Acapulco!

Hey Everyone, 

We had a FABULOUS weekend in Acapulco! We drove down on Friday, left around noon, and immediately were surprised by the beauty of the drive. It's gorgeous in the middle of Mexico! Our drive was full of green mountainside, villages/towns on the hillside and in the valleys, and the road was perfect. Great drive! Unfortunately, I haven't been in a car that long, on such a winding road and up and down over 3000 meters over mountains, etc. so I wasn't feeling great for a majority of the car trip, and Avery got carsick both on the drive over on Friday and the drive back on Sunday, but overall it was a fantastic trip!

Once we got there, it was OBVIOUS we were near the ocean, the humidity level jumped 100% from Mexico City. And it was WARM! Don't get me wrong, it's been great in Mexico City, like 70 or so, but in Acapulco it was maybe 85 or so. We had beautiful weather the whole time we were there, the hotel was amazing, we spent time on the beach and by the pool, enjoyed a few relaxing drinks, and relaxed! I took tons of pictures (I think Corey said the final total was about 165, over the course of 48 hours or so!) and we explored parts of Acapulco that most definitely are not meant to be explored. We went to town on Saturday evening to find these cliff divers, that dive into a very small space off cliffs that are about 100 feet tall...we didn't know where to be to get the best view so we ended up watching from afar, but we got the gist! Next time we know where to be for a better view! After the divers, we were off to find dinner at this highly recommended Italian restaurant that was off beach a bit, and to get there, we went through the longest tunnel we've ever been in. When we finally got out of the tunnel, we were NOT in Kansas anymore. It was a place that seemed less safe than any place we'd seen in Mexico City! Corey wanted to get the heck outta there! Once we finally found our way to the road that would bring us to our hotel haven, we had quite the ride. We faced all sorts of obstacles as we drove home, from cars driving in the wrong direction facing us, to lakes of water in our lanes that were maybe 5 or 6 inches deep, to potholes that resembled craters. When we finally got back to the hotel, we got dinner at one of the restaurants there, and enjoyed a nice, romantic dinner all by ourselves, on the ocean, celebrating the fact that we were safe!

Avery was amazing most of the time, she hung out with us by the pool and on the beach, and was off leash some times and did great! We were such proud parents :)

Below, I posted some of the pictures we took. They have not been touched up at all, some of the colors look like they've been enhanced, but they have not, it was just that beautiful! (There are some photos that I took behind my sunglasses, so that altered the color to look slightly sepia, but you're just seeing what I was seeing!)

Until later!

The drive

Notice the clouds!

Neat Bridge we passed over

View from our hotel room balcony

Relaxing on the beach with Avery!

Beautiful sunset effect

Also part of the view from our balcony

Hotel pool area

Beach dog!

This is the life!

A bay we found in Acapulco heading into town!

Beautiful Sunset on Saturday night!

PS About Bribe

One thing I forgot to mention in the bribe post...we found out later that the fine wasn't 40 days of YOUR salary, it's 40 days salary of the neighborhood, which for where we got pulled over was 54 pesos a day (about $43 per day). This means our total fine would have been 2160 pesos, or about $172, BUT with Corey's smooth operations we got by with only paying 1000 pesos, or about $80. 

That's all! 

Monday Blog!

Good Evening!

I can't believe I almost forgot to post on my scheduled day to post! My bad...so Corey is back in Minnesota this week for work, he gets back on Thursday afternoon. Avery and I are keeping the place together, once again! We had a good day today, we went for a long walk (a little over 2 miles) this morning, I made some earrings this afternoon, I went for my own long walk this afternoon (2.5 miles, daily total: 4.7 miles!) then we hung out this evening. Pretty chill day. Although one of these days, it's going to be my deep cleaning day...fun fun!

So in my last blog I forgot to write about the Bicentennial Celebration here in Mexico City! Corey and I left the little one in her kennel and walked about a mile and a half to this street called Reforma, which is a major road in Mexico City. Along Reforma, they have many statues, including their Independence statue. At this roundabout, they had a massive stage set up, with large TVs on the sides and down the street and everything. It was actually a pretty subdued night, we were there for about an hour. We saw some good performers, and although we couldn't name them we were told they were really famous. Once we left, we got home to be with Avery just in time for the fireworks on TV! We could see several displays from our bedroom, but they were mostly all just red green and white. The most amazing fireworks were in the Zocalo, which unfortunately we couldn't see from our room. We watched them online, and boy they were serious about their fireworks this year! They were amazing! We heard Mexico City spend over a million dollars on the fireworks, and it showed! Next year we might have to go to the Zocalo! It was fun to see the fireworks with Avery though, they were her first that she saw, and I think she enjoyed them! 

