in Puerto, Phillipe from Venezuela, and of course, me. The other's have had experience riding before and wanted to try out polo, this is my first time on a horse.
About an hour later, the horses have been fitted with their European saddles, and I´ve been fitted with polo gear. I guess I learn to ride a horse and play polo the same day! After riding Cat's horse around in circles in the parking lot at the stables, I´m starting to get the hang of this. The club's grass polo field is expansive, but we'll be practising on the sand field today. Cat demonstrates the basic 5 moves for hitting the ball, and we're off to play polo.
The others are obviously better riders than me, and I'm having a little trouble with the galloping thing, but I'll figure it out eventually. I wasn't much help in the game, per se. After an hour or so in the field, it's beginning to get dark and we make our way back. We all change and make our way the bar at the club for a drink. This was a workout for me, I'm fairly exhausted.
On our way back, we stop back at George's place, and we're warmly invited by their family. They insisted on warming up the grill again and cooking us arancherra steak. I have to wonder if this is what they had earlier. George's mother then brought us more meat, then we heard her asking something about chorizo (MORE meat) and we had to insist that we were done, and 'no mas!' We hung around and talked with their family in their kitchen for a few hours. I stepped back and realized where I was. Cat turned to me and whispered, 'you're having one of those real Méxican moments with me, aren't ya?' Yep. It was a little surreal.
We made our way back home, I ran out to a tienda (shop) down the road for ice. Fixed a couple of drinks and chilled out to an old movie on cable. It's been storming here all night. The rain feels warm and the sound is soothing.
This has been a great day.
She brings her snorkel gear, the water is crystal clear today. She hands me the mask and points out an angel fish and a small stingray. There's almost more sea life here than I've seen in Cosumel; she tells me not to tell anyone. oops.
When Cat originally got Alex, Alex had no experience in water, and was quite timid about it. Now she'll swim from shore out to where Cat is to 'rescue' here. Alex expects Catriona to hold on to her tail and she tows her back to shore. It's adorable.
We make our way back to wash up, Cat's off to track her builder down for some unfinished business, I snooze for a bit.
In the early afternoon we make our way out to the country club to see her horses. It's George's birthday today, the local vet, and we stop there at his home first to say hi briefly.. He's having a barbecue, and we say we'll stop by later after riding to see if they're still around.
We make our way out to the El Rey country club where they're expected to practice before next week's match against the Mérida team, although, all of the members brought a beginner. A girl from Belgium, living in Puerto, Phillipe from Venezuela, and of course, me. The other's have had experience riding before and wanted to try out polo, this is my first time on a horse.
 |
| From México |
About an hour later, the horses have been fitted with their European saddles, and I´ve been fitted with polo gear. I guess I learn to ride a horse and play polo the same day! After riding Cat's horse around in circles in the parking lot at the stables, I´m starting to get the hang of this. The club's grass polo field is expansive, but we'll be practising on the sand field today. Cat demonstrates the basic 5 moves for hitting the ball, and we're off to play polo.
The others are obviously better riders than me, and I'm having a little trouble with the galloping thing, but I'll figure it out eventually. I wasn't much help in the game, per se. After an hour or so in the field, it's beginning to get dark and we make our way back. We all change and make our way the bar at the club for a drink. This was a workout for me, I'm fairly exhausted.
 |
| From México |
On our way back, we stop back at George's place, and we're warmly invited by their family. They insisted on warming up the grill again and cooking us arancherra steak. I have to wonder if this is what they had earlier. George's mother then brought us more meat, then we heard her asking something about chorizo (MORE meat) and we had to insist that we were done, and 'no mas!' We hung around and talked with their family in their kitchen for a few hours. I stepped back and realized where I was. Cat turned to me and whispered, 'you're having one of those real Méxican moments with me, aren't ya?' Yep. It was a little surreal.
We made our way back home, I ran out to a tienda (shop) down the road for ice. Fixed a couple of drinks and chilled out to an old movie on cable. It's been storming here all night. The rain feels warm and the sound is soothing.
This has been a great day.
Day 10.6
Around 4pm, Cat and her friend make it back to the hotel. They pack up and Cat and I have a cocktail and a quick swim in the pool. The next first class bus back to Cancún leaves at 6:30. Augustine secures us a taxi to the ADO station for 6pm.
They're playing the latest Indian Jones film, only it's overdubbed in Spanish. I think I might have made it a quarter through before falling asleep. We transfer to the Playa del Carmen bus which stops at Puerto Morelos on the way south. This is about a 30 minute ride. They drop us off and grab a taxi into town. Jean was dropped off at another friends place where she was staying, and our ride ended a couple blocks away.
We're quickly welcomed by her German Shepard, Alex, who was eagerly anticipating her return. Her house is a beautiful duplex she designed and had built down here. I guess this is her third house she's built in Puerto. It's very tidy, the front door brings you to a nice living room, ajoined by a bar and then her office; the stairs and kitchen at just past that in there rear of the house, where a glass door opens to a outdoor patio with small pool. The house is is decorated eleglantly with terracotta pottery and planters around.
She lights some candles and we sit at the bar for a drink. We make our way into town to find the Friday night hot-spot.
This little bar is just slightly larger than the size of my kitchen, yet there's about 30 plus people here tonight. There's a foosball table in the street near the entrance which is quite popular. I order a couple of drinks for us, and I'm introduced to several of her neighbours and other friends around town. About a third or more of the people here do not appear to be native to México. The DJ is playing an invigorating mix of trance and house music. We and others are dancing.
Perfection.
They're playing the latest Indian Jones film, only it's overdubbed in Spanish. I think I might have made it a quarter through before falling asleep. We transfer to the Playa del Carmen bus which stops at Puerto Morelos on the way south. This is about a 30 minute ride. They drop us off and grab a taxi into town. Jean was dropped off at another friends place where she was staying, and our ride ended a couple blocks away.
We're quickly welcomed by her German Shepard, Alex, who was eagerly anticipating her return. Her house is a beautiful duplex she designed and had built down here. I guess this is her third house she's built in Puerto. It's very tidy, the front door brings you to a nice living room, ajoined by a bar and then her office; the stairs and kitchen at just past that in there rear of the house, where a glass door opens to a outdoor patio with small pool. The house is is decorated eleglantly with terracotta pottery and planters around.
She lights some candles and we sit at the bar for a drink. We make our way into town to find the Friday night hot-spot.
This little bar is just slightly larger than the size of my kitchen, yet there's about 30 plus people here tonight. There's a foosball table in the street near the entrance which is quite popular. I order a couple of drinks for us, and I'm introduced to several of her neighbours and other friends around town. About a third or more of the people here do not appear to be native to México. The DJ is playing an invigorating mix of trance and house music. We and others are dancing.
Perfection.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Day 10
Walked around and found an ATM for Cat. This city seems busy all day, every day. Got a bite to eat, Cat got her nails done, I walked around in the park for a while. We ran around a bit to grab some souvenirs for Cat's friends.
Checked out of my room at the hotel and got some work done for a couple of hours. We hit up Alamadres for some lunch around 2. This place was recommended by our hotel as fairly authentic Yucatecan food. Dining room is nice but not elaborate. Food was good, not too expensive. Service absolutely sucked. Waiter came off as quite rude, insisted on using his poor English even though I've ordered here in Spanish for the last 10 days. Took about 10 minutes to get another water, when that came I ordered the check. Another 10 minutes later I had to request it again. Waiter had the nerve to write in the tip for himself. Didn't pay it.
Cat takes off to meet Jean and the doctor at 3:15. Apparently there are some issues they're working through, and she may not be able to leave today, we'll see.
Walked back to the hotel in the rain to wait for Cat and possibly Jean.
Thoroughly enjoying Catriona and our time together!
Checked out of my room at the hotel and got some work done for a couple of hours. We hit up Alamadres for some lunch around 2. This place was recommended by our hotel as fairly authentic Yucatecan food. Dining room is nice but not elaborate. Food was good, not too expensive. Service absolutely sucked. Waiter came off as quite rude, insisted on using his poor English even though I've ordered here in Spanish for the last 10 days. Took about 10 minutes to get another water, when that came I ordered the check. Another 10 minutes later I had to request it again. Waiter had the nerve to write in the tip for himself. Didn't pay it.
Cat takes off to meet Jean and the doctor at 3:15. Apparently there are some issues they're working through, and she may not be able to leave today, we'll see.
Walked back to the hotel in the rain to wait for Cat and possibly Jean.
Thoroughly enjoying Catriona and our time together!
Day 9.7
Caught up on some sun in the pool for a while this afternoon, haven't had tons of time to just vedge. Cat and I check out an Indian place for dinner, probably East Indian. Guess I haven't tried enough Indian food but this stuff was great.
Cat pours herself a flask and takes off to spend the night at the hospital with her friend.
I emailed Jeff earlier to setup Skype on Dee Dee's notebook, I video conferenced into Thirsty Thursday for about an hour. They had me on the projector. I believe most were a little jealous as I was in the pool and they all had jackets on. They flipped me off when I told them that it chills down to about 78 in the evening here.
Cat pours herself a flask and takes off to spend the night at the hospital with her friend.
I emailed Jeff earlier to setup Skype on Dee Dee's notebook, I video conferenced into Thirsty Thursday for about an hour. They had me on the projector. I believe most were a little jealous as I was in the pool and they all had jackets on. They flipped me off when I told them that it chills down to about 78 in the evening here.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Day 9
Cat and I return to yesterday's breakfast place for coffee and a light snack around 10:30am. The waiter is still struggling a little, I don't think he's done this before, but it's cute nonetheless.
Cat's off to visit Jean in the hospital and hit up the market for some fabric for her aprons.
I find Tom, the guy who runs the hotel. I originally intended on staying here 'till Tuesday, but I let him know I'm interested in checking out tomorrow. Told him I'ld be visiting Puerto Morelos. He asks how Cat's friend in the hospital is doing, and we chat about the beach towns briefly. I can tell he's having trouble hiding his grin. So am I.
Cat's off to visit Jean in the hospital and hit up the market for some fabric for her aprons.
