Winter is Progressing in Progreso

Winter is speeding along and we'll be going home in about a week. Here's a collection of photos from the last couple of weeks...

Several of the local restaurants like to make sure that we know they appreciate the snowbirds. I think this is a soccer jersey with a strategically placed maple leaf. We love Canada too!

Tacomaya is a small restaurant in nearby Chelem run by Canadians who moved to the Yucatan permanently. To the left is the door to a small but nice and cool restaurant. Portion sizes are huge and there's a line-up for breakfast on the weekend.

The Day of the Dead is a celebration around Hallowe'en in Mexico. You will see many items in stores with skeletons or skulls, including this beer.

A fun night at Barb and Ed's for dinner. Mmmm...pork and Barb's special Brussels sprouts and...smiley face fries. OK, they might have been bought in error but they were still good!

And once again, this guy and his flying machine spent some time over our house. It's called powered paragliding and he makes it look pretty easy.

Then he spent time giving a student some instructions. It went on for quite a while...

And included a photo shoot. We hung in there watching on and off over an hour for the guy to take off.

At last, he was on his way. Fly, little birdie, fly! Sorry but I couldn't help but laugh after all that build up. Yes...run, people. He spent the next hour untangling the lines.

Before the instructor showed him again how it's done...looks pretty easy. Clearly it's not.

Off into the sunset...

While I watching the kite guy, I looked down and saw the black and white dog curled up in a ball. At first I thought "oh, this isn't good." But he saw me and moved further away, dug another hole in the sand, and settled in again. I went to get some food and his friend showed up. The funny thing is that he ate a bit and then spied a bag of garbage which he tore apart. Sigh...

Look at his little sandy nose...the food was all gone the next morning, so someone ate it. They don't really know what dog food is, but they sure know what smelly garbage is.

A lovely sunset...

A morning walk where I did a double take when I thought I saw a cat. Yup, amidst the garbage and broken TV, a little cat. If only you could rescue them all...

It was carnival time in Progreso! Lots of music, parades, and late night parties...

  My morning route was disrupted by the band stand setting up on the malecon...

With Sol beer as a big sponsor...

On the way home, this dog scared the life out of me. I couldn't figure out where the barking was coming from. King of the castle!

And what might this dust covered contraption be? This would be an IV pole in the emergency room at the hospital in Progreso.

Because what would a vacation be without a trip to the hospital in a foreign land in a foreign language? Jim looks like he's thinking "another fine mess." It ended up only being an overnight stay and the room was much cleaner than the ER. He got wonderful care and recuperated much quicker than he has in the past.

I did have to take this lady's photo. She was hilarious. She came into the ER after Jim was there. The ER is a tiny room with three beds so it's not like you had much privacy even with the curtain drawn. This was outside the X-ray room. She was wailing and moaning any time someone came near her to look at her leg, but left on her own, she quickly went back to scrolling through her phone. It was pretty funny.

I decided to go for a walk in the other direction one morning, towards Yucalpeten. This is another huge house where construction has halted.

It even had the beginnings of a spiral staircase. It's for sale, in case you're interested.

And this statue was one of the reasons I headed in this direction. When we go to Chelem (the next village to us), we always pass it and it is such a beautiful image. For those who have been lost at sea...

This house appropriately named Tancat...

One afternoon in the pool, I looked up and decided this definitely looked like a husky dog. A picture perfect afternoon...

Faces Restaurant is the place to be every Wednesday afternoon. Why? Well, it's open mike from 3:00 until 6:00. You usually need to reserve a couple of weeks ahead. Why?

Because where else in a foreign country will  you see a whole room full of mostly Canadians and a few Americans.

Even though it was 37 degrees that day, it didn't stop people from getting up and dancing. It was good fun and we hope to get back one more time before we go home.

Still on my list of things to do...walk along the pier and watch the fisherman.

What I always picture these birds doing...

This is what the beach looks like on a quiet morning. In the afternoon when a cruise ship is in, it's an entirely different scene. The beach will be packed with sunbathers, and plenty of kiosks selling everything from shirts to massages. It's also a very popular spot with the locals on a Sunday afternoon when they bring their families to enjoy the beach, music and food.

A morning look at the malecon without vendors or cars or food carts...a different world at this time of day.

One of the things I will not miss is the bugs. This tiny piece of ground beef was left on the counter for a minute and this is what you'll find in short order. When we make a meal, you immediately clean the counters and put all the cooking dishes in the sink, before you sit down to eat.

Barb and Ed had some guests from their condo building back home. We had met Lorraine on the left when she visited them in Savannah. Lorna fit right in and we had a great evening.

There might have been several bottles of wine consumed. At this point we are auditioning to be the Rockettes. Lorna and Barb have their feet high in the air; Lorraine and I appear to be more interested in not spilling our wine.

Lorraine was telling us about her towel. You lay it on the beach and then throw yourself on it. This was as close as we got to a demonstration.

Yup, there was a lot of dancing, a lot of singing and a lot of fun. A great evening!

I still love the kite surfers and even though I say I'm not going to take one more picture, I do. Videos don't count, right? This guy is amazing and fearless.

Look at the beauty on the beach amidst the garbage...this pretty flower is a survivor.

The pelicans are fun to watch. When they spot a fish, it's an immediate dive.

One of the favourite parts of my morning walk...this scene says it all for me. The pelicans in the boat, a fisherman returning with his catch in a cooler and other guys sitting around and talking. Everyone is so friendly. When you say "Buenos Dias," every hand goes up in greeting and you get a warm "Buenos Dias" in return.

We found a nice coffee shop...Pkory Cafe in Progreso. We stopped in one morning thinking we would just have a coffee. That idea turned into a yummy cappuccino...

And these amazing hotcakes. Jim had yogurt, fresh fruit and granola. It is really inexpensive (about $10 for the two cappuccinos and two meals). Definitely want to return there before we leave.

Happy Birthday, Lynne! Lynne and George, on the left, live in Barb and Ed's condo building at home and have been here since November. We had a nice celebration at a local restaurant. Jill and Eric at the end of the table are also from Barrie. Lots of Canadians here.

A beautiful and delicious cake!

Our time is winding down. There's still a few places we'd like to visit in the event we don't return next year. For now, we're happy to keep enjoying the weather and the great people.