Day 10 - Long Journey from Ixtapa to Taxco... aka Poor Chris

We started our day the earliest we have done so far - at 6:30. Leaving Ixtapa was easy. We left around eight and headed towards Acapulco. Acapulco was a great middle point - about three hours away - between Ixtapa and Taxco (our final destination of the day). Unfortunately, the road to Acapulco is not a toll road and as such is filled with many unexpected topes (speed bumps) that could rip your car apart, so as you can imagine our drive to Acapulco was not the fastest.
We thought it would be nice to have a lunch in Acapulco, stretch a little and head up to Taxco. Yep.. that was not the case. We got stuck in a huge traffic jam on a road that resembled coastal highway 1 (very curvy) before we even entered Acapulco city limits. We sat in it for a while before we finally came to a realization that Acapulco was not worth it and that we would rather back track 15 miles to get to another road that would avoid Acapulco all together. That was a life saver! I think Chris would have never made it out of that town sane.
Little did we know what awaited us!! When we were planning our vacation, Taxco sounded like a really neat historical town (first public records date back to 1529) built on a side of a mountain (5900 ft), with very steep narrow cobblestone streets lined by whitewashed houses with red-tiled roofs. Doesn't that sound really cool? Yeah... sure did... until we were stuck on the curviest road of our lives (curva peligrosa signs everywhere) hugging the cliff heading up the mountain trying cover the 6K feet elevation gain... while dodging crazy trucks and buses. Oh my... three plus hours of this.
We were very relieved once we finally got closer to the town itself. After all, our hotel was right downtown on the main square... how hard could that be!? Once again… yeah right!! Upon the approach of the city limits we started to see many, many, many Volkswagen Beetles, Lucka counted 100 within first 4 minutes, and then she just gave up. We had no idea why this car was so popular around here. It did not take too long to find out.
Driving into the city was crazy - one little 2 lane road with 4-6 rows of cars on it depending how many idiots decided to join us in our lane... directed by policemen that offered to help us and directed us towards downtown. We thought he was nuts, no way could this road be big enough for two cars?! Nor could we drive up such a crazy steep cobblestone street… wrong on both counts. This is where the beetles came into play. They were everywhere! And they could fit in areas where no other car would. It was insane. Our car died several times as it tried to make it up the hill (oh did I mention it was a stick…no automats around here). Chris finally broke down (poor guy – I thought he was lost to us) pulled over and I ran out to find our hotel and get the help to help us out. The bellboy end up driving our car to the park garage and we went to our room where Chris collapsed on the couch and I didn’t think he would get up again. Luckily lil relax and some food in his stomach – we have not had any food since breakfast and it was 5 at this point – did wonder and he was able to get up and walk around town a bit.

Day 9 - All American Vacation Day

Today was a total chill day - or as I like to call it the Middle American vacation day in Mexico. We had a breakfast at our hotel, we walked around the town a little and had the best food since we have been in Mexico... yep... ashamed to admit it... @ Senor Frogs. After that we went to the pool and played around down there. I was truly trying to embrace the American way of life... and for a day... it wasn't as bad. But I could not do that sort of vacationing on regular basis.
By the pool I was able to find out at what level Lucka & Chris really were. I intended to actually for the first time since our vacation started to open my book and read. But instead I was chased around the pool by my husband and my sister; trying to swim under water there and back across the pool; throw around a coconut in the pool that has fallen off the palm tree right next to us; watch them get whistled at by the bay watch guys as they rushed into the waves on black flag warning; take pictures of them as they slid off and jumped off slides that were meant for little kids; and have them swim in the baby pool. Yep... they are right at the same level as the lil ones. :o) But we did have fun!!!
We finished the day... how else... in Senor Frogs dancing first to Footloose, which was fun...... last ... Mexican country. That one was a signal to us that it may just be time to go home and put an end to our American Style day.

