Saturday, February 27, 2010
2/26/2010: Day 5
Day 5 started out with Pilates at 10am. We left our room a little late so we had to run and called it our warm up. I say it's too damn humid to run in Mexico. After Pilates kicked our asses, we headed off to Playa Del Carmen, the local city not too far away. It's a short cab ride...$17 each way to be exact. I was not impressed with Playa from the beginning. I personally do not like to feel assualted with sales people the entire day. I understand they are just doing their job to earn a living, but it's annoying. Plus, everyone has the same stuff!
We were starving when we arrived, so we ate lunch at Texas Burger. I imagine if we knew anything about the culture, we would have known that Texas Burger is probably like Chili's is to us in America. I was not impressed, although we did get maragaritas for $5...which was a deal! We ate next to Senor Frog and I'm a sucker for photo opportunities, so here is a cute photo of Eric and Senor Frog.
After lunch we walked up and down 5th, the main shopping strip. we eventually ran into a Starbucks, which turned out to be a good thing. Coffee in Mexico at Starbucks is GOOD. I mean it. Hard to believe since Starbuck's coffee SUCKS in the USA. I collect Starbuck mugs from different states/countries, but they were all out. Bummer, too, because I don't have one from Mexico. Then it was off for more walking, more shopping, more getting harrassed. Eventually we made our way to the beach...and I saw something I'd never seen before---swing bars. Bars that had big adult swings instead of bar stools. I was so excited! We sat on the swings and had a Corona with lime. 
After the Corona, off we went, down the beach, to find the ferry station for our excursion to Cozumel on Tuesday. Then we were back on 5th, shopping and walking. Which leads us to the highlight of the day...or at least the most traumatic part of the day!
The Monkey. Why do I get so excited over unusual things? We saw two guys, each with small monkeys. For $5 you could take two photos with one of them. So Eric paid and the guy took our photos. The monkey was so stinky. I regretted letting that stinky little thing crawl on us after I smelled it, but it was too late. Plus, it would be over in a minute, right? Hardly. After we held out our hands for it, it crawled ON TOP of my head. Cute, right? Yes. Funny, right? Yes. I was laughing...for a few more seconds. After our photos, the guy pointed out the tip jar. Seriously? I just paid you $5 for a one minute stand in with the freaking monkey and now you want a tip. Ok, whatever. We gave the guy a tip. My tip should have been GIVE YOUR EFFING MONKEY A BATH PLEASE! So, we walk away....and for some reason I feel the back of my neck. Wet? What? WHY IS MY NECK WET? I turn to look at my shoulder where the monkey had been and it's wet, too. WTF? OH NO! "ERIC! THAT F*#^ING MONKEY PEED ON ME AND I SMELL STINKY FROM IT!!! HELP!!" It went something like that. Seriously, that monkey had peed on me. SO GROSS! And, as it crawled all over my me, it left it's little stinky self all over me. I could smell it...for hours. I wanted to vomit. Then, with the pee, it was almost too much to handle. Poor Eric. He offered to get me another shirt...or gave me an idea to go wash my head off. All very nice, but I just wanted a shower. Luckily the pee wasn't like cat pee...it didn't smell...but traces of the monkey DID. Still I cringe.
When I went to Indonesia I had a traumatic run in with a monkey...so after this, I am done with them! :)
Despite the monkey, we ventured on. We met up with a vendor who sold hammocks and hammock chairs. He said his family made them, it was their family business. I believed him. He said the chairs were sturdy and held 600 pounds each. I did not believe him...but since I won't be putting 600 pounds in it, I didn't care. We bought two of the chairs for our front porch. We were so happy that we were supporting local family business. HA! We joked about walking down the street and finding more....which we did. In fact, every one and their mother was selling the same exact "family business" chair. Seriously? Shit. We were taken. We stopped by another vendor and she told us that the Mayan people made the chairs. Eric believed her. I told him she was also full of shit. The Mayan people did not make the damn chairs. The family of the guy we bought them from did not make the chairs. For all we know, someone in China or Indonesia or Taiwan made them. The only thing that saved the day (and made this experiience ok) is that we got a good deal on the chairs--or at least we paid what we thought was a good deal. Point of this story--don't believe a thing you hear from sales people. It's all effing lies.
After the monkey trauma, and being taken by vendors, we settled down and had dinner at John Gray's Place. This restaurant was recommended to us by one of Eric's coworkers. It was very delicious. I had truffle mac and cheese (Eric and I have a thing about gourmet mac and cheese that I will tell you about someday). We wanted to compare John Gray's to El Puerto's which we compared to Mizunos in Denver. The order comes in at Mizunos, El Puerto and then John Grays, although I thought the mac and cheese tasted like alfredo, not truffle oil--but it did have tasty grilled shrimp.
We also ate muscles, pesto olive oil bread, asparagus, and steak. So good! 
Eventually we left Playa, returned to Fairmont, and started our night. We read a little bit (we're both reading the Percy Jackson series)and then when it was dark, we went to the infinity pool (heated!) overlooking the ocean. At night it is incredibly windy...too windy, in fact. But we went to a heated pool so we were able to stay warm. Eric swam his first "laps" ever, which was exciting to share with him. We talked about swimming and triathlon, and how amazing our life has been. It was great to swim without anyone else there. In the distance, over the edge of the pool, we could see a few cruise ships, the moon, and a lot of clouds.
