Birthday in Playa del Carmen
The eighth of october was the birthday of Fran. We got up early as always and had our continental breakfast (one of the things I have missed the least from the hostel life). I sang of course, which wasn't very appreciated (as always), gave my present and to spice things up I even got him one more package of Corn Flakes when the rule is one per person. And then we took a mini mini bus to Playa del Carmen to start over.
The first thing we did was go to the beach. And then we didn't move from there. We found a restaurant, ordered drinks and nachos and then it just kept coming more. Beer easily has that effect. From there we could run down to the water and run up again and have a drink and like that it went on. But then Fran made the decision to order tequila. And I don't really know how but somehow I ended up drinking one as well (once I Mexico I suppose...).
Playa del Carmen is much smaller than Cancún and - instead of having a centre and a beach separate - everything here circulates around the water front. It is full of restaurants and shops and all within a walking distance. Despite the turism it seems genuine and charming and we feel a lot more comfortable here than in the big c. So we are staying.
And that's about where the pictures end... At five in the afternoon we decided to go back to the hostel to take a shower and make ourselves look pretty for the dinner. The only problem was that all the beer plus the tequilas, the steaming sun, the lack of real food and the jet lag made Fransi a little sleepy. At five thirty he was sleeping like a little baby. So I waited. And I waited. Then I tried to wake him up. And after two hours of - at first - trying to be gentle - and then - using pure violence, I understood he was not going to wake up. The birthday celebrations were over, and at eight the jet lag got me too.
But the story doesn't end here, because at midnight when Fran had already had his six hours of sleep he woke me up and we went out to have the birthday dinner he never got. With sand in our eyes and pillow marks in our faces. We shared a cake and I sang one last time before we went back to the hostel and had another six hours of sleep. It's not always easy to be the birthday child.
Vane and Fran