Puerto Aventuras

[MaryIsobel]

We made it to Puerto Aventuras without further incident. We all dozed for the majority of both flights. Yesterday we were reeling from the lack sleeping for 30 hours so didn't venture further than the pool and the grocery store until dinner time. My husband and I went to Nauti Burro http://nautiburro.com/ which is a few steps from our place. The kids stayed home and snacked. I didn't take pictures because I didn't bring my phone. I had grilled veggie quesadillas with guac and pico de gallo, my husband had fish tacos with rice and beans and pico and guac. Lime marg rocks for him, blended mango marg for me. My drink was too big for me to finish and both of our meals were very generous portions; I was unable to eat half of mine. Breakfast today was at home, lunch is TBD. Waiting for my husband to get home from his first of many dental appointments to see what kind of shape his mouth is in.

 

[MaryIsobel]

Husband came home with his entire lower impalnt removed, just the "steel studs" left. He does have all his upper teeth so can chew soft things. I made him a cheese and ham quesadilla for lunch and he managed fine with that. I made pico de gallo and cut up a really lucious pineapple. It looks brownish in the photo but it wasn't. I'm going to freeze half to make frozen pineapple jalapeno margaritas. Not sure what's for dinner, we are just tossing around ideas at the moment. The cilantro that I bought for the pico is so incredibly green and fresh and fragrant that if I could get it at home, I would buy bunches for bouquets in the kitchen. The kitchen here is great - huge and very well equipped. And sharp knives! Almost unheard of in Air BnB's in my experience.

[MaryIsobel]

We also have access to this BBQ area. The two tables are pushed together in the photo as there was a big fiesta de familia there tonight. We are going to have a grilled sausage tasting for dinner one night soon. Various grilled sausage (each of the four of us will pick one kind) grilled peppers and onions... should be fun.

[MaryIsobel]

Well, the best laid plans...We have been eating but it has either been a spontaneous decision while out walking or really not picture worthy. Last night we went looking for somewhere for dinner. We found a great place but the table was outside and not very well lit for photos. Daughter's fiance and I had chicken caesars as we both felt the need for veggies. My daughter had a shrimp burrito which she said was really good. My husband, fresh from the dentist had Azteca Soup which was a spicy tomato base to which one could add diced avacado, cojita cheese, fried tortilla strips and crema, all served on the side. It was a good dinner. Another dental appointment today for my husband so I went out for breakfast which ended up to be a Funky Monkey smoothie; banana, peanut butter (almond butter was an option) and almond milk (regular milk was also an option.) It was delicious, not too sweet and very filling. However, it was a murky beige colour in a plastic cup so not very photogenic. Tonight we went to Happy Hour at the Nauti Burro for drinks and chips and pico de gallo and guac for snacks. I had a frozen mango margarita. The rim is tamarind and chilis and salt. I'll definitely pick up some tamarind. Dinner tonight is chicken and cheese quesadillas which will be made by my husband. Sliced avacados, mangos and tomatoes to go with. He is the king of cooking hot and fast but I've warned him. We shall see. It's a beautiful spot and I spent the morning on a hanging bed, reading poolside.

Edited July 29, 2023 by MaryIsobel (log)

[heidih]

Cracked up at "Nauti Burro".  So good your dentally challenged hubbster found such a nice customizable soup. I love tamarind and my local mainstream market (only place I can get to) used to carry a bin of decent pods and another of piloncillo. Sadly Pandemic 86'd the bins. 

Edited July 29, 2023 by heidih (log)

[MaryIsobel]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

Cracked up at "Nauti Burro".  So good your dentally challenged hubbster found such a nice customizable soup. I love tamarind and my local mainstream market (only place I can get to) used to carry a bin of decent pods and another of piloncillo. Sadly Pandemic 86'd the bins. 

Tamarind is a new to me flavour. I know of it's existence but had never tasted it. The tamarind/chili/salt rim was a great foil to the sweet mango marg. I appreciated that the entire glass wasn't rimmed, as it allows one to not partake on every sip.

