Back in Oaxaca!

Hola!

 

Well, difficult for me to believe, but we are now back here in Oaxaca – a place I vowed to never see again!  But that was in a prior blog, so let’s get started on today.

 

I was up about 6 am and watching the Royal Funeral on television.  Fortunately, we did have access to the BBC so I got to hear it in English, as opposed to Spanish, which I don’t understand at all.  Very, very moving!  R up about 7 to find out what all the thumping was about – turns out, it was the drums of the band playing.  Up to the Lounge for breakfast about 8:30 am and then back downstairs to our room for the final checking of the suitcases and gathering all of our “stuff!”  Then, about 10 am we checked out and then got our Uber to the airport, Terminal 2.  Truly, Julio, our Uber driver was a very good driver, but honestly, there were at least two times I closed my eyes, as I didn’t want to see the accident for which I was sure we were heading.

 

Into the airport, and routed to the correct location – or so we thought!  There the drama began … R’s suitcase was absolutely dissected by a woman security person.  I’ve never seen or experienced anything like it!  Not sure what she was looking for – after taking EVERYTHING – and I do mean everything, dirty laundry included out of the case, she was able to come up with two things – 1) R’s shoe horn, and 2) R’s tiny jeweler’s screwdriver to repair eye glasses.  And, of course, she had to call for a supervisor, who approved both those items to travel with us.  We were, I am sure, the hit of the security line, as after we went through, NO BODY could get through until they were finished with us!  Unreal; truthfully!  If I sound a bit jaded, I’m sure feeling like it!

 

After that rewarding experience, we then needed to find Departure Hall K for our flight, although we didn’t have a specific gate assigned yet.  (We were a bit early – thankfully, so, as it turns out!)  As we were waiting, suddenly the departures board (oh!  By the way, it turns out that the departures boards in Terminal 2 have commercials – so for entire minutes at a time, there is absolutely no flight information available at all!  How convenient!) changed our flight to Departure Hall D – which, of course, was at the other end of the terminal.  So, now back through the terminal to find Departure Hall D … which we did [one level below the main terminal] – which had absolutely NO departure information listed anywhere!  The internet access was terrible, so we couldn’t get any flight information that way.  So … we waited!  And waited…Finally, just about the time that our flight was scheduled to board, someone turned up at one of the Departure Hall D departure points – and this was our flight.  Thanks to R’s advanced years, he is generally allowed to board early – and that as the case this time.  Our boarding passes, according to the norm in our technological age, were on our phones but – alas – the airport scanner couldn’t read them; the gate agent had to ‘photograph’ our phones and then scan his iPad.  [What’s wrong with paper boarding passes?].  Next, it turns out that the gate was no jetway, and we were picked up on buses.  So … made it to the bus, and then after a very long drive arrived at our airplane.

 

Everybody on fairly quickly.  It was a smaller plane, and the suitcases actually had to slide in sideways; the overheads weren’t deep enough to hold the carry-ons head first.  We did manage to get everything stored, and took off about 40 minutes later than scheduled.  The flight itself, which indicated at 1 hour 11 minutes, actually only took something like 43 minutes, so we weren’t too late.  Note:  We’re not sure, but as we were waiting for the plane to take off, suddenly, the entire plane began to shake pretty violently.  We had no idea what it was, but we’re now both thinking that this may have been an aftershock from the costal earthquake!

 

Upon landing, we found emails from Anne Vaughan and Linda Palmer asking if we were OK.  [Interesting: Two sisters, living 3000 miles apart, had the same idea at the same time.]. It turns out that the west coast of Mexico was hit by a 7.6 earthquake at about 1:06 this afternoon.  We were still in the airport terminal waiting to board our flight but felt nothing.  Some news reports say that it was felt in Mexico City but maybe they are referring to what people in tall buildings may have experienced.

 

Off the plane quickly and then outside to find our driver.  It took about 20 minutes I’d say to get into Oaxaca proper and to the NaNa Vida Hotel.  It’s rated as the top hotel in Oaxaca, and is fine.  We’re in room 4 on the second floor; king-sized bed, nice bathroom (unfortunately no tub, but that’s probably more the norm these days).  I unpacked while R set up the computer and we’re good to go!  Also, packed up our laundry and took it across the street to a Lavanderia!  They’ll actually deliver it back to the hotel by 5 pm tomorrow, which is GREAT!  The entire load – 5 t-shirts, unmentionables and socks for $66 pesos – including delivery!

(Which works out to $3.15 at today’s exchange rate!). While I was unpacking, it did start to REALLY rain! Fortunately, we have our umbrellas but it was really nice to listen to in our nice cozy room!

