Day 2

Our first order of the day was to get ourselves to the “WestJet/Hola Tours” representative at 8:30 am.  We would find out important information about the hotel and excursion options available to us.  After showering and putting on summer clothing, we found our way to the coffee machine and then to the tour desk.  Again, the overwhelmed feeling came over us as we looked at the brochures and listened to the fast talking woman, Grissel, present our many options.  She encouraged us not to rush into booking anything and to come back when we had time to relax and decide what we’d like.  That was the last time we were given such a luxury-most of the other vendors and tour salepersons were a little more forceful and aggressive! 

We meandered our way to the restaurant and were pleasantly surprised at the myriad choices for breakfast alone.  Breads and pastries, fruits and yoghurt, egg dishes, pancakes and bacon, plus some fish, onions and olives, obviously catering to European guests.  We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, both deciding to do a beach day and begin the hard work of unwinding.

Following breakfast, we headed to the beach.  By 10:30 am, it was stifling hot and the breeze off the water felt good.  We found a shelter and a couple empty chairs and arranged ourselves comfortably.  “Ahhh, this is the life,” we said, almost simultaneously! 

Lunch was served between 12:30 and 2:30 so we had to put something appropriate on over bathing suits before we grabbed something at the buffet and then went back to the beach.  Trying to pace my tanning, I had put on lots of sunblock.  By the end of the afternoon, I was still pretty white except for a couple spots that I missed covering with lotion on my tummy!  I had taken a dip in the water to cool down and must have washed some of it off.

The hotel was able to switch our rooms to one with a king sized bed, rather than two quite small doubles, so we moved our things to Patio XIII.  I unpacked our clothes and bathroom items, knowing we would be here for two weeks.  We turned on the television, which had pretty poor reception and flipped through the channels.  Only a few English ones from the U.S. were available; most were Spanish channels.  Before long, we were both napping. 

By the time we woke up, it was already dusk.  Dinner was served between 6:30 and 9:30.  And we wanted to check out the entertainment offered in an open auditorium.  So we had to snap out of it and get going.  Fortunately, our new room was down a flight of stairs, down the open hallway, hang a right at the lounge/coffee bar and there was the restaurant. 

We didn’t rush through supper and still had time to kill before the entertainment at 9:30.  We walked around the grounds, enjoying the warm air and quiet evening.  When we circled back to the auditorium, it was more of a party atmosphere and loud latino music videos were playing.  The sign for Tuesday evening read “Parejo Ideal” and we had no idea what that meant.  We found out it was four couples chosen from the audience from various countries who were to compete for the “Ideal Couple” award!  Well, one couple from Columbia, Germany, Quebec, and the last one from another Spanish speaking country  had to do relays or other timed contests in order to win.  I won’t describe the games as they were more than a little suggestive, but I must say, the crowd was into it.  Walter and I looked at each other and opted not to stay.  As we slid out of the row, we both realized there were aspects of resort culture that we weren’t going to fit into:  the free alcohol and the entertainment tastes. 

End of the second day and we barely stayed up past 10 pm (and that only was 8 pm back home!).