Grand Gala Esmeralda Beach Resort And Spa Playa del Carmen

... Maple Leafs 3-0. Funny tthat we had to come all the way to Mexico to watch hockey. Karl ordered a beer and good fortune was on our side - it was 2 for 1! After the game we played a card game they translated for us as 'One'. Clever Karl figured out they were talking about Uno.

Settled in well and are off to Cuba today.

... them ran away when they saw us, but some of the big ol boys held their ground. It was pretty freaky!

I would never ever take a picture in front of the swimming pool for my own beneift, however I know my parents would want to see the pool so Mom and Dad here you go!
Cancun was an experience. It was like being in the United States, and I definately did not like it. Good bye Cancun, I hope to never ever see you again!

Today was one of the most relaxing days we have had for a month, 4 Hours of Spanish school, 2 hours lingering by the pool, back to the apartment for a home cooked meal and we all sat around the couch taking it in turns to read "the Subtle Knife" by Philip Pulman. On this trip, during those spare moments when we choose to do nothing, we have been reading or listening to someone else read chapters from this trilogy. We have already been through "Northern ...

... out routine repeated for someone’s benefit because everyone seemed to be in on it except us. The 'coup de grace' was when one of the waiters knelt over the prone patron and applied two coconut shells to his chest as an "erzats" defibulator. The scene became even more surrel as the waiter recoiled at the fake electrical shock supposedly administered by the coconut shells and the patron kicking his feet in a mock reaction to the “electrical shocks” ...

... clovek potapet, videt jak basti, jak se nadechujou. Jeste lepsi nez s delfinama. Pak jsme si srazili par kokosovych orechu a nazpatek stopli dva trucky, ktere nas odvezli zpet do Playa. Vecer bylo vyroci otevreni hostelu, takze se konala velka party. Ostatne jeste jsem nezazil noc, kdy bych nemel nejakou party. :) Velmi povedena akce. :)

... to be a very nice hotel that brings very nice memories from our childhood.. "Las Cabaņas del Capitan Lafitte".. a hotel that used to be off track.. and very quiet.. no TV.. no pool.. and with a terrible beach.. but where somehow, my two brothers, two cousins and I found super great when I was about 9 years old. Well.. this hotel got affected by the last hurricane here (OCT 2007) and Beduino though they were rebuilding it but NO... they sold it.. and now a ...

So after a hard week in Cuba, we decided a couple of days on a Carribean island off the coast of Cancun could well prove necessary. Isla de Mujeres (Island of Women) was chosen for no particular reason (really!) and the days passed in relative comfort (for some - others had killer hangovers ...

... make it on time..especially when we get pulled over for speeding and are delayed an extra 15 mins before getting to Adrian's house..and then it took awhile for the shuttle to come to the Park n' Fly...not surprisingly, we were the absolutely last people to check in for our flight at 5am. In hindsight it doesn't matter because our flight that was supposed to take off at 6 was delayed 2.5 hours! I spent the extra time alternately sleeping and complaining with Adrian ...

... haber ido a un lugar llamado Perico's, y la imagen de mis padres totalmente borrachos, no tiene precio. Tambien recuerdo que nuestro hotel tenia en la piscina reposeras construidas con material (cemento) en la parte baja del agua. Una gran idea!
Cancun fue un gran viaje, pude conocerlo en esa epoca de esplendor turistico, y algun dia volvere a ver como ha evolucionado. Han pasado 15 aņos ya desde este viaje...