I find Tom, the guy who runs the hotel. I originally intended on staying here 'till Tuesday, but I let him know I'm interested in checking out tomorrow. Told him I'ld be visiting Puerto Morelos. He asks how Cat's friend in the hospital is doing, and we chat about the beach towns briefly. I can tell he's having trouble hiding his grin. So am I.
Day 8.8
Cat returns around 9:30 from riding, and finds me. She hasn't eaten yet, so we make our way off to a café to find some food. We order a bottle of a young Mexican cabernet, it's not bad but definitely not as big as I'm used to. Couldn't really complain, it's a café after all. I had some fruit, don't remember what she ordered.
Cat's friend Jean had her surgery today; apparently it went well but she needs a couple of nights in the hospital for recovery. They plan on leaving Friday back to Puerto Morelos on the coast, 15min south of Cancún. Cat says, "you know you're coming with me, right?" I didn't think there was an option.
Made our way back to the hotel, poured a few tequilas and hopped in the pool for a bit.
Cat's friend Jean had her surgery today; apparently it went well but she needs a couple of nights in the hospital for recovery. They plan on leaving Friday back to Puerto Morelos on the coast, 15min south of Cancún. Cat says, "you know you're coming with me, right?" I didn't think there was an option.
Made our way back to the hotel, poured a few tequilas and hopped in the pool for a bit.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Day 8
It's officially past half way into my trip, but I still have another week left to go, and I'm glad. I'm finally starting to get used to the heat. It's about 95 here during the day, with lower humidity to make for a 98 deg heat index. I have barely used the air conditioning since my arrival in Mexico; even on the coast I slept with the balcony door open. I love this here. It chills down to around 75 in the evening. The trick is finding the right side of the block in the shade while you're walking around town here.
I haven't taken any pictures in the last two days or so, I've been feeling less of a tourist.
Catriona sent her friend off the to the hospital this morning, and found me in my room around 9am. The hotel is so small, and I know most of the patrons here, so I feel quite safe leaving the door open during the day as long as I'm in the room or around the pool.
We started walking around to find some breakfast. We happened upon a place called 'La Sabie Virtud' and poked our heads in. They had a sign for breakfast for $65 which is reasonable. Inside, we found about a dozen tables, all set very classy with display dishes. The interior was decorated very clean and contemporary with a splash of retro. Turns out they just opened last Friday. Catriona had crepe poblanos I believe, and I ended up with huevos mexicana. Big mistake. Should have ordered something else, hers was amazing, ended up eating about a third of it since it was pretty big for breakfast. Mine was boring in comparison. Another two espressos and two café americanos later, the tab came out to $150 which was a great value as far as I'm concerned.
Catriona talked with the chef for a bit, as he used to teach cooking classes, and Cat is still looking for chefs for her cooking school.
The prior night we were talking about spotting gay couples. On the way out of this restaurant, I asked 'ok, the chef and the guy other guy running it?' She says 'Oh defiantly! did you see how he practically started to fly away while standing up?' with the hand motions and everything. I got a laugh out of that :)
Headed back to the hotel where and gathered my clothes for another load of laundry. Hopefully I can go a day this week without doing laundry now that I'm starting to sweat less. Spent a few hours relaxing and tanning in the pool with the computer catching up on work and such.
Catriona finished up with some emails and work, and sat with me by the pool for a while. I hosed off in the shower and she later invited me to see a collection of pictures she had on her Mac, from her two horses to her polo friends, the school in Puerto Morelos she organises charity work for, to other rodeo events, etc. I'm thoroughly enjoying this.
Catriona met up with some friends for riding, I picked up my laundry and grabbed a bite to eat across the street.
Today has been a great day, and it's only 8pm!
I haven't taken any pictures in the last two days or so, I've been feeling less of a tourist.
Catriona sent her friend off the to the hospital this morning, and found me in my room around 9am. The hotel is so small, and I know most of the patrons here, so I feel quite safe leaving the door open during the day as long as I'm in the room or around the pool.
We started walking around to find some breakfast. We happened upon a place called 'La Sabie Virtud' and poked our heads in. They had a sign for breakfast for $65 which is reasonable. Inside, we found about a dozen tables, all set very classy with display dishes. The interior was decorated very clean and contemporary with a splash of retro. Turns out they just opened last Friday. Catriona had crepe poblanos I believe, and I ended up with huevos mexicana. Big mistake. Should have ordered something else, hers was amazing, ended up eating about a third of it since it was pretty big for breakfast. Mine was boring in comparison. Another two espressos and two café americanos later, the tab came out to $150 which was a great value as far as I'm concerned.
Catriona talked with the chef for a bit, as he used to teach cooking classes, and Cat is still looking for chefs for her cooking school.
The prior night we were talking about spotting gay couples. On the way out of this restaurant, I asked 'ok, the chef and the guy other guy running it?' She says 'Oh defiantly! did you see how he practically started to fly away while standing up?' with the hand motions and everything. I got a laugh out of that :)
Headed back to the hotel where and gathered my clothes for another load of laundry. Hopefully I can go a day this week without doing laundry now that I'm starting to sweat less. Spent a few hours relaxing and tanning in the pool with the computer catching up on work and such.
Catriona finished up with some emails and work, and sat with me by the pool for a while. I hosed off in the shower and she later invited me to see a collection of pictures she had on her Mac, from her two horses to her polo friends, the school in Puerto Morelos she organises charity work for, to other rodeo events, etc. I'm thoroughly enjoying this.
Catriona met up with some friends for riding, I picked up my laundry and grabbed a bite to eat across the street.
Today has been a great day, and it's only 8pm!
Day 7
In the morning, Catriona and I have fruit and coffee at a boutique hotel (café San Lucia?) not far from the hotel. All of their coffee starts out as espresso here, any the add water to make a Café Americano. Fewer places actually brew it w/ a drip machine like home. I think that's why Mexican coffee just tastes better...
We walked around a little admiring the architecture of buildings, there seems to be strong French influence here. She finds a restaurant she had been to, which is closed, but the door is open. We sneak in for a look, there was no one around; the courtyard is simply beautiful. The owner appears to be a collector of religious art and artefacts, displayed throughout. The door latched on our way in and it took us a while to figure out how to open it in the dark.
Back to the hotel, a ran to get a load of laundry done again; I wanted a clean pair of jeans for later tonight. Took a short doze, tengo una poca resaca.
Catriona and her friend meet up to check out a Mayan artesian shop on the corner. Her friend doesn't do well in the heat and long distances to the central market; she's actually here from the USA for surgery. Mérida apparently has a premier hospital. The three of us had a light lunch at the place I had dinner last night.
We dropped off her friend and made our way down to the market in search of stuff. We shopped around for a sewing machine light bulb. Catriona is working on opening The Little Mexican Cooking School back in Puerto Morelos for tourists in December, and intends on giving away aprons to the students of the classes. One of her friends who's making them needed a new light for her machine.
I decided it would be fun to give out Mexican candy for trick-or-treat, we found a Dulcería (sweets shop) and picked up a 2.2kg bag of candy for $59.
We wander for a bit, but at this point it's early afternoon and we're both feeling the heat. Grabbed a cab back to the hotel. Took an hour or so nap, picked up my clothes.
She recommended a nice place for dinner, and made reservations earlier. Put on my best pair of jeans, as I had nothing nicer. Ausgustine secured a taxi to pick us up at the hotel at 6:30. The ride was about 25 minutes to the northern end of town which was very contemporary; large department stores like Liverpool, Sears, etc.
We wound through some smaller residential areas and came to La Hacienda Xcanatun. Most of the original hacienda had been abandon, and destroyed by hurricane Wilma and the property sold off. A portion, the machine building, was renovated into a very classy restaurant, and a tiny speciality hotel built along side. We're seated on the rear patio, primarily lit with candles. It overlooks a beautiful garden with palm trees, under-lit with spot lights.
Order a bottle of white wine made here in México. The service is fantastic, our glasses are never empty. We ordered seafood ceviche and tuna sashimi for appetisers, the ceviche with octopus, shrimp and fish. The entrées chosen were duck and tuna. Portions were excellent. All of the food was phenomenal, as was my company. I would equate the quality, service and atmosphere of this place to that of our Bartolotta's restaurants back home, specifically the Lake Park Bistro, only the cost about 65%.
Our taxi is out front waiting for us after dinner. We make our way back into the historical district. Our intent it to catch an a cappella performance but it's a little late for that now. Catriona is talking with our driver in Spanish, but both are a little slower and I´m catching about three quarters of the conversation now. I ask about a few words I don't recognise.
Our driver recommended a small park downtown where they have salsa dancing to live music on Tuesday nights. We stop, where he again waits for us.
Picture a smaller, 1/2 block square park where around 100 local couples, young and old, come on Tuesdays to do nothing but hold each other and dance. For no other reason.
We walk around the crowd, and make our way in. I really have no idea how to salsa, and neither does Catriona, which is refreshing. After a minute or two of shuffling around, we smile at each other and make our way back to the cab which drops us off at our hotel again. The ride was $300, but he got $500.
We had a couple tequilas around the pool and made our way off the main square to see what was going on. Most of the vendors were packing up by now. There were several mariachi's standing in the street on the square, as if they were waiting for someone to pick them up for hire.
A romantic evening; one that I couldn't forget.
We walked around a little admiring the architecture of buildings, there seems to be strong French influence here. She finds a restaurant she had been to, which is closed, but the door is open. We sneak in for a look, there was no one around; the courtyard is simply beautiful. The owner appears to be a collector of religious art and artefacts, displayed throughout. The door latched on our way in and it took us a while to figure out how to open it in the dark.
Back to the hotel, a ran to get a load of laundry done again; I wanted a clean pair of jeans for later tonight. Took a short doze, tengo una poca resaca.
Catriona and her friend meet up to check out a Mayan artesian shop on the corner. Her friend doesn't do well in the heat and long distances to the central market; she's actually here from the USA for surgery. Mérida apparently has a premier hospital. The three of us had a light lunch at the place I had dinner last night.
