Because Covid is stiil a thing - Playa del Carmen, Oct 2 -10, 2021

Saturday Oct 2

Arrived Saskatoon Airport at 6 am for first leg of Sask-Calgary-Cancun. All smooth sailing but last-minute arrival for boarding due to everything taking longer. Cancun Airport pretty empty, quickly through immigration. Taxi prices have risen to $1500 but managed to negotiate $900 with Smart Shuttle and friendly driver Juan.

Waldo/Victor welcomed us back with familiar smiles at the guardhouse at Quadra Alea in Playa del Carmen.

Apt not as ritzy as last stay but still nice.

Dinner at Los Hijos, short 5th walk.

Sunday walked to the Pier, lots of sargassum then grabbed tacos at Don Sirloin.

Monday, handymen, lunch at Caiman after finding Chapultepec closed down! Mega for food.

Tuesday, Connor had live lessons, discovered birria and ceviche at D'antojo Chilango then Walmart for fan and taxi home.

Wed, J back to work, gym, walked to Mamitas at lunch. Boys bought TV at Mega. 5th walk

Thurs, grabbed chicken and mole from Mega. Rain

Friday, lunch at Tarraya, 5th/38th walk.

Sat, Connor to gym, lazy day gaming, biked to pier, walked at supper time to find city hall market - not there! Back on 5th, Pizza Renzo.

Sunday, tech came to upgrade internet, rode to Fundadores Park, lunch at Chilito Rojo on Juarez. J lost key! Walmart with Hojo. Ice cream (toast to Eric) La Michoacana in the Mega Plaza - mango and chamoy definitely an unusual pairing!!

Late walk at 10.45 to see the energy of 5th, found it very subdued. Had a Cochi Loco pibil taco. Got caught in a rainstorm for the walk home!

Our new Airbnb - expectation v reality (Feb 10-Mar 9, 2024)

Our Airbnb experiences have generally been very good with accurate photos and helpful hosts. This time was disappointing. The condo is very modern with 10ft ceilings and in a great location but it was clear that the management company is not aware or keeping up with needed repairs - sunken sofa cushions, lifting tiles, calcified faucet, stained sheets, and completely broken patio furniture that had just been left!! Their response to our messages was quite unhelpful - they didn't seem to care that much so our honest review will reflect this. Instagram ... ... reality ...replaced with two mismatched indoor chairs!! Playa as a whole has gotten busier and outside of the reality of inflation and a stronger peso, everything is much more expensive as happens in popular tourist spots. We are going to look at other more affordable places in Mexico to spend the winter months.

Painful winter travel from the Prairies

Minus 30 degrees below zero apparently causes problems for aeroplanes in the Prairie provinces. We were scheduled to depart at 6.30am January 13th Saskatoon-Calgary-Cancun but received word of cancelation the day before. They rescheduled us to depart at 7.30pm but added in an overnight stay in Vancouver (now SK-VAN-CAN). On Saturday morning we learned of yet another change, slightly better, to SK-Edmonton overnight-CAN, however by Saturday afternoon we got another notice of de-icing problems, crew delays, and departure changes upon which we would be updated within the hour. We waited for the update but no update came. Google informed us that our flight was canceled. Westjet had apparently abandoned us! At the same time, adding to our stress was that Nick was travelling with us but on a separate booking and his cancelations did not coincide with ours. First he would possibly land in Cancun before us, then with his reschedule he would lose almost a week of his vacation. It was...

Trolley Tour in Campeche

We booked this quintessential tourist activity and it was charming. It was of course, a little less amazing when the tour took us around the very neighbourhood in which we were staying, so maybe we should have done the tour earlier on! Independence Square Fisherman statue outside our local OXXO

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