It’s been awhile since I’ve updated, I know! We’ve been very busy pounding the pavement to find a condo, with no luck so far, but some leads. I haven’t been keeping a proper journal of our days lately, so I’ll have to do this one from memory.
We’ve spent quite a few days walking and driving around the streets of Playa. Driving here is very interesting, and not for the faint of heart! Luckily I was already a crazy driver, so I assimilated pretty quickly. Almost all of the streets in Playa are one way, so sometimes its frustrating when you are trying to get to a certain place and you keep missing it, overshooting it by a street, or undershooting is by a street, and you end up driving around the block two or three times like a loco gringo! But we’re getting used to it.
We looked at one apartment that was close to 5th Ave and had a small pool, but it was only a one bedroom with a pull out couch, so we decided we’d keep looking. I called a lot of numbers from the Se Renta signs that were posted on buildings, but the places were either already rented or there was just no answer. It was really frustrating trying to figure out how to call the numbers, too! But the nice owner of the Tropical Casablanca where we are now staying helped me by showing me how to do all the dialing. There’s a certain way to dial local, and to dial cell phones, and to dial Cancun, and you have to recognize the numbers to knw if they are cell phones sometimes. It was also a little difficult to communicate with people I talked to with my limited Spanish, but I made out okay with the words I knew, “Departamento se renta, cuanto cuesta por mes, necesito por seis meses, dos camas, cocina, hay alberca? amueblados?”. They were able to get the gist of what I meant and needed! =) And I’m learning new words everyday.
For the first few days, we would work on trying to find a place to live in the morning until it got really hot and the kids started really complaining, and then we’d go to the beach. We stayed at the Cohiba for two nights, then they had no more availability and we went to the Pension San Juan. It’s right on 5th Ave, and is a budget hotel. We booked for one night only as we never knew when we’d find a condo. The hotel was cute, and had a shared kitched with stove and fridge and little dining patio that overlooked 5th. Anyone could use the kitchen, which was neat. Our room was also cute, it had a king size bed (a REAL king size!) and then a rollaway single bed underneath, and a big huge patio. Here’s some photos:
There was also a rooftop patio, but it was dangerous! There was nothing to prevent you from falling completely off the roof in parts, so we took a photo and quickly came down and the kids were told not to go back up again. Here’s the view:
The morning before we could check in, we packed everything back into the van from the Cohiba (this was beginning to really suck!) and we went and had some breakfast at Bip Bip on Constitutuyentes and 5th. It has a really good breakfast, and is fairly inexpensive. The kids had hotcakes and scrambled eggs, and John and I had a mexicali omellette. The breakfast came with freshly squeezed OJ and coffee, and the total for the bill was about $17 US.
We then drove down the street beside the Porto Real and parked there, and walked out to take a look at the beach there and see if it was still as beautiful as it used to be (Coco Beach, I think it’s called over here). It was as beautiful as ever, except for this new monolith of a pier that has been built here.
We walked a little bit, then came back to the van to drive around some more and look for some more rentals. We found one lady in a property management office who said she had a one bedroom condo for 850 per month right by Coco Beach, fully furnished. She said to come back tomorrow first thing in the morning (10 am) to see it. Funny, first thing in the morning here is much different than MY idea of first thing!!
It was about noon, so we grabbed some snacks and fruit and went back to the beach for the day. It had filled up a lot more now.
It was a beautiful day, and the wind was great as it kept us feeling cool by the water. The kids had fun playing in the water and the sand.
We spent most of the day here, then went to check in at our hotel. We grabbed some pizza for dinner on the way. John and Kelsey then decided to stay in the room, and Jorden and I went to the Tequila Barrel so that I could use the WiFi signal to check my email and do some other Internet things I needed to do. Jorden enjoyed a couple Fantas and I had a Mojito. What a cheap date!
The next day we decided to change hotels again because there was no parking anywhere near the San Juan, and we needed to be able to be near the car to get at our stuff. So I went out first thing in the morning and inquired at a bunch of hotels for prices. I finally found the Tropical Casablanca, which is a really cute little budget hotel right near the beach. I’m not sure if it’s 1st or 2nd Ave, but it’s just one block off the beach, one down from 5th. We were able to get a double room with A/C and a fridge for 500 pesos, and it has a pool and a cool cenote in the middle. The owners also live in a house in middle of the hotel, and they are very nice. Here’s some photos:
They told me I could have the room for up to two weeks, it was empty, so I told them that was great and I’d just pay by the night in case I found a condo, not pay ahead of time. They said no problem, and said I could even pay when I checked out. I thought that was very nice.