We dropped off her friend and made our way down to the market in search of stuff. We shopped around for a sewing machine light bulb. Catriona is working on opening The Little Mexican Cooking School back in Puerto Morelos for tourists in December, and intends on giving away aprons to the students of the classes. One of her friends who's making them needed a new light for her machine.
I decided it would be fun to give out Mexican candy for trick-or-treat, we found a Dulcería (sweets shop) and picked up a 2.2kg bag of candy for $59.
We wander for a bit, but at this point it's early afternoon and we're both feeling the heat. Grabbed a cab back to the hotel. Took an hour or so nap, picked up my clothes.
She recommended a nice place for dinner, and made reservations earlier. Put on my best pair of jeans, as I had nothing nicer. Ausgustine secured a taxi to pick us up at the hotel at 6:30. The ride was about 25 minutes to the northern end of town which was very contemporary; large department stores like Liverpool, Sears, etc.
We wound through some smaller residential areas and came to La Hacienda Xcanatun. Most of the original hacienda had been abandon, and destroyed by hurricane Wilma and the property sold off. A portion, the machine building, was renovated into a very classy restaurant, and a tiny speciality hotel built along side. We're seated on the rear patio, primarily lit with candles. It overlooks a beautiful garden with palm trees, under-lit with spot lights.
Order a bottle of white wine made here in México. The service is fantastic, our glasses are never empty. We ordered seafood ceviche and tuna sashimi for appetisers, the ceviche with octopus, shrimp and fish. The entrées chosen were duck and tuna. Portions were excellent. All of the food was phenomenal, as was my company. I would equate the quality, service and atmosphere of this place to that of our Bartolotta's restaurants back home, specifically the Lake Park Bistro, only the cost about 65%.
Our taxi is out front waiting for us after dinner. We make our way back into the historical district. Our intent it to catch an a cappella performance but it's a little late for that now. Catriona is talking with our driver in Spanish, but both are a little slower and I´m catching about three quarters of the conversation now. I ask about a few words I don't recognise.
Our driver recommended a small park downtown where they have salsa dancing to live music on Tuesday nights. We stop, where he again waits for us.
Picture a smaller, 1/2 block square park where around 100 local couples, young and old, come on Tuesdays to do nothing but hold each other and dance. For no other reason.
We walk around the crowd, and make our way in. I really have no idea how to salsa, and neither does Catriona, which is refreshing. After a minute or two of shuffling around, we smile at each other and make our way back to the cab which drops us off at our hotel again. The ride was $300, but he got $500.
We had a couple tequilas around the pool and made our way off the main square to see what was going on. Most of the vendors were packing up by now. There were several mariachi's standing in the street on the square, as if they were waiting for someone to pick them up for hire.
A romantic evening; one that I couldn't forget.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Day 6.8
Out for dinner again. Found a place practically across the street from the hotel, and they had live music. Bonus! Had something called relleno blanco, basically a whole bunch of sautéed peppers and onions in bowl with some sorda creamy white sauce, served with tortillas. It was great! This place closes down at 8pm, so back to hotel for a bit.
The girl who fell last night and I helped up the stairs returned and mentioned that there was some regional dancing and live music in the square tonight, around 9 so we headed off there! She didn't remember much about the prior night, but her friend filled here in on the details.
At the cathedral on the main square, we found a stage with one of the acts finishing off. After a few minutes, we had a couple salsa dancing which was spectacular. Mariachis were next, and we stayed for a few songs. They were great as well.
Wandered through the square to find traditional Mexican folk dancing, which I love. They wrapped up. The girl purchased a couple of CD's from the band.
Making our way around the square, we found a gentleman playing the saw. Yes, the hand saw for wood. I had heard of this, but never actually seen or heard it up close and personal. He was really good, and I was fascinated. Got to tap the edge of the saw with a stick and played 'la cucaracha.' Tipped this guy $10 or $15 pesos.
Sat and had a couple of drinks at a restaurant on the square. Found out my friend's name is Catriona. Haven't really needed names at all, but she gave me a card of a new business venture she's working on here. Catriona is originally from Australia, and has been living in México, in Puerto Morelos, for the past 6 years. She's around 80% fluent in Spanish, so about 75% more than me, so quite helpful. She corrects some of my pronunciation which is cute. She gives me one of the CD's she purchased earlier and we go though the track-listing together, translating what she can. I chuckle at the name of her blog site, it's practically the same as mine.
We made our way back to the hotel were we continued to exchange stories over tequila.
The girl who fell last night and I helped up the stairs returned and mentioned that there was some regional dancing and live music in the square tonight, around 9 so we headed off there! She didn't remember much about the prior night, but her friend filled here in on the details.
At the cathedral on the main square, we found a stage with one of the acts finishing off. After a few minutes, we had a couple salsa dancing which was spectacular. Mariachis were next, and we stayed for a few songs. They were great as well.
Wandered through the square to find traditional Mexican folk dancing, which I love. They wrapped up. The girl purchased a couple of CD's from the band.
Making our way around the square, we found a gentleman playing the saw. Yes, the hand saw for wood. I had heard of this, but never actually seen or heard it up close and personal. He was really good, and I was fascinated. Got to tap the edge of the saw with a stick and played 'la cucaracha.' Tipped this guy $10 or $15 pesos.
Sat and had a couple of drinks at a restaurant on the square. Found out my friend's name is Catriona. Haven't really needed names at all, but she gave me a card of a new business venture she's working on here. Catriona is originally from Australia, and has been living in México, in Puerto Morelos, for the past 6 years. She's around 80% fluent in Spanish, so about 75% more than me, so quite helpful. She corrects some of my pronunciation which is cute. She gives me one of the CD's she purchased earlier and we go though the track-listing together, translating what she can. I chuckle at the name of her blog site, it's practically the same as mine.
We made our way back to the hotel were we continued to exchange stories over tequila.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Day 6.7
So if I cancel the hotel portion of my trip in Isla Mujeres before midnight, there's no penalty. Talked to Tom, the guy who owns the place, and my room is available for another 10 days or so. Three nights is just not enough time here, and I'm getting tired of moving around. Gotta chill. That, and I end up saving about $100, plus whatever else on top of that if I keep eating $2 lunches! I'm guessing Isla isn't quite as affordable as Merida.
I found out that Skype allows you to make 1-800 toll-free calls to the states for nothing. Spent about an hour next to the pool screwing around with Skype, pulseaudio and microphone settings, and got it to work running it through alsa as the root user. Sweet.
Picked up my bag of folded laundry from the guy down the road, it was still warm, and it smells good!
Talked to Augustine about extending my stay, to 9 nights vs. 3. He said he'll talk to Tom, he'll usually do something better on the rate for a week or more. Not that $50 is all that bad to begin with. Awesome.
Called up Expedia on Skype; it was a little hard to hear them at times, and the guy was getting some interfearence, but it worked out ok. They refunded my money for the Hotel in Isla with no problem!
Showered up and enjoying the outdoors. It's getting a little cooler and breezy. Could be a storm or just a really comfortable night on the town. Wunderground shows 95 degrees, 44% humidity.
I found out that Skype allows you to make 1-800 toll-free calls to the states for nothing. Spent about an hour next to the pool screwing around with Skype, pulseaudio and microphone settings, and got it to work running it through alsa as the root user. Sweet.
Picked up my bag of folded laundry from the guy down the road, it was still warm, and it smells good!
Talked to Augustine about extending my stay, to 9 nights vs. 3. He said he'll talk to Tom, he'll usually do something better on the rate for a week or more. Not that $50 is all that bad to begin with. Awesome.
Called up Expedia on Skype; it was a little hard to hear them at times, and the guy was getting some interfearence, but it worked out ok. They refunded my money for the Hotel in Isla with no problem!
Showered up and enjoying the outdoors. It's getting a little cooler and breezy. Could be a storm or just a really comfortable night on the town. Wunderground shows 95 degrees, 44% humidity.
Day 6.5
Went out looking for lunch, and this Alamadres place which is supposed to have yucatecan food, but it was a fairly expensive and fancy looking. Kept walking around and found "Cocina Economica Lucy". Thats what i was after, plus they had Panuchos. This is definitely NOT a tourist place, it's Lucy's economical kitchen. Had a bottle of water and two panuchos. They were excellent! The bill was $18 MXN ($1.40 in US). I left $25.
Walked around the market area a little bit and back to the hotel. In the pool again checking Expedia's cancellation policy.
 |
| From México |
Walked around the market area a little bit and back to the hotel. In the pool again checking Expedia's cancellation policy.
Day 6
Time passes quickly here for some reason, despite waking early every day.
Said goodbye to the friends from Seattle who left today, brewed a pot of coffee and posted last nights notes from the poolside.
Packed up all my clothes but the one outfit I'm wearing in plastic bags and dropped them off at "La Fe" lavandoria, 2 blocks from the hotel. Hopefully, I'll have clean clothes by 5:30pm tonight!
Grabbed a couple of 6-packs of Montejo cervesa for the room later, and headed back to the hotel for some relaxation. Washed my t-shirt in the sink and currently writing this in the pool catching some sun.
I'm considering canceling or at least shortening my stay in Isla Mujeres for Wednesday. I don't think 3 nights is enough here. Talked with Tom, one of the owners and the room is open until next week sometime....
It's 12:30, shirt's not dry yet, but the black keyboard's getting a little to hot to type on so I think it's time to hose off and find some lunch!
Said goodbye to the friends from Seattle who left today, brewed a pot of coffee and posted last nights notes from the poolside.
Packed up all my clothes but the one outfit I'm wearing in plastic bags and dropped them off at "La Fe" lavandoria, 2 blocks from the hotel. Hopefully, I'll have clean clothes by 5:30pm tonight!
Grabbed a couple of 6-packs of Montejo cervesa for the room later, and headed back to the hotel for some relaxation. Washed my t-shirt in the sink and currently writing this in the pool catching some sun.
I'm considering canceling or at least shortening my stay in Isla Mujeres for Wednesday. I don't think 3 nights is enough here. Talked with Tom, one of the owners and the room is open until next week sometime....
It's 12:30, shirt's not dry yet, but the black keyboard's getting a little to hot to type on so I think it's time to hose off and find some lunch!
