13. More Tulum

On Sunday, February 25th we spent a day at the public beach and rented an umbrella from a very nice man named Antonio for 220$ pesos which is a little more than $10. US dollars. In spite of the umbrella we still got a little burned. Reapplying sunscreen needs to be more a priority I suppose. It is easy to forget when lolling in the blue waters of the Caribbean.  We rented our umbrella by 10:30, by 11:30 they were all rented and the beach was packed.

Look who deigned to play gin with me!

We treated ourselves to a high end lunch at this beautiful Thai restaurant, Mezzanine. The restaurant is part of a small, 9 unit boutique hotel, which I just might stay at if our 'ship comes in'.

This was the first time that my non alcoholic drink rivaled Chris' in the 'prettiest' category. Gotta say that the presentation he got was better than mine, though. It was made right at the table with Tanquery gin.

Chris pointed out that the crab stuffed wontons were displayed like the logo of a Mercedes Benz. Each one was folded like a little fish. The other plate held fish and chips and compared to home the amount was meager but it was very tasty!

This little red dragon, as the waiter called him, is eating a habanero pepper!

View from upper deck of Mezzanine.

12. Time Slows in Tulum

Shall we go to the beach or stay at the pool? That’s pretty much all we need to decide every morning. We arrived in Tulum on Tuesday the 20th and will be here till Tuesday the 27th. Our hotel is called Howlita and we got a deal on it because we reserved WAY ahead of time and put one night down. It comes to about $65. a night with the taxes. However, just like in Valladolid, #7 has real limitations. The room is like a 12’ cube with really high ceilings. The bed is full size; good thing we still get along after 40+ years! I must say I like the decor; a shabby chic bench, table and chair and a hanging pole with hangers for clothes and 5 hooks on the  walls. Quarters are tight but we are managing. The shower has the best water pressure and the hottest water in all of Mexico; in fact you had best be cautious! But the best feature of Howlita is the pool area. It more than makes up for the small room. The water is neck deep and always refreshing! There is a French Press coffee pot and free coffee that has come in handy for us early risers. Breakfast is at 8:30 and consists of fruit, toast, a wee bowl of yogurt and a wee bowl of granola and juice. simple but takes away the hunger pangs. The Wi Fi connection is the best we’ve had! I see a tower right across the street. This morning we saw two Green Jays outside our window! The beach is a good six mile bike ride but the bikes are available on site. The staff is super friendly and the desk personnel speak very good English. Today’s new word for me is ‘antojitos’ which means small snack or appetizers. Mattias, one of the hotel staff, described it as a craving for a food that you might get in the middle of the night.  We also learned that laundries close at 2 on Saturdays and don't open at all on Sundays; important facts when you are living out of a suitcase!

 Room #7

Take a look at the street! This is the condition of most of the side streets in Tulum!

This is the view outside of room #7's window. Every morning at about 7:00 this family would carefully prepare their food carts for the streets. Even the kids might be part of the process, wiping down the containers and lids, making sure that there were ladles and cups on the carts. Sure wish I had discovered what they were selling.

The beach may only be a six mile bike ride from  from our hotel but with sidewalks and bike trails under continuous construction, it is not an easy bike ride. Each of the 3 years we have stayed in Tulum it has been like this. Fortunately Howlita is on a side street, far enough away from the dust and daytime racket. There has been some lively cantina music at night, but it is mostly a peaceful place to stay. On Sunday night as I walked home from church there were firefighters, police and an ambulance all around this hole. Someone had fallen into it! It must've been a bad accident because it took a LONG time and a lot of people to rescue whoever it was. BTW, church was very strange even though it was named Our Lady of Guadalupe and was Roman Catholic, it was nothing like OLG at home!

Dining at night is SO pleasant! This is La Malquerida. and it serves both Mexican and Italian food. Personally, I would go here for the Italian food! But for Pizza, order from Pizzas Mendez and pick it up or have it delivered. We had the "cuatro carnes" (4 meats) last night and it was delicious!

Yesterday was our first beach day in Tulum. First we biked to Piedras Escondidas on a recommendation but the rough water combined with the tons of seaweed changed our minds.

So we went in the other direction to Diamonte K, the same beach we visited last year. They had workers busily raking and hauling away the seaweed and the wave action was not as violent. Yes, it came at a higher peso cost, but the food was great and I went in the water twice and was able to use their showers afterwards. 

And OH, the flowers!