I think Corey, Avery and I are finally going to be making our first trip to Acapulco this next weekend! We're excited to explore the beach town, and get some time in the sun! I'm trying to convince Corey to stop by Taxco on our way back; it's an old silver mining town, famous for their silver and jewelry! Anyways, hopefully I'll have lots of pictures from that trip for the post next Monday! Until then...enjoy September!

Love, 

A Bribe? Yes please!

Hello!


We had quite the morning yesterday. After a quick trip to Costco, we were following the GPS on a new route home. While waiting at a red light, we realized that we were not able to turn left at this intersection, which is what we were waiting to do. To further confuse us, there was a police car next to us, that was waiting to do the same thing, so we figured that while maybe it wasn't allowed, it was an oops mistake and not the end of the world. We sat there next to the cops for maybe 2 minutes, waiting for the light to turn. As soon as the light turned green, the cops got on their speaker and instructed us to pull over to the side. We were shown a driving manual and shown what law we supposedly broke, and explained that the fine was 40 days salary. Pretty sure our jaws dropped as we were trying to calculate the amount of this fine. Forty days salary seemed a bit extreme...


As Corey explained to the cop that we are new here, it's a rental car, we were just following the GPS, and that he didn't really understand what they were saying (trying to see if he could get us off with a warning with this method) the cops finally told us to pull off the main road, and onto a side street. We assumed this was because of traffic. The second cop, a female, approached us this time, and started talking in rapid fire spanish (so of course I had no idea what was going on) and Corey explained the same things to her that he told the other guy. She told him he could pay the fine to them, right there, and he asked how much the fine was. She told us that it would be 2500 pesos (about $200 USD) and they were going to impound the car, etc. We were pretty scared by this point. Corey then asked if there were any other options, at which point she said she got Corey out of the car, and told him she was trying to help us. She asked how much he had on him, he said 400 pesos. She said that wasn't very much, so he got back in the car to check how much he really had. She explained to him very dutifully that she was going to pass Corey the driving manual book, and he was to calmly place the 1000 pesos they agreed upon inside the cover, hand the book back to her, and she would hand him his license and registration back. She also warned that if her supervisor came along, explain that she was giving us directions to the hospital ahead. 


As we left and drove home, we were shaking a bit, in shock. We just paid off the cops! We had heard that cops were corrupt, and could be paid off, but didn't think it was really true. Guess bribes do work around here. 


Tip on living in Mexico: ALWAYS carry pesos with you ANYWHERE you go! You never know when they'll come in handy!


Among other things, apparently Christmas season in the retail world starts even EARLIER here than in the US. About a week ago, Corey and I wandered over to Sears to get a few kitchen things, and saw Christmas trees everywhere in the store. We thought it was early back in the US, but here they set a new record!


I think I'll end this long entry now, save some more for later! 


Until next time,

Mexico City Marathon and Bicentennial Celebration!

Buenos Tardes-


It's been so long since I've posted, I'm sorry! I just haven't been motivated for some reason...I decided that I will post at least one day every week, that day being Mondays, so that way everyone can expect a new post on that day! 


Let's see, what have we done since I last wrote...


Corey got back from his trip on Friday morning, and we went out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant on Saturday night for my birthday. We went to a place called Jaso in Polanco, very tasty and a great atmosphere. I had a Cucumber Martini (their "house" drink) and it was the best thing I've ever tasted! Corey and I both enjoyed our meal, and we look forward to taking some of our visitors there! 


On Sunday morning we woke up and realized that the Mexico City Marathon was going on and the runners were running right past our apartment! We went down with Avery and our coffee, and watched thousands of people run by. It was amazing to watch! We think there were approximately 18,000 runners in the marathon. I can't get the video to upload for this post, but I'll do it next time. If you didn't believe there were over 20 million people in this city...the video will make you believe :)


What else...


Corey and I have started a Monopoly playing trend (we play at least once a day) and I'm getting pretty good! I even beat him once! I never realized how much strategy there is to that game... :) 


Lastly, the Mexico City Bicentennial is happening tomorrow, and we're going to walk about a mile to the Independence Statue on Reforma (one of the major roads that connects towns/neighborhoods in Mexico City) and watch some of the festivities! I hope to get some great pictures! It should be a pretty wild night to observe, and definitely something fun to be a part of! 


This is all for now, I'll be back to post soon! Promise!

La Ciudadela/Vacation Plans/Other News!

Plaster Fruit at La Cuidadela

Buenos Noches! 

