Batting Way out of our League in Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen, long weekend with the family and Dan, all inclusive resort with unlimited food and drinks, good for the fun level, bad for the health.



This very promising weekend started last Thursday with Dan and I taking a 1 o'clock flight out of the bustling Puebla airport. My solo seating strategy paid off once again on the flight in the form of a wonderful chica named Lucia who informed me as the plane touched down at the Cancun airport she was a full 17 years old...whoops (unfortunately not pictured here).





After a car ride where our driver was able to recommend all the best museums, tea houses, and other historical and cultural centers of Playa del Carmen we arrived at the hotel and after a bit of a wild goose chase found our room complete with a great view and fully stocked fridge and bar.





We immediately headed out to the pool to survey the land and amazingly enough received a big wave from Dad and Andy (on crutches for the duration of the weekend due to a torn quad)who were comfortably situated at the pool side bar (bar stools surrounding the bar surrounded by about 8 tables and booths).



After quenching our thirst we went for a bite to eat at the outdoor restaurant called Chilis which as luck would have it offered a monstrous free buffet.



Following a swim we returned to the room to prepare for dinner. During this time I ordered some chicken nachos as a pre game snack and nearly fell over the balcony when the man asked if we would like a complimentary bottle of champagne to accompany it.



Dinner started out in the hotel's sports bar where we were being updated on the UNC thursday night football game. After getting a promising 13 to 3 score (or something like that) and feeling comfortable that everything would be taken care of (false) we headed down to the outdoor restaurant which was now a steakhouse for dinner.



Everyone was a bit indecisive until discovering the surf and turf lobster tail and steak option and then everything became much clearer (and even more so when we finished the first round and were able to order a second).



From there we retreated to an upscale bar and cabaret type of lounge where the hotel was putting on its nightly show for mojitos before mom and dad went to bed and the now legal but still crippled Andy received a brief tour of the night life scene (at a sort of club at another one of the 5 resorts that we had access to) with Dan and I.



Friday we jumped out of bed at the crack of dawn, kind of and headed down to the pool for a magnificent breakfast. From there Dad, Dan, and I went to the beach and signed up for an hour long pool scuba lesson and open ocean 10 meter reef dive.



After cruising around our pool with Gustav (very Reuben like from Along came Polly) completely decked out in our scuba gear we hopped out, grabbed a burger from the grill on the beach, and took a 10 minute boat ride to the reef for the dive.



The first 39 minutes and 30 seconds of our 40 minute dive were absolutely awesome with tons of fish, coral, vegetation, a moray eel, and white sands and crystal clear water. Unfortunately Dad apparently missed the relax and breath easily part of our lesson and decided to bring his water buffalo lungs down with him resulting in an oxygen depletion just before we were about to finish.



Fortunately Gustav was very calm and had instructed us well in how to cope with this emergency. Dad was able to get his spare oxygen tank and we all ascended to the surface with minimal stress (though Dad might dispute that right about the time he tried taking his last couple breaths from his empty tank though he was able to recuperate back at the beachside bar with his new best friend Marvin).



The rest of the afternoon was passed at our second home in one of the pool booths with piña coladas as we waited for the sun to go down.





Dinner that night was at a Brazilian steak house where we had 6 different types of delicious meats brought to our table on skewers.



Fortunately this restaurant had a dessert bar with self serve ice cream so that I could consume my 56th, 57th, and 58th scoops of the trip before another round of mojitos.

After dinner Mom begged us to go out for a big night to 5th Avenue in downtown Playa with her (Mexican equivalent of Bourbon St. with countless bars and restaurants that seemingly never close and packed streets everywhere you look) and then dragged Dan and I out there and made us stay up all night or something like that.



During this we spent quite a bit of time at one outdoor bar where Dan managed to find love with a Mexican actress while I managed to speak to literally every girl in the place without finding much of anything (despite the presence of 3 different bridal parties).





Saturday came rather early, but after another great breakfast at a different hotel restaurant we rallied and we all grabbed a taxi for a day trip to Fifth Avenue to do a little exploring.





We had ambitions of a ferry trip to neighboring Cozumel island, but they didn't quite pan out and after a very entertaining walk around town where some really thoughtful purchases were made, we wound up as luck would have it at Señor Frogs.





