Sorry we're missing you this year, but glad your GF was able to join you. It would have been nice to meet her. Since I'm a little older than you, I'm exhausted from reading about everything you're doing. ENJOY!!

Maybe we'll meet up in 2017.

C

I arrived Friday after a connecting flight, leaving the -20* weather in Winnipeg that early morning for a couple hours flight to Calgary by WestJet and then waiting a couple hours to hop on another plane and 5 hours later I arrived. It took a bit longer than usual to get my baggages and came out from the main area of the airport walking straight through as |I pressed the green light. Went to get my ticket for the collectivo cab. 130 pesos and then it was the waiting. It seems to get worst as last year waited 30 minutes and this time 45 minutes until my patience ran out and I talked again to the dispatcher and suddenly he found a cab available for me and another fellow waiting. 15 minutes later I was at my hotel and quickly checked in by Monica and Carlos. This hotel is the perfect spot for me. It may not be the right place for everybody but it's an excellent location for me, being centrally located with good rates and friendly staff. Then it was time to go across at Casa Caracol on the sunroof to get drinks and a meal and I crashed early that night as I was beat....

Saturday was time for a lot of walking around, getting reacquainted with many places and taking it easy as the weather was pretty grey after a sunny and 31* on Friday. I got up late and have a great breakfast at Margaritas. Awesome place and now they also serve dinner. Took it easy during the day and then had some tiritas and campechana and guacamole with a Victoria at Rana Rene on La Madera. Always fresh and friendly people. Little break then headed to downtown and meet up friends. Ended up at La Katrina, an awesome mezcal bar. But so much more than that. Great restaurant doing small plates and tasty cocktails and also some artisanal beers from Mexico. There was a talented band playing and good salsa dancers that evening and we closed down the place around 03:00 that night. I was feeling for my friends who all work crazy hours but good thing tomorrow was Sunday and their 1 day off a week...

Sunday my girlfriend was flying in so after another nice breakfast at Margaritas I took a combi to the airport. 12 pesos and I was there in about 20-30 minutes. Fun experience and short wait after as she came through customs with flying colours within 30 minutes of landing and after a quick wardrobe change we were off and back on the combi and off to Centro. She came in traveling light and it worked perfect for the combi. I would not recommend it for people like myself that travel heavy. We checked in and she took a nap before having a meal and taking it easy that evening at the main place. No show that night there but it was packed with people.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have been spent showing her the town, mercado, the shops, the beaches and trying different restaurants. We went to La Terracita which is an awesome spot on La Calle Adelita.More of Rana Rene...We checked El Manglar and saw a nice 7-8 feet crocodile and a couple iguanas. We noticed the rv park behind was full of canadian vehicles.We went to Los Braseros for taco al pastor and some fish tacos baha style. And several stops at El Cafecito for the best espressos in town that keep me going Monday later afternoon we also went to the SPAZ fundraiser. This local Humane Society was having a fundraiser at the Catalina hotel and it was a wine tasting so this Frenchman could not say no It was a fun evening with 2 red and 2 white mexican wines to try and the white were pretty good. One of the red was ok and the other really bad.But all for a good cause. Later we ended up checking out Swenor Frogs in Ixtapa. Friends are working there so we were well taken care of but the place was dead with less than 50 people stepping in through the 2.5 hours we spent there. That place was busy up to a year or two ago 4-5 days a week but now they are down to Friday and Saturday only. Wednesday evening we celebrated my girlfriend birthday at Tentaciones. My first time eating there and the food and service was top notch. Expensive for us Canadians as priced in US$ but top place in town for a special occasion and the views are breath taking.Well worth the money.

Thursday my friend finished her shopping after a stop at Margaritas and we roamed the city, dropping by Buen Gusto and another local downtown bakeries to try out some of their goodies with some great espresso at El Cafecito. Then went across the footbridge and off to the Picante as I surprised my girlfriend with a sunset cruise on that catamaran. The captain, Tim, and his crew, did an excellent at entertaining us and the views did the rest to make it an awesome evening. We were back in downtown around 19:30 and after a bit of walking went for a bite at La Katrina and there was another band there which we enjoyed and ended up spending a couple hours there. Awesome food and drinks too again!

Now had a late breakfast at Margaritas today and did the long walk up and down the canal with a stop at Commercial to show her this store and cool off. Had a nice coffee there at the shop on the left side when facing the outside on the left side. She had a choco frappe and we had a mini brownie and we had the extra energy to make it back to the hotel and relax a bit and do the internet thing and now off to La Ropa too enjoy the beach and dinner at El Manglar before some salsa dancing at Senor Frogs late tonight...Not a bad week....