On Day 5, I did something I rarely do when I am vacationing on Isla: I voluntarily left the island.  Jackie, Sister #3 and I headed to Puerto Moreles to the Little Mexican Cooking School.  Sister #3 and I plan on collaborating on a number of posts about our cooking adventure, so I am going to skip right over the day at this time.  That evening, I didn’t even venture out for dinner as we were still too stuffed from eating the results of our classes.  I stayed in that evening and ate a peanut butter and banana sandwich (I didn’t photograph this).

On Day 6, the inclement weather that began the day before, continued.  We hung around our hotel and Sister #3 picked up Rotisserie Chicken for our lunch which we ate around our little plunge pool with the gang.  I did do a wee little wander around Centro.

That evening, we braved the elements and ventured to El Veradero.

At our first table, the wind was whipping us all about but the expertly-made mojitoes occupied us until the staff sympathized with our suffering and moved us to a more sheltered table, where we had a wonderful dinner.

After all the years that I have heard about this place that is tucked away and right on the water, I felt right at home. I loved everything about it, but especially the rustic décor.

Our server pulled in the English expertise of an interpreter.  When we chatted with her later she indicated that she helps out in order to enhance her English skills.  What a resourceful woman and a win/win situation for us all.  There was a bit of a debate about who would get the last two orders of the fish special.  She carefully steered us to the shrimp which were prepared with the same topping.

There was a bit of a surprise later when the bill came to see how much more expensive the shrimp was than the fish (if she knew this too-then she is VERY good at what she does).

Sister #2 and Paula ordered the garlic shrimp and there were oohhs and aahhs coming from their end of the table.

I felt like I had struck it rich when my shrimp ceviche arrived (with a side of fabulous papas fritas). The flesh of the shrimp was still plump and firm and there was just the right amount of lime.  Even though there was way more shrimp in my dish than the other dinners, mine was priced more affordably.

Kath’s quote:  “When the waitress puts the dinner on the table the old men look at the dinner. The young men look at the waitress.“-Gelett Burgess

Love-that is all.

While I was on Playa Sol, a lovely and rare thing occurred on North Beach-Hortencia took time away from her dress shop, to visit our gang with her gorgeous grandchildren.   Even though her family lives on one of the most beautiful islands in the world with one of the most exquisite beaches, an afternoon swim is a rare treat for her grand-kids.

Waiting for them on the beach was a whole pack of would-be grandparents to play catch, frolic in the water and buy them treats from the ice cream man.

The little angel depicted below has my heart.  I think that she must looked exactly like Hotencia when she was this age.

The kids were so polite and appreciative and I think that they had almost as much fun as my family did entertaining them.

Later, I met up with everyone, back at Case el Pio,

The sun was just about to set on another gorgeous day.

I love to be on the beach for sunset but it is as beautiful in its own way, from anywhere you watch it disappear.  Sister #3’s guacamole and ice cold Dos Equis, make the whole experience….complete.

I was really looking forward to that evening’s dinner and not just because we were dining at our old friend Fredy’s, but because we were finally meeting up with Jackie (a new friend from Winnipeg who is now a true Islaholic) and her traveling companions, Julie and Evelyn!

But to the food!  There were Fredy’s famous two-bone pork chops requested by many.

Sister #3 is totally hooked on Fredy’s Mexican platter.

My beloved Sis-in-law loves Fredy’s chicken bruschetta.

Paula chose the chicken enchiladas (what an amazing presentation).

Sister #2 couldn’t resist the garlic shrimp.

Last but not least, Evelyn tucked into Fredy’s shrimp.

You know, I am having a revelation as I write this.  My family and I say that being on Isla is like coming home;  I always thought as if it was the island itself, that made us feel this way, but I realize just now that it is the people!  When we are on Isla, we are surrounded by the locals that we have come to know and love as family and this day was one where we had the pleasure of spending special time with them.

Kath’s quote: “Best things in life: Friends that are like family, and family that are like friends.” –Unknown

Love-that is all.