Today we visited La Ciudadela, which is an artisan's craft market. We went there once before, or so we thought, and as we walked by the street vendors, we were thinking that it wasn't that impressive, even though it seemed highly recommended. Then I came home and read about it and found a part that read "Don't waste too much time with the street vendors, the real treasure is ahead!" Needless to say, we missed it last time. But today, we found the right section, and found over 200 stalls filled with handmade crafts, from pottery, to plaster decorations, carvings, clothing/house linens, to jewelry and sculptures. It was incredible! So colorful, and so many different things to look at, it was almost overwhelming! We just spent about an hour walking around, taking it all in. We'll be going back soon to start purchasing! Lots of great gift ideas, as well! Corey found this amazing wood artwork that he wants to purchase before we leave Mexico (he actually found lots that he wants to get before we move!) that was really spectacular. It was maybe  5 feet by 5 feet? Very large, and made a big statement. All sorts of different types of inlaid wood in different colors to form this massive picture. You can see a few photos of it below. 

Enjoying the craft market!   

Beautiful!

Closer picture of different types of inlaid wood

Reason 1 why we are here: This guy is cleaning windows on a modified swing!

Reason 2: This guy is about 5 stories up

Bar next to our house, note the teams!

Above, we have two pictures of recent examples of the value of safety here in Mexico City. Both pictures were taken in our neighborhood, the first situation the guy was only 3 stories up, he was washing windows, and was using some sort of a rope swing device to complete his job. He'd swing from side to side, and wipe as he would be at the side he was cleaning. It was kind of funny to see, but also a little scary once you realized he had NO fall protection. The second situation was a little more intense...there were actually 3 guys on top of the building across the street from ours (the photo was taken from our bedroom as we watched) and they were leaning over the roof, each holding a rope, and eventually they lowered a couch out of a window of one of the apartments down to the ground. Nothing to keep them on the roof in case a foot slipped, nothing to protect them from falling to the ground 5 stories below. Scary to watch! 

I thought this was pretty cool, a bar next door to our apartment called Zydeco (the most popular bar in our town on Saturday nights) had this awesome poster up on their door the other day, advertising the NFL game! Looks like I can watch the Vikings game even if we can't get it on cable! Unfortunately Corey is out of town this week (he leaves tomorrow) but maybe I'll catch some of the game! 

As for the vacation news, we are really excited to be planning our vacation to Europe at the end of November! We're really looking forward to spending the time with his parents, and we'll be spending a few days in Paris with them! It's Corey and my's first trip to Paris, so that'll be fun, and we'll spend a few days exploring Switzerland as well! Should be a fantastic trip, just a little sad that we're going to leave Avery here in a dog kennel while we're gone, which will be a newer thing for her. Otherwise, we're very much looking forward to it!

Corey will be leaving again tomorrow for Peru, and after a scheduling snafu he just found out he's got a ticket to come home Friday morning (he'll get in at 6:30am, after leaving Peru at 12:30am). Avery and I will be holding the fort down again, carrying on with our schedule of walks and trips out! Hopefully the sun will return, it's been pretty dreary this weekend! We will also be celebrating my 24th birthday tomorrow, (well, part of it! I think we're going to designate next weekend my birthday weekend!) so Corey is going to have some points to make up to me for leaving on my birthday! 

I think this is all! Hope everyone is enjoying the fair and the end of the summer time! 

Silly Dog and Street Entertainment!

Good Afternoon!

So we all know talking on your cell phone and driving is not a good idea. I think Mexico City has a special way of keeping you from doing that, besides creating all the hazardous driving conditions: there are street performers that do their schtick at red lights for all the cars, then go around collecting money. It's a little more creative than the people back home that hold out signs at intersections for money. We've seen clowns, jugglers, kids that stand on shoulders and dance/juggle...I figure this keeps your attention while you're sitting at a red light and keeps you from checking your phone as often! The picture below is of this guy that had his own routine set up, it was totally unique. We weren't sure what his motive was though, as he didn't appear to be asking for money or anything. He would just move to a different position out of the way as the light changed.

It looks like there are three people lined up...however, it was one guy (in the middle) and two dummies tied to him. He'd get in the middle of an intersection, and start dancing to some music playing on a stereo on the sidewalk that his friend was controlling. It was a pretty good routine!

So today is Thursday, and Corey gets home tomorrow afternoon. It's been me and Avery holding down the fort all week, and I must say, even though she's only 5 months old, she definitely has a protective streak in her when Corey is gone. It's as if she understands when Corey tells her to "take care of mom when I'm gone". She is much more alert to sounds, shadows, etc and barks a lot more when he's gone, as if she's protecting me. Sometimes, she takes it too far I think. Watch the video below and tell me what you think...

Until later!