We spent the next days doing the same thing – looking for a condo, and going to the beach or hanging out by the pool. We ate dinner one night at Tacos Israel, which is on 10th just a few blocks up from 5th, and has absolutely awesome tacos al pastor. It’s 100 pesos for a Taco Arabe, or 160 for a Taco Arabe con Queso, and we also tried a Tosta Arabe for 160 pesos which was just the same thing on a toasted bun. Then you get to add your own salsa, hot sauce, etc. They were absolutely awesome! And how can you beat the price? About a buck a taco. Wow. Next time I”ll take a photo of them! We’ve also done some shopping at the Chedraui, which is the newer large supermarket here and it sells basically everything you could want or need. The baker section is awesome, I have to stay away from all those sweet breads though! It was hard to find milk the first time, as it is kept warm in the aisle (leche!), you have to refridgerate it after. I was worried about how it would taste and if the kids would like it, but it tastes great, like normal milk. Maybe it is normal milk, I don’t get it. But anyway, it’s good and it works.
There are certain things you can’t find here, or at least WE can’t find them. Sandwich meats, is one. All they seem to have is ham. About fourty different KINDS of ham. But no corned beef, no smoked turkey meat. And real sour cream. And good butter, the butter here is the hardest adjustment, it just tastes wierd! And coffee without French Vanilla Creamer…..lol! But we’ll adjust.
On Monday the 22nd we had a meeting with some of our friends we had met online at La Ranita. I was happy to finally meet Michael who was instrumental in our driving through Mexico and into Playa. I had gotten most of my great info from Michael and he had done a lot to reassure us about the safety driving through Mexico and driving at night. We also met Traci and Terry and their two boys, Mary and Paul, Raj, Anna and James, Deannie, Linda, Lynn, and Luis and Lucy and their two children who became fast friends with Jorden and Kelsey.
The next day we went to see about some other housing. We were starting to get worried, we had even been to Puerto Aventuras to try to find housing there. It’s a nice, quiet town with a lot of condos and homes on the water. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of sandy beach there, however. We asked around, but again nothing really panned out.
On the advice of a friend, we found Norah in One Stop Realty on Fifth near Constitutuyentes. She asked us to return around 2 and she’d take us to see a few places. So we hung by the pool for a few hours, then went and picked up Norah and she took us to a beautfiul condo in La Concha, a condo site in Playacar. It was a brand new condo, never lived in, and was just being furnished, with a pool. The two ladies that had bought it were Italian, and were VERY nice, but they wanted to rent it to someone who would rent it for a year, since they were returning to Italy on monday. But they said if they didn’t find anything by then they would rent it to us.
We looked at a few other places but they were more than we wanted to spend. So we dropped Norah off, and she told us not to worry that she would help us find SOMETHING.
The next day I woke up at 5am and went for a walk along the beach in the high sand all the way to the new Reef Club Coco Beach. I wish I had brought my camera, the beach past this resort is nice beach with no resorts or anything. It was a great morning walk, and now I’m doing it each morning.
We were sitting by our pool in the afternoon and Deanie walked by, a friend I had met the other night at La Ranita that I had known on the boards. She also had moved to Playa from Winnipeg a few months ago. We sat by the pool for awhile chatting, and I took down the directions to her house. Later that night after dinner, I walked up by myself to her place so she could show me some more places near her place that were for rent. We found a few more numbers, then we walked back down by my hotel and went to the Costa Del Mar beach bar and sat in a swing and enjoyed a margarita and chatted for awhile.
The next day I woke up for my walk, it wasn’t very nice out, quite cloudy. I decided to walk the other way, south towards the ferry dock and check things out that way. I took a pictures of the sandpipers:
and it looked cool the way the sun was shining early over the island of Cozumel in the distance and you could just make out the cruise ships over there:
I walked down and took a look at the Continental Plaza, and was surprised to see it falling apart and unoccupied. In the last few trips here I hadn’t beeen down to this area, so the last time I saw it was quite a while ago, but it looked now like the sea was eating up the hotel!