After swimming we went to Las Brisas' outside bar and ordered chips and guac. It wasn't on the menu, but the chef made us some...and by some I mean tons! Again, the service here is amazing. The chef even threw in some fresh habanero salsa, which we DID NOT try...way too hot! We finished off the night eating chips and guac.
Day 5--spectacular!
We were starving when we arrived, so we ate lunch at Texas Burger. I imagine if we knew anything about the culture, we would have known that Texas Burger is probably like Chili's is to us in America. I was not impressed, although we did get maragaritas for $5...which was a deal! We ate next to Senor Frog and I'm a sucker for photo opportunities, so here is a cute photo of Eric and Senor Frog.
After lunch we walked up and down 5th, the main shopping strip. we eventually ran into a Starbucks, which turned out to be a good thing. Coffee in Mexico at Starbucks is GOOD. I mean it. Hard to believe since Starbuck's coffee SUCKS in the USA. I collect Starbuck mugs from different states/countries, but they were all out. Bummer, too, because I don't have one from Mexico. Then it was off for more walking, more shopping, more getting harrassed. Eventually we made our way to the beach...and I saw something I'd never seen before---swing bars. Bars that had big adult swings instead of bar stools. I was so excited! We sat on the swings and had a Corona with lime. 
After the Corona, off we went, down the beach, to find the ferry station for our excursion to Cozumel on Tuesday. Then we were back on 5th, shopping and walking. Which leads us to the highlight of the day...or at least the most traumatic part of the day!The Monkey. Why do I get so excited over unusual things? We saw two guys, each with small monkeys. For $5 you could take two photos with one of them. So Eric paid and the guy took our photos. The monkey was so stinky. I regretted letting that stinky little thing crawl on us after I smelled it, but it was too late. Plus, it would be over in a minute, right? Hardly. After we held out our hands for it, it crawled ON TOP of my head. Cute, right? Yes. Funny, right? Yes. I was laughing...for a few more seconds. After our photos, the guy pointed out the tip jar. Seriously? I just paid you $5 for a one minute stand in with the freaking monkey and now you want a tip. Ok, whatever. We gave the guy a tip. My tip should have been GIVE YOUR EFFING MONKEY A BATH PLEASE! So, we walk away....and for some reason I feel the back of my neck. Wet? What? WHY IS MY NECK WET? I turn to look at my shoulder where the monkey had been and it's wet, too. WTF? OH NO! "ERIC! THAT F*#^ING MONKEY PEED ON ME AND I SMELL STINKY FROM IT!!! HELP!!" It went something like that. Seriously, that monkey had peed on me. SO GROSS! And, as it crawled all over my me, it left it's little stinky self all over me. I could smell it...for hours. I wanted to vomit. Then, with the pee, it was almost too much to handle. Poor Eric. He offered to get me another shirt...or gave me an idea to go wash my head off. All very nice, but I just wanted a shower. Luckily the pee wasn't like cat pee...it didn't smell...but traces of the monkey DID. Still I cringe.
When I went to Indonesia I had a traumatic run in with a monkey...so after this, I am done with them! :)
Despite the monkey, we ventured on. We met up with a vendor who sold hammocks and hammock chairs. He said his family made them, it was their family business. I believed him. He said the chairs were sturdy and held 600 pounds each. I did not believe him...but since I won't be putting 600 pounds in it, I didn't care. We bought two of the chairs for our front porch. We were so happy that we were supporting local family business. HA! We joked about walking down the street and finding more....which we did. In fact, every one and their mother was selling the same exact "family business" chair. Seriously? Shit. We were taken. We stopped by another vendor and she told us that the Mayan people made the chairs. Eric believed her. I told him she was also full of shit. The Mayan people did not make the damn chairs. The family of the guy we bought them from did not make the chairs. For all we know, someone in China or Indonesia or Taiwan made them. The only thing that saved the day (and made this experiience ok) is that we got a good deal on the chairs--or at least we paid what we thought was a good deal. Point of this story--don't believe a thing you hear from sales people. It's all effing lies.
After the monkey trauma, and being taken by vendors, we settled down and had dinner at John Gray's Place. This restaurant was recommended to us by one of Eric's coworkers. It was very delicious. I had truffle mac and cheese (Eric and I have a thing about gourmet mac and cheese that I will tell you about someday). We wanted to compare John Gray's to El Puerto's which we compared to Mizunos in Denver. The order comes in at Mizunos, El Puerto and then John Grays, although I thought the mac and cheese tasted like alfredo, not truffle oil--but it did have tasty grilled shrimp.
We also ate muscles, pesto olive oil bread, asparagus, and steak. So good! 
Eventually we left Playa, returned to Fairmont, and started our night. We read a little bit (we're both reading the Percy Jackson series)and then when it was dark, we went to the infinity pool (heated!) overlooking the ocean. At night it is incredibly windy...too windy, in fact. But we went to a heated pool so we were able to stay warm. Eric swam his first "laps" ever, which was exciting to share with him. We talked about swimming and triathlon, and how amazing our life has been. It was great to swim without anyone else there. In the distance, over the edge of the pool, we could see a few cruise ships, the moon, and a lot of clouds.
After swimming we went to Las Brisas' outside bar and ordered chips and guac. It wasn't on the menu, but the chef made us some...and by some I mean tons! Again, the service here is amazing. The chef even threw in some fresh habanero salsa, which we DID NOT try...way too hot! We finished off the night eating chips and guac.
Day 5--spectacular!
