La Playa!

This clip is from our first evening chillaxing on the beach with a cold Corona. The stage is for the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival, a three day jazz festival on the beach attracting jazz bands and artists from all over America and Latin America. It was pretty special to sit on the beach by the ocean listening to it in the evenings. It attracted quite a crowd!

Friends Reunited

We had the pleasure of going out with our old work mates Kate and Marco last night.

They are living it up in 5* all-inclusive luxury, but they escaped the free flowing river of booze to join Maudie and I for $2 margaritas in a bar with swings for seats, followed by steaks at an Argentinian eatery.

It was great fun. If anyone else wants to join us for dinner please drop by!

We´ll see Marco and Kate later in the week for some extreme sports action later in the week....

After a 24 hour coach journey from Mexico City to the Yukatan peninsula we really needed the sea.... and we were not disappointed.

Playa Del Carmen is an hour south of Cancun on the Carribean sea, the sand is white, the people wonderful and the whole approach to life is the polar opposite to the hustle and beeping of Mexico City.

We did find one comparison though, the Hotel Deseo is the sister to the cool boutique residence in Condessa, Mexico city. Here they play old black and white films on the wall as the floodlit pool illuminates your berry red daiquiri.

We managed to scoop an upgrade to a poolside villa in our little hotel. Would thoroughly recommend it www.adventuramexicanahotel.com

Arena Mexico - Lucha Wrestling

Masked wrestling is a national sport in Mexico. Its fast, funny and entertaining. Maudie and I went with David from our language school. We paid just 1 pound for our seats and drank Victoria beers in the nosebleed seats. It was a fun night!

Afterwards Maudie and I went to a cool club in Roma, it had a two story bar wall full of tequila and Mescal. Our new tipple of choice.

Espanol Class of 2009

Here we are at school. Our classmates from left to right are: Howard (Australia), Manya (Germany), Jenny (China, Hong Kong), Bere (the teacher from Mexico DF), Maudie, David (New Zealand), Pete

Making New Friends - Guadalajara

We visited Guadalajara on the weekend to stay with Anna & Etienne, a great couple we were introduced to through Lauren and Maurice. Guadalajara is a big city with a relaxed, cultural and arty vibe, the weather was beautiful and we enjoyed a mini-holiday away from the madness of DF!

Here we tried the tastiest tacos 'al pastor' and mezcal tequilla (smokey & very strong!); explored the city center and had a tour of Orozco's frescos (prolific & famous Mexican painter); visited great markets and little cafes including Anna & Etienne's and were taken to an amigos roof-top birthday party.

On Sunday we exercised it off by cycling around the city. The main roads are closed off for cyclists, fitness fanatics, families and their pooches. What a brilliant idea! Etienne was a pro on his roller blades whilst Anna, Pete and I rode bikes stopping off at the local organic and fruit markets.

They very kindly gave us a lift to the autobus terminal in their very cool VW combi & here's us in the back with their gorgeous dog Pikea.

Ballet Folklorico de Mexico

The Ballet Folklorico was the one of the most brilliant performances i've seen. Entertaining and beautiful, the dancers were full of energy and vitality and their costumes colourful and stunning - it made you smile the whole way through. Amalia Hernandez, dancer & choreographer, founded the ballet in 1952 to keep the dancing tradions of Mexico alive. The ballet took us on a journey from religous dances of The Matachines in the north, The Michoacan village fiesta, through to the 1910 Revolution and womens power, the celebration of the Candelaria Virgin, the aboriginal Deer Dance of the Yagui (Pete liked this one) to the amazing Charria of Jalisco (the Mexican Hat dance was brilliant and they finished by covering the audience in paper streamers - Fiesta!).

The musicians were incredibly talented, treating us to several 'solo' performances too. The company tour the world so we were really lucky to see them at the Anthropology Museum in their home town.

We also went to Camino Real, Mexico City - a really cool 1960's hotel built for the Olympics, angular, bright and arty, it has a funky 'blue' bar with a slighty scary water feature floor. We had a delicous pre-show martini and dinner there. What a brilliant evening!

The Mexico City Museum of Modern Art

No pics of the inside as got reprimanded twice.

Its a brutalist building, with giant sculptures outside.

Inside we saw exhibitions from South Korean and Portuguese artists. They also have a few Henry Moore bits in their permanent exhibition, made for a nice afternoon in Chapultepec.

Bug on the street

Check this exotic Caterpillar out.

Found it on the street outside the hotel, it was about the width of a five pound note.

We rescued it by putting it on a tree

The $7, forty five piece, sushi platter

Wondering what to have for dinner we came across this in the Supermacado.

This 45 piece sushi platter was freshly made in store by a sushi don and featured tuna (aton) and crab. For just 4.5 english pounds, it tasted amazing.

Skull Pole

The Mexicans love skulls and for the Halloween period they decorate them with wonderful bright colours and jewel.

This was a Skull Pole with mirrors so you could put your face in the picture.

Maudie had a go, to very good effect.

Chapultepec Park

The sun finally came out in Mexico City on Sunday, so we headed to our local park, Chapultepec! Just a five minute walk from our hotel is a beautiful green space that comes alive on a Sunday with stalls offering face painting, caricaturist sketches, gifts and toys, candyfloss and delicious ice cream as well as performances from clowns and comedians! It's also home to the Castillo, housing the cities Museo National de Historia (we visited last week). The park is a haven for families and we got involved in the most popular attraction - the pedalos on the boating lake!

Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City

The Museo Nacional de Anthropogia is the largest in south america and houses some of the most significant artifacts in the history of the country.

Some date back 2500 years and their quality is outstanding. Lots of fertility symbols, masks, toys and religious skulls created to speak to the dead. We had a really interesting afternoon exploring the ancient past and also looking at the history of the modern indigenous cultures who still live on and gather subsistence from the land.

Recharging the crystal

This crystal was given to us by Lu Lu. It's a travel crystal and has special powers to protect us to our trip. We recharged it at the top of the Pyramid of the Sun by placing it on the top of the Pyramid of the Moon.

Nothing bad has happened since Saturday, so it looks like its working

Los Piramides - Teotihuacan

We'd survived our first week at school and headed to Teotihuacan for some Saturday sightseeing. The city of Teotihuacan was built in the first century AD and is famous for the awe inspiring Pyramid of the Moon, Pyramid of the Sun and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent. Apparently the city came to a dramatic end and was later found by the Aztecs who were mighty impressed as you would be.

Climbing the pyramids was tough work, god knows how they actually built them! This is Pete at the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, behind him is the Pyramid of the Moon. The temples are connected by the 'Avenue of the Dead'!

Arriving in Mexico for a different Halloween

Day of the Dead is serious business in Mexico, like Halloween they decorate everything with orange and black garlands, skulls and pumpkins. The festival lasts for two days, 1st & 2nd Nov, and is all about remembering and celebrating the lives of loved ones past.

Everyone gets dressed up, Trick or Treat style, and its customary to give sweets and $.

This was taken on our first weekend, the charming restaurant owner insisted we took a picture with his new 'singing witch'. He gave Maudie a basket of sweets and we left giving him just $8 (for five courses + drinks!).