After a wonderful morning with our coffee mugs, I caught a bus into Centro. D walked and met me. We were hoping to have breakfast with Bro #3 and L but of course Ruben’s was closed since it was a Sunday.

We decided instead for Alexa & Giovanny’s but they were standing room only so we simply grabbed a table in the next Loncheria. Unfortunately I didn’t make a note about what I ordered.

Our next stop en route to home was to wish Lorena good-bye at the ferry. This also meant that Sister #3 was changing hotels so D helped her move into Xbulu Ha. We left her there not knowing that she had a couple of hours to wait for her room. We jumped into a cab and had enough time for a sit in the sun.

We met our long awaited friends from Toronto at the ferry around supper time. As we walked to Fredy’s for his anniversary dinner, they hopped in a cab to drop off their luggage, quickly freshen up and walk back to Centro.

I am not sure why I didn’t get a picture of Fredy that evening but one of Ana is the next best thing because of course behind every successful man is an understanding woman.

Our evening at Fredy’s was fabulous. There were complimentary appetizers like the ones above. We all selected from an abbreviated menu, featuring his most popular items-ribs,

pork chops

or baked shrimp. There were 13 of us including my friend Jacki from Winnipeg, who I had supper with my first night. She, D and I all selected Fredy’s pork chop and we had tons of leftovers for our next day at Luna d’ Miel.

Ken Wanovich was the musical guest that evening and he was perfect for Fredy’s crowd. Some of us old timers even danced together.

When all was said and done we had another nightcap at El Patio before heading home.

Kath’s quote: ” Behind every great man is a women rolling her eyes…”-Jim Carrey

Love never fails.

We were treated to a gorgeous sunrise as we settled into our renewed routine. We enjoyed a light breakfast together and then D was off on his walk around the airport strip loop including North Beach.

To say that D is an avid walker is an understatement. I on the other hand am an avid sitter, loving to spend hours writing and reading preferably outside. D did a second walk that day to Isla Brewing to pick up a couple of his favourites.

We headed to Playa Sol long before the sun was expected to set. We enjoyed watching the families and travellers packing up for the day.

We are victims of habit and have a number of dining traditions. One is a visit to Angelo’s for both fruita de mare pasta and pizza. We absolutely love Angelo’s but especially these dishes. We took our left overs and strolled over to El Patio for a nightcap. We reacquainted ourselves with our friend Jacob. We enjoyed a solo nightcap behind our place, under the stars. It was a perfect day.

Kath’s quote: “And one perfect day can give clues for a more perfect life.”-Meg Rosoff

Love never fails.

Three very special things occurred on this day. We had our lovely brunch at Coco Jaquar, I moved to our beloved Luna d’ Miel and my husband joined me on the island!

Have you ever seen the suite at Luna D’ Miel? Before we left there were brand new bar stools installed at our counter. The apartment has this lovely kitchen/living/dining area. The first thing I always do is open up all the curtains. When we first started staying there, you could see water to the west but now that building has increased on the airport strip that view is gone. I also love to see the traffic go by. It does get pretty busy but it is still lovely to see the Isla families go by as well as happy folks in their golf carts.

There is an enormous and comfortable bed

and the view is outstanding! Sometimes if the wind is too fierce, I sit and read in this chair with the window slightly cracked open so I can still hear the waves.

The bathroom is spacious with plenty of hot water and good water pressure.

Our hammock wasn’t hanging when I arrived but all I had to do was let Mario know and it was installed immediately. The hammock is one of D’s favourite features of the apartments so it was waiting for him when he arrived.

We set the alarm so that we can have our coffees in hand as we wait to watch the sun rise. We also end each evening with a glass of wine under the stars. It is fun to watch the hermit crabs run by, notice the constellations that are so different than home and see the lights of cruise ships on the horizon.

Once I met D off the ferry (I didn’t recognise him at first because he had shaved off all his facial hair), we kept our tradition of walking over to Bally Hoo.

The beer is always deliciously cold and the shrimp tacos are swell.

I missed sunset that evening but saw a glimmer of it as we walked into town to have dinner with friends Jan and Bruce.

We met this precious couple a number of years prior and love to get together to get caught up each year. I have the added bonus of visiting them on the beach. We started with drinks at Morgan’s but conversation was so engaging that we got the munchies and stayed for dinner. We ordered nachos

and lobster tacos.