My cyber friends on the Isla message board often say  ” A rainy day on Isla, is still better than a fair day, anywhere else.”    This is pretty close to the truth for my time on the island and my enjoyment of it.  On this particular morning, it was a bit muggy and you could anticipate the rain.  But because we (the Royal “we” of those lucky enough to be on Isla), often watch rain storms over the sea, completely avoid the island and pour as soon as they make landfall over Cancun (te he, we are a smug lot sometimes), I was as optimistic as the rest of the beach babies that morning.

I had a lovely swim to eliminate the humidity and then was just getting comfortable to read my book.  When the rain came, I stood under a palm tree, quite sure that it would soon pass.  Sisters 2 and 3 were swimming in the ocean and decided, what the heck, no use coming out.  It reminded me of when they were little and we would all holiday at Grand Beach.  I am the eldest daughter and so hyper-responsible and I would anxiously watch them from the shore with my Mom, hoping that lightning was not part of the storm.  Back in present day, after we were completely drenched along with most of our things, we decided that the rain was not going to stop and began slogging down the streets of Centro carrying all of our wet stuff.  Once I got out of my wet suit, I was still content to mosey around town doing all that I love to do.

Often times, rainy days mean a visit to our friend Hortencia and her family.  She is our dress-maker friend that has a stall at the north-east corner of the local market.  We could shop at other stalls or on Medina or Hidalgo, but we have know Hortencia and her lovely growing family for eight years now and we really, really care about her, so we make a conscious decision to buy whatever we can with her.  This year, we got to spend two really special times with Hortencia outside of her stall at the market.  One was when she took her adorable grand-kids to north beach for swim and another when we had the distinct honour of being invited to her home for mole (these stories to follow).

The other person that we were intent on meeting up with on this day was Jackie.  Jackie is a foodie, also from Winnipeg, who discovered my blog and decided (without ever having been to the island) to book a month vacation at the Sailfish condos!  I was delighted to inaugurate another Islaholic but I was also hesitant.  It is hard to be objective about someplace that you love.  If she focused on the north winds, the smell of sewage in Centro and the piles of rubble that often seem to turn up on Isla, how will I bear it?  Well I can tell you that she loved Isla and I had no reason at all to be concerned.  Anyway, we had hoped to meet up with Jackie and her travel companions for an evening at El Varadero but we were concerned about dining on an partially exposed dock out in the rain, and so we postponed our get together for another day.

In the mean time, we wanted to ensure that we would find an inside table, without walking too far in the continued rain so we headed to Angelo’s for pizza. We are hearty stock from Winnipeg, knowing how to deal with the extreme cold but damp and chilled is a different story.   Sister #2 and her hubby were making the trip to Centro from punta sur in the pouring rain, on their scooter!

This me in my cropped pants and flip flops.  Sometimes there is no avoiding the puddles on Hidalgo, so I am prepared to wade through them.  Hey, if there is pizza at the end of my trek, I am prepared to do lots of things. 

I think that Angelo does an amazing job and not because I am one of those travellers who like to enjoy my favourite foods from home when I venture to a new place.  I think that Angelo does a great job when measured alongside Italian restaurants in Italy!  Dishes are always made from scratch, using fresh whole ingredients, they are blended with a light touch and the recipes let the natural flavours of tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil shine through.

Now I will not profess that every meal that I have eaten at Angelo’s (and there have been a great many of them) has met this same standard but his seafood pasta dishes are as delectable as ones that I have supped on, on the Italian Riveria (I am teaching a blogging course in Tuscany this October if you are interested in knowing more).

We almost all opted for pizza with the exception of one hearty eater who enjoyed both the Spaghetti Bolognaise and a pizza.

Ham and pina.

Sister #3 and Dona shared this one and still had enough to have it for lunch the next day on the beach.

Doesn’t this look good, right about now?

Kath’s quote: “The definitive recipe for any Italian dish has not yet appeared. We are still creating.” Luigi Barzini

Love-that is all.

This morning it is -36 degrees (with the windchill) and even though I was going to write about barley recipes this morning, I really need to go back to my time on Isla.

