Day 4 Continued....

I love everything about Mexico, the people, the food, the climate but what I love most about Mexico is its explosion of color. Everything is just bursting with vibrant and rich colors. Mexicans love color and I love Mexicans for loving color. How can you not fall in love with a culture that paints their houses hot pink, magenta, turquoise, lime green or all of them combined.

It was an idyllic day yesterday. The sun was shining and the water was crystal clear; just heaven. We have been doing a lot of walking and exploring. Our calves are killing us! We are at the very south end of the island and it is pretty hilly so we are definitely getting a work-out.

We ventured into town yesterday morning and had breakfast on the pier at Bally Hoo’s. Breakfast was delicious and the view made it that much better. After checking out our map we decided to scope out some future restaurants and while we wandered around town I snapped pictures of all the pretty colored houses and shops.

We are becoming more mindful of our budget and yesterday we just made tuna wraps for dinner and hung out at our hotel. We spent a bit of time down by the pool and I really loved it down there. There are two rooms that open up right onto the pool which overlooks the ocean. You feel like you have your own private villa down there. We need to move rooms on Tuesday so we are going to see if we can get moved down there. And now onto the pictures. I am only posting a few pictures at a time as it is a slow and painful process because the internet connection is so slow.  I hope you enjoy Isla Mujeres In Technicolor.

From the Hammock Day 4

Yesterday we decided to walk along the coastal road to the supermarket. It is amazing how different the sea can be from one side of the island to the other.  Where our sidewas calm and tranquil with lovely shades of blues and greens, the other side was dark, wild and untamed, waves crashing fiercely along the rugged coastline, equally as beautiful.

About three quarters of the way into our walk I decided I had to go to the bathroom. A few minutes later it became a matter of urgency. No worries, right? There was bound to be a little restaurant or something along the way where I could stop….not. By the time we got into town I was in tears. Poor Mr. Granny Pants was running around asking people over and over again…”banio? Donde Este banio?”

We were met with blank stares and hand gestures pointing in various different directions; directions that led everywhere but to a banio. We kept wandering and did find ourselves in some interesting places, including a local market. Normally I love these happen-upon moments but at this point I was in way too much pain to appreciate it.  Mr. Granny Pants was starting to really feeling helpless and decided our best bet was just to go to the supermarket. They were sure to have a banio. We headed over there and found a store clerk and asked, “Donde este banio?” He looked at us blankly and said “banio?”

He then went to another man and said a bunch of things which included the word “banio”. This man was obviously in a position of authority so he contemplated the question for a moment and then rattled off some instructions. The young clerk took off towards the back of the store and I obligingly followed, happy that relief was soon at hand. He headed up some concrete stairs at the back of the store and as I went to follow him I was stopped by a security guard.  I backed down from the stairs and tried to explain that I was going to the banio but he just looked at me blankly. My new best friend, the store clerk had disappeared upstairs so all I could do was stand there and wait.
 At this point all the store employees were staring at me, probably wondering who this crazy gringo lady was and why was she trying to seek entry into the secret upstairs sanctuary of their store.  Finally my clerk friend came back down, exchanged a few words with the security guard and I was given clearance to enter the sanctuary. I must of taken those concrete stairs two at a time and finally….relief.  I didn’t care that the washroom was a holy mess. I didn’t care that it smelled like a sewer.  I was just so happy to be there. When I was finally done I went to flush the toilet and…nothing happened. I lifted the lid and the tank that holds the water was empty. My humiliation was about to get a whole lot worse. I left the bathroom and saw a sink with a bucket and figured out that this must be for flushing purposes. As I went to reach for the bucket my little clerk friend emerged from the shadows and gestured that he will take care of it…yup…my humiliation just became a whole lot worse.  When I came downstairs there was Mr. Granny Pants waiting for me.  He told me that I had caused quite a stir and as I looked around I could see the quizzical expressions on the employees’ faces. I think I brought a little excitement to an otherwise ordinary day.

Now onto the pictures and no, there will be no pictures of banios .

This place was massive

Another huge place

Nice colors

A community amid the opulance

The famous sea shell house

From the Hammock - Day 3 on Isla

Good morning campers! It's an overcast and windy day on Isla today. We have been living a bit of the high life since we've been here but it's now time to tighten the purse strings a bit and get some groceries in so we are going to venture out to the supermarket. I love visiting supermarkets in different countries. It can be a real adventure. La Joya has a really nice kitchen. I think Mr. Granny Pants will enjoy cooking for me there.