D ordered shrimp again and they arrived with their heads and tails still on!

We made two stops on our way home to Luna, one for groceries and the other for gelato at the corner. I had Mango in a sugar cone and D had pistachio and caramel in a cup.

We did try to sit our back that evening but it was too chilly so it was early lights out on D’s first evening.

Kath’s quote: “Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures.”– Lewis Carroll

Love never fails.

The morning was still windy and overcast so I did not venture to the Malecon for sunrise. My niece and her new fiancé were staying in Cancun and blessed us with a visit. They had to sit through a gruelling time share presentation to acquire a golf cart for the day. Even though it was cool, it was a perfect golf cart day! We met them at the ferry.

We needed a golf cart destination so tootled off to Zama Beach Club. Since by then it was lunch time, we ordered libations and Riche and Marty chose their lunch.

They enjoyed their shrimp tacos and

Pico de Gallo.

We explored the island some more and then it was time to go shopping. Hortencia and her daughter-in-law Irma have stalls in the market behind the Loncherias. We love the family and typically restrict our shopping to them. Prices are amazing by comparison to those on Hidalgo. On one occasion I paid 1/3 for a pair of babies overalls that I had priced out on Hidalgo.

We still had time left on the cart so we headed to Fredy’s for Happy Hour. Marty decided he wanted a special vodka. Although Fredy is excellent at interpreting our English requests, Marty is French Canadian (yay another Frenchman in our family!) and was surprised when Fredy brought him a glass of vodka with slices of onion in it! We had a great laugh along side Fredy and the correct order was placed.

The gang gathered at the beach for sunset. The newly engaged couple had not yet made an official announcement so I offered to take a couple of shots for them at dusk.

Lorena took this family picture for us.

I returned the favour by taking one of her and Sister #3-oops!

The day trippers wanted to get back before it was too late so we headed to Lola Valentina’s for dinner! Our time, the cocktails and our dinner was absolutely fantastic but….the tale will have to wait for another time.

Kath’s quote: “Just keep swimming.”-Dory

Love never fails.

Met Jane for sunrise. After a lovely visit she was going to have breakfast and go back to sleep.

I also met Jean and Rich on the malecon and they reminded me that is was Ash Wednesday. When I am on vacation I don’t keep very good track of time but I often attend church on the island. On this morning, I loved the unusual rituals of following the priest outside so he could bless the symbols of the morning as well as bless the people who congregated. Even though the service was in Spanish the application of the cross from ashes on my forehead spoke in an universal language.

After I met Sister #3 and Lorena at the bus stop, we took the short bus ride to the Little Yellow School House for lunch and passed this other beautiful church where another service was going on.

LYSH is a beautiful program for children with intellectual disabilities on the island. This was the first time I had visited them. Their custom of making a lunch for sale every week on Wednesday, was a thoughtful way to get their students involved, bless the persons who came to knosh and make a little money at the same time.

Our next stop before getting back on the bus was at the Women’s Beading Co-operative where we enjoyed browsing and shopping.

I returned to Centro hot and sweaty so I walked to the beach where Jan and Bruce were sitting and had a quick swim and then a quick visit. Then I walked back home for a shower and to get ready for our dinner at Limon.

Black clouds rolled in as I was returning a bottle of wine to Jan and Bruce at their apartment almost next door. I came home ahead of the anticipated rain and spent another hour or so before I made way to the taxi loop and there was still no rain! You never know on Isla, a shower could come up quite unexpectedly but could also brew up for a big deluge. That is what happened on this evening.

When we arrived at Limon, we sat under the new platform but had to move as the rain was able to penetrate our shelter. So we finished dinner inside.

Lorena and L loved the cilantro chicken,

Sister #3 loved the arrachea and Brother 3#’s shrimp were enormous (sorry no pic)!

I really enjoyed the tortilla soup. Sergio treated us to dessert:

Bananas foster

and Sergio’s stuffed pineapple. Both were stellar!

Mean while the rain storm was building force, especially the wind. Power went off twice. Our taxi drove through flooded streets. The wind howled all night and I was continuously awakened by the lifting up of a big piece of sheet metal on the building site next door to my hotel.

Kath’s quote: “When it rains, look for the rainbows. When it is dark, look for the stars.” – Unknown

Love never fails.