Cancun 1

Happy Martin Luther King Day! Let's go to the beach.

So this weekend, we booked a last minute trip to Cancun. The beaches were beautiful, and it was great to just get away and relax. One thing I hadn't expected is that Cancun is a lot like going to Florida. Everyone is from the US, everyone speaks English and all the waiters and cab drivers are from Mexico! The weather was warm except for a bit of a rainstorm on Sunday, and we had a good time. I don't know that we'll go back to Cancun, but we will be heading back to the Yucatan Peninsula soon to do more exploring.

We headed out to the airport right after work and were immediately greeted with another "ironic" t-shirt.

This looked like a thrift shop left-over from the 80's and the guy wearing didn't seem to think there was anything weird about it at all. Nor did he appear as though he'd spent a great deal of time in Cleveland, but nonetheless I agree with the sentiment wholeheartedly.


Ok, back to the vacation!
View from the hotel!

This was pretty much my entire experience in Cancun...
Ahh...beach-brellas!
Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Ingrish!

While there is an abundant amount of hilarious "Ingrish" going on here in Mexico, this post is dedicated to Krissy and Johnathan! And, while I was not able to capture these two priceless gems on film, thanks to Photoshop, I can share them with you all now!

Seen on an employee walking into the Sheraton Hotel...
...who did not, in fact, have a mustache!!!
As worn by some douche-y guy walking around Polanco in a flannel and high-tops...
...last minute note to Santa??

Ron & Julie Visit: Day 7: Chapultepec Castle

For their last day, we headed out to Chapultepec Castle. We arrived early to be the post-church crowds, and it was really fun. Part of the castle had been converted into a museum, and there were tons of murals, art and artifacts from Mexican history. The grounds were beautiful, with immaculate gardens and views of the city.

South entrance to the castle.

Interior rooms of the castle.

View of Torre Mayor (tallest building in Mexico) from the balcony.

Having fun!

Julie loved the all the topiaries and sculpted plants...look for these in Colville next summer!

The castle tower.

Amazing stained glass hallway!

Thanks for a great visit!!

Ron & Julie Visit: Day 6: New Year's Day

Unfortunately, Julie had to take the day off from her vacation and rest today, so Autumn and I walked around the neighborhood and through Chapultepec Park with Ron. After a failed attempt to visit the Chapultepec Castle,due to a ridiculously long line at the ticket window, we decided to go through the history museum instead. It was kind of weird, and was filled with dioramas of scenes from Mexico's history. Particularly awkward was the section on the Mexican-American war and the numerous invasions of Mexico by the US. However, we didn't get too many angry stares from the other visitors, so I guess all was well.

Our attempts to translate the numerous plaques and descriptions for Ron helped lighten the mood with their complete lack of detail and sweeping statements like, "This one is showing some guy getting shot" and "Here's one that is showing a famous battle." I think the dioramas probably told us all a lot more then the signs!

Our day took a much more fun turn when we took a cab over to Arena Mexico to take in an extra-special-super-scandalous LUCHA LIBRE!! (aka Mexican Wrestling).

Lucha babes!
Marcela, Rain and Goya Kong
VS.
Princess Sugehit, Tiffany and Zeuxis!

Highlights from the program:


Round 1: Beginners - Super cheesy beginners - not worth translating!

Round 2: Lady combat - see above

Round 3: Cybernetic Tournament - Kings of the Air 2011!! Featuring:

Delta, Gold Angel, Diamond, Silver Angel, Fire, Comet King, Pegasus and Molotov Cocktail
VS.
Gunpowder, Virus, Raziel, Goalkeeper, Archangel, Puma King, Scorpion and the Tiger Kid!

Round 4: Scandalous Semifinal - Featuring:

Rotoporky, Maximo and Son of the Ghost
VS.
Underworld, Mephistopheles and Hephaestus

Round 5: Grand Combat - Featuring:

Mystic, The Shadow, and Golden Mask
VS.
The Black Pest, Pirate King, Black Houses, and Catman

Ron & Julie Visit: Day 5: Puebla

New Year's Eve! We took advantage of the day off, and drove over to Puebla for the day. Julie was feeling a bit under the weather, so we hopped on the Puebla Turibus with cameras in hand. It was actually a really cool trip. We saw the fort where the battle of Puebla was fought. FYI, Cinco de Mayo is not actually a celebration of beer and tacos, but actually the anniversary of this battle!

Afterward we grabbed lunch at el Mural de los Poblanos, checked out the churches and browsed the markets before heading home. Our trusty GPS knew the way, but me....not so much! After a few wrong turned and few "recalculating...when possible make a u-turn", we were back on the right track.

When we got home, we had some snacks, drinks, and played Trivial Pursuit while we watched the ball drop in New York - LIVE via internet!

...What else floats in water? Bread. Apples. Very small rocks. Cider. Gravy. Cherries. Mud.
Churches!

Inside the tallest church in Mexico.

Turibus time!

Wee!

Town Hall decorated for the holidays!

Unlike the low-hanging tree branch face-slapping of the Turibus of Mexico City...
...the Puebla version utilized tangled nests of high-voltage wires!

View of the volcano from the fort.

Churches...

...Spires!

...and more churches!

Lunch started with the world's tiniest soup!

Talavera peacock!

Ron & Julie Visit: Day 3 & 4

Wednesday R&J took another spin on the Turibus to check out a few more locations and met up with Autumn for lunch at P.F. Chang's.

Thursday, Autumn took the day off and went shopping at the Ciudadela Artesania to browse handicrafts from all around Mexico. Autumn got a cool, new plate and her parents picked up a few souvenirs too. Afterward, they stopped by the office to have street tacos with me, and then continued on their merry way.

Julie and Autumn at the Ciudadela

Barbecue!

After our drive back from Puebla, we barbequed steaks and green onions. The green onions are a thing here that Autumn learned about from her warehouse guys. You just barbeque them until their soft and kind of blackened, and then you just bite the white tips off. They're very sweet and delicious...

Anyway, I forgot to buy charcoal briquettes at the commissary, so I had picked up some Mexican "charcoal," which I've used before, and it's fine...but definitely not the same as it's American counterpart. It's basically just a bag of semi-burnt leaves, sticks and twigs, and it puts on quite a show after you finally get it lit.

Yes, that's about a 10 foot high inferno of sparks and flames shooting out of the chimney starter that we use for lighting the barbecue!