[heidih]

31 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

Tamarind is a new to me flavour. I know of it's existence but had never tasted it. The tamarind/chili/salt rim was a great foil to the sweet mango marg. I appreciated that the entire glass wasn't rimmed, as it allows one to not partake on every sip.

You may want to bring some home. It adds a unique sweet/tart but deeper like Viet caramel to many cuisines. Cheap fun to play oth

And the seeds are lovely - always remind me of the classic movie "The Tamrnd Seed' with Julie Andrews and the oh so swoon worthy Omar Sharif. 

Edited July 29, 2023 by heidih (log)

[MaryIsobel]

We have been eating but not a lot. Grazing has been the MO. It is quite hot, which we expected but the humidity is laying us low. We've been eating lots of mango and pineapple, cheese and crackers, avacado toast - that sort of thing. We will be going out for octopus at least onceI have also been having problems with my phone not syncing with my laptop so photos are a bit of a pain. We spent a long time in the Chedraui grocery store as it is air conditioned and I love perusing grocery stores that are not familar to me. I have never seen green sesame seeds for sale at home. The chicirones are bigger than my head, I was a bit leary of the pastor, but the cuts are on a slab of ice - just not too sure about the meat on the spit. We bought enough for a taste and if we suffer no ill effects from that, we'll get more. Bought a couple of kinds of sausage to grill and some poblanos and onions to go with. Unfortunately they didn't have the bright green cilantro sausage that I was looking for but there is a smaller grocery near by so I'll check there. Last night we went for a late dinner, I had a pastor burrito which was great but very filling.L

[heidih]

That is the kind of chicharon I get here. SO good especially wen there is some flavorful meat clinging in spots. I can imagine that burrito was quite filling. I donlt know how the workers eat the enormous breakfast burritos, or the high schoolers from the morning truck - and then function at best mode. Round here the trucks have been a fixture for years and years.

[MaryIsobel]

26 minutes ago, heidih said:

That is the kind of chicharon I get here. SO good especially wen there is some flavorful meat clinging in spots. I can imagine that burrito was quite filling. I donlt know how the workers eat the enormous breakfast burritos, or the high schoolers from the morning truck - and then function at best mode. Round here the trucks have been a fixture for years and years.

I find the portions surprisingly large here - perhaps they are following the lead of Canada and the States. Also I find rice and beans together very filling. 

[MaryIsobel]

Went back to the Nauti Burro as they have a locals jam session on Sunday. It was obvious that some of the people had played together before. It was very enjoyable, mainly classic rock. I had a tamarind margarita, husband had lime. I had shrimp ceviche, he had nachos. We've had the same waiter every time we've gone there and tonight he when we left he hugged me. A young guy from Cuba whose dream is to visit Canada.

Edited July 31, 2023 by MaryIsobel (log)

[heidih]

Sounds fun and somewhat surprsed your hubbster can eat tortilla chips. 

[MaryIsobel]

8 minutes ago, heidih said:

Sounds fun and somewhat surprsed your hubbster can eat tortilla chips. 

It's likely the last day he will be able to, that was part of his decision.

[MaryIsobel]

My husband left for the dentist at 1:30 and it is now 8:00 and no sign of him. My daughter's fiance had to go home today, daughter is staying for another week with us. She and I went and did some shopping in the kind of stores that the boys had no interest in, then stopped for a bite. Mango marg for me, strawberry marg for her. We split at shrimp quesadilla. I'm glad we shared it - I barely managed half. It was delicious but very rich with a lot of shrimp and a lot of cheese. Full moon view from our balcony is pretty tonight. 

ETA - sorry for the goofy pictures my phone and laptop still aren't getting along.

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by MaryIsobel (log)

[MaryIsobel]

On 7/28/2023 at 8:41 PM, heidih said:

Cracked up at "Nauti Burro".  So good your dentally challenged hubbster found such a nice customizable soup. I love tamarind and my local mainstream market (only place I can get to) used to carry a bin of decent pods and another of piloncillo. Sadly Pandemic 86'd the bins. 

