Week 2: Patrick: The Cocina

Week one is nearly complete and I'm starting to get relaxed.  The kids have been loving the buffets in the hotel but they haven't had to branch out much yet.  Some of my new favorite foods include fajitas (just never tried them back home) and chilaquiles rojo for breakfast.  Mmmmmm...  I'm not minding the cebollas so much (but promise me you won't tell anybody.)

The beachfront outside our hotel is great.  The water is such a beautiful carribean blue when the sun is bright.  Since it's winter here, we walk around in shorts and Ts but the wind can be a little brisk and the unheated pools are unpopulated.  There is a big warmer pool though that we've spent a lot of time in.

The kids have really taken to the on-site kids club which has allowed Liz and I to have some time to ourselves.  It's been a total blessing but I realize that we're not going to have anything like it for the rest of the trip.  We took a romantic walk on the beach and ended up spending time combing for trinkets.  We've found some amazingly colorful shells, so very different from the kind I typically find on the Oregon coast.

Next week we titled "The Cocina" because while we're staying in Merida we're going to check out some food related destinations: a chocolate shop, a liquor distillery, look for another Mexican wine to sample and Liz would like to take a class on making some authentic Mexican food.  Merida is to the West of Cancun, is a Spanish colonial style town, but not so close to the water so it will be a different experience.

Pictures: Otis finding joy at the Plaza Isla.  Liz looking radiant at dinner.

Liz: Day 7 & 8: "I'm a meatloaf already cooked!"

Yesterday was more of the same lounging in the beach chairs, playing in the pool, feeding the iguanas; very relaxing and wonderful but nothing new to report.  We tried a Mexican wine that was very good, one of the best red wines I've had in a while. There's something about drinking wine in it's native terroir alongside the foods that naturally accompany it that makes it special. When Patrick and I went to France ten years ago, we tried some reisling in the Alsace, right after a hike through the vineyards and it was so amazing. I could easily identify the diiferent aromas in it, whereas normally it's not that easy for me.  So we're going to try more Mexican wines when we have the chance. 

I'm looking forward to next week because we're going to tour a cacao plantation as well as visit a special chocolate shop in Merida.  A Dutch chocolatier moved to Merida and has combined his craft with the Mayan chocolate traditions and locally grown cacao beans to create a luscious chocolate shop.  Oh yes.  I will post pictures.  We have titled next week "The Cocina" because we're going to have some interesting food opportunities.  Cooking lessons showcasing Yucatecan food, chocolate, as well as a tour of the D'Aristi liquor factory, which produces a Mayan liquor Xtabentun as well as some Carribean style liquors.  One of my goals is to learn how to make my own tortillas.  

Today we successfully navigated ourselves downtown via bus to the ADO bus station to buy tickets for our bus ride to Merida next week.  I am feeling very thankful for the weekly Spanish lessons Patrick's sister Erin and her esposo Ulisses gave us in the months before we left.  They totally helped us today!  I had been worrying about it and it went smoothly.  Sofia got a little hot with all our walking and changing buses and said "I'm so hot. I'm a meatloaf already cooked."  Hilarious. I've made meatloaf about one time in her entire life.  Nothing against meatloaf, I love a good meatloaf.  I had a disastrous first attempt years ago before I knew how to cook and haven't gotten around to trying it lately.

One more thing, today is Epiphany, el dia de los reyes magos.  The day of the three kings.  Our hotel had a special celebration serving the traditional cake and hot chocolate.  I wish I would have thought to take a picture because it was very beautiful with colorful candied fruit and sugar sprinkled over it. It was also gone (in our room) in a very short time.  So, from Mexico, we wish you a happy Epiphany!

Below: Some really good hamburgers and, at long last, root beer. (We haven't found much root beer here.)

Liz: Day 6: "This is the LIVIN!'"

The kids are very happy about vacation right about now.  They love the kids club and have made some friends.  They can choose to go swimming in the pool or play at the beach or go play at kids club.  It's pretty great.  Patrick and I are happy about this also.  We're beginning to realize that we may not actually get off the property.  We might be stuck hanging out by the pool and sunning in the lounge chairs overlooking the ocean for several days.  Catching up on some reading, getting a massage...We think we can manage.

At lunch yesterday a couple women in bikini's passed by our table and Otis looked embarrassed.  So I, winning the lame mom of the year award for an 8 year old boy, asked if he felt uncomfortable, which was even more embarassing. To which Sofia piped up and said, "Not me! This is the LIVIN'!", stretching back in her chair, basking in the glory of it all.  She is adapting quite well to all the attention and service she gets from the hotel staff.  Oh boy.

Liz: Day 5: Bliss

Yesterday was a stressful day. The pressure of having to communicate in a different language and learn a new culture while keeping kids on schedule and nourished in the midst of travel mix-ups takes its toll.  I had a hard time sleeping because I was so wound up and anxious.  Today started off in the same way.  Breakfast seemed to take hours to serve and get the check while the kids grew increasingly restless.  Patrick and I snipped at each other about a small problem that came up while a young couple from Alaska looked on with interest.  As we boarded our taxi, I noticed that the back trunk had not latched shut and watched as our luggage bumped up and down for the entire trip over to our next stay, a resort on the beach.

And then, we stepped out of the cab and saw the view from the hotel entry way. Beauty. And then the bell hop loaded our luggage onto a cart and gave us a tour on the way to our rooms.   We passed an oceanside pool full of happy kids splashing around and Sofia declared it to be wonderful. Both Otis and Sofia exclaimed with delight over our room.   We had a delicious meal on a terrace overlooking the ocean, then went to check out the kids club, which is a secure facility that has indoor and outdoor play equipment with crafts and lots of fun scheduled activities.  The kids decided to stay and play for a while.  It is exactly what we needed.  And then Patrick went out to get some drinks and came back with a beautiful turquoise necklece that he thought would be nice with my dress which completely surprised and delighted me.