Here we were treated to quite the show as the place was empty and the wait staff had a field day with us including making Mom literally jump out of her seat with a long straw that they were pretending was a large rat and making me squeal like a girl when they brought us "complimentary nachos" which turned out to be a black wig which was thrown at me when the dish was removed from the plate.





From here we headed back for an afternoon of catamaran sailing and then wouldn't you know it, some time all together at the poolside bar (after a human bridge was constructed to keep the ever fragile mother dry).







From here a game of monkey in the middle with a volley ball ensued, but that was quickly terminated after an errant throw from some tall American kid with a funny name that starts with a G mis threw one right into one of the booths and in a brilliant stroke of misfortune hit an older lady in the head (she would be fine as the ball was very light, but stormed out of the pool.

After this Dad decided to get artsy with pictures and jumps from the infinity pool into the regular pool.







After the photo shoot I redonned my electric pants and we headed down for dinner this time at a Japanese restaurant with sushi and great entrees. After dinner I managed to convince the waiters of the Brazilian steak house they wanted to let me re-attack the ice cream bar and after stuffing myself we went for after dinner drinks complimented by a strange outdoor show including these guys replicating Mayan dance ceremonies.



After my 76 strike outs with girls the night before Dad decided to amend the situation with Darlene here who was mid 30's, traveling with her mother, and the self proclaimed most interesting girl in the world. Not sure she can rival my hero from the Dos Equis commercials but the 7 of us did have quite a conversation together.



From there Dan and I wished the family good bye and big thank yous for an awesome time as they would be leaving at the first rooster's crow the next day while we had a bit later of a flight.



We concluded the trip that night with a visit to Playa del Carmen's most famous establishment, Coco Bongo where there was an absolutely packed enormous bar and crazy show with dancers, singers, bands, people doing tricks from the ceiling, and much more. After covering every inch of the bar, and speaking to varying degrees of success with seemingly everyone we headed back content with a good night.





Sunday we got up and after our last breakfast took a walk down the beach to a secluded part beyond all the hotels where there was nothing but beaches, rocks, and a splendid forest.





After packing up we headed to the airport, realized in the car that neither one of us actually knew what time our flight was, discovered everything was okay, and grabbed a burger.



As we got back to Puebla that afternoon we were exhausted and sad that our tropical excursions were over for the time being, but content with two awesome weekends, and looking forward to a fun last 6 weeks of our semester (including Halloween and Day of the Dead, a huge deal in Mexico coming up this weekend).

Don't Be a Squid in Cabo

This past weekend kicked off a fairly stellar 10 day tour of Mexico's finest travel destinations with a weekend trip to Cabo San Lucas with Dan and family (to be followed up this Thursday with a trip to Playa del Carmen with mi familia).



Thursday afternoon around 5 I headed to the bus station and headed up to Mexico City where we would be staying for the night before our flight the next morning.

I was restricted from going to Mexico City any earlier because Dan actually refused me access to the city of 20 million on account of the fact that he had to have a day date with a girl he had met a couple weeks before (he lost a couple man points when I discovered that their "awesome day" consisted of a sushi lunch, a cup of tea, and a walk in a park but would redeem himself in Cabo).



After meeting up at the hotel we went to a very upscale area called Condesa for some drinks (at a beautiful rooftop bar overlooking all of Mexico City) and dinner (at a great restaurant with very tasty fried banana slices and large steaks).

Afterwards mom and dad took a cab home and Dan and I went to sample the local flavor. After an absolutely horrific band, way too many offers for cab rides to a gentleman's club, some co-eds with really phenomenal personalities, a suspect congregation of a motorcycle gang, and late night tacos we too headed back chomping at the bit to hit the beach.



We woke up Friday and had a very good breakfast (first time since arrival I had something other than scrambled eggs with various meats or quesadillas) and hopped on our plane.

The flight was a lot of fun as my plan to get a window seat by myself to get a head start on babe watch before arrival backfired a bit but landed me next to two older men who turned out to be interesting cardiovascular doctors.

Flying over Cabo was also very cool since the peninsula is made up of a beautiful coastline which immediately gives way to an enormous desert with tons of mountains.





Getting to the hotel was problem free and our arrival was quite grand. The hotel was beautiful and once we had worked out the extra cost per night for the ocean front and extra bed room upgrade Dan had negotiated earlier that week (all the while trying to distract Mr. Courtnall) we headed up to the suite.





It was absolutely gorgeous with a fourth floor view of the ocean, pool, and amazing rock structures that make up part of the coast line. Inside was beautiful as well and we were set for a weekend living as kings.