Even though I typically sit under a palm tree once I arrive at North Beach, I am always anxious to get there.  So on this second day, I pack up my Sudoku, book, sunscreen, etc. and head down to where I know that my brother and my Isla family will be accumulating.  There was a time when we would all be assembled at Sergio’s Playa Sol, a place where we met many of our Isla friends.  Now though, most of the gang gather at the back of the beach where the palms provide shade and they lug down their own beach chairs.  I played musical chairs for a while and then decided that I could not stand it anymore and headed to Chedraui (later that afternoon) to see if I could purchase one.  I did not stay long at the beach for fear of harming my freckled skin and instead wandered through Centro, checking out who had built or painted what.

This assessment takes me many days to accomplish.  You can likely see that my eye and camera is drawn to anything turquoise.  I am quite literally obsessed with the colour ever since I began traveling to the Caribbean many years ago.  My family is very patient with me as I have found a way to incorporate the colour into almost every room in our home.

I already know that I would like this mural size wave from Ikea for my birthday…….

The afternoon passes quickly with unpacking (I am always too excited to spend the time in my room on arrival day) and work that must be completed even though I am on vacation.  I am not complaining, having my own business gives me many more days of leisure than I deserve.

My mobile office for week #1 (so don’t cry for me Argentina).

My adventure at Chedraui was an interesting one.  I decided to walk there and it was a long and hot one.  When I arrived, I will admit that I was a little bit grumpy.  I headed to the spot where I knew that beach chairs had been in the past, crouched very low and lo and behold, found one solitary chair at the back of the shelf.  I set it up, right then and there, to ensure that it was in working order and then wandered off to make my next purchase of an alarm clock for our room at Casa el Pio.

I love that time has little or no meaning for me on Isla.  I can usually judge the time of day by the height of the sun or the grumblings of my tummy BUT I do not enjoy waking up in the middle of the night and not knowing if it is an hour after I turned off the light or 4 or 10 in the morning!  So this purchase was intended to enhance my sleep, not disrupt it.  It too, was the last one on the shelf.  In fact, I had to put the “floor” model in my cart, as they had scads of the make that cost almost 4 times the price, but only one at what I would deem a reasonable price.  So I determinately head to the check out, pleased with my seletions.

When it comes time to ring up the chair, there is much discussion amongst the clerks that there is no price tag on the chair.  A number of them go to the shelf to acquire what they explain to me is the code in order to ring it in.  They return with a supervisor who tells me that it is impossible for me to buy the chair and says that in fact, the chair is not for sale.  Well for 1) I have trekked down here in the hot sun and am in no mood to be denied, for 2) I do not want to spend two weeks stealing brief sits in a chair while others are swimming or off to the bano and for 3) the chair is right here in my hands!  After literally a dozen staff members are involved in the dispute, half of them taking my side and smiling brightly to reassure me that they are going to help me buck the system and buy the prize, I am successful in purchasing the chair.  And for a great price-less than the rental of a beach chair for a day on Playa Norte.

As I triumphantly leave the store, I decide to treat myself to a cab ride back to Centro.  On Isla, the cab drivers give you a brief and friendly honk of their horn to inquire if you are wanting a ride and this occurred as soon as I stepped out of the store.  It did not deter him that he was on the far side of the street, headed in the other direction, he simply spun around to make my loading the cab with packages easier to accomplish.  Unfortunately, when I emptied my cart, it started rolling down the incline at the front of the store.  Luckily, I was able to snatch it before it ended up in the traffic on the street but not without consequences.  Someone else’s empty cart, also started to roll and was headed right towards the cab.  I was already occupied retrieving my cart and could not stop this one and the cab driver was furious at me because the cart chipped the paint on the car (even though I had successfully prevented my cart from causing a major vehicle pile up).  So my feelings of triumph were short lived and all I wanted to do was get back to my casa and open a cerveza.

By the end of the afternoon, I was feeling better and wandered down to the shore.  I always try to capture the sun going down on the island.  The sunsets themselves are magnificent but it is more than that.   I can understand how the Mayans lives were dictated by the sun and I suppose that this is my way of acknowledging and respecting this.

When evening arrives, we have to make our most taxing decision of the day-where to go for supper? Sister #3 and I have debated which place on the island has the best frutti de mare pasta.  In her opinion it is Angelo’s but in my mind, the winner is Brisa Grill.  So, we head there for the test.

