My cousin and I were planning to go to a gala for New Year’s tonight and had our outfits all ready, but a series of events made those plans fall through. I wasn’t disappointed since a late night of boozing and drinking and dancing isn’t really my thing (no, I didn’t get old, I’ve always been boring!).

Instead, we decided to meet up at their hotel and find something to do. I suggested we head down to the Plazuela Machado and see what was what. Neither one of us was particularly keen on being out to midnight, which suited me just fine because the panga home jumps from 8 pesos to 60 after midnight! I would have overnighted at the hotel had we done the gala, but that plan didn’t make sense if we were in the Olas Altas area.

So I headed out to the hotel early this afternoon. In a bid to get some exercise and to save money, I chose to walk from the embarcadero, a distance of 7.5km. If I have time, I don’t think twice about walking up to 10km in good conditions. These were ideal, a slightly cool and overcast day and I knew that I would be safe going through the bit from the embarcadero to the malecón.

The trip took me 2 hours door to door, and that included a detour to get a pastry to munch on!

My few minutes in the Golden Zone were enough to last a lifetime. That area is not for me, YUCK! It was teeming with Gringos, filled with NOB stores, and I kept getting harassed (in English, no less) to buy stuff. It was just as bad as being in a border town! Sure the downtown bit I walked through to get to Olas Altas wasn’t as shiny and pretty and there were no big name stores, but people only spoke to me to say hi, I was left to wander in peace and quiet, and the architecture was a lot more interesting!

From the hotel, we took a pulmonía down to Plazuela Machado, 120 pesos, non-negotiable! We walked around there a bit, but it was early so restaurants were only starting to get set up. We headed back to Olas Altas, where several restaurants were already doing brisk business.

After perusing menus, we decided to try the quiet Copa de leche restaurant, which had good variety and reasonable prices. The boy had steak with a baked potato, my cousin picked a shrimp dish, I opted for enchiladas with a mole sauce, and we split an order of beef (carne asada) tacos.

I’d never had mole sauce before and had no idea what I was getting into. Turns out that it is a savoury cocoa sauce! Yes, chocolate! The enchiladas were filled with chicken, tomatoes, and onions, and absolutely smothered in the sauce. Really, there was too much sauce. So thank goodness I also got a basket of corn tortillas to mop up every last bit! 🙂 It was crazy good and I really appreciated the sprinkle of sesame seeds over top, a flavour I have been missing. My taste buds were thrilled to try something new.

The other dishes were apparently equally satisfactory. The steak plate was particularly impressive, with a huge steak topped with mushrooms, a loaded baked potato (bacon and crema), rice, and salad. The tacos were yummy, coming with avocado and a side of refried beans and fried onions.

Total bill, for the food plus two limonadas, one soda, a coffee, and a tip, about 500 pesos, or 167 per person. My meal was only 110 pesos (85 for the food and 25 for the limonada) and the steak was the most expensive item at only 120 pesos, plus 20 for the soda.

After dinner, we headed back towards Plazuela Machado. My cousin confessed that her sandals were rubbing her the wrong way and that she needed ideally both a change of shoes and a bandaid. I didn’t know what would be open at that time of night, but thought that if anything would, it would be around the mercado area.

We headed there, enjoying all the lights at the cathedral, and found an open shoe store! She found a cute and comfortable pair of slip on shoes that matched her outfit for only 79 pesos! I asked the gal at the till if she knew of a pharmacy that would still be open and was directed to one just past the Waldo’s, which I knew was in the middle of the next block.

So that was our next stop and I learned that you have to ask at the counter for bandaids in at least some pharmacies in Mexico! The first request didn’t go so well as we were brought tensor bandages, so I found a picture of a bandaid on my phone and that brought what we needed. I would have preferred to have been able to pick as I would have selected something bigger and sturdier, but my pleas for bigger ones fell on deaf ears and my cousin said she could make do.

She then spent a couple of minutes on a stool applying several bandaids to get the coverage and adhesion she needed. It was a rather absurd situation that we found rather funny. It’s just stuff that happens. I had a hard time with sore feet when I first got here, with the sand rubbing them raw, but my feet have thankfully hardened.

From the pharmacy, we headed across the street to a juice stand. They had strawberry and banana licuados (like a smoothie) while I opted for fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. It was incredibly filling since a small had the juice of THREE grapefruits with a little pulp, but it was very refreshing and tolerably sweet. I really enjoyed it. At just 17 pesos, I think that could be a treat when I go to mercado.

We then returned to Olas Altas to sit on the wall, listen to the waves, and make plans for the next couple of days. They were thinking of heading back to my place tomorrow, but the boy has been ill and they are both exhausted. It makes more sense for them to enjoy the resort for their last full day. I will head out to the hotel first thing Friday to meet my cousin for coffee (she found a roasting house with good coffee, so I plan to come home with some!) and then they’ll be off to the airport around 10:00.

Plans made, it was time for them to head home as they were just wiped. I got them into a pulmonía (again, a non-negotiable 120 pesos) and then walked back to Plazuela Machado to soak in a little New Year’s ambiance. It was just past nine and the partying was starting, with lots of loud music and full restaurants. Really not my scene. I was surprised that there weren’t more vendors.

I flagged down a pulmonía ready to argue that I wasn’t going to pay more than 60 pesos to get to the embarcadero and almost fainted when the driver said 40! Wow!!! I’m pretty sure that’s my cheapest ride ever from Plazuela Machado!

A panga was leaving the dock as I arrived at the embarcadero. The pilot saw me and redocked while I bought my ticket.

It was a quick ride over and then I was on Isla, which was thrumming with activity, with lots of music and some fireworks. Many ‘Feliz año’s were exchanged on my 10-minute walk home, making me glad that I took the time to Google how to say ‘happy new year’ in Spanish.

The neighbours across the street are having a loud party, so ear plugs will be in order for tonight. I just honestly don’t have a desire to be out partying, preferring small quiet gatherings.

Happy new year to all my lovely readers!