Yesterday we headed out down the road to have dinner at a restaurant we had passed the night before. It was closed so we kept on walking.Now keep in mind that when Mr. Granny Pants is hungry he gets extremely cranky so the walking included a lot of grumbling. Finally we came to a small, worn sign - Maria's Tik Nik, with an arrow pointing down a dark gravel road. "Let's go," I said to Mr. Granny Pants. "I'm not going down there," he told me.  With soothing words, I encouraged him to embrace his inner adventurer, telling him "you never know, there could be a real treasure down there." Oh what a treasure it was! We followed a long path into an open-air restaurant. We were the only ones there. A waiter appeared out of nowhere and seated us in front of the infinity pool which was in front of the ocean. The twinking lights of Cancun before us and the sounds of soft jazz surrounding us, Mr. Granny Pants found his Nirvana and when Mr. Granny Pants is happy I am happy. I didn't have my camera with me so you will just have to take my word for it - this place was stunning. They also have a small beach club there and the waiter assured Mr. Granny Pants that jazz music plays during the day as well. Mr. Granny Pants loves jazz.

 Now I am going to leave you with a few more pictures from yesterday. These were taken around town and by the docks where the fishermen come with their daily catch to clean it.

From the Hammock Day 1 and 2

Hola! Let's go for a walk. As we head out onto road we are going to take a left. Our destination is Playa Luncharo, a beach restaurant for dinner and these are just a few shots along the way.

 

We finally reached our restaurant and this was our view.

Had a bite to eat and it was off to bed. It was a long travel day.

The next morning we were served breakfast on our balcony

We then headed down to the pier and watched the fishermen clean and deal with their daily catch.

Bronze Goddess?

We are now happily nestled in our Hotel in Isla Mujeres. The weather couldn’t be more perfect and there was a full moon last night. Yesterday was a travel day so I will not bore you with airport pictures and stories .There is nothing really to tell. I do, however, have a little tale about my tanning experience so read on. . I will be back later with pictures and stories of our first full day in Isla.

 After hearing and reading about how bad tanning beds were for you I decided to give spray tanning a try. I had asked a friend, who I knew had done it, how she found the experience. "I didn't like it," she told me. I asked her why? She couldn't remember. This should refresh her memory.

How it went in my head and how it actually unfolded were two vastly different experiences.

In My Head:

I would slip into the booth and allow the gentle mist to spray over me and I would emerge a bronze goddess, somewhere between Jennifer Lopez and Shakira.

The Reality:

It all began with a 10 minute instruction by Miss Cute-and-Perky, who was probably thinking to herself  "what is this old girl doing here and who does she think she's  kidding." The instruction went something like this - first get naked, next - put on shower cap, next - spread blue stuff all over your body, next -  sit on chair and put barrier cream on heels and soles of your feet, palms of your hands and all your nails. Make sure barrier cream is good and thick. Next press 30 second button and enter booth. Position yourself like a sumai wrestler ready to pounce, press button and get sprayed. When done emerge from booth, wipe barrier cream off hands and use special fuzzy gloves to wipe off tanning spray. Wiping must be done in a  circular motion so as not to streak. You  must be fast so it doesn't dry before you are done wiping. Sounds simple enough, right?

 I already knew this was way too much work and that this would be the first and last time I do this but what the hell, I already paid for it. Before leaving, Miss Cute-and-Perky asked me if everything was clear. Was it my imagination or was she speaking extra slowly?  I told her I was fine and off she sashayed,  leaving me to my own devices.

