Tropical Christmas

So, our wonderful, shared, varied Christmas vacation! You experienced it all with me, but for the sake of completeness and documentation, I’m making a short blog post where I capture our impressions, especially through beautiful photos.

We are doing a round trip from December 14 to 28. I am so excited as I come out of the airport in Cancún, and you are already waiting for me outside on your suitcases! How long has it been since we last had a vacation together! Now we’re back together, and I can show you a bit of my wonderful Mexico.

First stop: Valladolid, where Dad drives us that very evening, impressive. Unfortunately, you Mama have a headache and have to go to bed, so we look at the pretty hotel together and have something small to eat before we can have a good night's sleep the next morning.

Unfortunately, the next day I also have a migraine, so you explore the city together. But by the afternoon, everyone is finally feeling better; we head to the Cenote Zahamal.

Cenotes are caves in the ground that were formed by acidic water and eventually collapsed. As the water level rose after the meteorite in Yucatán, they filled with water. Indigenous tribes viewed them as sacred sites that provided drinking water. Mom and I are brave; we may not dare to jump in, but we go down into the dark depths of the hole - and go swimming. All with a finger connected over water, of course!

In the evening, we go to our lovely rooftop terrace to have a cocktail and listen to the incredible flocks of birds in the main square.

Then we stroll around the town, try on lots of clothes, and linger on the reputable city benches. Great first day!

Day two is also something special because we visit Chichen Itzá, the most famous Mayan city in the region. Hot, huge, and very impressive!

Then we quickly head to Izamal. Because: here is indeed the second largest gathering place in front of a Catholic church!(?) Or something like that.

We find that amazing, but even more astonishing is the Christmas decoration in the center of Mérida in the evening. While Dad heads off to sleep, we girls take a little tour around the neighborhood. We realize: Jesus is missing!! But as we notice over the course of the days, he arrives at every nativity scene only on Christmas Eve. Then that's alright. The elephant and the turkey are already here, though.

We spend another day in Mérida. My highlight: the chocolate shop!!! I might have overindulged a bit, but there’s really no chocolate in Mexico City, and everything here tastes so wonderful!

We also visit a kind of city palace with creepy paintings that tell the sad story of the indigenous people and the construction of the cities here.

In the evening, we go out for a delicious meal at a surprisingly good Italian restaurant on the boulevard of Mérida. There are some amazing villas here; I want this one (the red cat belongs to it!):

Then the next stage: off to the west! In Celestún, we can see flamingos on a river, how cool!

We also observe many birds, a crocodile, a “water eye”, and … my skin hehe.

Then Mom finally gets to the beach and is happy! But there will be more of that later.

In the evening, we reach Uxmal, a tiny place. Our lodge in nature is quite nice, and we are all alone. Well, I’m not alone because a cockroach haunts me!!!!

The next morning we go swimming and then visit the site for which we are actually here. It is much more impressive than the last: a practically intact Mayan city in the middle of the jungle!

And its residents? Iguanas.

We continue on the way to Campeche through a very deserted place: Bécal, from where the wrongly named Panama hats come. So they actually originate from Ecuador, but here they were also produced in large numbers from a special palm. We get to visit the workshop of a woman whose family has passed on this craft for generations. To keep the fibers of the palm flexible, they must be processed in damp holes in the earth or caves. The result is soft yet unbreakable sun hats. That explains the price.

In Campeche, we continue shopping and looking at old colonial houses. We discover some special pieces.

So we buy handcrafted art in the form (not a jaguar...) of a great handmade runner. Unfortunately, I have no picture, but it would fit wonderfully in Greece. Here’s a photo of the Alebrijes (fantastical creatures that accompany the dead on their way). But you already know about those thanks to the sweet movie Coco.

Here, the evening of a concert is special, where Lila Downs, a singer from Oaxaca, comes to the city. The square is full of people, and although they do not really dance, the atmosphere is great, and the music gets people moving.

In the mornings, we like to have breakfast in a café that delights us with its banana bread.

A truly lovely place!

And then comes the next highlight, a lagoon of seven colors: Bacalar. Here, I am particularly thrilled with our hotel.

My room feels like a big, white pillow.

The food is also good; one evening we even get a wonderful menu served by a private chef. As it turns out, the hotel changed owners a month ago, and now everything is being spruced up, and the staff is very caring. And then there’s of course the pier with swings and loungers, which is practically just for us!

Dad and I also go paddling over the water.

And we even play something!!

The place is so great that we also take Christmas photos here and send them to our relatives in cold Germany.

While shopping at the dollar shop Waldo's, we discover something interesting: Nearby, there must be a village, Salamanca, run by Mennonites of German descent! We see people who look like they are from another time, and they seem grumpy, probably just like us, buying their reindeer antlers and bright hats for the Christmas photo. That’s going out to the relatives in cold Germany. Then they zip away in their carriage.

By the way, Bacalar was a pirate nest and has a proper fortress. We learn about female pirates and mestizaje, a fascinating little exhibition.

Christmas Day starts again with a migraine, but even though we have to skip Tulum, it doesn't turn into a boring travel day. We arrive back on the east coast and are now back at the sea, yay! In the evening, we go to eat Italian in Playa del Carmen and then have a little gift exchange and chat a bit with Jone. It feels only vaguely like Christmas, but it is still really nice.

At the resort where we have landed now, I think our opinions are divided. Because it’s all-inclusive, we can eat and drink whatever we want, but the people are already a bit strange. They come here for two weeks and stay at the hotel. Well. On the other hand, there are lots of entertainment options, and I’m excited about volleyball. Funny animals like iguanas and what are called agoutis roam around.

Alone with Dad, I discover billiards and table soccer and go for Japanese food once more. Unfortunately, Mom gets sick and has to spend the next few days in bed, which makes us all very sad. On the last day, we go back to the doctor. That seems to help, but for such a long flight, like the one coming up the next day, the immune system is just not ready. Hopefully, you will get well soon, Mommy!

And so we have to say goodbye much too quickly. At least it's not long until we see each other again. I had a wonderful vacation and great Christmas with you all, thank you! Kisses and see you soon, I miss you!