2/25/2010: Day 4
The photo to the right is of our suite, which takes up the entire top floor of the building. Photo taken from the tour boat.On Day 4 there was NO working out, other than walking. My core hurt so bad from the day before!! At 8am we went on a nature tour of the property with a VERY cute Captain. :) There was a couple from New Jersey and two ladies from Los Angeles in our boat. We learned all about the mangroves, how the canals were put in, and what Mayakoba hotels have to do to preserve the lands. It's very hard to do, but they try. The tour was about 45 minutes and Eric and I both really enjoyed it. The tour Captain was extremely knowledgable and you could tell he really felt good about working for a company that was so connected to keeping the area "green". We also saw Banyan Tree--a resort in Mayakoba. Beautiful place. People say it is REALLY expensive to stay there.
This photo, to the left, is our old suite, covered by trees, on the bottom floor of the building.After the tour we went to the beach! Our first day at the beach--we were sooo excited. We camee to Mexico to enjoy the sun and warm weather, and this would be our first day to have it. The beach here is amazing...clean, white sand, teal water, little shade huts everywhere. Paradise. Servers come by all day and bring you drinks and food, if you want. It's perfect.
This is my funny husband trying on his new triathlon goggles that I gave him. They are perfect for ocean swimming.
After we roasted for a while in the sun, reading, we went to Las Brisas again for lunch and pina coladas. The drinks here are EXPENSIVO but they're awesome. I can't remember which day we went to the lounge at the front of the hotel and had drinks, but that's when I fell in love with the pina coladas and daquiris. They use real cream! These drinks are probably like 500 calories a drink..but at $10-$14 a pop, you really can't drink too many at a time, so I figure it's okay to have one every now and then. Oh, the lounge....yes. One of my very favorite places on the grounds. It's a n open air lounge, with live music and big squishy chairs. Eric and I hung out there for about two hours one day--reading and drinking. LOVED IT!Where was I? So after lunch we wanted to get back to our room. There are three options. 1--walk. It's a fair bit of distance, but we've walked it quite a bit. 2--wait for a shuttle. The hotel has golf cart shuttles running 24 hours a day, all over the grounds. 3--bikes. Bikes are everywhere. You grab one off the rack, ride to a new location, leave the bike there. I was not going to ride a bike because I didn't have a helmet...but Eric did this day. I took the shuttle and he rode a bike and met me at the shuttle stop.
Later this day we walked all over again and ended up at the business center/conference area. REALLY nice place. We took a lot of photos from there because it is overlooking the entire grounds. Fairmont is a beautiful place to stay.
Around 5pm we went back to the lounge I love so much, had some drinks, bought a bottle of wine, and I ate a fantastic sushi roll. At 6pm we headed to the deck below for dinner. We ordered a steak, truffle macaroni and cheese (to die for!) and asparagus. WOW! Not only was the food amazing, but the service here is nearly perfect. Eric, of course, had sorbet for dinner. I even sneaked a few bites here and there. :)
Like most nights, we were in bed by 8:30pm. :) Good day.
2/24/2010: Day 3
As you can see, I am way behind on blogging. It's easy to get lost in time when you don't have to be anywhere, and you can sit around being totally relaxed all day...and night..and the next day. You get the point!
So, Day 3. Day 3 was fairly laid back. We attended THREE (3) fitness classes. 8am stretching for 45 minutes. Pilates at 10am for 45 minutes. Fitball at 4pm for 45 minutes. The next day (speaking for myself) I was soooo sore. But back to Day 3. After stretching we decided to take a little walk around the grounds. We found the swim up aqua bar and the herb garden.
I don't think we did much else that whole day...but eat and hang out. The weather wasn't all that great, as it has been most of the time we've been here. It's been rainy and windy and even chilly, nearly cold at times. The locals say the weather all across Mexico is very odd. Lucky us. ;)
This was also the day we moved to our new suite. The suite we were in was on the bottom floor, overlooking the canals...but there was a lot of growth in the way, so we had no view. We asked to be moved to a top floor suite as one came available, and it did on Wednesday afternoon. The new suite overlooks one of the holes at El Camaleon (or however you spell it)--the really nice golf course that where the PGA just played last week for the Mayakoba Classic. BUT--we're also close enough to the beach that we can hear the waves crashing, close enough to the highway to hear the traffic, and so close to the golf course that we can/see the machines every morning taking care of the greens, and the people who work and play on the greens. So, there are pros and cons. Still, we're staying in a $800 per night suite for free...so I can't bitch too much. I was hoping for a PERFECT suite, though....on top, overlooking the water, with no noise. The upside is that this suite has alot of natural light and I REALLY like that.
For dinner we made reservations at Las Brisas, overlooking the ocean. It's a great place to eat. Eric had really good fish and I had....beef dumplings and duck poblano soup. :) We also shared a nice bottle of chardonnay...very buttery and sweet. Yum! For dessert we had a sorbet combo (small detour--Eric LOVES sorbet, especially the sorbet from Fairmont. When he was working in Boston, he had the sorbet all of the time. Now we have it a lot of the time here. Lucky him, huh?). Ok, back to Mayakoba...
We decided to try the sorbet sampler. Much to our surprise, it came with five flavors, and not the standard lemon, mango and raspberry. What started as a WTF turned into an OMG. Avocado mint sorbet....amazing. Chili sorbet...hot, but yum. Apple clove...OMG. There were also two others that were okay, but not memorable.
After dinner we rolled home and went to bed. End of Day 3.
