Later that same day we chilled on Luna De Miel’s Caribbean patio until supper with rums & freshly squeezed oj and nachos.

We love the colours of the sea on this side of the island, especially in the ever changing light.

But we also appreciate the  west patio too with the natural tree canopy and views of the bay.

Eventually we cabbed into Centro to Covi to stock up on some wine and met a wonderful couple from British Columbia. We have friends in both the communities of Pender Harbour & Gibson’s Landing in BC and this couple lived half way between the two. She spontaneously told me about a place that they had just discovered where they were delighted with food they had never tasted before. Turns out that they were speaking about Chiles Relleno from La Lomita, where I had my first meal on the island many years ago. They were so enamoured with everything about Isla, they even wanted us to see their little room at Hotel Casa Espana.

We then wandered over to Brisas Grill to have dinner with family members Don, Victoria, Kelly and Lorraine. Unfortunately, I had misinformed the latter and mistakenly they went to the former Brisas Caribe in Colonias. Eventually they found us but I felt bad.

In the end we had a lovely sunset dinner with our feet in the sand (see this link to read about it in more detail).

After dinner, we wandered Hidalgo with a stop at our favourite bakery truck for pina (pineapple pie). Unfortunately our friend Jose was sold out so everyone bought cookies and pastries instead. Our final stop of the evening was with Victoria and Don at their hotel-Roca Mar to fetch their leftover groceries and a last visit around the pool. They departed the next morning.

We are very much looking forward to our 2016 Isla visit, when we will not have to hail a cab or make the walk down the dark airport road after an evening in Centro. We will be spending half of our time at Villas San Miquel. We will have gorgeous sea views in a secure compound in the perfect location. On a day like Day 7 we will have saved all kinds of time and cash by not making our way back and forth to Centro. We cannot wait!

Since I have recounted this time earlier this year, I have been informed that Brisas Grill is closed. I do not know any of the circumstances but certainly hope that it all gets straightened out because we are very fond of the spot.

Kath’s quote: “Dinner is not what you do in the evening before something else. Dinner is the evening.”  ― Art Buchwald

Love-that is all.

Fenix is a place on Isla Mujeres that I had watched with interest on message boards when it opened and then garnered its fair share of fans. Until this past spring, I had never visited. In fact, I didn’t even know where it was. When we met friends from Puerto Moreles who came over by ferry to spend an afternon with us, we walked along Playa Sol and then rounded the corner to Play Norte. When I thought that we were almost out of beach (and a place to share some lunch), there it was. We immediately ordered a round of cold ones and a couple of small plates to share. Since there were four of us and only three of these tempura shrimp with curry dip, we ordered a second plate and each had 1 1/2 skews. Delish.

The goat cheese stuffed chilies on crostini hit the spot especially with the pesto drizzle that circled the plate.

These were not the best Patata Bravas I had ever tasted (that honour goes to Segovia in Winnipeg) but they were tasty enough.

The ceviche of the day was this lovely green one; the result of tossing the veggies and seafood in pesto.

Service was fairly prompt and the banos clean and well stocked, even though they were quite a distance from where we were seated. We could have done without the afternoon’s entertainment of live music as we were trying to get to know our guests a bit better but the music did add to the atmosphere.

Overall a very pleasant experience.

Kath’s quote: “It is a curious thing, but as one travels the world getting older and older, it appears that happiness is easier to get used to than despair. The second time you have a root beer float, for instance, your happiness at sipping the delicious concoction may not be quite as enormous as when you first had a root beer float, and the twelfth time your happiness may be still less enormous, until root beer floats begin to offer you very little happiness at all, because you have become used to the taste of vanilla ice cream and root beer mixed together. However, the second time you find a thumbtack in your root beer float, your despair is much greater than the first time, when you dismissed the thumbtack as a freak accident rather than part of the scheme of a soda jerk, a phrase which here means “ice cream shop employee who is trying to injure your tongue,” and by the twelfth time you find a thumbtack, your despair is even greater still, until you can hardly utter the phrase “root beer float” without bursting into tears. It is almost as if happiness is an acquired taste, like coconut cordial or ceviche, to which you can eventually become accustomed, but despair is something surprising each time you encounter it.” ― Lemony Snicket

Live simply, laugh often, love deeply.

