Happy Chanukah & Merry Christmas!

Chanukah and Christmas - lucky me I celebrate both. I was raised by a Jewish family, so culturally I'm Jewish. Religiously, well let's just say I'm spiritual.

Tonight is the 8th day of Chanukah and the last night to light the menorah. I of course only remembered to light it once! I'm a bad Jew what can I say. Hey at least I can say the prayer in Hebrew and I had a menorah. No I didn't bring it to Mexico. It was given to me by the friendly fellas from the local synagogue here in Playa del Carmen. I bumped into them on 5th Avenue a few days ago. They were handing out menorahs to tourists. Thanks guys!

I love the last day of Chanukah because the menorah looks so pretty when all the candles are lit. I think I need to put it on a glass table every year. What a cool refection.

Tonight was a fun, busy night. I walked around downtown taking pictures of Christmas lights. Went to a beautiful Church service. Attempted to sing along to Spanish Christmas carols. Strolled down 5th Avenue. Then went home to wait for Santa. Sadly he never came. My guess is he saw the menorah and thought he had the wrong house. ;) 

                                     

Where's the baby Jesus?

An elephant?

Tulum

I hung out on the beach in Tulum today. Ahhh life is good.

Puerto Morelos

Now this is my kinda paradise and more my speed. Puerto Morelos is just a short 30 minute drive from Playa del Carmen. For me Playa del Carmen and Cancun are fun for about 3 days but then the crowds, cars and busy energy get to me. I'm really not a city girl. A quiet little village is more my style.

I'd be more than happy to spend a winter in Puerto Morelos. If I could spend it in the really cool gothic house I saw, I'd be even happier. The house was empty. The sign posted said for sale or rent. What an amazing house. Sure I'll buy it. I'll just have to win the lottery first lol ;)

What a beautiful beach.

Mmmm lunch.

They didn't have a Vancouver Canucks mask so I guess it's - Go Leafs! 

Puerto Adventuras with the kids

Yay family time! So happy to see my daughter, her husband and my 20 month old grandson here in Mexico. They're here spending week at the Calalonia resort in Puerto Adventuras. We've been having a great time playing in the water, watching the dolphin show, eating way too much gelato, ocean kayaking. It's been fun, fun, fun and more fun. I love my family! :)

Rips & rainbows

I arrived at the Manzanillo airport thinking I was really smart for packing light for my trip to Playa del Carmen. For a change I managed to get everything I needed into a carry-on bag. Since I only had half an hour in Mexico City to catch my connecting flight in Cancun, I didn't want to take the chance that my checked luggage wouldn't make it onto the plane. I'm always planning ahead, but in the end it didn't really matter. It seems I always have a few glitches to deal with when I travel. This time it was my own fault.

Just before boarding I decided shove my camera bag into my carry-on. This was the result...

Oops major rip. Guess that was a bad idea! Then as I was about to board the plane, a guy ran over and said the plane's overhead compartments were full. I'd have to check my bag after all. Grrrr. I tried to explain that I'd just ripped my bag and if they throw it into cargo all my stuff would fall out. He didn't care. He took the bag and said he'd staple it closed. Staples? Hmm okay airport man. And off he went with my bag. Thankfully I remembered to grab my camera out of it first!

Once my bag was apprehended and stapled, we were ready to take off. As always I was the last one on the plane.

I flew from Manzanillo to Mexico City and then to Cancun. My flights were great and I even got a cool video of a rainbow that followed us in as we landed. What a nice welcome to Cancun.

From the Cancun airport I took a bus to Playa del Carmen. It took about an hour. I'd never taken a coach bus before. I actually enjoyed the ride. The seats were really comfortable, they had a movie playing and I liked the idea of having a washroom on board. Not a bad way to travel at all. I think I'll be doing more of it. :)