First I got naked and then sat down in the chair. Oh goodie! The chair was positioned directly in front of a full length mirror. Ugghh. Next I started applying the barrier cream and put it on the soles of my feet nice and thick just like I had been told to do. Crap. I forgot to put the shower cap on and there it is...across the room...on a little table. I sat there for a minute wondering how the hell I was going to get across the room with the barrier cream already on my feet. Ah no worries, there is a dispenser by the shower cap that says barrier cream. Naked fluffy lady in the mirror grinned back at me. I gingerly made my way across the room  and finally was able to place the shower cap  jauntilly on my head.  I then proceed to try and fill the thimble -sized container with more barrier cream. Crap. The dispenser doesn't work. Carefully, I hobbled back over to my chair, trying to salvage what little barrier cream was left on my feet.  And there she was again - naked fluffy lady, now with a spiffy shower cap on her head.  Uggghh.   At this point I just want to get this whole thing over with,  so I empty the thimble-sized container of its barrier cream, spread it where it needs to be spread, press the 30 second button, hop in the booth, position myself in my best sumai wrestler position and pressed the button. Crap. I forgot to close my eyes. Three seconds later and 10 seconds with the fan on and I am done. Out I step and park in front of the mirror and what I see scares the bejeezus out of me! Brown stuff is dripping off of me like rivers of mud. I panic and grab the fuzzy gloves and start madly wiping the stuff off of me. Crap! I forgot to wipe the barrier cream off my hands. Once that's done I frantically start wiping but I can already see streaks of brown drying on my legs. Panic has now set in and I am wiping and rubbing as though my life depended on it. At one point I realized I was completely dry so whatever was there I was stuck with. As I go to put the fuzzy glove down I see my little thimble-sized container of blue stuff, the stuff that is apparently really important for moisterizing your skin and helping the spray tan set nice and even. Crap. I forgot to put on the really important blue stuff. I have now had enough and just want to get the hell out of there. But I can't just leave the blue stuff sitting there untouched. Miss Cute-and- Perky will know I screwed up. I grab some paper towels and wipe the blue stuff out of the thimble-sized container and toss the paper towels. There...the evidence that I am a total spray tanning moron is gone. Now to get out of the salon quickly. Just as I am about to make my escape Miss Cute-and-Perky calls out to me and asks me how it went. I mutter something and she leaves me with some parting advice.

"Whatever you do, don't go swimming in a pool with chlorine or your tan will be immediately gone."

Right then and there I could have jumped over the counter and planted a kiss right on Miss Cute-and-Perky's  pouty little pink glossed lips. Next stop....hotel's, hopefully well chlorinated,  pool!

Dongles and Doohickies

I am now in last minute kerfuffle mode. It didn’t help that when I got home yesterday my neatly packed suitcase was all unraveled. Seems Mr. Granny Pants was in desperate need of Gravol due to self inflicted over indulgence from the night before. So now not only do I need to reorganize my carefully packed suitcase, I now need to shop for Gravol.

Getting ready to go on a trip never used to be this complicated.  Pack your suitcase, make sure you have your travel books and off you go. Not so anymore. I have spent the last three days just getting all my electronics sorted out.  Right now my home PC looks like some kind of science fiction project with all the gadgets extending out of it. There is the digital camera being charged, the ipod being synced, the external hard drive being loaded with stuff and the Netbook and e-reader being charged and updated. In order for all your electronics to work you have to remember the dongles and the thingamabobs that hook into the whatchamacallits.  And whatever you do, don’t forget your Doohickey or else you may as well just leave everything at home.

 You also need to make sure you have all your apps. I remember when all you needed to get by was your little pocketbook translator. Not so anymore. Now you need your apps. You have apps to translate, apps to convert currency, apps to track your flights, apps to tell you what attractions are nearby, etc. etc. etc.  Need to know when it’s time to go to the bathroom? There’s an app for that.

My next few blog entries will be brought to you “From the Hammock” so check back often. Adios!

The Art of UN-Packing

You would think that after 30 some odd trips I would have packing down to a fine art. As soon as we book a trip I vow to myself that I will take only the bare essentials. About two to three weeks before the trip the suitcase comes upstairs and stays open on a table in the back room. First to go in is the snorkel equipment. After that it’s a free-for-all and all hell breaks loose. The minute I think of something that I may need, into the suitcase it goes. You see, I am a very low maintenance traveler. I don’t need a ton of shoes or products for my hair and body. I am basically a capris and t-shirt type and my idea of dressing up for dinner is throwing on a dressy top with the capris. I own, minimum, four pairs of black capris and they all come with me. I also never wear everything I pack on holidays but heaven forbid I get the urge to wear something and I don’t have it with me. Never mind that it is something I dragged out of the back of my closet.

Anybody that knows me knows I don’t do pretty colors. At least fifty percent of my wardrobe is black with the remaining fifty percent devoted to earth tones. Yet come holiday time something overcomes me and the urge to wear orange, hot pink and turquoise overwhelms me. I walk into a store, and like a moth to a flame, I am drawn to all the pretty colors. These are the clothes that end up relegated to the back of the closet and are pulled out and tossed into the suitcase for each upcoming trip. These are also the same clothes that never get worn on said trip.

So this time I have two choices – just pack those clothes that I know I will definitely wear or embrace my inner tacky tourist.