Wednesday, March 10, 2010

As a final salute to Cancun, may we leave you with series of sunsets taken at various times and locations around the lagoon.

And finally, a rising moon.

That's all for this trip. But tune in on May 18 when we will be spending a week in Stockholm and then 8 days in Paris. See you then!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

This afternoon we went down to one of the other large malls called Plaza la Isla. The Kululan Plaza from yesterday was an indoor mall, whereas today's is out of doors. Frankly, both of these malls, but especially la Isla, make the Short Hills Mall look rather ordinary. Below are some pictures to prove my point, I hope. The first two show the plazas and alleys that emanate out of them. The third shows one of the chic shops, this one selling up-beat clothing and shoes.

They have built a series of large awnings over the plazas and alleys to shade the shoppers or perhaps also to keep them from being rained upon. See below.

Before dinner we had a mojito in a lovely cafe-restaurant that looks out on the lagoon. It is called Blu.



We were ablw to watch a magnificent sunset from our table.

We had dinner at the Chocolate Factory, below. There desserts were all made of various kinds of chocolate.

The display window in the restaurant had a chocolate fountain similar to one that we have seen in Paris.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Last night we went back to "La Bodeguita del Medio" which, if you recall, is the Cuban restaurant originally founded in Havana in 1942. We enjoyed it so much the first time last week that we tried it again. We started off with our favorite mojitos. Alexandria had an excellent mahi mahi with a cuban creole sauce. Erwin had something he had heard about and had always wanted to try. It is called "ropa Vieja" which in Spanish means old clothes. It is shredded beef in a Cuban creole sauce. Here it is.

On both occasions, the welcome and service were warm and efficient.

On Monday, Erwin went down to the Kukulcan Plaza which is a large shopping mall. It has all of the well-known stores that you would expect to see in the US. In addition, the have something called Play City which is the best that can be done in Mexico as far as gambling is concerned. They have only slot machines, tables games not being allowed in Mexico. Erwin tried his luck and came out exactly even to the peso. A major triumph considering what sometimes happens in AC.

Monday night was Iralian night at the Clipper Club so we had dinner there. A large crowd showed since apparently it is popular meal. 20 pesos each (about $16) including all the wine you can drink, antipasti, pasta, and dessert.

Saturday, March 6, 2010


Mostly now, we are just enjoying relaxing at the resort. We do get out for an evening meal or two in additiuon to the ones we have here at the Clipper Club. One night we went to one of our favorites here called "Lorenzillo's".




It is located right on the lagoon with some marvelous views of the area. It specializes in seafood, especially lobster. The restaurant has been in existence since 1683. It was completely destroyed in hurricane Wilma 4 or 5 years ago and was rebuilt retaining the originally decor. In fact they have a chicken breast dish on the menu called "Huracan Wilma"




We both enjoyed their scallops and shrimp dish in a white wine sauce. Dessert was a kind of apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. After dinner, an excellent espresso with a little sambucca and for flavor. After dinner Alexandria posed with one of the original founders.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

There are some interesting animals and birds here, other, of course, than the guests.

We introduced you to our old friend, the crocodile, in our first posting. Here is how he appeared today.

And also (Is it something I said?).

Joining him on the grounds is Iggy, the iguana and his family. You can see him walking on the paths of the grounds, but he scurries away when he hears you approaching.

Then there is the ibis and his spouse. He wanders around pecking in the grass looking for his dinner.

There are also a number of different species of other birds. We can see a type of blackbird who is always scavenging the the restaurant (remember it is out of doors in the palapa. One of them has no toes on one his feet, but he gets around pretty well neverthless.

Out in the lagoon not far from us there is a small island that was a few years ago a wonderful bird sanctuary. After the hurricane in 2005, things changed and there seems to be not place for the birds to nest there. We do see small flocks of frigate birds that occasionally circle the island.

And finally, there is the friendly little mosquito who manages to find a feast on Erwin about every other day. I am sure that there are other living creatures here but we just haven't spotted them yet.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Erwin's usual walk in the morning takes him past a popular rseatuarnt/tourist joint that has been here for years. We have never been inside it but from the outside, it seems to attract many people. It is called "Senor Frog's". Apparently there are quite a few in Mexico and Central America and even one in the US.

Everyone here knows the famous frog mascots of the place.

A block or so from the Clipper Club there are numerous night spots that you may have heard of in addition to the Hard Rock Cafe mentioned a few days ago. Here are some of them.

After our little tour of the night life (from the outside only), we went to dinner in a very nice Cuban restaurant. It is called La Bodeguita del Medio and it was apparently founded in Havana back in the early 1940's. There are about five of them in Mexico. The one here in Cancun is a very friendly place with some very good Cuban dishes. We each had a mojito before dinner. Erwin had the Cerdo Fritas and Alexandria had the Camaron Tamarindo. Very pleasant help. Thousands of visitors have written messages all of the walls and ceiling of the dining and bar areas.

