SWIMMING POOLS OF THE WEST PART.6

I have gone all natural and have returned to the sea for the last month of badger swimming adventures! I have had to adapt my swimming technique DRAMATICALLY to deal with the current and the waves and i have to say ocean swimming is much MUCH harder. It is also impossible for me to guess how far i am swimming so i started going by time and basically swam until i couldn't swallow any more sea water. 

The perfect swimming beach in Sayulita can be found at Playa Los Muertos. It is a smaller and quieter beach with a nice bay and calmer waves. The wow factor is way off the chart and it was always nice to pause between swims to look at my amazing location. Really swimming has never been better! 

NO. OF POOLS: 1 open water natural bay, 

LOCATION: 10 minutes walk from town and 40 mins walk from Casa Viteri

INDOORS/OUTDOORS: Outdoors

LENGTH: Who knows! 75m rock to rock 

WOW FACTOR: 10/10

CHANGING FACILITIES: Au Natural 

BONUS: FREE, Its the ocean! 

Rainy day...

Sunny day...

TAKING ON MONTEZUMA'S REVENGE - 2014

The colloquial term for any cases of traveler's diarrhea contracted by tourists visiting Mexico. The name humorously refers to Moctezuma II, the ruler of the Aztec civilization who was defeated and slaughtered by Hernán Cortés, the Spanish conquistador. The white Spainiards would then continue to enslave or obliterate the Aztec people. It is said that whenever a white person has diarrhoea while visiting Mexico, he is suffering the wrath of Montezuma's revenge.

During my time in Mexico i shall be taking on Aztec ruler Montezuma with a taco tour to rival the best. Sunny & Rio Chenery will also be rating our eats with our foolproof 5 star system! Points are gained for quality of Tortilla, Salsas, Sauces, Quality of produce & overall presentation. 

We went straight into the eye of the storm with our first stop being a real taco on the street. Sunny was particularly keen to have is favoured fried fish taco so we went to this stall on the street in Sayulita for our first taco review of the trip. These tacos came with traditional cabbage, tomato and lettuce, the sauces were good and the fish was straight from the fryer. Sunny thought the batter was a little soft and the fish a little sguidgy for his liking which is reflected in his scores. Overall a good first tasting which i enjoyed immensely with all the joviality of a true taco novice!

RATINGS:

Sunny.C 2.5/5

Alice.W: 3/5

Rio.C (yet to arrive)

WE GOT JUNGLE FEVER!

Just another sunny day in Mexico and we all headed out for a little bit of walking with Luisa as our tour guide. I had zero idea of where it was that we were going or that we would be walking on some rough terrain, good job  i wore my trusty Merrell's. We took the car as far as it would go but soon the road became less and less like a road so we parked up and carried on by foot. The view from here was amazing, surrounded by mountains and fields with citrus trees and palms. 

We followed the path lower and lower as the jungle started to grown around us and the soon the temperature was much cooler and the hot sun was hidden by giant leaves, wines and tropical trees. Along the way there were several spots where people had laid offerings or performed rituals, candles and flowers had been laid often by a stone that showed a carving from centuries ago. These carvings were everywhere and really illustrated the history of where we were walking.

We hiked for around 45 mins maybe an hour and just around a final bed was a huge stone wall that i believe in the rainy season becomes a giant waterfall. As its summer this was not the case but we were lucky enough that the pools were filled with enough water to swim in and of course i was straight in there! The pools were amazing and we were happy to be cooled off after the walk, it was so amazing and definitely something i had had hoped i would get to do while visiting Mexico. 

MEXICO. PT 1

Hello blue skies!

The day had arrived to leave the cold behind, customise my trousers to shorts and load up on bug spray and suncream. Mexico is truly amazing, i am completly blown away by the tropical wonders that i am staying in. 

I am in a small place called Sayulita on the Pacific coast with my good friend Sunny and his family. The sun was high in the sky when i touched down and it took me at least 4 days to adjust to where i am. The mountains are covered in tropical rainforest and hidden between them lie bumpy roads leading down to small towns, bays and secluded beaches. Its so idillic here it is almost too much, earlier today i had to swat a butterfly away from me as i was walking into town... life's hardships are ever growing here for me. 

