From Progreso, Mexico to Home!

Gasp! What was this? Cloudy skies? It was definitely time for us to go home. During our two-month stay, we only had one day of rain, and it also rained one time during the night. This cloudy day was threatening rain, but we didn't see it. With so little rain, the locals had commented on the fact that this was not a typical winter.

Nearly all the gas stations in the Yucatan are Pemex. There is no self-serve and it is common to tip the gas attendant, who washes all your windows and asks if you want your tires checked. We had been warned of several scams, including them not zeroing the pump before they started to pump your gas, but we only experienced excellent service and friendly help. You could count on these gas stations for their spotless washrooms.

A beautiful sunset...the time changed in Mexico two weeks later than in Canada, so we were still experiencing darkness around 6:15 each evening.

And still more dogs...I started putting dog food in my bag for my morning walk. A pack of about 5 or 6 dogs lived in this area. You would always see them in the morning, but in the heat of the day, they had other, hopefully shady, places to hang out. I put down some food for these dogs but they didn't come near until I was well out of the way.

I started paying more attention to the architecture, especially doors. An abandoned house? No, people were living here.

With only a few days left, we were hitting the spots that we had particularly enjoyed or those we had been meaning to get to. This was a return visit to Faces restaurant with their Wednesday afternoon jam sessions. Mostly the same people sang each week and this lady joined them for a few songs. She clearly had spent some time in front of an audience.

Notice that window behind the band?

Suddenly, a feline friend appeared...

"What's going on in there?"

St. Patrick's Day in Mexico...we weren't sure if it was celebrated, but we arrived at Barlovento restaurant to find lots of green. Barb and Ed in the green spirit...

Our waiter spoke very good English and we noticed this lady with a child nearby. Turned out to be his wife and new baby. A proud papa! I'm not sure why we waited so long to go to Barlo's. We would definitely return, but it's probably a good place to avoid on cruise ship days.

And a lovely sunrise one morning over the roofs of our neighbours...notice the water tanks on the roofs. That was one thing we were missing--hot water.

So these two cuties caught on very quickly when I fed them one evening. We came home from dinner one night to find them hanging around our gate, so it became my enjoyment to go out with treats each evening.

They became much friendlier as time went on. I was sad thinking they would be wondering where we were the first treatless night, but I'm sure they moved on pretty quickly.

Our very friendly, very honest and very helpful caretaker, Felipe. He didn't speak English and we didn't speak much Spanish but we both managed to make ourselves understood. He made sure we had water refills, our garbage was taken care of and anything else we asked for. We all look a little crabby here!

Our last drive down the malecon...birds, bikes, kids and dogs...

We had been to La Antigua a few times with mixed reviews, mostly because they couldn't ever seem to coordinate the meals properly. But they hit it out of the park on the last night. It's a fairly new restaurant in an older home with a lovely setting in the back.

And that was the end of stay in Progreso...flying out you can see the long pier...

And the long stretch of beach...

Before it was all gone in the clouds...

Back in Toronto...

Where I laughed because I finally got fish tacos in the airport restaurant. I don't know how many times in Progreso we looked for fish tacos, but we never did end up finding them. They were pretty good, only lacking in atmosphere.

We had a delay of several hours before our flight finally left for Fredericton. I think they were waiting for a crew, then for de-icing. By that time we just wanted to get home.

We arrived home at 3:15 a.m. The cats were less than impressed with the length of time we were away.

And then followed us everywhere...

All is right in the world...

So would we go back to Progreso? That's still up in the air. There were so many lovely things, mostly the people and warm weather; amazing food and restaurants; and it's very inexpensive to live there. A few negatives--sad stray dogs, garbage, noisy nights, humidity. No plans yet; we'll see what lies ahead!

Here endeth this blog...