So, Day 3. Day 3 was fairly laid back. We attended THREE (3) fitness classes. 8am stretching for 45 minutes. Pilates at 10am for 45 minutes. Fitball at 4pm for 45 minutes. The next day (speaking for myself) I was soooo sore. But back to Day 3. After stretching we decided to take a little walk around the grounds. We found the swim up aqua bar and the herb garden.
I don't think we did much else that whole day...but eat and hang out. The weather wasn't all that great, as it has been most of the time we've been here. It's been rainy and windy and even chilly, nearly cold at times. The locals say the weather all across Mexico is very odd. Lucky us. ;)
This was also the day we moved to our new suite. The suite we were in was on the bottom floor, overlooking the canals...but there was a lot of growth in the way, so we had no view. We asked to be moved to a top floor suite as one came available, and it did on Wednesday afternoon. The new suite overlooks one of the holes at El Camaleon (or however you spell it)--the really nice golf course that where the PGA just played last week for the Mayakoba Classic. BUT--we're also close enough to the beach that we can hear the waves crashing, close enough to the highway to hear the traffic, and so close to the golf course that we can/see the machines every morning taking care of the greens, and the people who work and play on the greens. So, there are pros and cons. Still, we're staying in a $800 per night suite for free...so I can't bitch too much. I was hoping for a PERFECT suite, though....on top, overlooking the water, with no noise. The upside is that this suite has alot of natural light and I REALLY like that.
For dinner we made reservations at Las Brisas, overlooking the ocean. It's a great place to eat. Eric had really good fish and I had....beef dumplings and duck poblano soup. :) We also shared a nice bottle of chardonnay...very buttery and sweet. Yum! For dessert we had a sorbet combo (small detour--Eric LOVES sorbet, especially the sorbet from Fairmont. When he was working in Boston, he had the sorbet all of the time. Now we have it a lot of the time here. Lucky him, huh?). Ok, back to Mayakoba...
We decided to try the sorbet sampler. Much to our surprise, it came with five flavors, and not the standard lemon, mango and raspberry. What started as a WTF turned into an OMG. Avocado mint sorbet....amazing. Chili sorbet...hot, but yum. Apple clove...OMG. There were also two others that were okay, but not memorable.
After dinner we rolled home and went to bed. End of Day 3.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Going to Playa
Just a quick update. I'm a few days behind on blogging, but will catch up soon. We just got back from pilates...kicked my ass....as pilates usually does. Now we are off to Playa Del Carmen to try some local food and go shopping. The weather is okay today. It's been rainy and cloudy since we've been here, with spots of sunshine. We made it down to the beach yesterday to sunbathe. That was really nice.
In the coming days we are going on three excursions...golf, Tulum (with an ecosystem park to do some zip-lining) and a snorkeling trip to Cozumel. Today we're shopping and eating, tomorrow we'll hopefully be at the beach, golf on Sunday, and Monday and Tuesday we'll do the other two trips.
We've taken some great photos. I hope to get those online today, too, through another site that I will link to.
Hope all is well with everyone. We're having a good time relaxing...and eating....and working out. :)
Off to Playa,
The Cohens
In the coming days we are going on three excursions...golf, Tulum (with an ecosystem park to do some zip-lining) and a snorkeling trip to Cozumel. Today we're shopping and eating, tomorrow we'll hopefully be at the beach, golf on Sunday, and Monday and Tuesday we'll do the other two trips.
We've taken some great photos. I hope to get those online today, too, through another site that I will link to.
Hope all is well with everyone. We're having a good time relaxing...and eating....and working out. :)
Off to Playa,
The Cohens
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
2/24/2010: Day 3
Last night before bed I had a cup of Fairmont vanilla tea. Not such a good idea! This morning, at 2:20am or so, I heard a noise and woke up. Ghost? Burgler? Air conditioner? My overactive imagination would not let me go back to sleep. So I laid in bed and pondered what it would be like to have a haunted suite. I started worrying about work, and people that I should have done work for before I left. I tried to not think about work, but it wouldn't leave my mind....and yet I did not want to get out of bed to email Jessica...which I ended up doing anyway. As I laid in bed, I noticed that my left ankle itched, and I wondered if I got bit by a spider, and what that would be like if I was in a foreign country, with a poisonous spider bite. Over-active-imagination. Finally I decided that it wasn't worth it and got out of bed. Which leads us to why I am up so freaking early, blogging. I just can't sleep. Eric woke up about half hour ago, wanting to know why I was blogging. BECAUSE I WAS STUPID AND HAD TEA BEFORE DINNER! Or quite possibly my body is shocked because I actually did some exercise yesterday.....it hasn't really done anything for three months. I'd prefer to blame in on the exercise because the tea issue is so stupid. I feel like a moron. Now I am going to be tired all day. Ick. Well, I guess that means I will put my ass by the pool and catch some much needed zzzzzzzs. :)
Hope all is well in your world. Today I hope to get some running or biking AND some weights in. But firt I should try to go back to sleep. Hmmmm...my new logic puzzle puts me to sleep. I'll try that.....
Hope all is well in your world. Today I hope to get some running or biking AND some weights in. But firt I should try to go back to sleep. Hmmmm...my new logic puzzle puts me to sleep. I'll try that.....
2/23/2010: Day 2
NOTE: I am not editing these entries. There will be spelling and grammar errors. I want to get the story down, then edit on another day, when I'm not on vacation!
Day 2 in Paradise. We woke up early, around 6:30am local time, 5:30am Colorado time. I didn't know where I was for a few minutes. One does not usually go from being woken up by screaming, hungry cats to waking up in a Mexican jungle. It's quite the shift.