Here we are with Ivan, our waiter.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010



Today we took our weekly trip into Old Cancun to do our food shopping at the Walmart, as we did last week. We purchase items for our breakfasts which we do in the apartment. We also get a few snacks. Today, we had a light lunch at the MacDonalds inside the large market. Alexandria had a chicken sandwich with guacamole, would you believe? I had regular chicken. The bus ride to Walmart takes about 20-30 minutes, and is very inexpensive, 15 pesos for two, which is a little over one dollar.



Dinner was inside again at the palapa since the wind was kicking up again. After dinner we went for a walk around the area with many night clubs and restaurants. We'll visit them (from the outside only) in a day or two to give you an idea why the area is so popular with tourists, especially college age kids who are just starting to arrive for the traditional spring break. Most of the old timers here at the Clipper Club have left for home. Some of them come down early in December and stay for two or three months. Our friends, Janet and Kingsley, like us, only spend two weeks here. Many of those here for long periods are time-share owners and have been spending a good part of the winter months here for years.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Weather is still a bit cool, but in the sun it is still wonderful. Everyday, Erwin takes a long walk in the late morning goind about 1/2 mile down the road toward the large hotel area and then back through the central part near the convention center. The road follows the lagoon and the following sign is posted at the water's edge. Notice the spelling.

Along the road also is the Coral Negro, a large indoor flea market with lots of nice stuff (if you are interested in souvenirs, jewelry, etc) There are more than 25 shops here and as you walk down the inside corridor, every one has a hawkster urging you to come and check out the bargains.

There are a couple of other so-called flea markets near our place but the Coral Negro is by far the nicest. If you are interested, you can find lots of nice Mexican silver pieces: rings, ear rings, necklaces, pins, etc.

Dinner was in a very nice restaurant very near the Clipper Club. It is called Calenda Oaxaca. The food featured is from the area of Mexico called Oaxaca. We had a lovely meal with excellent service. And residents of the Clipper Club get a 15% discount. The place didn't have too many patrons, as seems to be the case with lots of restaurants in the area. We still enjoyed our meal and will got back. We had been there several years ago and they had dansers in native costumes performing danses from that area of Mexico, but economics have dictated that it was too expensive. Shame. If you would like to see a YouTube video of the restaurant and the region of Oaxaca, click here.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Here it is the last day of February. Another beautiful day except there was a lot of wind. Later in the afternoon, they piled all the chairs in the palapa so that they wouldn't blow away. We spent the afternoon hanging out in the sun. The pool has been very underutilized since the water temp has not been very high. The air also has been cool. Fine for sitting but not for swimming. Wind subsided a bit so we had dinner in the palapa. The food here is simple but good. Tonight I had coconut shrimp with veggies and rice, and Alexandria had the Mexican shrimp which are prepared in the local style and eaten in the tortillas. With two iced teas, the bill came to less than $20 including gratuity and taxes.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

In the afternoon we walked up to an indoor mall, very new and very modern, called the Plaza Caracol. There are many shops, especially jewelry stores, many of which specialize in silver. There were certainly some lovely pieces. All had discounts and/or sales. I wonder if this equates to good prices, or high prices lowered to normal prices. There were also many shops with souvenirs, tee shirts, etc. Interesting to see but there seemed to be very few buyers. We had a very nice dinner there in a nice restaurant a few years ago, but it is no longer there. Quite a few empty stores, too.

We walked down the main drag to a very large building whose principal occupant was the Hard Rock Cafe. There were many smaller places. We stopped at one, called Hagan Daz, where we had two cups of ice cream. Very good, as always, but $12 was a bit steep.

Alexandria made friends with a local character in front of the Hard Rock Cafe. I think he may be the head chef there.

Back at the Clipper Club we met our friends Janet and Kingsley and, with two others, Bonnie and Katherine, we went to a small restaurant hidden away in a rather up-scale residential area about 1/2 mile from our place. It was an execellent restaurant located in the lagoon front. It is called La Palapa Belga and the chef/owner is from Belgium. The food was, basically, continental, mostly French and Belgian specialties. It ranks up with some of the finer medium-priced restaurants in Paris. Here we are along the lagoon.

My dessert was a mushroom-shaped meringue with vanilla ice cream and blackberry couli



After dinner we were able to enjoy the moon rising over the lagoon.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

No, you haven't missed anything. Wednesday was a nothing day with clouds, winds and some rain so we just hung out. They even moved Mexican Night dinner in the palapa into an indoor meeting room.