Day 5.5
Catching up here. The bus ride was shorter than expected, they said 4 hrs, 20 min, ended up being around 3 and a half which was nice. By now it's around 3:30pm and the sun casts a nice shadow over the rows of buildings in Merida, shading the sidewalk and making for a tolerable 12 block walk. It's probably about 93 deg, but low humidity due to being so far inland.
Had no trouble finding the hotel, I had been here before last year around this time, and Augustine, in the office, remembers me. Got an interior room this time, actually right next to last one, but it's just as nice and probably bigger.
Met a group of 4 from Seattle at the pool where they shared their $6.50 USD bottle of Mezcal which was a lot better than I remember it. Two Nancys' and the 'johns'. I don't think both of the guys were named John, but I knew the girls were both Nancy. After introductions and a few shots we met a another group, a couple and one of the couple's parents (Elizabeth and Jerry) at the pool. They're all from New Zealand but the couple are living in Mexico City working at a hostel run by the Quakers. They were all here on vacation for a little bit. From what I'm told Mexico City isn't really that bad of a place to visit, and from what they told me about the history and art, might get dropped on the future destination list.
The group from Seattle invited me out to dinner with them, and made our way to a place named Amaro which was very nice. Had a chicken dish with a thick, creamy sauce which was just great. 'Pollo en Chipotle' I believe it was called. Tried out a glass of the Yucatecan liquor 'Xtabentún' on the rocks. Tasted not much anything besides black licorice. Don't really need to bring any home. Dinner and 2-3 drinks ran $226 MXN.
We all made our way down to the main square where there were various foods, performers, artists music and vendors. I bought a gardenia flower for 10 pesos from a woman and kept it in my breast pocket for the rest of the night.
After talking about the Indian wedding earlier, our group of 5 all decided to get some sort of non-permanent body art which they offered in the park. I cannot use the term 'henna', as these were nothing more than designs out of tattoo book with some sort of black ink. None the less, they traced the book's design onto tracing paper, then re-traced it over carbon paper. It then transferred the carbon outline to the skin where the filled it in using a toothpick and black ink. Still not ready for a tattoo yet.
After we all got our share of ink, we wandered back to the hotel. Around the pool, an older east-coast man was sipping his brandy and talking with a pair of younger girls. One with a English accent, living in México, and on vacation with the other girl visiting. The first was quite beautiful in her bathing suit, and also quite tipsy. We had words, and silence, made out for a bit in front of our pool-side audience. I offered to buy her dinner tomorrow night. Interesting dynamic to the evening. Practicing entirely too much self restraint, I helped her up the stairs to her and her girlfriend's room after she fell near the pool and nearly cracked her skull. I'll see if she remembers anything tomorrow.
Talked with the east-coast guy about the Berkshires, Michael Feldman, talk radio and politics for a while. Headed off to bed at 1am. Gotta get up early to get some laundry done!!
I'll post more pictures a little later, but the rest of the un-edited collection are still at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/tt53149/Mexico?feat=directlink
 |
| From México |
Had no trouble finding the hotel, I had been here before last year around this time, and Augustine, in the office, remembers me. Got an interior room this time, actually right next to last one, but it's just as nice and probably bigger.
 |
| From México |
Met a group of 4 from Seattle at the pool where they shared their $6.50 USD bottle of Mezcal which was a lot better than I remember it. Two Nancys' and the 'johns'. I don't think both of the guys were named John, but I knew the girls were both Nancy. After introductions and a few shots we met a another group, a couple and one of the couple's parents (Elizabeth and Jerry) at the pool. They're all from New Zealand but the couple are living in Mexico City working at a hostel run by the Quakers. They were all here on vacation for a little bit. From what I'm told Mexico City isn't really that bad of a place to visit, and from what they told me about the history and art, might get dropped on the future destination list.
The group from Seattle invited me out to dinner with them, and made our way to a place named Amaro which was very nice. Had a chicken dish with a thick, creamy sauce which was just great. 'Pollo en Chipotle' I believe it was called. Tried out a glass of the Yucatecan liquor 'Xtabentún' on the rocks. Tasted not much anything besides black licorice. Don't really need to bring any home. Dinner and 2-3 drinks ran $226 MXN.
We all made our way down to the main square where there were various foods, performers, artists music and vendors. I bought a gardenia flower for 10 pesos from a woman and kept it in my breast pocket for the rest of the night.
After talking about the Indian wedding earlier, our group of 5 all decided to get some sort of non-permanent body art which they offered in the park. I cannot use the term 'henna', as these were nothing more than designs out of tattoo book with some sort of black ink. None the less, they traced the book's design onto tracing paper, then re-traced it over carbon paper. It then transferred the carbon outline to the skin where the filled it in using a toothpick and black ink. Still not ready for a tattoo yet.
 |
| From México |
After we all got our share of ink, we wandered back to the hotel. Around the pool, an older east-coast man was sipping his brandy and talking with a pair of younger girls. One with a English accent, living in México, and on vacation with the other girl visiting. The first was quite beautiful in her bathing suit, and also quite tipsy. We had words, and silence, made out for a bit in front of our pool-side audience. I offered to buy her dinner tomorrow night. Interesting dynamic to the evening. Practicing entirely too much self restraint, I helped her up the stairs to her and her girlfriend's room after she fell near the pool and nearly cracked her skull. I'll see if she remembers anything tomorrow.
 |
| From México |
Talked with the east-coast guy about the Berkshires, Michael Feldman, talk radio and politics for a while. Headed off to bed at 1am. Gotta get up early to get some laundry done!!
I'll post more pictures a little later, but the rest of the un-edited collection are still at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/tt53149/Mexico?feat=directlink
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Day 5
Got up early again, another hot and humid day! Grabbed some coffee and juice for breakfast, and started getting everything packed up. Definatly need to do laundry again soon, which won't be a problem in Merida. Met Mom and Paige in the lobby and sent them off to the airport, they're trying to leave around 12:30. Hopefully they can get on their flights! Taxi ride to the airport is $300 pesos or around $26 MXN for both of them.
Finished packing and checked out of the hotel, and ended up back on the R-1 public bus which takes you to pretty much right to the ADO coach bus station, same place the airport bus dropped me off last Tuesday. Found a ATM machine to get some more cash since I'm running low. I'm glad my card worked just fine, need to pay for the next place in cash.
Purchased my bus ticket for the noon bus right around 11:30am, there's lots of seats available. The ride there costs $256 MXN. This is a first-class air-conditioned coach with a bathroom and comfty reclining seats. The 4 hour / 177mi trip across the peninsula costs less than my Mom and sisters taxi ride to the airport. It bus ride is good, might try to get a nap in...
Finished packing and checked out of the hotel, and ended up back on the R-1 public bus which takes you to pretty much right to the ADO coach bus station, same place the airport bus dropped me off last Tuesday. Found a ATM machine to get some more cash since I'm running low. I'm glad my card worked just fine, need to pay for the next place in cash.
Purchased my bus ticket for the noon bus right around 11:30am, there's lots of seats available. The ride there costs $256 MXN. This is a first-class air-conditioned coach with a bathroom and comfty reclining seats. The 4 hour / 177mi trip across the peninsula costs less than my Mom and sisters taxi ride to the airport. It bus ride is good, might try to get a nap in...
Day 4.6
The wedding. If you read my first post, you'ld know I met Chirag and his wife to be Leena on the airplane on the way from Atlanta to Cancun. He insisted I attend the wedding on Saturday,so my sister in her new Mayan dress and me in my most comfortable pair of jeans took the bus down the strip about 7km to the hotel they were staying. Well, actually two busses since the first one dropped us off too early.
We found most of the wedding party in the lobby of the Fiesta Americana Condesa hotel, and introduced Paige to Chirag, and met Chirag's best friend and others which we were to sit with later. He seemed happy we actually showed up. Many of his friends were already filled in on the story of our meeting, so I was 'the one the met on the airplane down to Cancún.' Apparently I left enough of an impression!
This is somewhat of a traditional Hindu wedding with a Cancún destination twist, but definatly eye-opening non the less. My interpretation is as I understand or what I was told but feel free to correct me,
The groom's side, of which Paige and I were part of, marches (dances) in a procession into the bride's village, the groom on an elephant or white horse (where here the animals were omitted and was more like the up the road to the hotel). Here, now back inside the lobby of the hotel there is more dancing. The brides parents appear to bless? the groom in some ceremonial fashion?
Another tradition was the 'stealing' of the groom's shoes off of his feet, for reasons I'll document later, but ended in a puppy-pile of people on the floor trying to claim the shoes.
We proceed down to the waterfront behind the hotel where they have a beautiful canopy on a stage where the ceremony is to take place. I really had no idea what to expect, and nether did some of his non-Indian/Hindu friends but it was an elaborate and enchanting ceremony of which lasted aproximatly 2 hours.
The Hindu priest did a great job of explaining the different reasons for each portion of the ceremony, and the provided program helped fill in the rest. For any interested, I'll post a copy of the program when I have access to a scanner. There was a considerable empasis on love, spirituality, togetherness and companionship, more so than I've seen in any of the Christian weddings I've been to. There was also all kinds of food involved as well, like milk and honey, and various other sweets. Even a part where they feed eachother! There were lot of actual “activities” with symbolic representation, more so than just the lighting of a candle and such (although they did that too)
After the ceremony was finished, the bride and groom walked down the isle where the groom was stopped and expected to negotiate with money for his shoes from the one who stole them earlier. Interesting traditions!
We stayed for cocktails and munchies before the dinner and reception, where we met more of the friends and family. I regret not being able to personally thank Chirag for accepting us in this life event, but I was truly honored and told his friend to wish him the best in his journeys. I promised to catch up with him on Facebook later. This was an experience I won't forget.
Around 6:30 we made our way back on the bus to find Mom and some steak for dinner. I wanted my arranchera steak finally, and it was everything I hoped it would be. Except for various service issues, the food was decent. Had to return my margarita once, mom and Paige's had plastic chunks of the tamper seal ring ground up in it. Appitizer was wrong, etc, etc. Probably wouldn't return here again.
