Vamos de vacaciones! (Parte Dos) - Playa del Carmen

We arrived in Playa del Carmen on Sunday, March 6th, later than we had originally hoped after the chaos at the Cancun airport.  We attempted to find our hotel, Playa Palms Beach Hotel http://www.playapalms.com/, but soon realized that there are a LOT of one-way streets in Playa.  And in the evenings, especially during the weekends, many of these one-way streets are blocked off for pedestrians only as you get closer to the beach.  We already knew that our hotel didn't have parking so once we figured out its general location our mission became finding a safe place to park our huge rental van overnight.  After turning this way and that and Dave maneuvering the beast through tiny crowded streets we glimpsed the sign for a parking garage but not in enough time to make the turn.  So, around we went again on the one-way streets until we got to the parking garage which was not only enclosed but also had a security guard on duty. 

Once we got the van parked we unloaded all of our luggage and began the walk a couple of blocks to our hotel.  Once we got there we really felt like our vacation had begun!  I had found the Playa Palms Beach Hotel through a simple search on the internet during our trip planning and was taken by the online photos and reviews from previous patrons.  And all I can say is the internet did not let me down.  The Playa Palms was gorgeous!!!!  Even though we arrived just as night was beginning to fall the view was still amazing and our rooms with private balconies were stunning!

Swans made out of towels to greet us upon arrival at the Playa Palms.

The view from our balcony when we arrived late from Cancun.

After quickly getting cleaned up, settling in to our rooms, and snapping a few photos we headed out onto the streets of Playa toward a restaurant our friends George and Irma Lebard recommended called El Fogon (the fire hearth) which was an open-air restaurant overflowing with patrons. The smells emanating from the huge grill were mouth-watering. Hours of standing in the hot, crowded immigration hall in Cancun were catching up with all of us and we were suddenly HUNGRY! After waiting for just a few minutes we were seated and ordered some Mexican cervezas and began to peruse the menu. I soon learned that the little Spanish I knew would end up being about all we had to communicate to order our dinner. The entire menu was in Spanish and I wasn't familiar with many of the phrases. Our waiter tried to speak English but he did just about as well as I did speaking Spanish. Eventually we ordered a dinner that was supposedly for five people but our waiter insisted that it would not be enough for the six of us and we should order an additional plate of food to have enough. Chalk one up for the locals....we were duped. We did not need an additional plate, in fact, we could have invited another five people to dine with us and still had leftovers. We ended up with a HUGE pile of various meats, veggies, queso, tortillas, soup, chips, and a few different salsas! It was SO MUCH FOOD! And it was SO GOOD! The cervezas started to get us more in the vacation mode as well and we all agreed that despite the earlier events of the day, we were happy to be in Mexico.

Roger and Janet happy to be enjoying a beverage before dinner.

Dave and Sarah with their Modelo cervezas.

Looking rumpled but happy after our day of traveling.

El Fogon.....a crowded street-side restaurant offering up HUGE servings of grilled foods.

A walk back to our hotel after dinner gave us a glimpse of the vast array of goods for sale on the streets. There was pottery, jewelry, clothing, you name it. We tried to bypass as much as we could knowing we would be coming back to Playa on our return trip from Belize so we opted to walk back to the hotel and get some much needed rest.

We all were up and moving relatively early the next morning and started the day with a walk along the beach in search of a hot cup of coffee. I loved the white sand beaches of Playa. Unlike sand in many other areas, the sand of the Yucatan is made of tiny particles of fossils, shells, and coral. Just sifting it through your fingers yields dozens of tiny treasures.

The view from our balcony at Playa Palms not long after sunrise.

Beach-combing....Cozumel in the background.

Playa Palms Beach Hotel looking through the garden courtyard towards the sea.

So after some beach-combing for shells for the boys and taking more photos of our gorgeous hotel we hit Highway 307 south to Tulum.  Adios, Playa! Hola Tulum!