We enjoyed the morning’s sunrise and coffee with two new Canadian neighbours at Luna d’Miel.

I made a big ham and egg breakfast and then packed a lunch for our afternoon at north beach. It was a hot one and me being as freckled as I am, I spent the afternoon under an umbrella.

We love the beach at any time but especially early in the day before the other beach lovers arrive. At this particular time, it felt like we had the beach all to ourselves.

When there is no one else at the beach, the view is breathtaking and there is no one to disturb you as you escape into your book.

Eventually it is time to stretch and take a walk so I head east on north beach (with my camera of course).

The cool of our very own spot on the beach was waiting for me.

Eventually we are joined by Sister #3 and Brother #3 who consistently visit the island at the same time as us. We are a family that loves to hang out together. You can likely tell that with my fair skin I don’t take after the same parent as my siblings.

We were in and out of the crystalline waters all day to refresh ourselves.

We enjoyed a late lunch time of sandwiches made of manchego cheese, cucumber, cilantro and lime mayo-oh yum! We made the hot walk home and hop into the shower and then head back into town again.

On a beach day such as this one, we do a lot of walking back and forth from North Beach/centro to Luna d’Miel on the Airport Road. We are very much looking forward to staying in town at Villas San Miquel this year. With a pool right in the courtyard, we may even decide not to go to the beach at all. We expect that refreshing breezes off the open ocean will cool us.

Kath’s quote:“A real friend is someone who takes a winter vacation on a sun-drenched beach and does not send a card.”–Farmer’s Almanac

Love never fails.

We were up for anther glorious sunrise and just enjoyed our time on the ocean side of Luna D’Miel. 

Brother #3

One of our favourite beach vendors.

Later that morning we went to find Brother #3 and his wife on North Beach. 

When lunch time came around we walked the short distance to the Loncherias (across from Las Palmas).

This little sweetie was on her school lunch break.

Over the years, we have eaten at three of the four Loncherias and decided that it was high time to make it a fait du complete by visiting Poc Chuc. 

D had a chicken burrito and I the poc chuc.

Even though the latter is not usually accompanied by papas fritoes, they very cheerfully accompanied me.

We luxuriated in the setting sun.

That night we visited Ziggy, the personable waiter from Café Cito’s at Monchi’s  in Colonia’s  for dinner.  Ziggy, like so many Islanders, works night and day and in the evening he is the cook at Monchi’s.  It was my first visit and will not be my last.

The evening started with slices of baguette with a garlicky dip.  I ordered pineapple fried rice with chicken where Ziggy scoops out a pineapple then mixes the fruit with a twist on his fried rice recipe including shredded purple cabbage and celery.  

D and Sister #3 loved the coconut shrimp. 

Sis-in-law had the fish special which was stuffed with seafood in a white sauce and wrapped up and baked in a foil packet. 

We all love the chayote (sp?) which tasted like a cross between a melon and cucumber. 

Dona tucked into garlic shrimp. 

Brother #3 was really pleased with his enormous burrito.

Time is slipping away from me since we spent our two glorious weeks on our precious Isla and even though I keep a travel diary, the details are slipping away from me too.  But I can tell you with certainty, the emotions that I was experiencing that day, because they are the same ones that I have everyday that I spend on the island-delight in the rising sun and glorious days spent basking in it; deep satisfaction with the food so carefully prepared by the exceptional Isla cooks; peace while gazing at the turquoise sea and setting sun; and lastly, immense joy when in the company of my beloved family and Isla family. 

Kath’s quote: “He is the very pineapple of politeness!” Richard Brinsley Sheridan

My coffee filters at Luna D’Miel-I kid you not!

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.