Mexico III

Day #2
We slept hard Monday night, and awoke refreshed and ready to go. First stop, a morning cocktail. We both got different tropical fruit slushies (non-alcoholic of course) that were delicious but waaaaaay too sweet. Then off to breakfast. We found the buffet and enjoyed a delicious meal of eggs, bacon, hash browns, caramel sweet rolls, and french toast.


After several very frustrating moments using the manual pump, and several tears later, Jared decided he could rig the manual pump to my electric one. We had to run back into Wal-Mart (about a 20 minute drive) to get a few supplies for the project. While we were there, we browsed the store a little longer and found a very interesting take on a bakery. There was a huge area where trays of breads, donuts, cookies, pizza, rolls, and several other food items we could not identify were laid out, open to the air. We saw people poking at the food, lifting a piece for inspection then putting it back, etc. Next to the bakery was the deli, where raw pieces of unidentifiable meats hung in the open air as well, dripping blood in pools on the floor. The whole experience looked very unsanitary. I am quite sure there are no FDA-type regulations governing here.

Holding a "Mr. Big" Mexican candy bar by our car. Not so much.

We gathered our necessities, stopped in the candy aisle to grab a sampling of Mexican sweets and were on our way. We got back to our room, and within one minute, Jared had my electric pump up and running. Once again, I burst into tears, then commenced to stare at him starry-eyed for the next ten minutes. He was truly my hero in that moment.


We went to lunch, and grabbed a light snack. We had reservations for dinner at 6, and it was already 2pm.

Squid pizza. Ewww!

Around 5pm, we got dressed and headed for the Gourmet French restaurant. We arrived very early, and had time to relax in hammocks for awhile and enjoy the breeze. At quarter to six, we went to the restaurant and browsed the menu. There was a large selection of fancy seafood dishes, but that was it. No good red meat for this meat-and-potatoes couple. We decided that nothing looked very appetizing and cancelled our reservation.

We found a beautiful hibiscus bush on the way to dinner.

Relaxing in the hammocks

The rest of the night was spent talking to Sophia, eating a late dinner at the buffet, discovering that the waiters knew how to make cappuccinos, and escaping the heat in our air-conditioned room.

Enjoying my cappuccino. Pretty much my favorite discovery of the trip!

Day#3

More beautiful flowers before heading out to shop.

Shopping day! We got up early, ate breakfast and grabbed a cappuccino, and headed for Playa Del Carmen. There is a huge shopping area where vendors line one long street called 5th Ave. (probably 12+ blocks long). We spent nearly 5 hours walking and inspecting all the local goods. We found several treasures to bring home with us. We also tried our first taste of gelato-- it was delicious and refreshing!

Shopping on 5th Ave.

Our lil Atos next to a Chrysler

We really couldn't get over how small it was!

That night after dinner, we went to one of the nightly shows. It was a Latin show, where colorful dancers paraded to loud, festive music.