Eric made our morning coffee in the french press and we sat on the porch, surrounded by green bliss. Eric read the first Percy Jackson book, the Lightening Thief, as I started to blog. (From the dates you can tell that I never submitted the entry yesterday....so I did it this morning (2/23/2010).) We were hoping to make it to the buns and abs class, but 8am rolled around and we decided to eat instead! Off to the restaurant we went. It took us awhile to get to the place. The grounds here are big and the paths are all connected, but unmarked. We knew the general direction and away we went. On the way we stopped by a fantastic series of pools (which I will put in another post after Eric gets up and I can find the camera). Even at 8 in the morning, everything was beautiful and clean and wonderful. The restaurant we ate at, La Laguna, was right on the canal. Eric and I both spent some time looking at the birds, fish, and turtles before sitting down to eat. Breakfast was standard...eggs, meat, toast, coffee. Nothing special, but it was good.
After breakfast we walked more. This time past a swim up Aquabar. Wow. We really have to go there while we are here. Photo of it soon. Then, on that sidewalk, we ran into an herb garden. The herbs smelled delicious. I stood around and smelled the place while Eric took photos. Then more walking.....there is A LOT of walking here. Sure, you can take the golf cart, but we try to walk as much as possible.
At 9:40am we decided we better get back to the room and get ready for Yoga. Yes, we went and did a yoga class. There were four people in the little class room. It was intimate, in a non-intimate way. :) Yoga...in Mexico...at a world class hotel. A first for me and I LOVE firsts! I seriously can't believe how OUT OF SHAPE and how much I hurt doing yoga. It's as if my body has turned into rock. Stretching? OUCH! Bending? OUCH? Holding a posutre? JOKE! My success came in just making it through the hour class. I didn't DO YOGA. I strecthed. But I did it. Day #1 of Ironman training accomplished--I stretched. One baby step at a time. Of course, all-star Cohen did a tremendous job with his unhuman-like stretchableness. I stuck my tongue out at him more than once. Good job, babe. You rocked Yoga. :)
By 10:15am, I needed a nap. Seriously. Vacationing is hard work! :) So we packed up our bags and went back to the spa, to the Serenity lounge, and hung out by the pool. Eric read his book and I napped on the comfy chairs, partially out of the sun. It was divine.
Around noon we both got hungry, so we headed off to lunch--we walked to Las Brisas by the ocean. Eric had a spinach salad and I ate a chicken ceasar. We both had a drink and shared coconut shrimp with sweet chili sauce. The best part was the time we spent looking out over a teal ocean, white sand, and....military people...WHAT? Yeap, down the beach were 24 Latin American presidents, at a conference. TWENTY FOUR! So armed guards in military attire walked the beach, and the ocean had military boats all over the place. Well, we know we're safe, right? :)
After lunch Eric "really" wanted to go IN the ocean. So, we walked up and down the coastline for a little bit, collecting shells and rocks. Afterwards, we walked back to our suite, put on our suits, and this time, caught a golf cart to the beach. Two miles plus all of the other walking was enough for me. Remember--this was only Day #1of Ironman training (hee hee hee!)! It's very important to not start out doing too much. ;)
As we walked up to the infinity pool (overlooking the ocean), we stopped by the towel hut to pick up towels. Much to my surprise, the gentleman there took back the towel I grabbed from him, and followed us to our chairs. He placed one towel (with a special top on it to fit over a lounge chair) over the chair and rolled the other one up to be a hanging pillow on the chair. Paradise, I tell you! I'm the person the people at the hotel look at and think: She's here on points. No way she paid to get here. She didn't even know enough to let us put down her towel. YIKES!
We treid the ocean, but the piece of the water we entered was REALLY rocky and hurt our little feet!So back to the pool we went. The pool by the beach allows children, so we watched some families playing in the pool. My favorite moment was a mother with a little crying boy and a dad with his happy little girl. The mom looked at the dad and said, "Here, take the crying one!" I saw my future at that moment. One day I will say the same thing to Eric. Then an older little girl, maybe 8 or 9, and her friend wanted to play screaming mermaids. Oh my gosh. I'm trying to read, ok? In the peace and quiet. Frustrated, I put down my book, because the mermaids were louder than the book in my head. The first mermaid girl was cute, though. "I'm a compeitive swimmer!" Very nice, dear. Please go swim in the ocean, then. I hear there are lots of mermaids in the oceans. Not so much in the pool!
After thebeach, and taking the golf cart back to the suite, I had to go sit in the steamy eucalyptus room at the spa. Eric took his book and went to the Serenity Lounge while I sweated my ass off in the steam room and the hot tub. Absoultely the BEST hot tub I've ever been in and the best steam room. The tiles were big enough to lay on, and they were soooo warm. So not only did I get the steam, I also got heat put into my muscles by laying on the tiles. I think I will go back today (Day 3).
After the hot tub and steam room, I took a shower in the spa area. They had their entire signature line of products...shampoo, conditioner, cleanser and sugar scrub. Delightful! The showers were little rooms, laid out with a towel, a wash cloth, a shower cap, and a razor! In a room off to the side they had a full line of hair products, lotions, and smelly things, to use after you did your hair. A full spa. Very nice. Very, very nice. I took the razor with me to use here in the room. What a nice tough. If you come to Fairmont, and you want to pay the spa fee, don't worry about bringing a razor. :) Life is simple here.
