International Flair

We have been walking for hours each day and often end up at our favourite outdoor restaurant, not far from our apartment.  Yesterday was no exception.

While we were enjoying our beer we noticed something that caught our attention.  Right in front of us there were five different nationalities represented....can you find all five?  To be fair, you wouldn't know that the gentlemen beside us were from Argentina - okay, find the other four!

As you can maybe tell from this "nothing happening" blog, we are truly being lazy.  For the first time since I have been retired we have nothing on the table.....no renovations, no yard work, no RV cleaning or setting up, no house cleaning, no laundry, no gym, no golfing, no farm work, no selling of land, no subbing at school, no family to check on....absolutely nothing!!

Walk to the Market

On Christmas Day we didn't stray very far, but on Christmas Eve we walked to the local market in the afternoon for fresh vegetables and some fruit.  The walk itself was a chore as the Mexicans were out in full force buying Christmas gifts and food supplies.  The streets were crowded and it was difficult finding a straight pathway.

Added to that, we couldn't remember exactly where the market was located from the Plaza Grand [remember we don't have any use for maps!] so we did a little extra wandering.  Well, actually a lot of extra wandering.

We will try the market in a day or two as we need more supplies, but first we will look around home to find a smaller market with the same low prices and the same good quality of food.

Our Apartment

The hotels we had booked on-line from home were hit and miss, but not so with our apartment.  We had researched this place thoroughly so we were quite confident in our choice.

From the outside it looks like all other homes in Merida - a door opening directly from the street. Many Canadians and Americans are buying the older complexes and recreating a beautiful home behind the walls.

The apartment is large, around 135 square metres, with two bedrooms and two baths.  The kitchen, dining room and living room is open concept with the balcony off the living room.  We are on the second floor so we get a great view of the small plunge pool below.

The apartment itself is L shaped so we get two views of the garden and pool area.

The maid comes once a week to clean and change the bedding.  She also does our laundry for 20P per load.  If we want the bedding or towels changed more often, she will do that also.  Drinking water is supplied.

The best part of this apartment is its location.  We can walk to the main square, along with many other squares located near there.  Many restaurants and entertainment are all within a fifteen minute walk.  The main local market for fruits and vegetables is within walking distance although it is a little farther out.

Fred and I are quite comfortable here, but Maggie not so much.  She hates the sound of wind on trees and is very agitated much of the time.  Her favourite sleeping spot is in the back closet...the farthest spot from the open windows.  The wind on the trees will continue to be a problem for her as this place has a large amount of foliage in the small garden.  Not much direct sun, but lots of branches to drive Mags crazy!

A Long Drive

We left San Carlos on December 14th and spent the first night in Mazatlan.  I have never been a fan of that city and that impression remains with me.

We drove from there to San Pancho with the intention of spending two full days looking for a condo for next year.  We found some nice places in Rincon de Guayabitos, but none would even consider us as long as we had Maggie.

We then switched our attention to finding a small house in San Pancho....we had a little more luck here, but in true Mexican fashion we are still waiting for a reply from the realtor.

Just to be on the safe side we put a deposit down on an RV site in Lo de Marcos.

The drive from San Pancho to Villahermosa was uneventful and very pleasant.  The roads were all toll roads....we made 40 toll stops a for a cost of $270 Cdn.  The Villahermosa to Campeche leg was a bit of a chore.  The roads were a throw-back to twenty years ago - all pot holes and topes!  And we paid for this!

We had to sneak Maggie into two hotels, but with the rest she was able to prance through the lobby, in true Maggie style.  Princess Maggie!

We forgot to take a Mexico map so we had to rely on the printouts that Fred had for finding the hotels....that and GPS.  Not that Garmin was any help for all we heard was "recalculating"!

Even so, we only got lost once and that was in Merida when we were looking for our apartment.  It took about an hour, but we eventually stumbled upon the place.  More about our apartment tomorrow.

We saw places that we had previously visited and were pleased to spend some time visiting these towns and cities.

It was a fun drive, but not one that I would want to do every year.  On the drive back to San Carlos we are going to break it up with stops in Palanque and Tequila.

One of the Best

We have been having huge difficulties finding hotels, condos and bungalows that will accept our dog.  We completed the bookings back in Canada and just didn't know what to expect.

Mazatlan was okay...clean but very basic.  San Pancho was very, very tiny.  We were becoming uncomfortable, thinking we would have hotels like this all across Mexico.