Day 8 - La Isla de Ixtapa

Today we had a plan!!! The plan was to spend the whole day on La Isla de Ixtapa and I am pleased to report that we have accomplished it just as planned. We took 'a ferry' (I am using this term very loosely as it was nothing more than a lil fishing boat) over to the island where local boy - Jorge - took care of us. He showed us the way to La Playa Coral, supposedly the best snorkeling beach in the area and hooked us up with a bucket of cold beer. We spent most of the day snorkeling (all of us, first time for Lucka), reading (Mony & Chris), and sun tanning (Lucka). We got little hungry so we asked our waiter for a menu so we can pick our meal... and instead of the regular paper menu, he brought us a platter with lobsters, fish & shrimp to choose from. I have never seen a menu quite like it. We picked the shrimp and we were not disappointed, even Lucka had a few, but mostly she ate her french fries.
We packed our camp around 4 pm and headed for the mainland. At this point Lucka started not to feel so well. We thought it may have been her stomach again...but once we saw her out of her swim suit... we relized that it was the sun - she had a lil heat stroke. From now on she is known as 'Smokey' (as the smoked meat). I believe Chris was asking her whether she was medium rare or rather medium well. But I do have to say that she is looking a 'bit' darker. We wanted just a something small for a dinner so after the ritual sunset walk we headed to Subway down the street and ate it at the beach with a bottle of wine. Unfortunately, in the end it has proven to be not such a good idea as Chris got a food poisoning from his teryiaki sauce on his sandwich. Poor guy!!! I guess we always have to have one 'man' down. Hope I won't get my turn.

Bailey - You will be missed!!!

We would like to honor and remember a very good friend, a loyal companion, and the best brother a guy could have - Bailey. We are all going to miss him very much. He enriched our lives for more than fifteen years and his memory will be with us forever. We will miss you very much!

Day 7 - Ixtapa & Zihuatanejo

Unfortunately, our 'sleep in' day was interrupted by our eager room service, who knocked and opened our door at 8 in the morning. Grrrrr... Neither one of us could fall back asleep after that so we descended from our 11th floor down to the pool for a nice breakfast. Once fully awake and high on caffeine we got ready and departed to find out the ferry terminal for the next day's trip to La Isla de Ixtapa. Lil island just a bit from the mainland that supposedly has the best snorkeling around here (that is yet to be determined). The gentleman at the pier were very surprised why we were looking for the ferry in the Marina... opps... guess we took a wrong turn somewhere. In the end we arrived at Playa Linda from where the ferry leaves as we found out ... every ten minutes. So we are all set for tomorrow. While there we checked out their Cocodrilo and iguana natural habitat. Those creatures are truly scary. Not to mention the Mexican security on the gates were not really such that would withstand any properly directed efforts and disabling them. Such as a tiny rope holding the fence in place..... ouch.
From there we sniffed our way to Zihuatanejo. From all that we have heard prior to our arrival we expected this sleepy small beach town. But instead we arrived in this rather chaotic loud and rather sizable town. We parked at Playa La Ropa and walked up and down it. It was very relaxing and quite a bit warmer there than in Ixtapa. We had a wonderful lunch on the beach (Lucka still eating just french fries and like as her stomach is not yet 100%) and after that we were swiftly prompted to get back so Lucka can get her union mandated two hours on the beach. She really wants to get a tan from here. Chris and I on the other hand have spent those two hours trying to stay in shade :o). I think she can be pleased with the progress she is making!!
We finished the day with a wonderful sunset walk on the beach... ahhh....

Day 6 - Through Urupan to Ixtapa

We departed Patzcuaro on Tuesday morning after yet another wonderful breakfast in our B&B, that place was really great. We eventually managed to find our way out of Patzcuaro (why is it always harder than it should be to find one's way?). We thought it could be cool to stop on our way down to Ixtapa in Urupan and check out their Eduardo Ruiz National Park and its beautiful waterfalls. It took us some time (yet again) to find our way through Urupan (Mexican signs are really not all that good... although we did manage to find Walmart... didn't know they had them here). But eventually our and Heidi's efforts paid off and we arrived at the park.
It is the only National Park in Mexico, inside the limits of the city. The whole park is build around the Cupatitzio River which flows throughout the park and the water is diverted and spilled back to the river throughout a series of fountains and waterfalls. The ravine is cool, shady, and filled with tropical plants. We walked all around the park and explored all of the hidden corners of this delightful place - lil paradise in the middle of the town. We also witnessed - Mexican Ron (for those that know) - jump of the tree into the river below him, probably not the smartest move of his life since right next to him on the tree itself was a little RIP for one of his predecessor.
After our visit in this oasis we found our way back to the main highway and through a series of several military checkpoints on one of which we got pulled to the side. I think this was the first time we actually got pulled over by these 'boys with machine guns' - scary how young they are!! Luckily after a brief exchange they let us go. .... uff...
Finally around 5 or we arrived at our destination - Ixtapa. Needless to say that Lucka was very, very excited to finally arrive by the ocean. By far this was her favorite part of the whole trip just as expected!!! For us... well San Miguel was better but this is nice too. Relax time by the beach. Our hotel is very nice and the pool and beach are really nice. We immediately had to go to the pool for a dip to satisfy Lucka's need for a swim and afterward we walked on the beach, drinking our wine and watching a beautiful sunset. It was a perfect end of the day!!!

