fantasy day 3

antasy day 3
Here we are, you wake up and you are in Mexico. The water was a pale aqua...pelicans flying everywhere overhead, the sound of a container ship nearby and the best part...we are the only ship in port. We eat a bite of eggs, ham, homestyle potatoes and head out. Our mission to book a tour of the ruins. We had bought one on the ship but it was cancelled, so we decided to try on our own. Other mission...vanilla!!! And maybe some stuff for the kids. First off, we found wind chimes...going to buy one for grandpa, got a great gift for my niece, got 3 vanillas, and booked a tour for 1/2 the price I had it for on the ship and it was going to Medira...the ship your was not. The tour took us first to the flea market. They had some lapis jewelry that I liked, but I have a nice piece so I opted not to look too hard. The market was flooded with folks wanting to sell us stuff. Hammocks were the biggest...ten dollars. I saw a guy making one..should be way more than ten dollars. He was working so hard.

Our tour bus was very nice... Very clean. A dude came on the bus singing to us and playing guitar. I could have played just as well as he did. He sang okay, but the playing...aye ya yi.

Our bus began the journey through Progresso. Not much to see except hurricane stoppers made out of concrete blocks. They were so high that in most spots you could not even see the ocean. Once we headed towards the ruins, the countryside was vast, flat, full of rubbish (trash), a waterpark ( that was very large), loads of signs and billboards, and a 90 kilometer an hour speed limit. The vegetation was palms and grasses for the most part. There were not areas of just sand or conditions of dryness, nope it was green all around. It did not take long to get to the ruins, Ivan was our tour guide and was of Mayan decent so he seemed to know alot of the culture, the language, and what everything was without looking. He was also very funny!! He spoke to us of his people in a very honest, informative way. He explained what each ruin was and what its purpose was. Explained what happened to the Myans, why they looked as they did, and about ruins that were destroyed by Catholic priests in the 1600s. Then he took us to a Mayan well, called the Cenote. Here folks were swimming, three of our group swam and John put his feet in. He said the fish nibbled his toes. The water was an blue topaz dark blue with lily pads that had the flowers...it was very peaceful and calm. We then started on the track to the observatory. It has connections with the solstices on our calendar...the sun will shine through the door or one of the two windows during this time of year. Dec 21 is the next one so we missed it. Ivan showed us a Mayan house and explained that they could withstand a hurricane and why. Then we boarded our bus and took off to Medira.

Ivan first took us through the "new Yucatan " where there are shopping malls, burger king, Macdonald's, Wal-Mart (but it looked Mayan), Sam's club, pizza hut, a very modern world. Medira is the capital of the Yucatan and is land locked, very different than I expected.

Entering old Yucatan, you can see the difference. Older homes, ornate carvings, Mayan influenced designs, 1800 ish type of influences. Cab took us to the Governors palace first. It had a two story, aqua green facade. It was built as a courtyard and a guard out front. We entered with no problem. Ivan took us upstairs to see murals depicting the Mayan culture and history of the Yucatan people. The murals were wonderful...very nicely done and huge. We left here and he took us to the Mayors plaza. We saw an actual city meeting and walked into the room where they were conducting the meeting. I never thought that would be possible. It was now time to go back to the ship...we ate lunch...cheeseburgers and fries, homestyle potatoes, Mac and cheese, tirarmisu cheesecake, banana cream pie, and a salad. By this time it was time for John to take a nap and I edited every single photo that I had so far taken. When he woke up, we headed to the hot tub..we had it all to ourselves...how cool is that? When folk started to pour onto the Lido deck,we headed to eat. I had dressing, noodle soup, pumpkin hash, real tiramisu, uh...two of them...and John had pizza.

After that we did what old folks do...came to the room watched Law and order and I fell asleep.