Up early but out of bed after D. I was so jealous that he got to see the sunrise from the malecon! I vowed to get up with the alarm thereafter.

Some early morning shopping in the fresh market.

With an opportunity to show the Wee Ones how tortillas are made.

An early dip at North Beach with with J1 and J2 and the little girls. We almost had the beach entirely to ourselves!

Shrieks of excitement!

We stopped for Breakfast at Rubens. Read all about it in this link.

The day was lovely and lazy. I showered and got ready for the wedding rehearsal on the beach. Met up with the gang who had completed the golf cart scavenger hunt at Jax.

It was a windy rehearsal at Playa Sol.

I imbibed in a second Happy Hour at Tres Mentiras.  We went because it is the only place that we can order the beer from Isla Brewing. Winnipeg friends Rudy, Carol, Margaret, Donna, and family Sue, Kelly, Lorraine joined Doug and I. Turned out that J1 & J2, babies, Kate & Lori were all there for dinner with good reports.

From there we ventured across the street for a fabulous rehearsal dinner at Lola Valentina’s. Separate post and food photos in this link.

Another round of wonderful speeches and tributes were made by all the wedding party but especially my nephew Jon. I was struck by how emotional the groom’s friends were when trying to express what his friendship meant to them.

The rest of the extended  family were gathering all along Hidalgo. Often when we walk Hidalgo in the evening, we will be greeted with a shout or a wave. But this stroll was especially sweet as we knew someone at almost every restaurant along the street. D stayed out with the guys including a dear old friend of his from Cambridge Ontario who also happened to be uncle to the bride. I took a “Glamma” shift and slept on J1 & J’2s futon to be near the little girls until everyone arrived home.

Kath’s quote: “Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer.”- Henri Nouwen

Love never fails.

We have been visiting Isla Mujeres since 2005 when my sisters and I booked at Villas Punta Sur not knowing that we were the opposite direction from Playa Norte. In spite of our short time on the island and our inconvenient locale, the three of us instantly fell in love with Isla. Since that time husbands, other siblings, extended family and friends have visited too. Some have been enchanted and others not so much.

Our entourage minus the grandbabies.

But our 2017 visit was a very special one, because we accumulated for the wedding of my niece/goddaughter.

We arrived a couple of days before the wedding, right on the day that a welcome party had been planned at the two villa property where the bride and groom’s families were staying, but I am getting ahead of myself.

The early morning departure did not go all that smoothly and so our eventual arrival was especially sweet.

The grandbabies did particularly well considering that had been plucked out of bed in the middle of the night.

The port was really busy so we missed a couple of ferries and eventually caught the 1:30 pm.

D took the golf cart full of our luggage

and everyone else walked to the Xbulu-Ha hotel. We had booked four suites and everyone settled in quite nicely. I went to the Supermercado to buy some lunch supplies to sustain us until the party that evening.

Boo at the party.

The Welcome Party was a perfect time. The guests included all the Kapilik/Resch/Gray families, as well as Isla friends Jan and Bruce

and long-time Toronto friends Richard and Melinda (who just happened to be on the island at the same time AND staying at the hotel right next door!).

Dinner was a Taco Bar featuring Cochinita Pibil (authentic Mexican pulled pork which is typically available from locals on Sundays), (thanks to Isla friend Wanda) , locally made tortillas, pico de gallo and guacamole made by chef/friend Ziggy and all lovingly assembled by Sister #3.

The bride and groom.

As we broke bread together we were introduced to various Australians (the groom is Australian) who we had often heard of but had never met in person. As speeches commenced, we all soon realized that this was not going to be a typical wedding or even a typical destination wedding. This was gong to be an opportunity for new lifelong friendships to be created and cemented. I personally was not surprised as every perfect detail had been in the planning for months.

As the merriment continued a beautiful orange moon rose from the ocean. I for one felt as if our assembly was being divinely blessed.

Kath’s quote: “For love is a celestial harmony
Of likely hearts compos’d of stars’ concent,
Which join together in sweet sympathy,
To work each other’s joy and true content,
Which they have harbour’d since their first descent
Out of their heavenly bowers, where they did see
And know each other here belov’d to be.” -Edmund Spenser

Love never fails.

