Keeping our health resolutions?

Ordering food can sometimes be a challenge. I thought my instructions we pretty clear. I wanted nachos with guacamole and pico de gallo but no cheese. We were sitting at the beach, so the nice waiter had to walk a bit of a ways to get the food and then drinks. When he returned, he had a huge tray with a large plate of traditional nachos with cheese, beans and guacamole AND a plate filled with the equivalent of 4 cups of guacamole with chips and sauce on the side. It seems the waiter understood that I wanted both! I didn’t have the heart to return one item as I know they pay for mistakes. So we sat and ate about everything on those plates. Needless to say, we did not attend the Mexican night dinner and fiesta. We sat at the bar with a glass of sangria until people started to smoke around us and we couldn’t find a seat elsewhere. It was just time to call it an early night. I wish my daughter could have been on the beach with us so we could have had a bit of help with all that food!

We tried a few restaurants in the area.  One of the advantages of not being in an all-inclusive resort is that you are more apt to go out and explore.  We ate at a restaurant that was owned by a Canadian, Deborah’s, where the food was tasty and the curling coverage captured and kept our attention until we finished our drinks.  Then there was the Italian restaurant my daughter suggested so she could satisfy her craving for pasta.  Leon ordered a pizza.  Really?  I stayed true to my eating habits and went for the grilled fish and veggies with rice. The best part of that meal was the wine.  We ended the evening with a walk to the local Helado place for an ice cream.  As you know, vanilla is a local specialty, so Leon was quite happy to get some of his favourite flavoured ice cream.  I had a strawberry sorbet.

Perhaps the best meal we had (and priciest) was the seafood platter we ordered on the beach at Ixtapa Island on our last day.  It had shrimps, langoustinas, a large grilled mackerel, tender octopus and lots of guacamole, rice and chips.  Very satisfying! Especially served with a margarita made with rum instead of tequila (nope, you still can’t fool me into drinking tequila).

One day they seemed to be getting ready for Christmas all over again.  The tree was up but they started adding tables and gifts to decorate the area.  It turned out it was January 6, the day of Holy Kings.  In Mexico, it is customary to exchange gifts on that day to symbolize the wise men giving the baby Jesus their gifts.  A bit like little Christmas in our tradition.  Additionally, they had huge loaves of a special bread which Leon reported tasted much like hot cross buns. I am sure it tasted better than the look on his face, honestly.  It was just that he was still full from all those snacks on the beach that day.

Since January 6 was a bit of a celebration night, I put on my favourite New Year’s Eve dress, yes, the zebra print dress that has become my New Year’s Eve uniform since we started travelling over the holidays in 2010-11.  I love traditions!