The next thing I remember is going to dinner. We went to the same restaurant as breakfast and it was great. The server hooked us with free chips and guac ($9) which was really nice. Eric had pork and I had pizza. While it was really good, I don't really recommend coming to Mexico to have pizza. It would be like going to Italy to have guacamole. Enjoy the culture where you are, not where you are from!
After dinner we walked back to the room, got ready for bed, and climbed into the warm, soft, comfy bed. I played some logic puzzles and erronously had a stupid cup of tea (see 2/23/2010) before retiring for the night.
Day 2 was fun, eventful, but relaxed.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
2/22/2010: Happiness is in the Details
Where do I start.....
2/22/2010, Day 1, we got up, loaded the Jeep, and headed to the airport with our many pieces of luggage. The night before I was upset at Eric because he didn't think that I needed three pieces of luggage and a carry-on. I see his point now, but at the time it was not pretty. :) Instead we came with two overweight big suitcases, two small carry-on sized suitcases, and a backpack (full of books).
When we arrived at the airport we went through the short security line (thankfully--Mondays are so busy at DIA) due to Eric being a 1K flier. Then we boarded the train, arrived at Terminal B, and headed straight to the Red Carpet Club, thanks again to Eric's 1K status and our International tickets. :) The Red Carpet Club is nice, but I WOULD NOT pay $50 for a one-time pass. It had some nice chairs, free coffee, and free continental breakfast. If you are an actual member you get free internet, but since we were only visiting, we would have had to pay. In fact, when I went to ask the customer service lady if I could get the PIN for the internet account, she looked at my ticket and said, "Oh, you're in coach. The PIN is only for first class passengers." "Ok, then HOW DO I GET THE INTERNET?" I replied. Coach. Whatever.:)
At 9:50am we boarded the plane, to find that not only were we in the very spacious exit row, in Economy Plus, we also did not have another person sitting in our row. On the 3.5 hour flight we read, played logic puzzles, and had amazing salads. Eric had Chicken Ceasar and I had a delicious spinach salad with blue cheese, walnuts and cranberries. Yum!
Around 2:45pm local time we got off the plane, picked up our bags, went through Customs, and found our shuttle. We paid quite a bit extra to have a private shuttle, but it was really worth it. 40 minutes later we were pulling in to the hotel.
First, Fairmont is a really posh place. When we arrived by shuttle, there was an armored military vehicle outside the entrance, filled with guys with big ass machine guns. There were three attendants and another guy with a machine gun at the gate. They are NOT messing around with security. After a few minutes we were greeted through the back window, "Welcome to Fairmont,Mr. and Mrs. Cohen", and we entered.
The enclosed "resort' is 240 acres, so it was quite a bit of driving up to the actual hotel. The hotel wsa built into a jungle, so everything is green, plush, and living. There are birds everywhere, lizards scurrying, and lots of fish in the canals.We were told there is even a crocodile! Seriously, what is a vacation without a signature crocodile??
When we stepped out of the shuttle, we were greeted with orange blossom scented cold towels to freshen up. I kept that silly thing for a while, and ended up bringing it back to our room. It smelled soooo good and was just another reminder that we were actually here, in paradise. On our way into the building we were each handed a wine glass filled with cherry flavored ice tea. It was amazing. Eric still wants some more. :)
So after checking in, we were greeted by a hotel person and taken to our room. Oh--my--goodness! A suite. I knew we were getting a suite. I didn't know how big it was going to be. Over 900 square feet. It's the size of an apartment. There are two full sized bathrooms, a big living room (where I am sitting now), and a master bedroom with bath. The porch/deck/patio is huge (long). Although there is only one bed, at least two couples could comfortably stay here. I should have packed a few friends!
The gentleman who brought us to our room showed up around and got us settled in. We thought we were going to be a on a top floor, overlooking the canal system, and were a little surprised to find no view off our patio, except for jungle. He called the front desk and they assured us we would be moved as soon as possible to an upper deck room. We did, afterall, make these reservations seven months ago. Also, my husband did spend over 120 nights with this hotel chain last year....so we were really glad when they decided to accomodate us. The perks of being a President's Club member.
After the first guy left, we heard a knock on the door, and in comes a gentleman carrying a tray of fruit and Perrier, compliments of the President's Club. Fortunately, Eric was able to pick what our gift was going to be, so he ordered the fruit. Basic fruits..apples, pears, and some weird fruit that I still don't know what to call it. It's like a tiny white guava. Of course, being the curious person I am, I decided to eat it without asking for instructions. I ate the whole thing. Nope. Not the seeds/inside, which is most of the fruit. But how was I to know? :)It is a wasteful little fruit!
After putting our bags down we went out on our own and adventured around the grounds, looking at birds, flowers, and walking the many paths. We visited the Spa (Fitness and Spa). The fitness room consists of lots of treadmills and some bikes, and an enitre set of machines that are really really nice. There is also a class room, and they put on three fitness classes a day. Classes include yoga, strecthing, fit ball, step, pilates, and something else....oh, Body Combat on Mondays at 8am. Entrance to the spa also includes men and women's shower rooms (separately). In each locker room there is fresh juice, tea, coffee, all the showering supplies you could ever want, a eucalyptus steam room, a gigantic hot tub, and an aromatherapy room without heat. Once you have your swim clothes on, you can go upstairs to the second floor where they have the "Serenity Lounge", with more food, drinks, and no children. It's completely quiet, with only softly played music. Amazing. There is a pool up there and a mineral bath. We knew we were going to love this place! It's extra, but it's worth it! Oh, and they have bottled water...for free...which is about $5 a bottle if you have to buy it. So I drink a lot of water from there. :) It's like getting to work out for free because I drink so much water now.