Thursday, turned into a beautiful day, almost cloudless with lots of sun and not too much wind. Late in the norning we walked up to the beach, just a short five minute walk. The beach here is beautiful. We are used to the beaches on Long Beach Island and their beauty. Here, they are wide with fine white sand. Even on a good day, there is always plenty of room to spread out. There are beach chairs and drinks can be ordered. There are multi-storied hotels and time-share buildings along the coast. Notice the pictures below.

Thursday evening we had dinner at Carloos and Charlie's. It is a big bar-restaurant that seems to cater to the younger crowd (At least younger than we are). Loud music, waiters in a dancing line, sombreros for all, people making hats, etc out of balloons, etc. It was interesting but the food wasn't extraordinary, so we enjoyed ourselves, but won't go back. While there, we saw the finals of the Olympic Women's Ice Hockey. Canadian women beat the US. From what we saw of the two teams and individuals, the US women seemed to be sore losers. They accepted their medals with little grace. Second, the silver medal, isn't such a bad deal!

Friday, we just hung out and spent quite a good deal of time in the palapa chatting with the other members and partaking in happy hour. We are partial to Mud Slides.

Friday evening, we did the theme dinner at the Club which was French. The only thing French about the whole deal was the French onion soup. The meal wasn't bad, but certainly not French nor up to French standards. We do know a bit about them.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Since we did very little today that you might be interested in, let me tell you about our accommodations. We have a two-week time share in Cancun called the Cancun Clipper Club. It was one of the first time-shares in Cancun and Alexandria bought it over 20 years ago when all of the new places here were non-existant. Unlike most of the places here that are on the beach, we are located on the lagoon. The resort area of Cancun is located on an island (see the picture on the website linked above) It runs parallel to the mainland and at the point where it turns toward the left and toward the old city, you can find the Clipper Club opposite the new Converntion Center. It is in a wonderful location right in center of a lrge number of restaurants, shops, night clubs (if you are interested in this). The beach is only a short distance away. More of the beach later..

The Clipper Club has about 75 rooms (apartments) which are mainly time -shares, but there also some rentals. The grounds are well-cared for with many opportunities to lounge on the lawns or around the pool.

Photos show the entrance of the property, some of the resisences around the pool, and a promenade along the lagoon.

A few more photos of the area.

The deck around the pool at the palapa restaurant, our dining area, the two of us in the palapa.

This evening we went to our favorite restaurant in Cancun. It is called Mocambo and it sits right on the ocean beachfront. Its is a lovely place to dine with good food and drink. We had a table right on the edge of the water and had the waves breaking right in front of us. We had a delicious meal of some of the retaurant's specialties. It was only a short walk back to the Clipper Club.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Our usual habit here is to get up at a leisurely pace, shower and dress and have breakfast in the room We have a fridge, utensils, and a microwave so we can have toast, fruit, yogart, milk, tea, etc in the room. We then do some chores or some reading and have a bit of lunch in the palapa (which is a thatch-covered space). We usually have a bowl of the very good soups that they serve such as seafood, tortilla, beans with pork, chicken. With a few slices of bread, it is a good lunch that keeps us going until supper. Here is the palapa.

We went into the old town of Cancun by bus to get some provisions for breakfast for the week. You would never guess where we shopped. We could have gone to Sam's Club but since we weren't members, we settled for Walmart. Yes, they have an immense store with everything you could imagine. Many familiar brands, but also many Mexican ones. Lots of good fresh fruit and a wide selection of breads and pastries. We got our week's supply and headed back on the bus. It's convenient to get to and much cheaper than the small convenience stores (OXXO) located in the hotel/tourist area. We'll talk more about the old town later on. This evening we had dinner at Ray's, the complex restaurant under the palapa. It was Italian night. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, they have a theme dinner. More about our complex tomorrow.

Cancun in 2010

Sunday, February 21, 2010.

We arrived late last night in Cancun for a twenty day stay here in our time share. We have two weeks here every year but we tend to trade the two weeks for another location every other year. The prevous post was our trade in Malaga, Spain last year and now we are here in Cancun for the regular time.

Our plane arrived at 23:15 and by the time we got to the Clipper Club, checked in, and got ready for bed, it was 1 am (CST). We got up late this morning and had breakfast in the Palapa restaurant called Ray's. After, we went out and did some shopping for a few provisions. We ran into friends of ours from previous years, Kingsley and Janet and had a nice chat. We went out to visit another old friend, see the photo below.




He has been here for many years. Our place faces the lagoon here as opposed to the sea. Bathing is not allowed in the lagoon because of our friend and his relations. After relaxing the rest of the afternoon, we had dinner at one of the small local restaurants across from the hotel complex.