11. A return to Valladolid

To break up the bus ride from Merida back to the coast we spent one night in Valladolid, back at the Hotel Maria de la Luz. In fact, room 12, where we stayed two weeks ago, was available so we took it! We started our day out with breakfast at La Cantina, at least that is the name on the wall; the menus had a different name on them which I can't recall. It is right on a busy corner of the main square and can be incredibly noisy in the evening as Valladolid has horrible rush hour traffic. For breakfast it is a perfect spot for enjoying watching the cleaners sweeping the park, the stalls opening and people all clean and crisp and heading off to work.

Last year I took oodles of pictures of the beautiful floor tiles. I've refrained from taking quite as many but here is a pretty one:

After breakfast we headed to the main market which is only open till about 1:00 so I was glad to be there early enough to see it in full swing.

On the way back to the hotel and got a little turned around. But sometimes in getting lost you find the most interesting sights, like this turkey which I heard before I saw it!

12. One last visit to the mercado!

The chaos of the Lucas de Galvez market drew me in one last time. It is colorful, noisy, full of good smells and not so good smells. It's an incredible place to people watch and to get good bargains but I wouldn't buy the food; no matter how good it looks and smells. 

 A coconut stand

The Edam cheese that is used in many Yucatan dishes

And the sweets, oh the sweets! Read more about them here.

Beautiful squares of marshmallows!

 These meringues are a favorite of mine. They have a dab of lime filling in the middle.

The oranges are used in cooking and in juices. This stall smelled great!

 Lots of spices

Oh how I wish I knew how to make papadzules!

Colorful bags above colorful, fresh produce!

The market is divided into areas, one for produce, one for meat, one for shoes, one for all things made of metal, etc.

These braziers were from about 6 inches across to 18 inches across. If they were easier to pack, I would've bought one!

Juices, religious statuary, phone cases; a hodge podge.

More than one sweet but scrawny kitty roaming about everyone's feet and the many crates and bags. The face on this one is quite pretty!

Just look at those big shiny avocados!

10. Merida Moments

So we returned to Merida on Thursday, February 15 and today is Sunday, the 18th. Wow, we have been so busy with the logistics of travel. When on a long vacation there are days that need to be set aside for business. Thursday and Friday were those days for us. We needed to get a lot of laundry done, find another hotel to stay at in Merida since Luz was booked after Thursday night, get our teeth cleaned, and learn to use Uber to get to said dentist. BTW it cost us 500$ pesos or $27. per person to get our teeth cleaned and the dentist does the cleaning! On Saturday we met our friends, the Diaz Bermudez ladies, for ice cream on the Paseo Montejo at Helados Colon (including Raquel this time!). I recommend the coconut ice cream! Then on Saturday I was delighted to find the Ibis hotel where I could sign up for  the Alianz Francesa de Merida 5K on Sunday.  Katia and her mother, Patricia, kindly agreed to join the race along with me. See me? I'm waving, in front of and to the left of the woman with the coral and white top.

So now we will spend our last night at the Hotel National in Merida. This is our third night here and we requested a larger room because although it was clean the first room was so narrow we were always bumping into each other. This room has a couch and a coffee table and the entry way is larger. The view onto the parking lot is not the best but having space is more important to us. 

The cost of the first room was 750$ pesos ($40.50 USD) per night and the larger room is 850$ pesos ($46.90 USD) per night. This is a business hotel and because it deals mostly with Mexican business people, the staff speaks very little English. With my meagre Spanish and their patience, we get by. The hotel has a beautiful pool that is underused, we spend afternoons just hanging there. In fact I am putting together this post at a picnic table there!

The restaurant serves very good food but service is slow. There is no refrigerator in the room but the restaurant will give you a glass of ice if you ask for it...and yes it is clean ice!  Tomorrow at noon we will be on another bus, this one first class, back for one night in Valladolid. 
More random photos of Merida:
Our favorite Merida restaurant for authentic Mayan food, Chaya Maya. 

A new to us, but been here forever restaurant with a marvelous view of the main square. Great food too! La Casa de Mi Tia

Near the old railroad station

Hmm...I'm still trying to piece together this entrance tile to an abandoned building.

Institute of Music indigenous to Mexico

This was SO delicious! It is from Organico Bar de Cafe Y Cocina. I loved the coffee but the bread of my sandwich was too dry.

Loom inside one of the artesian shops

One of the more modest, but surely expensive, homes along Paseo Montejo.