Eventually we made it to the beach. It's about a mile down to the beach given that the path is very curvy/windy. One of the three restaurants is there, Las Brisas. We decided to stop and have a drink and some snacks there. Two of the three restaurants have a dress code, but we were happy to know the bar did not. We ordered Milagro margaritas. Oh-my! Best regular flavored margarita ever. the secret is sugar. They put sugar and fresh lime in it, and it's A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! See photo below. We also ordered chips and guacamole (yes, the authentic kind, Jessica and Shavon!). :) It was really windy that particular night and a storm was passing through. Fortunately we didn't blow away...but some napkins did!
We finished up our first night by going to bed early. Paradise is tiring. (wink!)
2/22/2010, Day 1, we got up, loaded the Jeep, and headed to the airport with our many pieces of luggage. The night before I was upset at Eric because he didn't think that I needed three pieces of luggage and a carry-on. I see his point now, but at the time it was not pretty. :) Instead we came with two overweight big suitcases, two small carry-on sized suitcases, and a backpack (full of books).
When we arrived at the airport we went through the short security line (thankfully--Mondays are so busy at DIA) due to Eric being a 1K flier. Then we boarded the train, arrived at Terminal B, and headed straight to the Red Carpet Club, thanks again to Eric's 1K status and our International tickets. :) The Red Carpet Club is nice, but I WOULD NOT pay $50 for a one-time pass. It had some nice chairs, free coffee, and free continental breakfast. If you are an actual member you get free internet, but since we were only visiting, we would have had to pay. In fact, when I went to ask the customer service lady if I could get the PIN for the internet account, she looked at my ticket and said, "Oh, you're in coach. The PIN is only for first class passengers." "Ok, then HOW DO I GET THE INTERNET?" I replied. Coach. Whatever.:)
At 9:50am we boarded the plane, to find that not only were we in the very spacious exit row, in Economy Plus, we also did not have another person sitting in our row. On the 3.5 hour flight we read, played logic puzzles, and had amazing salads. Eric had Chicken Ceasar and I had a delicious spinach salad with blue cheese, walnuts and cranberries. Yum!
Around 2:45pm local time we got off the plane, picked up our bags, went through Customs, and found our shuttle. We paid quite a bit extra to have a private shuttle, but it was really worth it. 40 minutes later we were pulling in to the hotel.
First, Fairmont is a really posh place. When we arrived by shuttle, there was an armored military vehicle outside the entrance, filled with guys with big ass machine guns. There were three attendants and another guy with a machine gun at the gate. They are NOT messing around with security. After a few minutes we were greeted through the back window, "Welcome to Fairmont,Mr. and Mrs. Cohen", and we entered.
The enclosed "resort' is 240 acres, so it was quite a bit of driving up to the actual hotel. The hotel wsa built into a jungle, so everything is green, plush, and living. There are birds everywhere, lizards scurrying, and lots of fish in the canals.We were told there is even a crocodile! Seriously, what is a vacation without a signature crocodile??
When we stepped out of the shuttle, we were greeted with orange blossom scented cold towels to freshen up. I kept that silly thing for a while, and ended up bringing it back to our room. It smelled soooo good and was just another reminder that we were actually here, in paradise. On our way into the building we were each handed a wine glass filled with cherry flavored ice tea. It was amazing. Eric still wants some more. :)
So after checking in, we were greeted by a hotel person and taken to our room. Oh--my--goodness! A suite. I knew we were getting a suite. I didn't know how big it was going to be. Over 900 square feet. It's the size of an apartment. There are two full sized bathrooms, a big living room (where I am sitting now), and a master bedroom with bath. The porch/deck/patio is huge (long). Although there is only one bed, at least two couples could comfortably stay here. I should have packed a few friends!
The gentleman who brought us to our room showed up around and got us settled in. We thought we were going to be a on a top floor, overlooking the canal system, and were a little surprised to find no view off our patio, except for jungle. He called the front desk and they assured us we would be moved as soon as possible to an upper deck room. We did, afterall, make these reservations seven months ago. Also, my husband did spend over 120 nights with this hotel chain last year....so we were really glad when they decided to accomodate us. The perks of being a President's Club member.
After the first guy left, we heard a knock on the door, and in comes a gentleman carrying a tray of fruit and Perrier, compliments of the President's Club. Fortunately, Eric was able to pick what our gift was going to be, so he ordered the fruit. Basic fruits..apples, pears, and some weird fruit that I still don't know what to call it. It's like a tiny white guava. Of course, being the curious person I am, I decided to eat it without asking for instructions. I ate the whole thing. Nope. Not the seeds/inside, which is most of the fruit. But how was I to know? :)It is a wasteful little fruit!
After putting our bags down we went out on our own and adventured around the grounds, looking at birds, flowers, and walking the many paths. We visited the Spa (Fitness and Spa). The fitness room consists of lots of treadmills and some bikes, and an enitre set of machines that are really really nice. There is also a class room, and they put on three fitness classes a day. Classes include yoga, strecthing, fit ball, step, pilates, and something else....oh, Body Combat on Mondays at 8am. Entrance to the spa also includes men and women's shower rooms (separately). In each locker room there is fresh juice, tea, coffee, all the showering supplies you could ever want, a eucalyptus steam room, a gigantic hot tub, and an aromatherapy room without heat. Once you have your swim clothes on, you can go upstairs to the second floor where they have the "Serenity Lounge", with more food, drinks, and no children. It's completely quiet, with only softly played music. Amazing. There is a pool up there and a mineral bath. We knew we were going to love this place! It's extra, but it's worth it! Oh, and they have bottled water...for free...which is about $5 a bottle if you have to buy it. So I drink a lot of water from there. :) It's like getting to work out for free because I drink so much water now.