We passed the afternoon at the beach (crystal clear waters with white sands) and pool (pool side bar with the bar stools in the water, just what the doctor ordered).






That evening we had snacks and margaritas on the balcony (personally prepared by professionals in dashing attire) and then headed out for dinner.





We were supposed to go to a very nice lobster restaurant but instead decided to go with the taxi drivers recommendation ("best typical seafood in the area, can't beat it") and wound up at a bit of touristy joe's crab shack type of deal where the wine menu consisted of them bringing out their 2 bottles. Dan was a bit distraught with the entire situation but after eating a lobster and a half he seemed to recover just fine.



From there we strolled down for mojitos at a restaurant on the Cabo marina (there might have been a peso or two worth of boats moored, yikes).



Afterwards Dan and I went for an educational experience at the Cabo Tequila Museum which just happens to serve drinks (though the waitress in the kitty cat ears and bizarre pink mini skirt seemed to be a few tacos short of a full platter and we had a really interesting concoction or two).



We then checked out a bit of the night life including a trip to El Squid Roe Cabo's premier bar with three levels of madness, hundreds of tables and booths built to be danced upon, free popcorn (though the bouncers didn't exactly condone the ensuing popcorn battle), and some very enthusiastic clients.







Saturday started out much the same as Friday with lots of pool and beach time.



Dan and I also took a stroll down from our hotel to see some of the excitement that was going on closer to town.



There were some good beach competitions sponsored by the restaurants and way too many jet ski offers before we wandered in to The Hacienda resort complete with a beach side restaurant and ocean front row of 7 million dollar homes. Seeing as it was such a nice place I was absolutely shocked they were giving their food away at about 12 to 15 pesos a dish (about a dollar) before I realized we weren't in Cholula anymore and those were US dollars.



After having the best nachos in Mexico we headed back and met Mr. and Mrs. Courtnall for a water taxi ride out to see the rock formations. They were absolutely enormous and with our glass bottom boat and clear waters we were able to see tons of fishes and pelicans as we got closer to some of the submerged rocks.








Coming around the bend we found a rock full of seals and then the famous Arco de San Cabos surrounded by a bit of sand called Lover's Beach (though Dan and I were sure that name followed whatever beach we were frequenting).









After a good look around there we headed back for another balcony session, sampled some interesting wine, and then went to the adjoining resort for an scrumptious dinner of calamari soup and great steaks.



From there Dan and I headed out again for a fun night. Conversations ran a little long, but fortunately we were able to catch the sun rise on the way back which is always a plus.





After not quite making it to brunch with mom and dad at 10, we got up and said a very sad good bye to them. They were absolutely wonderful for the 2 weekends I was able to spend with them and I am very sad that we won't be spending time together again any time soon (but you have to love another reason to visit Sydney).

Dan and I weren't flying out until 5 so we got a chance to get back to the beach. Hurricane Rick was due to arrive the next day so the waves were enormous and by far the biggest I had ever experienced.



After requesting to share a taxi with other guests we were called while back in the room and told we had 5 minutes which resulted in the fastest shower pack job in the history of Cabo vacations. We hopped on the taxi van expecting to find an angry family who had to wait but instead had two "gnarly" Californian guys who didn't seem to mind especially when we told them we both studied in Australia.





At the airport we figured the adventure was over but after finding out the duty free shop gives free sips of all their liquors we had a huge party complete with some fancy salsa dancing with the entire store staff before hopping on the plane.



Still not done, we boarded the plane behind two younger ladies from Los Angeles who didn't strike us as the brightest bulbs in the bunch. They didn't understand the concept of assigned seating so when they turned to us to ask where they should sit I volunteeered the open seats 8A and 8B figuring it would be rather humorous to watch from our seats as the actual owners of the seats made them move. As luck would have it, as soon as they sat down I checked my ticket only to realize I had given away my own seat and Dan and I were relegated to the very last row of the plane.

Fortunately the stewardess crew was splendid and we had a ball turning the back of the plane into a circus of jokes, songs, and compliments in our practically fluent spanish.

After landing we cruised home in a bus to finish up what I would absolutely rank as my best weekend in Mexico so far. Fortunately with the departure for Playa del Carmen looming less than 4 days away, the transition from paradise to the real world (or as real as study abroad in Cholula gets) wasn't too bad at all.