On one of our final days on the island, D declared that we had not yet visited Mango Cafe. I love Mango but because I knew we had all kinds of fixings in our fridge and cupboard and because our departure was fast approaching, I was hesitant to go. I simply cannot waste food. Doug had a great suggestion as to what to do with it, so I agreed knowing that the food fixings would be going to a good home.

We have two favourites that we ordered each year-the stuffed poblano and the coconut French toast.

We have always marvelled as to how the stuffed chilies are made-does the filling go in already cooked to simply be reheated when plunged into the deep fat fryer? This is our best guess.

I try very hard to eat these with the fruit and not the syrup. The syrup takes it from hearty breakfast to decadent dessert!

We love the varied colours of the cozy restaurant and always feel at home. Perhaps it is the décor, perhaps it is the staff that are as cordial as the restaurant’s owner. We befriended Polo a number of years ago and are so excited to see his lovely little family expand.

Kath’s quote:  “I will stop loving you when an apple grows from a mango tree on the 30th of February”.-author unknown

Love never fails.

Bertha’s is owned by the same  family that has Rooster and is equally fine. When we started out we had a little difficulty being understood bu the Italian server.

Then Enrico came along and his English is exceptional and he made us feel right at home (even though we were the only table in the restaurant).

Sister # 2 chose camarone (shrimp) on seafood rice

and my bro-in-law a chicken with an unusual pasta presentation.

They shared a grill vegetable salad. D and I followed suit and we were delighted with the taste and presentation.

Another friend was gutsy and selected the whole octopus. He LOVED it!

We rarely order dessert at an Isla restaurant because the entrée portions are typically huge. But on this night, six of us shared an order of churros with dipping sauces which we all enjoyed immensely.

Kath’s quote: “With the exception of octopus, I don’t think I’ve met any food that I didn’t like. And by the way, sometimes I do like octopus. I’m just not crazy about it by itself. I love sea urchin. I love uni. If I’m going to die of anything, it’s going to be gluttony”. –Justin Timberlake

Love never fails.

The Amar Peruvian Restaurant on Isla Mujeres was very obliging when they said that they could accommodate our large group on a Sunday evening. The place had a nice vibe and was comfortably appointed.

When we arrived the place was not terribly busy but by the time we ordered, every table was occupied. This caused extensive delays and our dishes came out of the kitchen one at a time. In fact one dish ordered by the Frenchman, never came out of the kitchen at all!

Niece Dani ordered the vegetarian ceviche and the quinoa salad to share with the folks at her end of the table. She especially enjoyed the citrusy dressing of the latter and made note of the variety of textures and crunchiness.

She thought that her main of shredded chicken was one of the best meals she had eaten on the island.

Sister #2 selected the crispy chicken but thought that they over did the soy sauce in both the chicken and the fried rice.

My Bro-in Law also had a chicken dish and his portion was three times the size of his wife’s.

‘

Many enjoyed the fish of the day with garlic sauce.

D and I asked our server to suggest the most “Peruvian” item on the menu. He suggested the tapas of three ceviches. We loved all three but particularly the crispy version which had been coated in panko flakes and fried.

For our main we shared a bowl of seafood paella which was very hot (temperature not spiciness) and was chock full of seafood especially calamari rings. The taste of saffron which is characteristic of the dish was not apparent. I would also say that it did not have that paella pan taste of haven been lovingly turned over throughout the day.

Service was very apologetic about the long delays. They tried to make amends with caramel and passion fruit panna cottas. D and I quite enjoyed our choices but the table got pretty grumpy because of the trouble in the kitchen. With so many fabulous choices on the island, I am not sure that we twill try Amar again.

Kath’s quote: “The 3 basic ingredients are rice, saffron and olive oil, with seafood, chicken, vegetables and a wide variety of other ingredients that may also be included (pork, rabbit, duck, etc.). Paella originated in the Valencia region, traditionally cooked outdoors and eaten right from the pan”. Food Reference

Love never fails.