Later on day six, we dropped Victoria & Don off at North Beach, returned the golf cart, spent a little time at Luna d’Miel (see my beachcombing haul) and then a lovely late afternoon at the beach to visit the gang.

Even though I am never in the market for a straw basket while on Isla Mujeres, I do love this beach vendor when he comes by with his colourful fare.

We also have taken many photos of this gentleman over the years.

This was our spot to while away a number of hours doing nothing else but gazing at the sea.

D went to fetch supper for home while I read and took photos of the changing light as the sun went below the clouds.

We had hoped for a rotisserie chicken but no shops were open so he stopped at Pita Amore. One pita was chicken with garlic and onions and the other one a classic with curry sauce. We also enjoyed their flan.

We spent the evening at our home-away-from-home to watch “Suits” on Netflix and then sleep for 9 blissful hours.

We are so looking forward to our 2016 stay at Villas San Miquel on Isla Mujeres. We imagine ourselves heading to the beach in the morning and then again in the late afternoon-our favourite times to beach it. In the afternoons we love to read in a hammock or get some shopping done. The convenience of staying at the villas will mean that all these opportunities will be within easy reach. To think that I will have an unobstructed view of the sea and the convenience of Centro at the same time, it almost sounds too good to be true!

Kath’s quote: “I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else.” ― Nikos Kazantzakis

Live simply, laugh often, love deeply.

My photos got scrambled when I watermarked them and as a result, I cannot find the sunrise pics from this particular morning. I do know that I started the day with some beachcombing and this was my haul.

Doug and Don (our daughter in law’s father) were determined to play tennis in spite of them both having chest colds. D anticipated Don’s arrival from Roca Mar at about 8 am. At some point D started walking into town. In the mean time, Don had walked on the incorrect airport road and could see our place across the runway but could not figure out how he was going to walk across. Luckily he hailed a cab and the guys were reunited. They had a great/sweaty time and vowed to do it again the next day. Meanwhile Don’s spouse Victoria walked to our place and then we cabbed to meet the guys at Bahama Mamas where we all chose a $5 breakfasts. D and I both had the potato omelet, Don pancakes & fruit and Victoria the mushroom omelet. After brekkie we decided that it would be fun to split a golf cart for the day.

Our first stop was at Casa de la Suenos which was an enormous hit with their gorgeous setting and what we thought were the most amazing nachos ever. We split them for a late lunch. D & V had a cheese & bean fajitas which were deemed less spectacular.

We walked out to the end of their dock for photos. This one of Don and Victoria.

We stopped for a look at La Joya as D & V had almost booked there and never seen it.

We tootled around the island including stops at Hortenzia’s to get some work done for me and North Beach for a swim. Actually only V & D swam as my D had already showered and I had a bit of a headache.

That evening after sunset on our front porch, we picked them up for supper where we had arranged with BoBo’s to watch a Jets game.

We were upstairs which was stiffling hot but we had so much fun watching a great game even though Winnipeg lost in a shoot out. We met a guy from Liverpool /Winnipeg who’s wife worked with my sister! My friend Jackie from Winnipeg came by & we visited through the 2nd period. We had tried to meet up with Brother #2 but he and his wife were meeting friends who had come over from Puerto Moreles for the evening. We enjoyed a nap cap under the stars. Another wonderful day.

We are not sure if D is going to be packing his tennis racket in 2016. We are staying at Villas San Miguel and the plan is to enjoy their lovely courtyard, walks on the malecon and the proximity to North Beach. We are also looking forward to cooking in their full kitchen. With their convenient proximity to the grocery store and market, this should be a breeze.