Had my last beer from the cooler out on the beach since I'll need to pack everything up to leave Cancún and travel to Merida tomorrow. What a great day!
We found most of the wedding party in the lobby of the Fiesta Americana Condesa hotel, and introduced Paige to Chirag, and met Chirag's best friend and others which we were to sit with later. He seemed happy we actually showed up. Many of his friends were already filled in on the story of our meeting, so I was 'the one the met on the airplane down to Cancún.' Apparently I left enough of an impression!
This is somewhat of a traditional Hindu wedding with a Cancún destination twist, but definatly eye-opening non the less. My interpretation is as I understand or what I was told but feel free to correct me,
The groom's side, of which Paige and I were part of, marches (dances) in a procession into the bride's village, the groom on an elephant or white horse (where here the animals were omitted and was more like the up the road to the hotel). Here, now back inside the lobby of the hotel there is more dancing. The brides parents appear to bless? the groom in some ceremonial fashion?
 |
| From México |
Another tradition was the 'stealing' of the groom's shoes off of his feet, for reasons I'll document later, but ended in a puppy-pile of people on the floor trying to claim the shoes.
We proceed down to the waterfront behind the hotel where they have a beautiful canopy on a stage where the ceremony is to take place. I really had no idea what to expect, and nether did some of his non-Indian/Hindu friends but it was an elaborate and enchanting ceremony of which lasted aproximatly 2 hours.
The Hindu priest did a great job of explaining the different reasons for each portion of the ceremony, and the provided program helped fill in the rest. For any interested, I'll post a copy of the program when I have access to a scanner. There was a considerable empasis on love, spirituality, togetherness and companionship, more so than I've seen in any of the Christian weddings I've been to. There was also all kinds of food involved as well, like milk and honey, and various other sweets. Even a part where they feed eachother! There were lot of actual “activities” with symbolic representation, more so than just the lighting of a candle and such (although they did that too)
 |
| From México |
After the ceremony was finished, the bride and groom walked down the isle where the groom was stopped and expected to negotiate with money for his shoes from the one who stole them earlier. Interesting traditions!
 |
| From México |
We stayed for cocktails and munchies before the dinner and reception, where we met more of the friends and family. I regret not being able to personally thank Chirag for accepting us in this life event, but I was truly honored and told his friend to wish him the best in his journeys. I promised to catch up with him on Facebook later. This was an experience I won't forget.
Around 6:30 we made our way back on the bus to find Mom and some steak for dinner. I wanted my arranchera steak finally, and it was everything I hoped it would be. Except for various service issues, the food was decent. Had to return my margarita once, mom and Paige's had plastic chunks of the tamper seal ring ground up in it. Appitizer was wrong, etc, etc. Probably wouldn't return here again.
 |
| From México |
Had my last beer from the cooler out on the beach since I'll need to pack everything up to leave Cancún and travel to Merida tomorrow. What a great day!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Day 3.8
Wow. This is more like day 3.8 through day 4.2.
Hit up a couple of places along the main drag in the hotel zone with mom and sis around 10:30pm, many places were quite busy in contrast to May during the flu scare. Got mom some shots and a piña colada which came in the classic plastic yard glass. Go mom!
Refused to take the shot from my sister's cleavage. Waitress obliged.
We dropped mom off at the hotel around midnight and Paige and I went back out.
We got sucked into one of the clubs, 'The City'. Apparently it was their night, they switch off different days when Cancún's not packed with people. $45 USD all you can drink party until 4:30am at three conjoined places, Club Cancún (on the street), The City (the big club) and the after party / beach party. We decided if we were going to experience Cancún, might as well do it. That and the two rounds of beer and the shots we had earlier cost us about $50 alone.
The main club was huge, probably about 1000 people there, and appeared to be a 60-70% capacity. Well done sound and impressive light systems. It was setup almost like a stadium with about 9 rows of 'VIP' seating, all circled around the dance floor. It was surprisingly not difficult to get a drink, and they were serving Corona, Bacardi and various other half way decent liquors. The only major complaint was they didn't have diet cola. They also had a 'top shelf' bar you could pay for drinks like Grey Goose, etc. Maybe they had diet Coke there, never asked.
Music was pretty much a hip-hop mix, where the DJ never played more than a third of a track before mixing into the next. Was not impressed with the music at this time, but it appeared that I was the minority.
Sis and I agreed to wander off and meet up at the free bar in a 'Méxican hour.' She had no trouble meeting friends. Actually, mom asked this morning if she made any friends, and I told her yea, all of them.
Met a beautiful girl named Christina from Chicago, we talked for a while (as well as you can over the music) and exchanged emails. She had an "excursion" scheduled for 8:30am, and by this time it's 4am.. Ouch.
They cut us off from open bar around 4:30am, and started playing trance music which I was very much ok with. Glow sticks would have been a nice touch but I did without.
The club pretty much clears out at this point, most went back and a few hundred stuck around for the beach / chill / after-party. This was an area in the back of the club with a decent size pool and about 25 little "booth" areas, each with it's own queen size mattress. The only thing lit was the pool and quite romantic. They're still rocking a great, ambiant mix of trance which I totally got into. Others were enjoying the pool in their clothes, underwear or less.
Around quarter after 5am, Paige un-lodged herself from her new friends and we headed back to the hotel. A collared puppy, probably a black lab or something, followed us pretty much from the club all the way back to the hotel. Perhaps he was protecting us from the taxi drivers which continuously stopped and offered to take us home for only tips. The guard at the hotel made Paige leave the puppy at the gate.
Daylight came way too soon. A few ojo rojo's later, and I'm feeling great, just tired. Cevice de camerones for lunch and off to the wedding!
Hit up a couple of places along the main drag in the hotel zone with mom and sis around 10:30pm, many places were quite busy in contrast to May during the flu scare. Got mom some shots and a piña colada which came in the classic plastic yard glass. Go mom!
Refused to take the shot from my sister's cleavage. Waitress obliged.
 |
| From México |
 |
| From México |
We dropped mom off at the hotel around midnight and Paige and I went back out.
We got sucked into one of the clubs, 'The City'. Apparently it was their night, they switch off different days when Cancún's not packed with people. $45 USD all you can drink party until 4:30am at three conjoined places, Club Cancún (on the street), The City (the big club) and the after party / beach party. We decided if we were going to experience Cancún, might as well do it. That and the two rounds of beer and the shots we had earlier cost us about $50 alone.
The main club was huge, probably about 1000 people there, and appeared to be a 60-70% capacity. Well done sound and impressive light systems. It was setup almost like a stadium with about 9 rows of 'VIP' seating, all circled around the dance floor. It was surprisingly not difficult to get a drink, and they were serving Corona, Bacardi and various other half way decent liquors. The only major complaint was they didn't have diet cola. They also had a 'top shelf' bar you could pay for drinks like Grey Goose, etc. Maybe they had diet Coke there, never asked.
Music was pretty much a hip-hop mix, where the DJ never played more than a third of a track before mixing into the next. Was not impressed with the music at this time, but it appeared that I was the minority.
Sis and I agreed to wander off and meet up at the free bar in a 'Méxican hour.' She had no trouble meeting friends. Actually, mom asked this morning if she made any friends, and I told her yea, all of them.
Met a beautiful girl named Christina from Chicago, we talked for a while (as well as you can over the music) and exchanged emails. She had an "excursion" scheduled for 8:30am, and by this time it's 4am.. Ouch.
They cut us off from open bar around 4:30am, and started playing trance music which I was very much ok with. Glow sticks would have been a nice touch but I did without.
The club pretty much clears out at this point, most went back and a few hundred stuck around for the beach / chill / after-party. This was an area in the back of the club with a decent size pool and about 25 little "booth" areas, each with it's own queen size mattress. The only thing lit was the pool and quite romantic. They're still rocking a great, ambiant mix of trance which I totally got into. Others were enjoying the pool in their clothes, underwear or less.
Around quarter after 5am, Paige un-lodged herself from her new friends and we headed back to the hotel. A collared puppy, probably a black lab or something, followed us pretty much from the club all the way back to the hotel. Perhaps he was protecting us from the taxi drivers which continuously stopped and offered to take us home for only tips. The guard at the hotel made Paige leave the puppy at the gate.
Daylight came way too soon. A few ojo rojo's later, and I'm feeling great, just tired. Cevice de camerones for lunch and off to the wedding!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Day 3
Wonderful sleeps after last night! Opened the door and turned down the A/C to 27 deg C (79 F). Tropical.. For some reason they insist on setting the A/C at 21-22C which is freezing in México, especially when you've been out in the sun and heat.
Breakfast at 8:30am, all you can eat at the hotel for $95. Had plato fruta (fruit plate), Omlette with everything t.hey offered and Huevos rancheros which are eggs sunny-side-up over tortillas with special tomato sauce. Yum!
The hotel has a bus stop literally in front, so we grabbed one to Mercado 28 which is a respectable tourist trap downtown. Take (route) R-2 or R-15. I had not been there yet and thought it might be cool.
Definatly a trap. My mother learned what a 'Méxican minute' is, sucked into a shop selling silver bracelets and necklaces. I'm sure the prices were not bad or at least negotable, but not in the mood for jewlery.
We did manage to negotiate on Méxican vanilla, though. I was told last May that I should have brought some back since my mother was running out from bottles she bought 20 years ago, and we found some. I reminded her as we walked by a place. The big bottle started out at $180, but we ended up talking him down to $160 MXN for two large bottles, one clear and one dark.
Paige (sis) found a dress for the impromptu wedding tomorrow. She brought pretty much nothing besides a swimsuit and a dress to wear out on the town and wanted to wear something nice. It's cute, made by the Mayans presumably, and we talked him down from $420 to $300 which isn't terrible for a hand-made cotton dress.
We needed food by this point. Although there were a few resturants in the market, we wanted to find somewhere a little less touristy. We decided against walking back to the Route-15 bus stop at Walmart, but to walk through the residential areas and make out way back to 'Parque de las palapas' next to the hostel I stayed the last two days. Houses in this area ranged from mediocre to 'oo you have money'.