Day 5 - Janitzio & Patzcuaro

Today was reserved for Patzcuaro and near vicinity exploration. We started the day for us rather early - 8:30 with a breakfast at our lovely B&B. We got a few pointers from fellow travellers and soon after breakfast (crepe filled with spinach & some fruit salad) we headed out to check out Janitzio - the island nearby Patzcuaro. Our guidebook said it was only 3km from downtown so I had a brilliant idea to walk there, we have walked more right?! The only think I didn't consider during my planning stage was that Lucka & I (Monika is writing this not Chris) would be wearing skirt & a tank top. This outfit proved to be rather popular with the local drivers as we got more attention than we have asked for. After a few minutes I decided - despite the hot weather - to put on my long sleeved shirt just to cover up at least some parts. Lucka on the other hand was enjoying this unexpected attention. I thought my walking idea was that much more stupid since we didn't have a map and we were sort of feeling our way to the lake... we all thought about the US advisory about travel to Mexico when we found ourselves in the middle of a construction zone, surrounded by many interested eyes... at that point... I had to agree with Chris that TAXI may have been a better idea. Luckily about an hour later (3km my @#$%) we finally arrived at the pier for Janitzio. The most interesting think about this island was the ride there with an extremely bad guitar player and the ride back with a pretty good full blown band! The island itself was not all too remarkable. On the way there we were able to see the local fisherman in action and that was pretty cool. We also climbed the many many many steps up to the statue on top of the island... but that was about it. By the time we decide to head back we were all way too hungry, but afraid to eat anything on this island... as the hygiene was not the primary concerned here... but we at least had a beer to fool our hunger.
Once in Patzcuaro we stopped for a wonderful meal and explored this amazing colonial gem. The town is truly beautiful, and soooo full of life, it is amazing. I believe my photo albums will be filled with pictures of churches as that is the main thing here. Tomorrow we are heading out after breakfast to URUPAN national park for some waterfalls and from there to Ixtapa. We shall see how good Heidi (our GPS) will be!!!

Day 4 - SMA to Patzcuaro

We saddled up the Dodge Attitude and left beautiful San Miguel de Allende this morning. The ladies and I headed down to the colonial city of Morelia - the drive was easy and the scenery began to get a lot more verdant and lush. Our guide book raved about Morelia and we thought it was a must see. Morelia was a big, crazy city with tons of traffic. It had some beautiful buildings and an impressive cathedral, but overall it was way too hectic to truely make it a fun vacation destination.
Lucie sniffed out our car's parking spot and we sped out of town. As the driver, I was lucky enough to have three women telling me where to go - Monika, Lucie, and Heidi (we named our GPS Heidi, which has a woman's voice). Lord, help me!
The three women were right on with the directions to Patzcuaro, but when we hit the city limits Heidi could no longer help us and then the trouble started. Our ace backup navigator, Monika stepped up with a map and took the lead. We took a wrong turn into town and rode the bumpiest road in all of Mexico into the city center. Unbenowest to Lucie, Heidi and I, Monika decided to take us on a deluxe tour of Patzcuaro. We did multiple loops around both main squares and once we saw all the highlights, Monika deftly guided us to the hotel which was beautful. Monika picked another wonderful hotel - La Casa Encantada.
Patzcuaro is a small, colonial city which has a great feel - gringo free. When we arrived, there was a huge festival going on and the whole city was alive - music, dancers, and a marching band making the same route that we did through the city earlier. We finished the day with a great steak dinner at an authentic Argentinian restuarant with a guitar totting crooner and his pint-sized back-up. Tomorrow we head to the lake for some more exploring.