The good news is the Villas Montana in Morelia!  We had booked this in September and all day while we were driving today we kept thinking of the last two rooms.

But, we hit the jackpot! This is possibly one of the nicest hotels I have stayed in for a long while.  It is an old hacienda complex that is like a maze.  A very well kept maze!

We had booked a Junior suite with a king bed and the room was spectacular.  It had a fireplace as Morelia is higher and it gets very cold at night.

The restaurant and bar were also superb, with great meals and great service.

Highly recommended!

Lobby of the hotel.

The grounds around the hotel.

View from one of the many terraces!

Pathway to some of the rooms.

Entrance to our suite.

Roosters and Bungalows

We have a nasty neighbour...a loud rooster.  This particular rooster was noisy all night keeping us awake most of the time.  I love waking up to the sound of a rooster in the early morning, but this one is perched on a fence not more than five metres away!

We are in San Pancho, just north of Puerto Vallarta looking for a bungalow to rent next year.  We are staying in a pet friendly one right now which would be ideal if only it were a little larger.  We only have a queen bed, shower, and a sink....not much room for anything else!  No kitchen or closets!

When we finally drag ourselves out of bed and away from our pet rooster we are going to start another search in Rincon de Guaybitos,  concentrating on condos on the beach.

We did find time yesterday to walk to the beach for cervezas and a meal.  Not much has changed since last year with the exception of a price increase, but that is happening all over Mexico.

Old Friends

Our old "go-to" restaurant is not doing so well and is closed more often than it is open.  The Fiesta is located across the street from us so we used to stroll over for dinner when neither of us felt like cooking.

Last year there was an accusation of food poisoning and that was it for the restaurant.  The staff had to move on to other venues and we lost track of them.

On Friday, we finally ventured out to La Palapa for the first time since arriving and we ran into Luis.  He was the bartender at the Fiesta and now works in that capacity at La Palapa.  It was great to see him again!

This is the same man who so openly flirted with Fred's mom when she was last down!

Finally

After almost 6 years we finally signed the final papers for our house.  It has been a long and frustrating journey, but it is over!

Because we purchased a house near the water, we can never actually have the actual title of the property....the bank holds the deed in trust.  We have to pay a yearly fee of $735 Cdn for the bank to do this.  Plus, we had to pay for someone to work with the bank in getting the trust transferred from the previous owner to us.

The transfer usually takes a year to complete and costs somewhere around $4000 to the Notario [like a lawyer] and $2000 to the person hired to do the work.

After we bought the house we hired a gentleman who was highly recommended and we have regretted it ever since.  He did not do anything to secure the transfer.  He lied to us at every opportunity and even had the nerve to take us to the Notario to sign papers.

Two years ago we realized what he was doing so we chased him trying to get back $5000 Cdn that he had of ours.  All he did was "deny, deny, deny"!

Last year, we gave up and hired a realtor friend who completed the transaction in nine months.  We had to absorb some costs that weren't ours [previous owner's capital gains] just to get the ordeal over with.

Between the theft of our previous monies, absorbing the capital gains cost and this successful transfer, we paid $12,000 Cdn for a $6000 job.  BUT...it is complete and legal.

The sad part of this story is that it is happening to many people.  Friends of ours have been told recently that their papers are all forged and they need to start over....a $15,000 loss.

This is our second purchase in Mexico, but our first problem.  Even so, it does sour my thoughts on making another purchase in the future.

Termites

Termites are common in Mexico so we were not surprised to see the lines in our house.  They often come out of the light switches and move to a wood product.  In this case, they attacked our cupboards.  If they go unnoticed they can destroy your cupboards in a matter of days.

We have our house fumigated once a year, but sometimes it doesn't work 100%.  We controlled this batch of termites without calling the fumigators back, knowing full well that we need to have them here before we leave for home in April.

This particular type of termite that we find in San Carlos comes from the ground so when it is a rainy summer they move up, which often means into a house.

Golfing

We have had an extremely busy few days so we decided to end the week with a day on the golf course! It was a great day.....if you exclude getting stuck in the sand.  The carts are older and don't always carry their charge for the full round, nor do they have the best of tires.

Fred found that out when he tried to drive through some sand near the green - he needed a push to get him on the move again.

Beverages were a necessity! 

Don, you may know of the gentleman in the burgundy shirt....Dave Garvie, brother of Gord and Neil Garvie from Saskatoon.  He and his partner live in Tecalai not far from our house.