Mom took a picture of the outside of the hostel, and I showed them the little park with the satellite dish art and we walked through the big park which was fairly deserted in the afternoon.
Lunch was at a place down the road right off the main drag 'Tulum Ave' where the three of us had 6 beers, 2 waters and a substancial lunch for $270 MXN while listening to 'Metallica' black album (about twice through).
Note: the prices in the Spanish menu were about $5-$20 MXN less than in the equivalent English menu, and I called him on it. Apparently, if were ordered in English, we were paying for their English lessons.
Grabbed a 6-pack of beer, some water and caught the R-1 bus back Tulum ave to the driveway of our hotel. I'm getting better at this, didn't fall off the steps this time.
Baked in the sun for a few hours with sis while mom enjoyed the A/C.
Tried to catch up on work from the beach, and replied to an email. The touchpad is fairly sensitive on the netbook and when you're typing, it's easy to hit it on accident and move the cursor around, and hard to read in the sun. Managed to leave the character '1' in the 'Bcc' area of my reply which (thank you Exchange) translated to '1st shift production' aka nearly everyone in the company. I missed a tele-conference this morning regarding something I was involved in. His reply "No problem ... a few questions... blah blah... Hope México is treating you well..." My reply to pretty much the whole company started with "México is treating me great! I'm sitting on the beach on 5 beers and working on margarita numero dos,so take that into account on my answers..." Got about 15 random replies. Legacy.
Had dinner at the hotel and posting this from the bar on the beach again. Hope to rinse off and hit the clubs with sis in about an hour. Apparently nothing really happens 'till 11pm here!
¡Hasta amigos!
Breakfast at 8:30am, all you can eat at the hotel for $95. Had plato fruta (fruit plate), Omlette with everything t.hey offered and Huevos rancheros which are eggs sunny-side-up over tortillas with special tomato sauce. Yum!
The hotel has a bus stop literally in front, so we grabbed one to Mercado 28 which is a respectable tourist trap downtown. Take (route) R-2 or R-15. I had not been there yet and thought it might be cool.
Definatly a trap. My mother learned what a 'Méxican minute' is, sucked into a shop selling silver bracelets and necklaces. I'm sure the prices were not bad or at least negotable, but not in the mood for jewlery.
 |
| From México |
We did manage to negotiate on Méxican vanilla, though. I was told last May that I should have brought some back since my mother was running out from bottles she bought 20 years ago, and we found some. I reminded her as we walked by a place. The big bottle started out at $180, but we ended up talking him down to $160 MXN for two large bottles, one clear and one dark.
Paige (sis) found a dress for the impromptu wedding tomorrow. She brought pretty much nothing besides a swimsuit and a dress to wear out on the town and wanted to wear something nice. It's cute, made by the Mayans presumably, and we talked him down from $420 to $300 which isn't terrible for a hand-made cotton dress.
 |
| From México |
We needed food by this point. Although there were a few resturants in the market, we wanted to find somewhere a little less touristy. We decided against walking back to the Route-15 bus stop at Walmart, but to walk through the residential areas and make out way back to 'Parque de las palapas' next to the hostel I stayed the last two days. Houses in this area ranged from mediocre to 'oo you have money'.
Mom took a picture of the outside of the hostel, and I showed them the little park with the satellite dish art and we walked through the big park which was fairly deserted in the afternoon.
 |
| From México |
Lunch was at a place down the road right off the main drag 'Tulum Ave' where the three of us had 6 beers, 2 waters and a substancial lunch for $270 MXN while listening to 'Metallica' black album (about twice through).
 |
| From México |
Note: the prices in the Spanish menu were about $5-$20 MXN less than in the equivalent English menu, and I called him on it. Apparently, if were ordered in English, we were paying for their English lessons.
Grabbed a 6-pack of beer, some water and caught the R-1 bus back Tulum ave to the driveway of our hotel. I'm getting better at this, didn't fall off the steps this time.
Baked in the sun for a few hours with sis while mom enjoyed the A/C.
Tried to catch up on work from the beach, and replied to an email. The touchpad is fairly sensitive on the netbook and when you're typing, it's easy to hit it on accident and move the cursor around, and hard to read in the sun. Managed to leave the character '1' in the 'Bcc' area of my reply which (thank you Exchange) translated to '1st shift production' aka nearly everyone in the company. I missed a tele-conference this morning regarding something I was involved in. His reply "No problem ... a few questions... blah blah... Hope México is treating you well..." My reply to pretty much the whole company started with "México is treating me great! I'm sitting on the beach on 5 beers and working on margarita numero dos,so take that into account on my answers..." Got about 15 random replies. Legacy.
Had dinner at the hotel and posting this from the bar on the beach again. Hope to rinse off and hit the clubs with sis in about an hour. Apparently nothing really happens 'till 11pm here!
¡Hasta amigos!
Day 2.5
Falling behind here.
Met up with ma and sis around 2pm and grabbed a couple of drinks on the beach. Went back to the room to shower, but of course the water and power was off.
Rule: When you go to México, always expect the water and/or power to go out for a while. Yes, every time.
Anyways, by the time Paige was finished washing off in the pool, the power was back on. Bonus shower.
Got Méxican for dinner in the hotel zone, 10 minute walk. Food was great, as well as the waiter. Balancing margaritas stacked on his head. Very cool! One of the places sis and I went in May. Still excellent food and service.
Grabbed some drink(s) at the bar on the beach before going off to bed. Walked around with the madré and I'm pretty sure we saw Madonna's place and her yacht's parked here.
I'll fill-in on day 3 soon!
Met up with ma and sis around 2pm and grabbed a couple of drinks on the beach. Went back to the room to shower, but of course the water and power was off.
Rule: When you go to México, always expect the water and/or power to go out for a while. Yes, every time.
Anyways, by the time Paige was finished washing off in the pool, the power was back on. Bonus shower.
Got Méxican for dinner in the hotel zone, 10 minute walk. Food was great, as well as the waiter. Balancing margaritas stacked on his head. Very cool! One of the places sis and I went in May. Still excellent food and service.
Grabbed some drink(s) at the bar on the beach before going off to bed. Walked around with the madré and I'm pretty sure we saw Madonna's place and her yacht's parked here.
I'll fill-in on day 3 soon!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Day 2
Most of the party animals stumbled in around 4am ish this morning, but they were much less noisy than last night. Took my time getting up and took another worthless shower. Apparently they lost Danny last night, and never showed up in the morning. Apparently I heard that a few of them were whooping it up with pitcher of beer in one hand and a bottle of cheap vodka in the other. Gotta love all you can drink! Apparently one of the suveniers you can get is a bottle of Corona with your group's picture printed on it. Cute. From what it sounds like it's a little busier here than when my sister and I came down during the swine-flu scare in May. Perhaps there will be people in the clubs this time.
Had breakfast with the cute Canadian and her mother at the hostel, she asked about different places to go and helped her out the best I could. Breakfast was fresh mango and cantaloupe w/ yoghurt sprinkled with granola and scrambled eggs w/ veggies and sausage (sliced hot dog).
Went to the Banamex bank to try and exchange money for the best rate around (13.25), but apparently they don't want American's money anymore. Settled for 13.00 and went shopping in the market for contact solution and Clite (Crystal Light) powder mix.
Picked up the public bus out to the hotel zone which was fun. I've only been on a public bus a couple of times, but I think I'm beginning to figure it out. I'll leave out the humiliating part where I missed the last step getting off and nearly splattered on the road... oh wait... darn.
Got to Ambiance Villas about 3 hours before check-in, and am thankful that their free WiFi reaches the bar on the beach with a great signal strength.
Fidal remembers me from May, and asks where my sister is. He remembers her name. Nice.
Still waiting for ma and sis..
Had breakfast with the cute Canadian and her mother at the hostel, she asked about different places to go and helped her out the best I could. Breakfast was fresh mango and cantaloupe w/ yoghurt sprinkled with granola and scrambled eggs w/ veggies and sausage (sliced hot dog).
Went to the Banamex bank to try and exchange money for the best rate around (13.25), but apparently they don't want American's money anymore. Settled for 13.00 and went shopping in the market for contact solution and Clite (Crystal Light) powder mix.
Picked up the public bus out to the hotel zone which was fun. I've only been on a public bus a couple of times, but I think I'm beginning to figure it out. I'll leave out the humiliating part where I missed the last step getting off and nearly splattered on the road... oh wait... darn.
Got to Ambiance Villas about 3 hours before check-in, and am thankful that their free WiFi reaches the bar on the beach with a great signal strength.
Fidal remembers me from May, and asks where my sister is. He remembers her name. Nice.
Still waiting for ma and sis..
Day 1.9
Ok, so to finish off last night quickly, met a cute Canadian and her mother travelling México for a week or so. The other's tried to coherse them to party tonight, I offered help around México.
Danny, the miserable American, birthday is today. Our host bought him a small cake and a bunch of balloons were setup on the roof. I'm pretty sure most blew off before he got there, but it was sweet none the less. If anyone tells you it's "tradition" to "bite the cake" then...... nah, just do it. :)
I decided I had to eat the dirty food from the little food court at the park near the Hostel. Found a Yucatecan place with some sorta fried tortilla things that were REALLY good called 'panuchos'. I could eat here every day..
The rest of the boys and one other 'ozzy' girl were sucked into one of the clubs one of the hosts helps promote to score some girls or something. It was $30 USD down from $45, all you can drink, but I´m pretty sure he's still getting a kickback from that. Everyone chipped in $5 to get Danny in for his birthday. I declined to go seeing as I didn't want to drink cheap beer and booze until 4:30am, but I chipped in for Danny anyways.
Spent the rest of the night talking with a different host who was responsible for watching the door overnight. Apparently his day job is a cook at that Labna restaurant I mentioned in the first post. Apparently they have that goofy honey flower liquor, but they also mix it with stuff into different drinks, one pronounced 'esh-tai-bay' which has some ledgend around it where some lady kills you. Sounds tasty. They also apparently have a great all-u-can-eat Yucatecan buffet for $10, but I think I'll pass if I'm going to be in Mérida, the capital of the state of Yucatan, Sunday through Tuesday.
