my random ramblingsan infrequent (and these days, mostly Mira related…) blog

breakfast in the room again, this time with an earlier start. little shopping down the street then took the short walk to the ferry pier. 11 am ferry with choppy seas, Лена feeling not so great from the motion. another short walk to the bus station and we were off for Cancun. arrived in the middle of the city and taxied to our resort. beautiful place, quickly settled in, grabbed a quick bite before taking a swim in the ocean. nap in the room before dinner, then walked the grounds taking photos. found a quiet spot by the ocean to ring in the new year together. nice night, great year, and 2013 should prove even more spectacular.

gloomy day – good for our burns. 🙂 breakfast served in our room then a nice leisurely walk south down the main street. stopped at Mega to pick up a long sleeved rash guard to keep the sun off of Лена while in the water. finally ended up at Stingray Beach and joined the next group for our swim with the rays. awesome experience, spent some time feeding them, holding them and generally understanding how to interact. after that spent almost an hour snorkeling with the rays and schools of beautiful fish along the shore. great time, picked up a cd of photos on the way out. stopped for nachos at a cafe during the walk back to the room before a short afternoon siesta. little more shopping along the streets then dinner again at Rolandi’s. back to the room, caught the end of the Washington – Dallas game.

up and packed to leave, but grabbed breakfast first at the same place as yesterday. picked up our bags and walked to the ferry, managing to catch the noon boat. relaxing ride, then walked to our new spot for the next 2 nights overlooking the water in the center of San Miguel. strolled around, did a little window shopping then back to our room to relax. walked around the town again in the evening and ate fish tacos around the corner at a little Mexican restaurant for dinner. enjoying all of the spicy food.

Лена’s birthday, and of course she wanted to open her present first thing in the morning. taxied to the Grand Coral Beach Club and got a bed for the day which was both a few feet from the sea and a few inches from the pool. great day, mostly lounging in the bed, but took a couple of nice walks along the beach and of course swam in the sea and pool. 2 musicians set up in the pool area and played during the afternoon. left around 4, both a little singed by the sun, and taxied back to our condo. eventually made our way out for a Mexican dinner, then back to our place for a birthday celebration of tiramisu and champagne.

lazy day – awakened and took a leisurely stroll down 5th Avenue and found a spot for breakfast. continued down the street a bit for some shopping then made our way back to our place. relaxing afternoon in the condo avoiding the heat. finally headed back into the tourist area and stopped for some French fries just as we were hit with a big rain. waited out the storm then made our way down to the mall on the south end of 5th Avenue. walked back, changed into slightly warmer clothes then headed across the street to SushiClub. nice meal, back home again for some sleep.

up early to meet our tour bus and start our logistical cluster morning. eventually arrived in Tulum and was generally very underwhelmed, although the beach was idyllic. loaded back up and headed to the water lover’s paradise of Xel-ha. had a great time swimming and exploring, and was banned from doing too many flips off of the cliffs. made our way back to Playa at the evening and ended up staying in as we were both tired from the day’s endless activities.

up, packed, and out of the room a little after 9 am. dropped Лена at the ferry dock, returned the golf cart, and picked up some breakfast on the way. bought tickets and managed to barely catch the 10 am ferry back to Puerto Juarez. our rental car fell through so planned to take the bus down to Playa del Carmen, but instead negotiated a surprisingly cheap taxi fare on arrival. found our place and settled in before taking a nice long stroll down to the beach and along the entire length of 5th Avenue. came back and rested for a couple of hours before venturing to Mega for a little shopping. headed back out late for a bite to eat but nothing caught our interest, so returned to catch some sleep before tomorrow’s busy day.

walked into El Centro to rent a golf cart, which turned out being a chore due to the holiday. finally successful, drove back and picked up Лена, then off again on a short tour of the island. picked up breakfast back in El Centro and ate on our deck overlooking the crashing waves. eventually back into town for some beach time and found a nice spot at a Beach Club where we had to rent chairs, but also got a waiter. stayed until sunset then walked around town doing a little shopping before driving back to our room. eventually got a little dressed up and made our way out for an Italian dinner at Ronaldi’s, which was excellent. drove back and managed to stay awake until midnight so we could each open a single present.

couple of hours sleep, then off on a very early taxi to the airport. 2 easy flights later and we had arrived in Cancun by mid afternoon. shuttle from the airport to Puerto Juarez in time to catch the 2:30 ferry to Isla Mujeres. quick taxi to our beautiful hotel on the beach to shower before the short walk to El Centro. dinner in the sand and watched the sun set behind the Cancun skyline. great meal of grilled trout, conch ceviche, and fish tacos. walked through the streets taking in the small town’s hustle. taxi back to our room and in bed early as we were both knackered.