Hello, baby.

Sonogram and amnio today. We'll get results back from the amnio in a week or so. Hol is doing well, napping and taking it easy for the next 72 hours. So far, so good.

Oh, and it's a boy!!!

 Posted by ben into Family at 06:39 PM

Collectivos, Ferries, Taxis, Planes and Automobiles

3/30 (Sunday)

Our last day on vacation. No one was looking forward to heading home. I got up before sunrise to get some photos of the sunrise across the water. We lounged in the room, reading and eating breakfast before heading down to the beach for a swim and some sun. Continue reading "Collectivos, Ferries, Taxis, Planes and Automobiles"

 Posted by ben into MX '08 at 10:00 PM

Puerto Juarez and Cancun

3/29 (Saturday)

We slept in Saturday morning, reading and waiting for breakfast to arrive. The view from the room was postcard material -- a view of Isla Mujeres straight across the blue water and Punta Cancun just to the right, all without leaving the bed. The hotel staff brings breakfast to your room -- toast, fruit, cereal, yogurt, juice and coffee. Made even more delicious since you don't have to leave bed. We spent the morning lounging on the beach, swimming in the ocean and fresh water pool. After a few hours we "worked" up an appetite for lunch. David had read about an authentic posole (a stew/soup dish) restaurant that he wanted to try, so we stopped for lunch on our way to Cancun. David had his stew (comes with a side of fried pig skin, pass!) and I got handmade tamales wrapped in steaming banana leaves. Coronas con limon. When they found out that Hol wasn't feeling well, they offered to make her some fresh chicken soup. What luck, a Juve vs. Inter game was on the TV. I'm not a huge Serie A fan, but the quality of the game in comparison to some of the Copa Libreteria games I'd been watching was much higher. Continue reading "Puerto Juarez and Cancun"

 Posted by ben into MX '08 at 10:00 PM

Ik-kil and Chichen Itza

3/28 (Friday)

David met us at our hotel and we grabbed a quick breakfast before catching a collectivo (5 pesos each) to the Ik-Kil cenote. We were the first ones there. Although the signs at the highway were modest and run down, the park was anything but. We could see why -- parking for the monster sized touring buses that would arrive within a few hours, stores and vendors, a nice looking restaurant and bar. They had no need to advertise, the tour buses brought them business all day long. Continue reading "Ik-kil and Chichen Itza"

 Posted by ben into MX '08 at 10:00 PM

Merida, then Piste

3/27 (Thursday)

In the morning we got up early enough to join a walking tour of the city center. After signing in for the (free!) tour, we walked to the Ado window to buy our tickets to Piste. We joined the tour and walked around city center with the group. The tour took us through the building that housed the original (Spaniard) founders of the city -- much like the US, the cities and land was taken from the natives by Europeans. The front of the building (now a bank was charged with maintaining the historic structure) depicted large Spaniard soldiers and tiny Mayan "savages". The armored Spanish stood on the heads of Mayans. We walked through the modern art museum, the cathedral and the capital building (Merida the capital of the Yucatan.). In the capital building there's dozens of large canvases, each depicting period or incident in the history of the Yucatan. After the tour we headed back to the hotel to pack-up and check out. Juan was nice enough to arrange a taxi to the bus terminal, which gave us time to grab a snack at the Cafe Habana just down the street. Continue reading "Merida, then Piste"

 Posted by ben into MX '08 at 10:00 PM

Uxmal

3/26 (Wednesday)

After one night (and morning) at D' Champ, we knew we wanted something else. We got up early to run errands... dropping off our laundry and researching hotels closer to the center of town. We stopped in at a nice looking hostel (Sta Lucia) and spoke with the manager. He had a room available without a private bath. While not our first choice, he suggested we look around the corner. He also gave us some details on how transportation to and from Uxmal worked, especially if we wanted to see the light show. Continue reading "Uxmal"

 Posted by ben into MX '08 at 10:00 PM

Heading West

3/25 (Tuesday)

We woke up early in hopes of catching the sunrise -- the island is so tiny that you can easily walk from the east side to the west side in 15 minutes or less. Strangely (or perhaps not), the owner was sleeping on a couch by the door. We'd have had to wake him to get outside... We decided to skip it. We went back to bed for a few hours and then got up and headed over to Playa Norte for a few hours. It was early for the beach crowd and Hol picked a practically deserted spot right on the water. It was still a little cool, with some light wind but the sun was out and quickly warmed everything up. Hol did some yoga and I read my book. Since we were leaving today, I wanted one last dip in the "caribe". The beach here is so shallow that I could walk out at least 150 meters before the water was at my waist... No rocks or reef for hundreds of meters, just the white sand. Continue reading "Heading West"

 Posted by ben into MX '08 at 10:00 PM