Eventually we made it to the beach. It's about a mile down to the beach given that the path is very curvy/windy. One of the three restaurants is there, Las Brisas. We decided to stop and have a drink and some snacks there. Two of the three restaurants have a dress code, but we were happy to know the bar did not. We ordered Milagro margaritas. Oh-my! Best regular flavored margarita ever. the secret is sugar. They put sugar and fresh lime in it, and it's A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! See photo below. We also ordered chips and guacamole (yes, the authentic kind, Jessica and Shavon!). :) It was really windy that particular night and a storm was passing through. Fortunately we didn't blow away...but some napkins did!
We finished up our first night by going to bed early. Paradise is tiring. (wink!)
Monday, February 22, 2010
Hello sunshine!
In just a few hours we will be leaving for the airport to fly to sunshine and warm weather. Yesterday was frantic as I scurried to get as much of my project management class done as possible. I asked that the class be put on hold, but I haven't heard back from the instructor yet. I have two homework assignments and a final, which may have to be finished on vacation. The class is Risk Management, so it's interesting at least. Then I had a bunch of work to finish up and get organized. After work I ran all over the place, buying last minute clothes, food, cat food, etc. At the end of the night, when I realized I had survived the chaos, I became giggly...like the crazy kind of giggly. :)
It's been hard for Eric and I to get into vacation mindset. We both couldn't get to the "this is really going to happen" happy-place. So, even as I sit here and write about us leaving in a few hours, I'm still only half way believing it. It's very strange.
We leave at 10-something this morning, endure a 3.5 hour flight, then have a 40 minute drive to the place we are staying. If all goes well, we will be in relaxation mode in no time. We saw our place on TV yesterday (golf) and it is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. Can't wait to show you photos.
Send happy, positive, protective vibes our way. See you on the other side! :)
Brandy
It's been hard for Eric and I to get into vacation mindset. We both couldn't get to the "this is really going to happen" happy-place. So, even as I sit here and write about us leaving in a few hours, I'm still only half way believing it. It's very strange.
We leave at 10-something this morning, endure a 3.5 hour flight, then have a 40 minute drive to the place we are staying. If all goes well, we will be in relaxation mode in no time. We saw our place on TV yesterday (golf) and it is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. Can't wait to show you photos.
Send happy, positive, protective vibes our way. See you on the other side! :)
Brandy
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Who has time to pack???
We are going to be at the airport this time tomorrow, and I am still not packed. In fact, I still have to go to work, in this freakingsnow storm, and wrap everything up. Then it's off to the store, and the bank, then home....to frantically pack. Life has been too busy, but I knew it would be chaos until we board the plane.
Yesterday: Last night a group of us went indoor rock climbing, or just had social hour. Sheri and I were the social hour ladies. :) Julia, James, Dave, Eric and Gerry did all the climbing. Photos to come. I first need to pack. HAHAHAHA! Then Eric had a soccer game. They played hard, but didn't win. I think they did great. The team they were playing seemed to be pretty good. Eric's team doesn't even practice, so for what they put in to it on the field, they do a great job.
We're one day closer to paradise, to sleeping, to relaxing, and reconnecting. We're both so excited. We've worked soooooo hard for this vacation over the last two years.
Well, I should get to work and finish up there, to check that off the list.
Yesterday: Last night a group of us went indoor rock climbing, or just had social hour. Sheri and I were the social hour ladies. :) Julia, James, Dave, Eric and Gerry did all the climbing. Photos to come. I first need to pack. HAHAHAHA! Then Eric had a soccer game. They played hard, but didn't win. I think they did great. The team they were playing seemed to be pretty good. Eric's team doesn't even practice, so for what they put in to it on the field, they do a great job.
We're one day closer to paradise, to sleeping, to relaxing, and reconnecting. We're both so excited. We've worked soooooo hard for this vacation over the last two years.
Well, I should get to work and finish up there, to check that off the list.
Friday, February 19, 2010
What are those crazy Cohens up to now?
From Brandy: It's 4:32am and I have been up for an hour, unable to sleep. At 3:30am I woke up and started thinking about work and how to make a great presentation for the Gallup Q12 project. I quickly emailed Thomas, our fearless leader, the idea. It's a lot of work, but it will be cool if we do it.
Then I tried to go back to bed, but I started thinking about everything I need to do. What can I do in the dark? What can I do that doesn't require turning all the lights in the bedroom on and making a ton of noise? Oh yes! I want to set up a blog for our adventure. So that is what I did.
This blog, Cohen Central, is written so you can join us on our adventures. :) Our life is full of adventure, fun, and self-inflicted challenges, so check back frequently. :)
Then I tried to go back to bed, but I started thinking about everything I need to do. What can I do in the dark? What can I do that doesn't require turning all the lights in the bedroom on and making a ton of noise? Oh yes! I want to set up a blog for our adventure. So that is what I did.
This blog, Cohen Central, is written so you can join us on our adventures. :) Our life is full of adventure, fun, and self-inflicted challenges, so check back frequently. :)
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