On our last trip to Chedraui - the nearest large grocery store, there was a big bin of tamarind pods and a lot of locals picking through them. I had thought that I would just buy the paste but will research what to do with the pods. Not sure they would pass through Customs, will have to check it out.

[Tropicalsenior]

1 hour ago, MaryIsobel said:

I had thought that I would just buy the paste

Believe me, that is the way to go. Pods are a PITA. Unless you're the type that wants to spray them gold and hang them on the Christmas tree, all you wind up with is a little bit of paste and a whole bin full of pods.

[MaryIsobel]

Low key dinner tonight. My husband grilled some sausages, not the variety that we were hoping for but really good. I sauteed some onions and poblano peppers. Subbed pico de gallo for relish, a bit of dijon which was 6.50 Cdn for a jar that was 175ml. Served on bolillo. The sausages were labelled (in Spanish) picante pork. They were nicely seasoned and not picante at all.

[MaryIsobel]

My husband has a lte afternoon dentist appointment so since dinner plans are up in the air, we went for brunch. We went to Tradewinds 

http://tradewindsbydimelopa.weebly.com/menu.html

A michelada for me, iced coffee for my daughter, Coronoa for my husband. I had a scrambled egg and cheese burrito which I foolishly assumed would be smaller than a dinner burrito - it was not. I managed half. Husband had posole and our daughter had a BLT (she had the other half in her hand when I took the photo. Everything was great and once again, very reasonable.

Edited August 8, 2023 by MaryIsobel (log)

[MaryIsobel]

Our last night here. Shuttle picks us up and noon and we fly out at 4:15 (fingers crossed!) The humidity has been really hard on us, so we have been eating lightly, at our condo a lot of the time. None of the restaurants here are air-conditioned, so makes it hard to enjoy a meal. Our condo has AC so we keep retreating to it. Tonight we went to La Caleta. My husband had octopus, my daughter had cocnut shrimp which oddly was served with mashed potatoes, but the tamarind mango dipping sauce was really delicious. Sweet and sour with a little bit of heat. I had seafood soup which was great, shrimp, mussels, crab, octopus and fish in a zesty broth, with diced raw onion, cilantro, lime and a habenero served on the side. I passed on the habenero but added every thing else. The crab were tiny so the only meat worth working for was in the body.

[heidih]

Sounds like a lovely meal. I too am humidity challenged Those small crabs I think other than flavoring the broth you just have to suck on them to get juice and maybe bit of flesh.

[MaryIsobel]

10 hours ago, heidih said:

Sounds like a lovely meal. I too am humidity challenged Those small crabs I think other than flavoring the broth you just have to suck on them to get juice and maybe bit of flesh.

Yes, they were so small. There was only a bite or two from each body. I'm sure they added flavour though. I certainly won't miss this humidity.

[clarkvisits]

Hi Mary, How's the weather there? Glad someone is there. I wanted to confirm some things. I am also planning on visiting Mexico next month. But I am kinda worried about the weather. I was checking a few websites like https://weatherspark.com/y/5674/Average-Weather-in-Mexico-City-Mexico-Year-Round and https://gowithguide.com/blog/mexico-city-tourism-statistics-2023-the-ultimate-guide-5526 they are saying September is peak rainy season. Should I reconsider my Mexico travel timing, or should I stick with initial travel plan? Any advice is appreciated. I don't want to miss out on something important due to bad weather. 

[MaryIsobel]

On 8/23/2023 at 3:55 AM, clarkvisits said:

Hi Mary, How's the weather there? Glad someone is there. I wanted to confirm some things. I am also planning on visiting Mexico next month. But I am kinda worried about the weather. I was checking a few websites like https://weatherspark.com/y/5674/Average-Weather-in-Mexico-City-Mexico-Year-Round and https://gowithguide.com/blog/mexico-city-tourism-statistics-2023-the-ultimate-guide-5526 they are saying September is peak rainy season. Should I reconsider my Mexico travel timing, or should I stick with initial travel plan? Any advice is appreciated. I don't want to miss out on something important due to bad weather. 

