Today started pretty much the same way as yesterday – we all slept in a little and kind of lazily went through our morning rituals… Breakfast was the same as yesterday – yogurt, granola, some pastries, coffee and juice – but with some fresh strawberries, nectarines and bananas added in for extra healthiness. After breakfast, Caitlin decided she was going to take advantage of the sun being out (it was cloudy most of yesterday) and do some tanning so Marie and I rode into Colonia to buy our bus tickets to Valladolid for Wednesday.
It’s a little over 3km from our apartment to the bus depot and the bike ride takes about 15 minutes along a separated walkway/bike path… It’s a little unnerving when buses go by but is very safe and mostly flat (except for a little hill at the Colonia end) so even as out of shape as we are, it’s an easy cycle to Colonia. In fact, getting around Puerto Morelos by bike is the way to go. There’s a little bit of traffic to contend with at times but nothing crazy and there are places all over town to lock up your bikes and the little baskets on the front of the bikes makes carrying the day’s essentials and purchases around much easier than lugging a bag or backpack around. Definitely worth the $10 a day rental fee…
Buying our bus tickets was pretty straightforward. It’s all computerized so we were able to pick our seats and reserve our times even though the guy behind the glass window spoke minimal English. It’s a cash only gig but the whole cost of the tickets was only 393 pesos (about $26CDN) for a 2 and a quarter hour bus ride for three people. Definitely cheaper than renting a car or taking a taxi! The only wrinkle is that you can’t buy a Puerto Morelos – Cancun – Valladolid ticket, but can only buy the Cancun-Valladolid leg… so we’ll need to figure out how to get to Cancun on Wednesday in advance of our 1pm departure. Shouldn’t be a big deal as there’s apparently a bus every 15 minutes to Cancun.
After getting our bus tickets, Marie and spent some time riding around Colonia. It’s definitely more for locals (ie. we didn’t see any hotels and there were no real touristy attractions to speak of) but it’s definitely worth spending some time exploring if you’re in PM for any length of time. There’s a lot of interesting looking food choices that we’d have explored if we’d had more time… But after a couple of loops around we decided to head back and rejoin Caitlin. The ride back seemed a little longer (I think there’s a slight uphill grade heading back into PM) but was still more than doable even for those who haven’t been on a bike for years.
Once back at the apartment, we dragged Caitlin out of the sun and headed into town to get something to eat. We settled in on Pelicanos – a seafood restaurant located right on the beach. I had pollo pibil (sort of a stewed chicken dish with rice and refried beans all served on a banana leaf. It was a bit bland but the portion was huge). I don’t remember what Marie ordered for lunch but do remember that she ordered a liqueur called Xtabentun (because it was listed under the anise section of the menu). It turns out it’s a local Yucatan drink made from anise and fermented honey – it’s very sweet and is strongly licorice flavoured… Marie loved it – first thing she’s ever drank that she liked better than sambuca! Caitlin and I stuck with beers. Which we needed after stupidly sampling the sauce the waiter placed on the table and warned us was piquante – it most certainly was! As we were finishing up lunch, Marie said she was going to go test the water… after dipping her toes in, she decided she was just going to keep walking… Caitlin and I weren’t sure whether she’d just decided to go walkabout or what… we weren’t particularly worried but weren’t sure whether we should order another beer or not…
After lunch we sort of ambled around some of the stores – where we realized that lots of them – and quite a few of the restaurants – were closing up early seeings as how it was Christmas Eve and all… Christmas Eve is the big deal for many in Mexico with families eating their big turkey dinner, opening presents and generally celebrating until the wee hours of the morning… Christmas Day is more of a recovery day so the stores will open later (if they open at all). We thought we should check and make sure that at least Habaneros would be open (it would be) and then meandered back to the apartment. We may have stopped at one of the beach clubs for happy hour… There might have been some happy hour Palomas (grapefruit juice and tequila) and lounge chairs and swings… There was definitely napping once we got back to the apartment. Even Caitlin and Marie sacked out for a while… Bike ride in the morning plus a big lunch plus a couple of drinks plus heat is a perfect recipe for serious afternoon napping!
Eventually we all sort of regained consciousness, cleaned up and headed out for something to eat (by this time it was around 8pm). Because it was Christmas Eve we settled on a fairly posh looking place called La Papillon… As we settled into one of the street side tables, the waiter asked if we had a reservation but said it would be okay that we didn’t… we figured out afterwards that the empty wine bottle with a strip of paper wrapped around it was their “Reserved” sign… so apparently we took someone’s table… oops… The prices were definitely in line with the fancier set and were a bit posh as well… I ordered a lasagna bolognese, Marie ordered lamb skewers and Caitlin ordered a cheese plate. Caitlin’s cheese plate (160 pesos = about $11) was definitely the best value with 3 cheeses (blue, Brie and a sesame crusted goat cheese) with grapes, walnuts and little pieces of bread. Mine was tasty but definitely a bit on the cold side and Marie’s was smallish (it was an appetizer to be fair) but was also a bit on the rare side… Marie wasn’t sure but she thought she heard it Baaa-ing a couple of times. In keeping with the upscale French bistro theme they had going, the service was a bit shall we say “restrained” as well… not poor but not really that good either. But it was Christmas Eve and they may have been short-staffed as well so we didn’t really mind the automatic 15% gratuity they added to the bill (the first time this has been done so far this trip). But with the slow service we did have a bit of time to kill which might have resulted in a bit of silliness… Marie’s “Santa Grapes” had us all cracking up and may have worried our fellow diners a bit… Oh yeah… we were also serenaded by a group of carollers singing Joy to the World and Deck the Halls… What they lacked in talent, they made up for with enthusiasm… sort of…
After dinner we checked out the Christmas tree in the square and had a lovely conversation with one of the artists selling his watercolour paintings and sketches. He told us how he had been to Canada 5 times to show his works and that he was originally from Cuba and had been an art history professor. He and I had a great chat about Sir Walter Raleigh and Caitlin picked up one of his small watercolours. After that we kind of wandered a bit more before making our way back home… Where Marie and Caitlin decided to avail themselves of the free Netflix provided with the apartment to watch The Grinch (the live action one with Jim Carrey) while I watched a downloaded episode of Peaky Blinders (love that show!) on my iPad… I didn’t last as long as they did – a bit of exercise plus a bit of sun and lots of food had my eyes closing pretty soon after I laid down… Marie and Caitlin turned in soon after I closed my eyes (the internet stopped working so they couldn’t finish The Grinch)…
In all, a very nice way to spend Christmas Eve in Mexico… There’s a few places making an effort for the holidays (lights and decorations and such) and most people wish you Feliz Navidad (Happy Christmas) and they have the Christmas tree in the main square but it’s not a huge thing here… And we certainly haven’t been trying to maintain Christmas here (we didn’t bring any presents to unwrap)… For some reason, all of us (Caitlin included) weren’t really feeling the Christmas thing this year so it’s been nice to take a break from it. We were commenting that this is (with the exception of a week on Koh Lanta as part of a longer trip to Thailand and Cambodia) the first time we’ve ever really travelled without an agenda of places to visit and things to do and we’re all enjoying just taking a break… and Puerto Morelos has turned out to be the perfect place to just relax and unwind…