We had so much fun today that I’m fully recovered from my disappointments of yesterday. Might I just mention that I also lost my debit card yesterday? Yeah, only we didn’t realize that until we went to take cash out this morning. No idea where it is, but no one tried to use it so we were able to cancel it without drama. It’s not a holiday without some kind of crisis (my wallet stolen while studying abroad in Florence, Adam leaving our passports in a hotel safe in Dublin for a week, etc.).
So we had a late start this morning while we sorted out the bank stuff, but once we got going it was a great day. We took the ferry from Puerto Juarez to Isla Mujeres (that’s the view from the ferry in the first photo). It took about an hour to get to the Isla from our hotel, but it was worth it. Everything is cheaper, more laid back, more bohemian. We had lunch at a great beach bar called Sunset Grill, complete with swings for barstools and a guy grilling on a backyard grill steps from the beach. The restaurants on the beach all have their own chairs and umbrellas on the sand that you can rent for the day. If you eat at the restaurant they deduct the $200 peso rental fee from your food bill. It was the cheapest meal we’d had on this trip so far until dinner tonight. We went to a little Italian place with high recommendations. Run by an actual man from Italy (there are tons of ex-pats on this tiny island), I had a giant bowl of hit-the-spot awesome spaghetti bolognese for about $5 USD.
The main street going through the town itself is very cool, and it reminded me of Ibiza. Adam said it reminded him of lots of little European towns. The restaurants were interesting, there were lots of groovy little shops selling handmade goods. We even had amazing gelato at a place owned by an Italian woman. Again, lots of ex-pats here. It’s clearly the kind of hidden treasure people find and never leave. We might go back on Friday if we’re up to it. It was a great day, I really had a blast.
Tomorrow we’re off to Chichén Itzá for the day. It will be an early one, the bus picks us up at 7am and it’s a 3 or so hour drive to get to the ruins. But I’m excited for some great photos there.