Our friend clinking cervezas with me here, is named Donna back home but on the island we call her Dona.

I do admit, that I remembered the seafood as being more plentiful.  Sister #3 is not disappointed, just content with her preference of Angelo’s.

In the mean time, I was more than pleased with my choice of pesto shrimp linguine.  I savoured the meaty prawn at the forefront of this photo and sliced into into to so many forkfuls, that it was like eating a baby lobster tail.

Others in our group sampled the coconut shrimp.  We informally perform an assessment of the Island’s best of this dish too.  I give Brisa’s Grill high marks for their unusual presentation.

My brother who is not as avid a seafood eater, opted for the ribs.  Quite honestly, he was still hungry when he finished eating this portion.  I suppose we should not fault a restaurant built right next to the ocean and the shore, to do a mediocre job of ribs.

I cannot specifically recall what we did that first evening but I would imagine that it involved a stroll down Hidalgo to wave or chat to friends.

Kath’s quote: “Sometimes I pray to Cod for the veal-power to stop playing with my food words, but I fear it’s too bread into me. For all I know, the wurst may be yet to come.”-Mark Morton

Love-that is all.

There are many topics that I could write about today but I choose to start my recollections of our wonderful time on Isla Mujeres.  This is the snowy scene outside my window at this moment. This is a good day to think tropical thoughts….

From my journal:

“Feeling wonky, as is sometimes the case on arrival day as I had to be up at 4 am and of course I didn’t have the best sleep.  The flight went quite quickly: got some work done and watched Argo.  Cancun was a zoo!  Wasn’t on Isla until 1:15 ( I think Donna said) and that was with no waiting for the ferry.  Just long enough to for me to buy everybody a beer for the ferry ride over.”

I get such a kick out of the ferry ride to Isla that this year, I crossed an extra couple of times, just to savour the trip more often.

We knew that Jill from Casa el Pio would be waiting for us, so we quickly pulled out bags over and then headed right out again to meet Sister #2 and Miquel for lunch before they headed in the direction of Punta Sur to their little beach place.  With an easy consensus, the meeting place was Bally Hoo for our traditional first lunch of fish and chips and inaugural island cervezas.

Sister #2  had coconut shrimp.

Sister #3: fish tacos.

And I, fish and a fantastic little salad.  Bally Hoo is perched on stilts right in the water, adjacent to the docks where the sport fisherman tie up their boats and clean their catch.  Perhaps this is why their fish is the freshest I have ever tasted, literally sparkling in your mouth.

My first view of “fisherman’s” beach from Bally Hoo.  Ah Isla, I have returned…..

We stopped in at the grocery store on the way home to pick up some supplies for the room: milk for my morning coffee, yoghurt for breakfast, more cervezas for any time of day and a Chilean Merlot that I had never sampled before.  It was so good, that the entourage of vinto tinto drinkers that accompanied me, stocked up too and for a while, the grocery store was sold out.

Casa el Pio would be home for the first half of my stay.

I love the crisp white and blue of the casa.  It reminds me of the Greek islands.

As my roommate settled in, I had my first walk around the seawall

and then to take in the lengthening shadows of the palms by the naval base.

Dinner that night was at Brisa Mexicana so we could watch the Oscars.

Breaded fish.

Seafood pasta.

I saw that they had pork chops on their surf and turf menu and they were kind enough to accommodate my request for them.  But who was I kidding?  They were tasty enough, but could not come close to Fredy’s 2 bone pork chop which I was craving.  I took half home for a next day sandwich.  Casa el Pio has a little fridge for left overs, that is also stocked with welcome cervesas and a shot of tequila!  They generously provide the coffee and filters for a great cup of joe, too.

But not surprizingly, we didn’t last long.  Fairly soon after the best supporting awards, we decided to head back to our cozy beds.  I thought that we might possibly be able to watch a live stream of the rest of the award show, but it really did not matter.  We were tired, but more than that: we were anxious for sleep so that we could wake up to our full first day on the island.

Kath’s quote: “There is poetry in a pork chop to a hungry man (person).”-  Philip Gibbs

Love-that is all.