Wednesday, March 27, 2013

A month of family, friends, food and fun!

Well the month is slipping by rather quickly as we turn our minds toward leaving this lovely little town we have called home for the last month.




However, Quinn is not too impressed!ll






Doesn't look like the town's founder, Señor Morelos is either!


In my first blog I posted some pictures of the old part of town that is attached to the beach. Here are a few more....




School children in their uniforms, always so smartly dressed.





The Flintstones house which is really the Cultural Center.




The Artisans Market...


One of the sellers...





This little one was into his reading...







The fruit truck that goes by every day...




The best way to get to Happy Hour, especially when Margaritas are 2 for 1 all day!


One evening we walked up the beach to see what was happening in the Square. It was a beautiful evening...





The light was just coming on...





The boats were moored for the night...




The lights in the town square were just on as well.

The people were getting ready to celebrate the special day of Joseph, the Patron Saint of the Worker as well as the village...





The artisans were out as well. This guy is a magnificent carver...








We had some of our family visit....




Dawn and Cooper





Anne Marie, Mike, Cooper and Quinn

It was Anne Marie's birthday while they were here so we had cake and a piñata.








Anne Marie got the first swings...




Cooper helped and look what happened...




Candy for everyone! It was a lot of fun and Happy Birthday to Anne Marie.








We also had a lot of visitors from Progreso drop by as they headed back home through Cancun...






Also friends from Orangeville came to stay a little longer. It was nice having company after our family left...




Sandy being serenaded on the beach.







The two amigos...





The Little Mexican Cooking School is two doors down so I went for a day and enjoyed it. We did food from the Veracruz region which is on the Gulf of Mexico. Here are some pics from that day....


Making tortillas with the chef...





Cooking is as much about smell as taste and these chillies smelled wonderful as they started to roast.





Lots to drink...chocolate, mescal and honey to start the day.




Bocales we made, salsa, guacamole and the typical Mexican drink, horchata which is made of rice.




One of my jobs was to make the Mesa for the tamales, it is like kneading bread. These tamales were done with pork and red sauce. I am not a fan of them, even though these were the best I have tasted.

Now the seafood soup was delicious...









There is another side to Puerto Morelos which is about 3 km across the highway away from the beach and closer to the jungle. It is called La Colonia and it is where the Mexicans who support the tourist industry live. It is a very typical Mexican town where I went on the Collectivo to get my fruits and vegetables and visit the only grocery store in the area.





The Collectivos that run from one part of town to the other for 5 pesos.




The grocery store...Super Willys




The Fruiteria...




The zocalo...




The brightly coloured Church of Guadeloupe...





One of many roosters....

Even though I really enjoy living in the beach side of PM I find this side much more interesting and real.


Anne Marie, Dawn and I also visited the Jungle Spa, a non profit organization started by an American women to provide employment to the local Mayan women. On Sundays they have food, a craft market and dancing...








Chilli Rellenos





Enjoying the morning...




Leading the Dance of the Cochinita...




The children dancing...




The women dancing...




Their dancing outfits...love the shoes.


And of course me dancing....




Never miss an opportunity to participate!


So our time here is almost over with lots of good memories of good times. Off to Playa del Carmen for a few days and then heading back to Toronto to visit Mary Ellen, Ray and Rhys.

Hopefully one more post from Playa before this trip is done.

Location:Puerto Morelos, Mexico

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Puerto Morelos... a relaxing little town

We are spending the month of March in the town of Puerto Morelos which is located around 30 kms south of Cancun on the Mayan Riveria. It has about 10,000 people and is home to many expats, snow birds and many short term visitors.

It is a sea port town with many fisher folk as well as much marine traffic. It has become popular because of its' location to Cancun and Playa del Carmen, it is exactly the same distance between both. Therefore it is easy to get to and unlike the other places small, uncrowded with little room to expand as it is surrounded by mangroves and faces the Caribbean.





The iconic tilting lighthouse which was left standing after Hurricane Wilma went through in 1967.





After spending time here we can see why it is such a popular place to spend some time in the sun. It has a long wide beach which is flat next to the ocean which is shallow and sandy. This beach was left behind from another hurricane which dumped many feet of new sand making it such a great beach.This is high season and the beach is not crowded.





Cooper enjoyed his time on the beach and in the ocean...





Don, Cooper and Mike taking a dip.





The water is a beautiful Caribbean greenish blue.





As in most beach towns there are cheap massages on the beach...

I enjoyed mine as you can tell from the picture below.I fell asleep!









There is cute little church on the square...




Simple but beautiful...




The art work is made of shells....


The town has a small zolaco which is the Center of the town.It is lined by shops and restaurants...





One of the ice cream shops...YUMMY!

The local coffee shop....







The fisherman's Co-op where fish can be bought most every day...




My favourite is Mero, a beautiful white fish, unfortunately this day there were out of it. ( Volver el sabado.)





Some of the fishing boats hauled up for the day.




This guy is using his time to paint the boat.





There is a small Malecon to stroll on...




Or to sit and watch the world go by..


Or to read barefoot in the sun...







The Great MesoAmerican Barrier Reef is only 500 meters off shore and thus this area is part of a National Park...





There are lots of dive and snorkelling trips but the weather has been for the most part too windy, though I am hoping to get out before the month is over...





For the size of the town there are lots of great places to eat...




Shrimp salad...





Squid tacos...




BBQ Chicken stands, chicken already chopped.




Gourmet pizza..goat cheese, nuts and balsamic reduction

And the list goes on.....

We have rented a house for the month so that we can have company. it is called Casa Mermaid...




Has a great pool and located just across from the beach. Also has a great upper balcony and lot of room.But it is a typical Mexican house where things don't always work and no one cares! We have learned to deal with this and are enjoying the house despite its shortcomings!




It is obvious that our company are enjoying the place!




Quinn relaxing in the garden...

So we have settled into Puerto Morelos and are enjoying the place and our visitors. Will show you around some more on my next post.
Location:Puerto Morelos