I'm thankful for this break, for a chance to really relax and recharge before we venture away from touristy Cancun inland.  I am also thankful that we had the chance to experience life outside the "strip".

Liz: Day Four: Lessons Learned

Today was wonderful, then tough, then tougher, then back to wonderful.  We learned several lessons today.
1.   Tip stands for To Insure Prompt service.   It can make a world of difference in Mexico where many people in the service industry are paid only with tips.  It made a huge difference for us today.  I'm so glad we learned this lesson early into our trip.
2.  It is very cheap and convenient to take the bus in Cancun. At  $8.50 pesos each, it cost just over two dollars to get from our hotel to the beach.
3.  There are several public access entrances to the beach and they are free.  You just have to pay 5 pesos to use the bathroom.
4.  The ocean is warm, warmer than the swimming pools. It feels amazing.
5.  When bargaining, it is important to be able to easily convert dollars to pesos in your head or you could end up paying $25 for a beach towel.
6.  There are some really beautiful beach towels for sale at the flea market in Cancun.
7.  When I'm walking out with Patrick and the kids in Cancun, he gets all the offers for sales and nobody bothers me.  When I walk by myself I get about twenty times more offers with more pressure and more suggestions.
8.  You should always know exactly where you are going on the bus by name so that the bus driver won't think you're on the wrong bus and make you get off so that you have to walk the rest of the way with two tired kids. 
9.  When you find yourself walking unexpectedly through a part of town you are obviously not from, you may recieve helpful tips from expatriates, like "You're visiting aren't you?  Don't walk two blocks in that direction, especially at night."
10.  When you arrive back at your hotel after a challenging day, it is wonderful to receive exceptional service, like drinks brought to the hot tub for you, special food prepared for your kids just because, and your room cleaned with extra special care. 

Liz: Day Three: "I poured my heart and soul into that pool."

Sofia would live in the pool if we let her.  I suspected that would be the case pre-trip and made sure to book as many of our hotels as possible with pools.  So this morning after breakfast and packing, we all headed down to the pool for one more go.  Well, everyone else took a dip and I enjoyed relaxing in the shade checking email and doing some research.  As we were leaving, she exclaimed "I love that pool! I love it more than all the other pools.  I poured my heart and soul into that pool."  So, if you're ever in Cancun and need a great place to stay overnight on your way to or from the airport, checkout the pool at the Courtyard Marriott.  It has Sofia's stamp of approval.  Also, they have a great breakfast buffet with unlimited freshly squeezed orange juice, which has Patrick's stamp of approval and they can recommend some amazingly mouthwatering Gallitos for delivery, which has my stamp of approval. As for Otis, upon arriving at our second hotel he said "They just keep leveling up their hotels here in Mexico. They just keep leveling up!"  That's video game lingo for getting better and better.  He is in hotel heaven, which is funny because our second hotel is much less fancy than the first.

Today we traveled out into a less touristy part of Cancun.  It was a holiday and Sunday, so many of the food places near our second hotel were closed. We decided to walk about 10 blocks to a big shopping center to buy groceries.  This was not one of the tourist focused shopping centers and it was refreshing and a little bit of a culture shock, especially at the grocery store.  We had to use our Spanish although several people approached us and asked if we were Americans and chatted in English a bit.  Hmm, what gave us away?  What surprised me was when I tried to find cheese for snacks, having a loaf of something like Tillamook cheddar in mind.  The cheese section was filled with very soft cheeses wrapped into thin stacks in plastic wrap.  I ended up trying a Gouda wrapped that way that was the texture of American processed cheese.  My culinary education has left me with a gap here!  I have a new mission to learn about Mexican cheese.  And I need to find someone to take me on a tour of a grocery store and show me what all the best foods are.  Speaking of quality food....while at the shopping center we also stopped by McDonalds and ordered dos cajitas feliz, two happy meals. 

When we returned to our rooms, as I was on the phone trying to communicate with my beginner Spanish skills, a travelling circus passed by right outside our windows.  Patrick tells me there were two zebras and a camel in a caged trailer and a man speaking into a megaphone loudly as it passed by.  I regret that I missed it as my imagination is probably wilder than reality and I'm having a hard time believing it actually happened (Patrick: Otis can corroborate.)

Tomorrow we will attempt to find the hotel's beach club via the public bus.  We are so looking forward to seeing the white sand and turquoise blue water.  We've been in Cancun three days and still haven't seen the beach!

Pictured below: Waiting to check into our room, FUD...from our grocery shopping excursion.

Liz Day Two: Happy New Years!

Today we stayed at our hotel, swam in the pool and rested.  It was what we needed but we are looking forward to getting out and seeing more of Cancun.  We are still adjusting to our new schedule and smaller living space.  Sofia had a blast playing at the pool with a friend she met.  The water was too cold for Otis' taste but the rest of us enjoyed it.  It's so amazing to be able to walk around in summer clothes in December!  Last night we had some delicious Mexican food, recommended by the guys at the front desk. 

Tomorrow we have three tasks:  Finding our next hotel and a place to stash our bags until check-in,  getting the kids to a park or play area and swimming in the pool again.  Sofia and I are hoping for some mall time at the big mall, Plaza America, downtown. There is a kids play area there as well as an airconditioned movie theatre and shopping. We need to buy some sandals and a few more summer clothes for the kids.