Kath’s quote: “We have the most beautiful planet – the Rockies, the purple fields of the United States, the Lake District, the Pyrenees, the turquoise seas of the tropics.”-Dan Aykroyd

Live simply, laugh often, love deeply.

Autumn is officially upon us and although beautiful, I know what is on its way to the Canadian prairies.  To warm me up, I remembered that I still had a couple of Trip Reports to finish off.  

So, meanwhile back to my recounting of Day 11 on Isla…… If you recall, the gorgeous, clear day suddenly was interrupted with torrents of rain.  Since this was our last full day on Isla, we were undaunted and kept our plans for our progressive dinner in Centro.  This is often how we spend our last full day.  Not only were we trying to make every minute count but we were still trying to check every taste and locale off of our “must try” list.  So we donned our ponchos and headed out into the torrential rain.  The dollar store ponchos that we had packed from home worked well but not our leather shoes in the flooded streets. There was some intriguing action going on in Centro that day.  We walked by Hemingway’s which had closed messages taped all over it.  There were sniffer dogs and big burly guys with guns under their ponchos, helmets and masks.  It was like a scene from a movie, the likes of which we have never encountered back home in the centre of Canada.  But I was comforted that crime is appropriately dealt with on the island and that as long as we kept our own proverbial noses clean, we should never have to encounter such a scene. It was too early for dinner or even appetizers, so we made the rounds where our other family members were staying to say our good-byes.  Our first stop was my brother’s hotel Los Arcos right on Hidalgo.  They too have been coming to Isla for years and he and my beloved sister-in-law love being right in the heart of the action.  He pours an amazing rum and coke to which D gleefully accepted.  I imbibed in a glass of vino tinto and some chips and salsa (trying to be polite but knowing that I had hours of eating ahead).  Our second stop was on the south perimeter of the zocolo at Sister #3’s at Casa el Pio.  She too has her favourite spot where she has stayed, year after year.  More glasses of vino tinto were poured along with the island’s delicious potato chips and onion dip.

After we departed, our progressive dinner began in earnest with a stop at our favourite spot at Bally Hoo (I was the only one in our entourage who hadn’t been) for fish and chips and mango margaritas.

At our next stop at Roca Mar we sat on the covered balcony for shrimp ceviche and Sols.

J2’s Mom agreed to babysit the Wee One so that J2 could join us for the entrée course.

.   

We loved everything about Abuelo’s including the brightly covered napkins that wrapped around the cervezas-a little touch that added some colour to the grey night.

J2 loved the pina coolada with fresh juices.

The place is teeny but welcoming and cozy.

We were amazed by the quality of the food that came out of the equally teeny kitchen.

D chose the whole red snapper and was blown away.

 J2 decided upon the seafood kabobs and was delighted that the fish was skewered with fresh whole strawberries.

Abuelo means grandfather and the restaurant is aptly run by three generations.  We had heard not only how fabulous the food was but that it was lovingly presented.  Everything we heard was absolutely right.   Complimentary chocolate flan was delivered to us all for dessert -even me who hadn’t ordered an entrée.  We can’t wait to go back to Abuelo’s. We carried on with more vino tinto at Don Cheapo’s.

We strolled up and down Hidalgo to help digest our supper and make room for another dessert!

Our niece had been to the island in the New Year and her favourite spot was Café Hidalgo.

Gorgeous crepes were lovingly created by a hippie lad who considered each plate a work of art.  J2 selected nutella, banana and real shredded coconut .  I chose the sugar and lime with strawberries and just whipped, cream.  We were so impressed with how homey the café was with books and games to help you pass a rainy day or if you were dining on your own.  Another spot that we will definitely go back to. By this time it was late, and if you recall, we had started the day hours ago in part one of this recounting.  J2 invited us to their balcony at Roca Mar to sip a Kahlua but in spite of our intent to fit extra minutes into our last full day, we had to admit that it was time to make the stroll home one last time.

Kath’s quote: “I am not a glutton — I am an explorer of food.”-Erma Bombeck

Love-that is all.