Yulia woke up early. Technically, I did as well. but she likes her morning walks on vacation and when I tried to get up to join her I fell right back down. I needed more rest. So she took off for a swim and walk and I tried to fall back asleep. I was able to flop about a bit but couldn’t sleep. The flight and temperature change were both still fighting me.
Yulia came back after some indeterminate time and was going crazy. I threw some clothes on and she pulled me downstairs to the garden below our room. First thing I saw was a huge Iguana. Behind that in the garden was a little animal that looked like an Anteater Racoon Cat. It was cure with spindly legs, and wandered off. The iguana was not amused and wandered into taller grass. There were all kinds of Iguanas everywhere we walked. You literally had to be careful to not step on one.
It was still fairly early so the resort was mostly empty, and the Iguanas and Racoon Cats acted as the night crew. With the sun up we could see how big this place was. It was Huge! We passed three pools on the way to the beach. The beach itself was beautiful, curving around the resort – except for the seaweed. There was a thick layer of seaweed on the beach. It is Sargasso kelp and this is the season. Apparently it’s an amazing fertilizer and used in Chinese medicine. So it all gets harvested and used, but it does smell a bit funny.
We walked the beach up to another Pool. There was a swim-up bar in this one, and a canoe river along the side. This resort just kept going. We kind of booked it by accident since it had good reviews. We didn’t know how big this place was. Yulia and I went up to an open buffet for some breakfast since Sasha and Petru were still out. As expected, everything was super fresh. I was particularly hungry since I was really too tired to eat the night before. I piled up on eggs and sausage and Yulia got a lot of fresh fruit. The coffee was also fantastic, and as soon as we were close to done, Sasha texted us. We left breakfast to get her and Petru, and did the whole tour and breakfast a second time. We were now technically into Elevensies.
From there we hit the shops for some forgotten Flip Flops and items. I’ll probably go and get a few Corona Beer items – they actually have some nice logo wear and it would be nice to have some beer shirts that aren’t worn out from 2003. We headed back to the closest pool and everyone but me got prepared to swim. I hadn’t actually planned ahead and was wearing regular shorts. But i was still so tired I just found a nearby umbrella and passed out.
About an hour later I came to since everyone else had been swimming and having margaritas at the swim up bar. The clouds were dark gray overhead, and we could start to hear thunder. This is another thing we learned about this area. Tropical Thunderstorms. There was a little rain splatter, but it was still really warm. So we headed towards a pool closer to our room. At this point i was ready to swim and wanted to change. We navigated the winding trails between buildings until we made it to our pool. I went back and changed, and returned to the pool to find even darker clouds. Everyone including us ignored them.
I got a margarite from the bar and walked straight into the water. It was so good since i was totally overheated. We floated for a bit until the rain started – then increased. It was warm rain hitting us in the pool. It passed and turned sunny – then came back again. Stronger and colder this time. We just stayed in the pool until it all blew over. it did and we went from there to one of the beach bars for tacos. The beachfront was great – we had too many tacos and watched the tractor harvest seaweed. (there was plenty left). We weren’t in a rush to do anything in particular. So we didn’t. Yulia swam in the ocean after that.
From there we were all beat and went back to rest in our rooms. Relaxing is hard work.
Later in the evening we went to an Italian restaurant in the resort. It wasn’t great really. It’s one of those cases where the cooks didn’t know how the food should taste, so everything was good, but just not quite right. Like when i got Chinese food in Moscow Russia – Not quite right. The red wine however was spot on. It was recommended (we had to pay extra) and since we had a coupon i went for it. It was a Mexican red wine, and a blend. We were surprised at how good it was. Napa-level quality honestly. It was probably the best part of the meal. I also got a dumpster Fire of a cocktail – supposedly an Old Fashioned. But this had muddled sugar and lime, lots of ice – Club soda, and no bitters.
It was not good.
We made our way back to the room, stopping at a lobby bar for a drink on out walk and listening to some music. We are excited for this week since we already have some trips planned. It should be a lot of fun.
But I’m going to have to teach these kids how to mix a fucking cocktail.
Cognitive Dissonance 