Day 3 - San Miguel - Strolling Around

Today was our first lazy day!!! Yeh!!! Unfortunately, I was woken up by the beatiful bells of the Parroquia de San Miguel at 6:30, 6:45, 7:00... luckily it either stopped right after that or I fell asleep so deeply that nothing really mattered. Lucka and Chris managed to sleep through it all. Luckily, Chris slept and slept and slept from ten to almost ten! He needed it after the stressfull day of driving.

We woke up and stumbled downstairs to our courtyard for breakfast. Once full of the delicious food we went for a nice walk to El Chorro - the springs where San Miguel was founded. Many of the local women still do their laundry at this spring. After that we went to El Mirador - the Lookout Point over the historic distric of San Miguel.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the whole town. Along the way we found many picturesque courtyards in the middle of these colonial villas. They were breathtaking.

Once tired we sat down for a lunch at El Jardin. It was the most fantastic of days.

After that we relaxed for a bit at our room and went for a dinner later on to Ten Ten Pie - which was the most disappointing dinner we have had yet. We tried to make it up with some ice cream... and I think it did help. We walked around the town for a bit... and eventually we found our way back to our sanctuary.

2 Day - Drive to San Miguel & The Celebrations

After a simple lunch we got into the car and started to find our way to San Miguel de Allende. The main goal of this ride was
1) avoid Mexico City at all cost
2) arrive at San Miguel in one piece, but both proved to be rather difficult. The first was my fault as I made Chris take one wrong turn, despite the advice of our magic box and we almost ended up in the city again. Yuck! The second was rather hard to achive since the Mexican drivers do not seem to follow any exact driving rules or use blinkers.... or anything else that we may be used to. Thanks to Chris' fantastic driving skills we were able to make it all the way to San Miguel after all.
We got here only to find out that we arrived right in the middle of one of the biggest celebrations this town has to offer - The Festival of Our Lord of the Conquest (kind of sad & ironic). It took us a bit to find the way to our hotel as the whole downtown was blocked off - so Chris let me out of the car, I ran to the hotel through the crowds and parades and asked the receptionist for the best way to navigate to our hotel. Needless, to say that Chris was very relieved once he parked in the underground garage in our hotel and got out of the car for the next two days! We were very pleased with our hotel - Posada Carmina. It is a very cute colonial villa with a beatiful courtyard garden...and the rooms, so nice and comfy with the old colonial charm.

We spent the evening just walking around Jardin (the main square) watching all the colorful Aztec dancers. We have never really seen anything quite like it! The celebrations finished with a beatufil fireworks display after which we headed to La Posadita - this chraming restaurant on top of one of the negihboring villas with views of the surrounding churches - spectacular! I believe it is safe to say that we fell in love with this charming town!!! Oh did I mention that Chris tried to kill all of his taste butts by eating load of cayenne pepper in his soup... oops!

Day 1 - Mexico City & Teotihuacan

We arrived in Mexico City later in the afternoon. We dragged all of our lagguage over the catwalk to our hotel just across the way from the airport. They had a wonderful fitness club so we decided to start our trip somewhat healthy with a nice hour in the gym followed by a swim in their pool, even Lucka took part in it.The next morning we headed back to the airport to get our car. It took almost two hours just to get out of the rental place! After that we embarked on to the unpleasant drive out of Mexico City - blah - amazing how large a home of 20 plus million people could be.. what a horrible experience! Especially for Chris who was stuck behind thewheel. Thank God for our GPS that always got us out of the worst trouble that we managed to ran into on our way to Teotihuacan. I believe Chris called it the Magic Box and from now on he is going to worship it!Teotihuacan was very impressive. I can't believe it was all built around the 100BC to 200AD. We climbed up both of the main pyramids - of the Sun & the Moon. The pyramid of the Sunis supposedly the third largest pyramid in the world. It was hot but luckily not scortching hotso we managed to get up without any issues. Lucks now knows no gracias very very well - havingto say that to the vendors that were all over the place.