I had a few days before Sunny arrived and Luisa (Sunny's mum) was kind enough to show me around the town and take me to an excellent outdoor market. There was a lot of shopping to be done pre arrival of family & friends, the market was set in a harbour and it was another sunny sunny day when we went. Visiting markets is one of my favourite things to do in London and this was just as enjoyable if not more! Who doesn't like to tan and shop at the same time? There were large fresh fish stalls, organic greens and tons of crafts, the highlight for me must have been the discovery of the fluro pom pom's! 

My food adventure had already begun with a great meal in Sayulita where we ate Tacos de Carne with smokey chipotle sauce, Grilled Cactus, Aqua Fresca de Jamaica and crispy fish Tostadas. This has started a new rating game of all of the taco spots Sunny, Rio and I come across. Keep your eyes peeled for 'Taking On Montezuma's Revenge - 2014' the ultimate Mexican taco tour. 

All in all Mexico is AMAZEBALLS and i am never leaving! More to come v.soon...

BOSTON

Short and sweet and full of witchy fun!

My final stop in the US before heading back to Toronto and ultimately off to Mexico was Boston. I had very few expectations of Boston and i was pleasantly surprised. It had some great history and is a great size to walk around. I signed up for a couple of walking tours that were full of fun facts and warm cosy bars, all with an Irish influence, where the locals were friendly and the beer selection vast. 

I also had the perfect saturday morning. It was a bright blue day and was just warm enough to sit in the park with a large tea & cream cheese bagel and watch the skaters on the ice rink. With christmas just around the corner a brass band was playing seasonal songs and it was a very happy morning. 

I really wanted to take a day trip to Salem, mainly because one of my favourite films is Hocus Pocus, so on a cold and hungover day myself and a friend who was suffering far worse than i was took the train out of town. The tales of Salem seem to be a rather intricate tale of people being misunderstood, persecuted and unfortunately hung or imprisoned, it was all in all a sad story. I felt particularly bad for the one poor man who was pressed to death. We did find a lovely cafe with a scrabble board so i was happy!

Boston also has an excellent China town and it was right next door to my hostel so i managed to save some money on cheap dinners and excellent Pho's. All in all my days in Boston were happy ones and i even enjoyed my 5am wake up to catch a very long bus back to Toronto, the sunrise was a perfect pink and the streets were quiet as snow dusted the streets... a perfect morning. 

Final day in Toronto enjoying the cold at Christmas.

MAINE

THANKSGIVING!!! THANKSGIVING!!! THANKSGIVING!!!

Weeks of anticipation had been building for my first ever Thanksgiving experience. The setting was perfect with snowy woods, a huge kitchen perfect for family cooking and many pets to take on long walks. 

It was so nice to spend time with Pat, Kelly, Jon, Bill & Jay oh and the pets Marley, Casey & Sandy. On thanksgiving day we all had our cooking tasks and over several hours the might meal was made. We had the most amazing shrimp cocktail to start followed by the turkey roast and finished off with pumpkin pie. DELICIOUS! We had some excellent wine from Cupcake Vineyards and finished the day with a trip to the movies. 

My favourite part of the days around thanksgiving were the multitude of board and card games played... Cards Against Humanity, The Settlers of Catan, Rumy, Gin Rumy all kinds of rumy! So happy about all of these!

Second to my love of playing games is my love of dance, although i haven't been to a dance class in a while i figured my knowledge was still there so i was super happy to go swing dancing with Pat one evening. It was AMAZING! I did three classes back to back taking me to an ok understanding of the steps... all of which disappeared when it came to the social dance so i just threw all my effort into spinning. So much fun.

Maine is such a beautiful state and the drives we took were amazing, i also greatly enjoyed a trip to a state park to walk casey and they had the most amazing rocks including some volcanic rock that had been pushed up in a perfectly straight line through the existing rock. And the food was amazing, on top of the Thanksgiving feast i enjoyed some great beer, lobster mac & cheese, the best sushi i have eaten in a while and bacon dusted fries. 

After a week of enjoying all of Maine's offerings Jon & i headed back to Vermont for Kelly's belated birthday party. It was a great drive and we spent a lot of time talking about music and the joy of the mini cake; a common interest that we discovered in a tine tea shop one afternoon. We also squeezed in half of a college ice hockey game which was fast and cold... being in an ice hockey team would literally be my worst nightmare but it was fun to watch.

Thank you so much Phillips family for a truly brilliant time.