Danny, the miserable American, birthday is today. Our host bought him a small cake and a bunch of balloons were setup on the roof. I'm pretty sure most blew off before he got there, but it was sweet none the less. If anyone tells you it's "tradition" to "bite the cake" then...... nah, just do it. :)
I decided I had to eat the dirty food from the little food court at the park near the Hostel. Found a Yucatecan place with some sorta fried tortilla things that were REALLY good called 'panuchos'. I could eat here every day..
The rest of the boys and one other 'ozzy' girl were sucked into one of the clubs one of the hosts helps promote to score some girls or something. It was $30 USD down from $45, all you can drink, but I´m pretty sure he's still getting a kickback from that. Everyone chipped in $5 to get Danny in for his birthday. I declined to go seeing as I didn't want to drink cheap beer and booze until 4:30am, but I chipped in for Danny anyways.
Spent the rest of the night talking with a different host who was responsible for watching the door overnight. Apparently his day job is a cook at that Labna restaurant I mentioned in the first post. Apparently they have that goofy honey flower liquor, but they also mix it with stuff into different drinks, one pronounced 'esh-tai-bay' which has some ledgend around it where some lady kills you. Sounds tasty. They also apparently have a great all-u-can-eat Yucatecan buffet for $10, but I think I'll pass if I'm going to be in Mérida, the capital of the state of Yucatan, Sunday through Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Day 1.8
Well, never managed that sun on the roof. I was screwing around with Picasa and sync'ing and uploading pictures, but that's ok. I probably didn't need it after the walk I had earlier.
Grabbed some tacos for afternoon snack at a local place. It's next to the first joint I found and something told me I had to go back. A stack of pork and onions on a vertical skewer rotated in front of a charcoal oven. It looked and smelled magical. They basically shave some off after it's done cooking, similar to gyros and call it 'tacos pastor'. Only I can't post the picture now since I took it on the on-board memory of the camera 'cause I left the flash card in the netbook. Sorry, Jess, you'ld love this one. Biggest downside of this place was they insisted in explaining everything to me in their broken english including tossing the english menu at me. I honestly have more trouble ordering off of an english menu here since I know what I like, and I know what it's called in spanish. It's like trying to order "tacitos" or "flautas" off of a Taco Bell menu. Everyone else started in spanish, and I recall telling a different waiter, "umm Español. ¿Nosotros estamos en México, no?" (Spanish. We're in México, right?)
Went back to grab a shower again. Threw on some new clothes thinking it´s going to be cooler now since the sun is going down. Yea, not really.
I found some live music in the park near the hostel, and found an empty bench to listen. 13 guys on the stage jamming. It's nice to hear something other than American music, which they typically play in most of the restaurants. I guess they want us to feel at home or something.
Four school girls and a guy in their uniforms wandered over, and one sat next to me. I couldn´t understand their conversation over the spanish giggles but I basically got the idea they were mocking me. I just smiled and ignored them. They left as I was trying to remember the spanish word for 'fun' to ask them if they were having fun at/with me. Never got it, but now I know it's 'diversión.' I was a little annoyed for a bit, but the music was nice.
Approximately 5 minutes later, the same group re-approached me and I smiled as if "here we go again" however, this time the girl who previously sat next to me was thrown in front by her friends and she asked me something. Pretty much all I got was 'cigarro' so I promptly offered and lit her and her friend a couple of smokes. I broke out my best (lousy) spanish and we conversed briefly about the music, where I was from, why I was here alone and her 'loco' friends who pushed her into asking me in the first place. This amused me greatly.
I wandered around and found a stand selling a 'salsas en mocajete' cooking magazine which I had to buy for $25 pesos. Like I cook.
There's plenty more dribble about tonight, and hopefully I can remember it, but I need to hit the sack. Tomorrow will be interesting.
Grabbed some tacos for afternoon snack at a local place. It's next to the first joint I found and something told me I had to go back. A stack of pork and onions on a vertical skewer rotated in front of a charcoal oven. It looked and smelled magical. They basically shave some off after it's done cooking, similar to gyros and call it 'tacos pastor'. Only I can't post the picture now since I took it on the on-board memory of the camera 'cause I left the flash card in the netbook. Sorry, Jess, you'ld love this one. Biggest downside of this place was they insisted in explaining everything to me in their broken english including tossing the english menu at me. I honestly have more trouble ordering off of an english menu here since I know what I like, and I know what it's called in spanish. It's like trying to order "tacitos" or "flautas" off of a Taco Bell menu. Everyone else started in spanish, and I recall telling a different waiter, "umm Español. ¿Nosotros estamos en México, no?" (Spanish. We're in México, right?)
Went back to grab a shower again. Threw on some new clothes thinking it´s going to be cooler now since the sun is going down. Yea, not really.
I found some live music in the park near the hostel, and found an empty bench to listen. 13 guys on the stage jamming. It's nice to hear something other than American music, which they typically play in most of the restaurants. I guess they want us to feel at home or something.
Four school girls and a guy in their uniforms wandered over, and one sat next to me. I couldn´t understand their conversation over the spanish giggles but I basically got the idea they were mocking me. I just smiled and ignored them. They left as I was trying to remember the spanish word for 'fun' to ask them if they were having fun at/with me. Never got it, but now I know it's 'diversión.' I was a little annoyed for a bit, but the music was nice.
Approximately 5 minutes later, the same group re-approached me and I smiled as if "here we go again" however, this time the girl who previously sat next to me was thrown in front by her friends and she asked me something. Pretty much all I got was 'cigarro' so I promptly offered and lit her and her friend a couple of smokes. I broke out my best (lousy) spanish and we conversed briefly about the music, where I was from, why I was here alone and her 'loco' friends who pushed her into asking me in the first place. This amused me greatly.
I wandered around and found a stand selling a 'salsas en mocajete' cooking magazine which I had to buy for $25 pesos. Like I cook.
There's plenty more dribble about tonight, and hopefully I can remember it, but I need to hit the sack. Tomorrow will be interesting.
Day 1
I know I'm not THAT young any more, but apparently the party on the Hotel strip doesn't get done until about 5am. That's when a few of the others came stumbling in. Didn't bother me too much as I was up and ready to go 4am. Managed to sleep in until 7:30. One of our hosts brought us a simple breakfast around 9. It's included with the price of the bed. Musk melon with yogurt, a piece of toast and some scrambled eggs, Mexican style. Couldn't complain!
I'm beginning to realize that showering here is a lost cause. Pretty much as soon as you're out, your sweating again. Ah well. Dropped yesterdays two sets of clothes off at the front desk for laundry. $17 MXN / kilo. Figured it might need them this weekend and it would cost quite a bit more in the hotel zone.
Left around 10:30am to go find this ecological park which is on the map. Probably should have taken a taxi, but decided to walk. Gave me an oppertunity to work off the food and beers from last night. Wound up being about 45 minutes to get down there.
The park was quite nice, but pretty much struck out on exotic wildlife. The route through the park is about another 1.5km, but there was thankfully quite a bit of shade on the walkway along with a gently breeze. None the less, half way through there were no longer sweat 'spots' on my shirt, it was now completely uniform.
They had a little water pond area where I could view little turtles bathing and swimming around. There were also some interesting & noisy birds. Also, I didn't know they made black and white ducks!
There appeared to be a cage of some sort for some kinda monkey thing, but they must have been on vacation.
After leaving the park at an alternative entrance which wasn't on the map, again I made the mistake of not hailing a cab. By this time my palms are constantly wet and my fingers swollen from the heat. It's half-past high noon now. Another 50 minutes and 1.5L of water later, back at Parque de la Palapas near the Hostel where I know there's food.
Do-It-Yourself alternative to razor wire:
A Coca Light and 5 tacos later, I'm feeling like mil pesos! (Thats $76 USD at current exchange rates)
Back in a shady corner of the courtyard at the hostel, I'm watching the tiny lizards run around me while finishing the entry.
I believe it's time for a cervesa and some sun on the roof. I spent a lot of time this summer working up a base tan, but I have a long ways to go before I reach Mexican!
All of the photos will are being uploaded to my Picasa album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/tt53149/Mexico?feat=directlink
I'm beginning to realize that showering here is a lost cause. Pretty much as soon as you're out, your sweating again. Ah well. Dropped yesterdays two sets of clothes off at the front desk for laundry. $17 MXN / kilo. Figured it might need them this weekend and it would cost quite a bit more in the hotel zone.
Left around 10:30am to go find this ecological park which is on the map. Probably should have taken a taxi, but decided to walk. Gave me an oppertunity to work off the food and beers from last night. Wound up being about 45 minutes to get down there.
The park was quite nice, but pretty much struck out on exotic wildlife. The route through the park is about another 1.5km, but there was thankfully quite a bit of shade on the walkway along with a gently breeze. None the less, half way through there were no longer sweat 'spots' on my shirt, it was now completely uniform.
They had a little water pond area where I could view little turtles bathing and swimming around. There were also some interesting & noisy birds. Also, I didn't know they made black and white ducks!
 |
| From México |
There appeared to be a cage of some sort for some kinda monkey thing, but they must have been on vacation.
After leaving the park at an alternative entrance which wasn't on the map, again I made the mistake of not hailing a cab. By this time my palms are constantly wet and my fingers swollen from the heat. It's half-past high noon now. Another 50 minutes and 1.5L of water later, back at Parque de la Palapas near the Hostel where I know there's food.
Do-It-Yourself alternative to razor wire:
 |
| From México |
A Coca Light and 5 tacos later, I'm feeling like mil pesos! (Thats $76 USD at current exchange rates)
 |
| From México |
Back in a shady corner of the courtyard at the hostel, I'm watching the tiny lizards run around me while finishing the entry.
I believe it's time for a cervesa and some sun on the roof. I spent a lot of time this summer working up a base tan, but I have a long ways to go before I reach Mexican!