While we were in Puerto Aventuras, (2 weeks; end of July, early August) the temp averaged about 30-32C but the humididty was killer for us as we are not used to it. Have never been there in the fall but July to October is hurricane season so if you are planning on staying on either coast, that is something to consider. We normally go in January/February and we find the weather very agreeable then, ie. humidity is bearable. We always vacation on one coast or the other so can't speak inland weather conditions.

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

On 8/23/2023 at 4:55 AM, clarkvisits said:

Hi Mary, How's the weather there? Glad someone is there. I wanted to confirm some things. I am also planning on visiting Mexico next month. But I am kinda worried about the weather. I was checking a few websites like https://weatherspark.com/y/5674/Average-Weather-in-Mexico-City-Mexico-Year-Round and https://gowithguide.com/blog/mexico-city-tourism-statistics-2023-the-ultimate-guide-5526 they are saying September is peak rainy season. Should I reconsider my Mexico travel timing, or should I stick with initial travel plan? Any advice is appreciated. I don't want to miss out on something important due to bad weather. 

I wouldn't obsess too much about weather in Mexico City. For one thing you won't have to worry about hurricanes, though the occasional earthquake may disrupt plans.  If you haven't already gone, the major concern is pollution, which makes the skyline disappear at times. Mexico City isn't really a walking town--too big--but someplace like Condesa or Roma is manageable. A trip to Coyoacan and Casa Azul (Frida Kahlo's house) is worth the trip. Go around the corner to see where Leon Trotsky spent his last days for a real contrast in housing and  comfort. Coyoacan is a nice area that used to be a separate town but has been swallowed up by the metropolis. There are many wonderful museums to visit, the best of which (for us) is the Museo de Antropologia that displays the vast wealth of Mexican archaeology. A tour of the enormous Mercado de la Merced  (you'll need a guide to keep from getting lost) is fun. Tenochtitlan, a major archaeological site, is very close to the zocalo and the Cathedral. This was the city that Cortez conquered, though much of it is buried under the city now. Lots of buildings have important murals done by the Big 3 (Rivera, Orozco and Siquieros). Bellas Artes on the Alameda park has a good display of work, plus being a remarkable example of Art Deco (on the inside, the outside is more Arte Nouveau). Try to see some Ballet Folklorico in the theatre with its Tiffany glass curtain.

 

Enjoy yourself--it's one of the major cities of the world, full of good things to see and do.

[MaryIsobel]

18 hours ago, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

I wouldn't obsess too much about weather in Mexico City. For one thing you won't have to worry about hurricanes, though the occasional earthquake may disrupt plans.  If you haven't already gone, the major concern is pollution, which makes the skyline disappear at times. Mexico City isn't really a walking town--too big--but someplace like Condesa or Roma is manageable. A trip to Coyoacan and Casa Azul (Frida Kahlo's house) is worth the trip. Go around the corner to see where Leon Trotsky spent his last days for a real contrast in housing and  comfort. Coyoacan is a nice area that used to be a separate town but has been swallowed up by the metropolis. There are many wonderful museums to visit, the best of which (for us) is the Museo de Antropologia that displays the vast wealth of Mexican archaeology. A tour of the enormous Mercado de la Merced  (you'll need a guide to keep from getting lost) is fun. Tenochtitlan, a major archaeological site, is very close to the zocalo and the Cathedral. This was the city that Cortez conquered, though much of it is buried under the city now. Lots of buildings have important murals done by the Big 3 (Rivera, Orozco and Siquieros). Bellas Artes on the Alameda park has a good display of work, plus being a remarkable example of Art Deco (on the inside, the outside is more Arte Nouveau). Try to see some Ballet Folklorico in the theatre with its Tiffany glass curtain.

 

Enjoy yourself--it's one of the major cities of the world, full of good things to see and do.

I was in Mexico City 40 years ago and my standout memory was attending the Ballet Folklorico in a gorgeous venue in the middle of the city