Early on the morning of Sunday February 14th we left Puerto Morelos by ADO, made a connection in Cancun and travelled on to Vallidolid. Vallidolid is a beautiful town we enjoy and we wanted Howard and Theresa to experience as well. There is lots of information on this site: http://www.mayan-yucatan-traveler.com/valladolid-mexico.html;http://www.luxuriousmexico.com/wwwluxuriousmexico/Luxurious%20Mexico/Products/EnglishProducts/YucatanValladolid.html , there are many others of course.
We had lunch at the Zaci Restaurant before going through the Cenote. http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cenote-zaci
This is one of the colourful trees at the entrance to the Cenote.
This looks like a giant mouth with big teeth - it is really the formation of rock with stalagmites and stalactites.
The tree roots are right in the rock searching for water for growth.
This is a walk through the city of Vallidolid - the architecture is very Spanish..
The sidewalks are very narrow in places - just wide enough for one person at at time.
Their small balconies are decorated with live plants, the open doors provide fresh air and sunlight into the homes.
This is the Convent de San Bernardino de Siena
http://www.travelbymexico.com/valladolid/atractivos/index2.php?nom=a1365389624
We were in time to hear the last part of service for Christening and managed to get a few family photos from afar. Thank goodness for zoom lenses.
A clergy garment
An ancient bible
A nice selection of old brass bells
The Cathedral inside the Convent
The front exterior wall of the convent.
It was a very hot day so we needed a rest in the park before moving on.
We visited a little Chocolate Factory - where they explained how Chocolate is made and sell some of their wares.
It was explained to us how the chocolate bean is ground to a powder, made into a paste and rolled to dry before it is eaten. They had a large variety of flavoured - our favourite was the Cinnamon Chocolate.
This is the Cathedral in the Town Center - Cathedral de San Gervasio.
The Mexican flag hangs with pride in the town square.
The following day we took a bus to Chichen Itza, hired a guide and did a 2 hour tour. What a wealth of information he had!
You can see the colours painted on these stones from years back - red is the most prominent in my photos but here are also blues, yellows and greens to I think if my memory serves me right.
This is an old road uncovered and refurbished - made of white sand so it illuminated during the shining of the moon so people could easily see to walk on it.
We returned to Vallidolid late in the afternoon, took another walk about town, did some souvenir shopping and retired at our hotel "Maria de la luz" before going to dinner.
The electric panel which services some
or perhaps all of our hotel
I was impressed with the amount of English that is spoken in Vallidolid since our last visit two years ago.
This was taken from the balcony of the second floor of our hotel. We ate breakfast here both mornings, it was very delicious.
From the balcony of the second level we were able to see the birds on trees just beyond our hotel. Other birds came and landed on trees within the courtyard below us too.
A friend recommended we eat at a restaurant just past us on the square - El Meson del Marques- they serve the best meals we have ever tasted in Vallidolid and at very reasonable prices!
Caribbean Chicken Flambe - delicious! Simply orgasmic!!
We took a stroll through the Cathedral de San Gervasio one evening. I love going into churches while travelling just to walk about and sit a while in quiet solitude.
This is the Cathedral at night time.
When we arrived back in Puerto Morelos we stopped at Ole's for a wee draft.
This is a new filter we purchased for the pool - trying to save water and at the same time keep it clean.
Our good friends Lew and his red hatter friend -
so nice to see them and spend time with them again this year!
A mariachi band walking about the Port
one evening bringing entertainment to
the tourist and hoping to collect a good fee in tips.
Who could refuse this face a tip, especially
when he can sing so well?
We are having problems with the birds pooping on our pool yard walls, so Allan is installing a few lines of fishing line hoping to keep them away. Their poop is not always easy to wash off and is deteriorating the paint.
We don't have trees in our yard but neighbours on 3 sides of us do. It is a catch 22 because we like the greenery provided by the trees and we love to watch the birds. It looks like we will have to paint the walls with a finish that will repel the bird poop at some point.
This little humming bird patiently watches as
Allan installs the lines - I imagine there are lots of quotes you can come up with for this little bird as he watches Allan and contemplates Allan's intentions.
Theresa and me cooking for dinner, Theresa was cooking her homemade perogies and I was doing mushrooms and caramelized onions.
We walk in a line like little ants taking our food home after a shopping spree at Chedraui's
This post has been late in coming, hopefully the one for this week will not be delayed. There is only a few days left, Howard and Theresa leave to fly home on Feb 29th and we fly out on March 1st. None of us are anxious to go but we are all leaving with plans on coming back next year.