All of the photos will are being uploaded to my Picasa album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/tt53149/Mexico?feat=directlink
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Day 0.8
It was time again for the best part of México, la comidas!!! Walked around for about and hour checking out all the little restaurants around el parque de las palapas which is a large park a block away from the hostel. The park was all lit up tonight with all kinds of kids running around in little battery operated cars and trucks.
Settled on a place where I got the "plato mixtos", and again, cervesa is dos para $25. My beer is now less than a US dollar. The place was empty, but the waiter was there literally every two minutes to ensure my glass was full and the ash tray was clean. The food was, of course, amazing. Dinner and drinks ended up at $135 MXN plus tip. Not the cheapest but couldn't complain for the amount.
Walked around a little after dinner to check out the nightlife. Not much going on tonight. Vegged out and tried a Michaldo and a Chelado. The first being a beer with some fancy "salsa" which is similar to worchester sauce, the Cheldo is lime juice you mix with your beer. Both tasty!
Back at the home pad talking with the operators of the joint, both very friendly.
I realized tonight that I would have no problem exploring more and more of Cancún city. For the prices I could see this being a place I could frequent for a weekend.
Looking forward to checking out one of Cancúns ecological parks tomorrow morning. Not sure what Tejones are but I'm supposed to be able to see them there!!
Buenos noches, amigos!
Settled on a place where I got the "plato mixtos", and again, cervesa is dos para $25. My beer is now less than a US dollar. The place was empty, but the waiter was there literally every two minutes to ensure my glass was full and the ash tray was clean. The food was, of course, amazing. Dinner and drinks ended up at $135 MXN plus tip. Not the cheapest but couldn't complain for the amount.
Walked around a little after dinner to check out the nightlife. Not much going on tonight. Vegged out and tried a Michaldo and a Chelado. The first being a beer with some fancy "salsa" which is similar to worchester sauce, the Cheldo is lime juice you mix with your beer. Both tasty!
Back at the home pad talking with the operators of the joint, both very friendly.
I realized tonight that I would have no problem exploring more and more of Cancún city. For the prices I could see this being a place I could frequent for a weekend.
Looking forward to checking out one of Cancúns ecological parks tomorrow morning. Not sure what Tejones are but I'm supposed to be able to see them there!!
Buenos noches, amigos!
Day 0.5
Ok, so the flight from Atlanta to Cancún was fun. Didn't have time for that smoke since I was practically the last off of the plane, and we were already 20min late. Consequently, I was the last boarding the plane. Another fine Boeing 737.
The flight down was great. Once again I had one of the last empty seats next to me, but this time, the guy on the isle asked if his wife-to-be could sit in the empty middle seat. Of course I obliged. This couple was the cutest little thing on their way to Cancún for a destination wedding. The husband-to-be Chirha and I stuck up conversation pretty much the entire flight. His parents, sitting in first class, supplied the three of us with ample 'complementary' vodka. I am now invited to a Indian wedding on Saturday at 3pm, a couple of miles down the strip from the place I'll be.
After deplaning with three different forms in hand, immigrations and customs went extremely smoothly. No search and confiscate this time. Finding the public (cheap) transportation at the airport is not exactly obvious. There are all kinds of signs for vans, taxis, and buses. Everyone asked me if I needed transportation, and I asked for the public bus. They all pointed at the shuttles and said $15 USD or $150 MXN. Finally, a nice taxi driver pointed to the very end of the terminal when I politely refused his taxi service and asked about the public bus. Here, the cost to reach Cancún centro is $40 MXN. This equated to $3.30 USD based on the lousy exchange rate I got from the bank in the aeropuerto (airport). My $40 pesos purchased me a ride on a lavish, first class air conditioned bus designed to take me much further than the 25 minute journey to downtown Cancún.
It had occurred to me that I really didn't have a good idea as to how to get to my first destination after being dropped off at the central bus station. I had a clue based on some Google maps, but I never printed them out, and the maps I had with me lacked in detail. The street I was looking for? Not on my maps. I asked a few illiterate locals outside of the station as to where I am and where my lodging is, which got me pointed in the right direction, but I still had no idea where I was going for sure. Also of a benefit, most streets do not have signs unless they are fairly big. After walking up and down blocks for about 45 minutes with my luggage and backpack in a foreign country, it started raining. Ok, it was starting to pour. I found shelter with another local and asked how far away I was from this place. Eventually after asking about 3 others, he figured it was about 2 blocks away. $2 tip for this guy.
I'm starting out at Hostel Quetzal which came fairly highly rated on TripAdvisor. Edward the host was very polite and speaks perfect English. After paying the $260 MXN for the 2 night stay, he showed me around the facility. Approximately 13 beds in a dorm, 3 shower stalls, bathroom, kitchen, livingroom, dining room and a nice little garden out back.
The narrow spiral stairs leading up to the sleeping quarters may prove difficult to navigate after a few drinks.
At this point I'm rather thirsty and hungry. After locking up my stuff in their nice sized lockers, I ventured out around the block to find sustenance. Pescadito caught my attention, with cameron o pescado (shrimp or fish) ceviche for $70 MXN. Probably the most expensive thing on the menu, but the medium size dish was quite worth it. De-veined shrimp, avocado, tomato, onion and cilantro all tossed in lime juice. Quite refreshing.
This place also had Montejo, a local Yucatecan beer which is quite tasty in my opinion. Interestingly enough, a bottle of cervesa is only $4 MXN ($0.33 USD) more than the refrescos (soft drinks). Have I mentioned that I love México?
After lunch, a quick trip to the mercado netted me a pack of smokes and a 6-pack of beer for $81 pesos ($6.70 USD)
Across the street from the hostel is a small park. Someone commissioned some interesting, yet nice artwork with old satellite dishes.
Currently I'm sitting on the roof of the hostel with my beer, stealing WiFi from someone to write this. More pictures later when I can find a better signal.
The flight down was great. Once again I had one of the last empty seats next to me, but this time, the guy on the isle asked if his wife-to-be could sit in the empty middle seat. Of course I obliged. This couple was the cutest little thing on their way to Cancún for a destination wedding. The husband-to-be Chirha and I stuck up conversation pretty much the entire flight. His parents, sitting in first class, supplied the three of us with ample 'complementary' vodka. I am now invited to a Indian wedding on Saturday at 3pm, a couple of miles down the strip from the place I'll be.
After deplaning with three different forms in hand, immigrations and customs went extremely smoothly. No search and confiscate this time. Finding the public (cheap) transportation at the airport is not exactly obvious. There are all kinds of signs for vans, taxis, and buses. Everyone asked me if I needed transportation, and I asked for the public bus. They all pointed at the shuttles and said $15 USD or $150 MXN. Finally, a nice taxi driver pointed to the very end of the terminal when I politely refused his taxi service and asked about the public bus. Here, the cost to reach Cancún centro is $40 MXN. This equated to $3.30 USD based on the lousy exchange rate I got from the bank in the aeropuerto (airport). My $40 pesos purchased me a ride on a lavish, first class air conditioned bus designed to take me much further than the 25 minute journey to downtown Cancún.
It had occurred to me that I really didn't have a good idea as to how to get to my first destination after being dropped off at the central bus station. I had a clue based on some Google maps, but I never printed them out, and the maps I had with me lacked in detail. The street I was looking for? Not on my maps. I asked a few illiterate locals outside of the station as to where I am and where my lodging is, which got me pointed in the right direction, but I still had no idea where I was going for sure. Also of a benefit, most streets do not have signs unless they are fairly big. After walking up and down blocks for about 45 minutes with my luggage and backpack in a foreign country, it started raining. Ok, it was starting to pour. I found shelter with another local and asked how far away I was from this place. Eventually after asking about 3 others, he figured it was about 2 blocks away. $2 tip for this guy.
I'm starting out at Hostel Quetzal which came fairly highly rated on TripAdvisor. Edward the host was very polite and speaks perfect English. After paying the $260 MXN for the 2 night stay, he showed me around the facility. Approximately 13 beds in a dorm, 3 shower stalls, bathroom, kitchen, livingroom, dining room and a nice little garden out back.
The narrow spiral stairs leading up to the sleeping quarters may prove difficult to navigate after a few drinks.
At this point I'm rather thirsty and hungry. After locking up my stuff in their nice sized lockers, I ventured out around the block to find sustenance. Pescadito caught my attention, with cameron o pescado (shrimp or fish) ceviche for $70 MXN. Probably the most expensive thing on the menu, but the medium size dish was quite worth it. De-veined shrimp, avocado, tomato, onion and cilantro all tossed in lime juice. Quite refreshing.
This place also had Montejo, a local Yucatecan beer which is quite tasty in my opinion. Interestingly enough, a bottle of cervesa is only $4 MXN ($0.33 USD) more than the refrescos (soft drinks). Have I mentioned that I love México?
After lunch, a quick trip to the mercado netted me a pack of smokes and a 6-pack of beer for $81 pesos ($6.70 USD)
Across the street from the hostel is a small park. Someone commissioned some interesting, yet nice artwork with old satellite dishes.
Currently I'm sitting on the roof of the hostel with my beer, stealing WiFi from someone to write this. More pictures later when I can find a better signal.
Day 0
Since we always count from 0.
This morning was a little rough, but I woke on my own 5 minues before my the alarms were set to go off. Jess was nice enough to wake up and drive me to the airport. Totally not awake. After receiving my boarding pass, actually ran into Christine from work. Turns out her, Steve from work all happen to be on the same flight. They were off to Texas for work. haha!
Had a smoke at my favourite smoking spot. It's the little Koi pond at the airport. It's the last cigarette before I leave Wisconsin.
I've decided I cannot have kids, although, the ones behind me during the journey to Atlanta were only mildly annoying. The plane was delayed for around 30 minutes in Milwaukee due to weather in Georgia. Hope I still have time for a smoke before the next flight.
The AirTran 'go' magazine has something about this goofy Myan drink. Called xtabentun. Described as : “Yucatecen drink made from anise seed and fermented honey from the nectar of the xtabenyún flower.” On the rocks or in Myan coffee. Sounds magical. http://www.labna.com
I have to say this eee pc is amazing. The guy next to me has his full-size dell propped on his belly. Kinda funny,reminds me of the AT&T commercial a little.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)