 

We’ve got 7 pm reservations at Las Quince Letras, which is about 815 m away from the hotel; Robert pleased!  Tomorrow, we’ve arranged for a car and driver to take us to Monte Alban, the largest archaeological site in the area.  While we could have taken a tour, we opted instead for the driver to deliver us, wait while we explore, and then bring us back here.  Figure it’s worth the $$ to have the freedom to do what we want to do!  So there!  More about dinner tonight after it happens!  So, for now, lots of love!

 

m

xxx

 

Wow!  Back from dinner – and it was fantastic!  And I have to admit that I laughed and laughed when R had to look up the instructions on how to “sip” a glass of Tequila! [What would we do without Google?  Gringos can never remember the sequence – Tequila, lime, salt – so see below.]  So … from the top.

NaNa Vida outdoor lobby

Quite a lovely courtyard

Room #4

Decorated ceiling of entryway into restaurant

My chicken broth soup; excellent!

R's mushroom soup

 

The restaurant is very, very close to the hotel, and it is really lovely!  We were given our choice of sitting on the top floor, where there was a saxophone playing, and sitting on the ground floor, where the din was incredible.  We took the top floor, and it was definitely a good choice!   For starters, I had their chicken broth with pico de gallo soup – proves my point that Mexican food is so tastiful that they are the only people who can make chicken broth taste good – and they do!  R had a really yummy mushroom soup with apples and chilis, which was exceptional!  For mains, R ordered a very thinnnnnnn steak covered with cheese, with chorizo, two different kinds of roasted peppers, grilled onions and guacamole.  He ate every bite (although that could have been because he was hungry…) and I had their three moles with chicken and rice.  I could only identify two of the moles – negro (black) and rojo (red) – not sure what the third one was, but once again, I really do prefer the mole negro to any others I have had.  The chicken was so tender, and it came with rice and tamales.  For dessert, I opted for their fruit flan – okay, although I’m not the biggest flan fan … R had a very tall S-H-O-T (it was the equivalent of at least four shot glasses!) glass with a salt shaker and slices of lime.  As neither of us can ever remember what comes first – tequilla, salt or lime – R looked it up – and the description he found was absolutely hilarious!  Again, see below.  The part about lime mentioned Step Curry and suggested that one wanted to be like Step and chew on your mouthguard!  That really brought laughter to the table!  At any rate, R managed somehow and in some order, to dispose of the Tequilla – and he loved it!  So!  We’ve made a reservation to come back on Thursday night (our last night in Oaxaca). 

R's steak with cheese and chorizo

My Three Moles with chicken

Preparing to start...

Salt...

Tequila...

Lime!

My flan looks so tame by comparison!

 

So now – Monday night football (Bills vs. Titans, and Bills are running all over the Titans…) - in Spanish - and to bed!  Until tomorrow!

 

Much love,

m

xxx

 

 

From Kevin Schlittenhardt 

 

It’s past midnight and you’re out with buddies. You’re ready to call it a night, but then one friend, determined to take things to the next level, screams, “Tequila shots!” That gives you about five minutes to remember if it’s “tequila, lime, salt,” or “salt, tequila, lime,” or “lime, tequila, toss the salt over your shoulder for good luck.” Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. And we’re going to make this snappy before your friend comes back with a plastic shot of tequila that has your name on it like it’s a Starbucks Frap. Here’s how you take a tequila shot without making a fool of yourself.

 

The TL;DR: Salt, Tequila, Lime

 

Just remember: Lick, Sip, Suck. You should be good with those brief instructions, but if the bartender is busy and your friend is taking a little while, or if you’re a true novice (we were all there once), keep reading and shoot that tequila in style.

 

Step One: Lick the Salt

 

Prepare the salt by licking the part of your hand where your thumb meets your index finger (or pour a splash of water on it from your cup if you’re classy). This will act as “adhesive” for the salt, preventing it from just spilling off your hand. Then, sprinkle some salt onto your hand. Say a cheers to friendship, silently say your pre-tequila prayer in your head and lick the salt off your hand. This will lessen the burn of the impending tequila.

 

Step Two: Shoot the Tequila

 

Now it’s time to shoot the tequila. Don’t sip it, don’t hold your nose, and try not to wince; just knock it back. This isn’t a wine tasting; it’s a party shot. Let out a “whoof!” if you must, but don’t dwell on the theatrics too long because we ain’t done yet.

 

Step Three: Suck on the Lime

 

Last but not least: the lime. Sweet relief. After you’ve slammed down your tequila shot, pop that lime wedge into your mouth like you’re Steph Curry chewing on his mouth guard. The citrus juices will provide instant relief from that cheap tequila burn. Once you’ve sucked the life out of that lime, pop it in your shot glass to keep the bar tidy, and walk away a tequila-shot-taking champion.