Michael later told us that this hotel was originally quite damaged by a hurricane, and then it had a lot of plumbing problems while still employing guests. Eventually it just closed, and I guess it’s now under reconstruction.
It started to rain, and I didn’t want my camera to get wet, so I turned and started back for the hotel. I first went barefoot into the Zocalo (square) where there is a cart and the guy there squeezes oranges right in front of you making fresh orange juice. I bought a couple to take back with me, you get a big glass for 15 pesos (about a buck fifty). And it’s delicious. I then decided to just walk back barefoot along fifth. It felt great, walking barefoot with sandy feet, carrying freshly squeezed OJ, and hearing those neat bird calls in the quiet air.
After breakfast i started to rain. It rained, then it rained, then it rained some more! It was crazy! It rained long and hard most of the day, and eventually of course in Playa fashion a flood ensued on the road outside the hotel.
It wasn’t looking good for the Thanksgiving dinner tonight! Guess we’d all be sitting and eating inside. Uh-oh.
The kids still played in the pool despite the rain, and at around 2pm we went up to the Chedraui to grab some bbq chickens, some cookies and some beer for the thanksgiving dinner at Michael’s house today. We got back to the hotel around 3:30, grabbed a cab, and headed off to Villa Flamboyan in Playacar.
Villa Flamboyan is absolutely beautiful, if we ever return for a shorter vacation, I’d definately contemplate renting it by the week! It’s amazing. (www.VillaFlamboyan.com)There ended up being about 30 or 40 people at the dinner, people who met on the board. Every person brought a dish of some sort,and Michael deepfried a turkey in his new gas deepfryer he just installed. All of the food was amazing, there was:
Broccoli Casserole, turkey, chicken, bean salad, fruit salad, mashed potatoes, picadilla (<-spelling?), stuffed jalopenos (unbelievable!!!), grilled shrimp, meats and cheese, spinach dip, cakes, cookies, homemade pumpkin pie...it was delicious! Here's John and Michael lowering the bird into the fryer:
the fryer bubbling:
Here’s a group of us getting to know each other better:
and here’s a group shot of everybody:
Jorden and Kelsey made friends with two of the children that live in Playa that they had met the other night, which was great. It was a great dinner.
So that’s all for now, I’ll post another update on Monday when i know if I have the condo or not!
November 28
I woke up at 6am and went for my beach walk in the deep sand. I brought my mp3 player this time so that I could have some music. I left in my barefeet, it was a short walk down the road to the beach and no sense carrying my shoes.
I walked north again as I can go further that way, and took a photo of the sun coming up by the new pier:
Looks like it was going to be a nice day today, and the two days of monsoon rain would finally be gone. I walked past the new Reef Club up near the barren beach, and took a couple pictures:
After that I turned and walked back. We had breakfast in our room, and then decided that we’d take a day off condo searching and just head south in search of some snorkeling and beaches. When we got onto the highway, we decided to stop in Paamul to visit a friend who lives there, Susie. Paamul is about 5 or 10 minutes south down the highway from Playa, and it is really a beautiful place. It is mostly made up of trailers that the owners have attached palapas and structures to in order to make more permanent living quarters. We were really impressed, and really liked it here. We had to search around a bit before finally finding Susie’s trailer, and surprised her with a knock on the door. Her trailer and palapa are gorgeous, we really liked it. We sat and chatted for a little, and then Suzie took us to see one of the units that were for sale. It was very nice, with an outdoor kitchen and bathroom. Here’s a couple photos:
We really liked it here, and by the end of the day we were pretty much convinced that we’d like to tow a trailer down and move in!!
We went back to Suzie’s and chatted for awhile longer until the kids’ patience was running low, then we decided that we’d just hang out here at the beach. We left the van parked at Susie’s and grabbed our stuff and went to the beach, which is basically across a lane from Susie. The beach here was absolutely gorgeous, quiet, serene, peaceful…we loved it. We all snorkeled in the inlet which had a lot of coral and the kids were quite impressed with their first real snorkeling adventure!
We decided to take a little walk south just to see what was around the corner. It was just another rocky inlet, but I got a nice photo of Kelsey walking ahead on the point:
On the way back we saw a neat rock in the water that had a hole throught it.
After a bit Susie came to the beach and sat with us for awhile and we chatted a bunch more. I got a great photo of a sailboat going by:
