Our Home away from Home Birthdays

Well it has always been our wish to celebrate our December birthdays some where warm and sunny, and our Home away from Home for the past 9 years, Grand Palladium Mayan Suites fit the bill…

Dec. 3rd my Hubby’s Birthday, was our arrival day and it got quite interesting when we arrived @ Pittsburgh International Airport. Note to self and anyone else traveling…If you use lotion that contains Glycerine MAKE SURE you wash your hands before going into the TSA screening area! It seems the scanner picked up the glycerine that was in my hand/face cream and set off an alert.
I was pulled aside, hands were swabbed again, and was told I needed a body pat down…I was worried my plates and screws holding my broken ankle would set off the alarm…NO!, it was my Avon Moisture Therapy lotion I put on that morning…Talk about embarrassing… 15 minutes later I was deemed OK, no threat and allowed to proceed to my gate… Hubby has now forbidden me to wear any lotion, if we are flying…After that everything went smoothly, made all are connections and Hotel Beds was waiting for us to transport us “Home”.

This time we traveled as a guest of Peter G. with the Travel Club…
we arrived @ the GP about 2:00pm, met our concierge Adlied and were assigned Mayan Suite 3401 with a ground floor jungle view…The room wasn’t ready so we had lunch @ El Gran Azul and saw our old friend Landi, a waitress there and Tikal…who had the cutest little baby bump! She was glowing and so excited to see us and tell us her good news…Saturday was her sonogram and she hopes for a boy….

3:00pm we checked in and were taken to our room, which had mugs and a linen beach bag with some other goodies…By this time it was raining,so we unpacked, took a siesta since we were up @ 3:00am.
Dinner @ El Jardin, where we learned Joel was no longer the Maitred’ due to a recent serious illness…He is always so kind and upbeat…
Dave had lamb chops and I had Grouper, which is one of my favorite fish…

The resort is beginning to put up the Christmas decorations, and really starting to look festive.

We woke up to a cloudy but warm day…Breakfast Buffet in Tikal, then Off to the Royal Beach where we saw our old friend Fernie… who was also celebrating a birthday on Dec. 5th. Big hugs and kisses. It was raining off and on so we got a Bali bed with a palupa and stayed there….
Dinner that night was @ the Tikal Buffet, where they had an amazing carved Prime Rib…
Shopped the vendors and stopped and talked with Benito and his father
Benito who carve pesos…Meg and Terry told us about them and we special ordered custom carved peso jewelry. If you want something unique see Benito and Benito…
Had a few drinks in the Colonial Lobby which was under construction as well as the Check in area. and listened to Con Classe.

Dec 05, Fernie was on her Holiday, so the surprise birthday celebration I planned for her would have to wait till Monday.
Another cloudy beach day. with heavy rain that sent everyone running for shelter.
Our friends from Charlotte, Chuck and Sandy arrived, and I had the Best Lamp chops @ Ribs and More… We didn’t have a reservation and were,lucky when we walked up they weren’t busy…After dinner we watched the Mexican show in the Colonial Lobby…Do Not Miss this Show…It was amazing!

Sunday dawned bright and beautiful, clear skies and No Rain… Gorgeous beach day…Later that afternoon we ran into Memo, Ricardo, Felipe and Lolo, at bar La Jarra…Lolo was in a suit and a little nervous, he and Elsa were getting married on the beach. I asked if I could take some pictures of the wedding and post them on the Unofficial Palladium site and he said it would be an honor. It was a lovely wedding and the couple were overflowing with Happiness…
Dinner that evening @ El Jardin, where we ordered the coconut shrimp for an appetizer for our table..Lobster was the special of the day and it was delicious.

The sea has been quite cool as well as the pools up to this time…Days were warm, and a light wrap or sweater was in order for the nights.

We surprised Fernie on Monday with a little surprise party… I brought Christmas Trees shaped cakes (which made the journey in one piece) and candles, and when Fernie came to take our drink orders we started to sing ‘Happy Birthday”, she was so shocked and started to cry… It was fun and those who were in the Royal area joined in on the Birthday song too…

The sea is starting to warm up and there was no sargasum at all this week.

Dinner @ Portofino, walked right up and got seated. After dinner we watched the Fire Show in the Riviera Lobby and the guy on the Fly Board…
there was a wedding at Los Roccas, so the show was moved to the Riviera.

Tues. we got up early and took the Colectivo tho Playa… 350 pesos per person. You can get a better exchange rate in Playa than at the airport…The money changers rate @ the Airport was 12.50 US, where in Playa it was between 15.70- to 16.00 depending on the money exchange booth. Your best rate is to order them at home before you leave, if you can.
We did a lot of shopping and walking ( my ankle was holding up pretty well) considering… We had a quick rain shower that sent everyone running for cover, then you were really at the mercy of the vendors…I also visited the beautiful chapel there… The nuns had a booth and were selling some beautiful hand made items to support the convent. Any bakers out there??? I found the best price on the Azteca Vanilla in Playa Mart.

When the Collectivo drops you off, remember to use the Employee Tunnel to safely get back into the the GP property…please don’t try to run across the Highway. Also use this tunnel if you are going to South to Akumal. Go Straight out the Kantenah Lobby and follow the road…you can’t miss it.

Dinner @ El Jardin andIi got the seafood crepes cooked table side… I just love those flaming dishes… too full , no dessert…

Make sure you Google when sunrise is during your stay… I got pictures of a glorious one on Dec. 9th.

Dave and I snorkeled, but the water wasn’t too clear due to the waves…. Also when snorkeling, be careful, the buoy ropes have come loose on the Northern end and are floating freely, some have been tangled in the coral, which is both dangerous to the reef as well as those snorkeling in that area. This reef seems to be stressed…I noticed a lot of bleaching of the coral and broken coral… Try to use natural biodegradable sunscreen, nothing with oxy-benzene while swimming in the sea, as this kills the coral. Didn’t see any turtles swimming this trip.

I had an amazing fried whole fish for lunch @ Punta Emilia… the Sea gulls were squawking and eyeing it up.
We made reservations @ La Adelita…I tried making reservation for both Chuck & Sandy and Dave & I through the TC, but for some reason, TC would not allow me to reserve for 4 people, because our friends were not on a TC vacation… They were Royal VIP Guests though, so to solve this dilemma Chuck and Sandy made all of our reservations after that…Needless to say, this did not make me happy…and I spoke with my concierge about this and she said I could only reserve for people traveling with TC, even though my friends had Royal VIP bands and we had VIP TC bands… That solved our problemo…
Dinner was great @ Adelita, but I forgot about using my allergy card and had to pick the green peppers out of my burrito…It’s just that I am sensitive to green peppers not a real allergy…

Dec 10, we spent the day in Akumal, 250 pesos by collectivo, use the tunnel to go South… I met
a FB friend who’s grandmother taught at our local Elementary School many years ago…She’s an ExPat that lives in Akumal and is active in animal rescues in the area as well as The Bibliotecca. We met @ Turtle Bay Bakery & Restaurant…Very nice open air place and they have the Mundo craft beer on Tap, with a nice IPA for all you craft beer lovers.
We stopped at the Hekab be Bibliotecca to drop off some supplies and Christmas wish list items for the children. Akumal is a poor community and this library really helps with the educational enrichment of the children of the pueblo as well as a resource for the community… If you are going to Akumal, please stop by and say Hi, and make a donation to the Bibliotecca…It’s a very worthy cause.

Also they finally got a handle on all the Turtle tour operators…. The street is no longer a parking lot for big tour buses, and the Tour operators are being very polite…FINALLY…If you really must book a tour to see the turtles, which you probably won’t see any because of the area where the tours are confined. I suggest you book a tour with the Piritas.. they are a more mindful and knowledgeable group. The New Secrets hotel is a monstrosity on this once quiet peaceful bay… No further comment…

Sandy made reservations for us for the Beach BBQ and it was great!…Very pleasant evening eating on the beach with a Marimba Band Playing.. The Ribs and steaks were delicious.

Dave and I took our 6th Segway tour… They have a coupon in the book that gives you 10.00 off. Jairo was our guide and we were riding for about an 1:15 minutes, since we were experienced riders, we just a quick spin around the practice area and off exploring we went… I definately recommend this activity, if you are new to the resort, just to see how beautiful and huge it is. PS met Tracy at La Terraza while we were on the Segways…

We spent the rest of the morning @ Los Roccas, the Saltwater Pool, very windy day, tried to have lunch @ Punta Emilia, but it was completely shut down due to a wedding, no food nor beverages… :-(… So we went to the Beach Bar for lunch…(order off the menue) instead of the buffet, for some great wings, burgers and burritos, we even played some Mexican Bingo and Chuck won!

I love painting pottery on the beach and I did this piece a a special gift, but don’t want to give away the surprise , as they may read this report….Paint one day and it is ready the next.

It was lobster Cappellini night @ El Jardin…Very delicious, prepared table side, yes there are flames involved and no I am not a pyromaniac… just very dramatic presentation of your dinner.

Dec 12, My Birthday has finally come and I am celebrating it in Mexico…plus I have tan lines in Dec….can it get any better than this…?
Well the sargassum is back… and there is a lot of it… There is an onshore wind and it is coming in very heavy…

Dinner tonight was at Sumpptori Show Table…I like this set up, because it gives you a chance to meet other people…Another guest was also celebrating his birthday…Flying food and flames…my kind of fun dinner.

It was a bittersweet Birthday, trying to finish packing as we were going home the next day..

Breakfast, quick goodbyes with staff, then we were on our way back to reality…

Everyday the resort added more Christmas decorations, a very festive time of year….The funny thing was , they kept changing the one on the large table in the Kantenah Lobby, I guess someone was not pleased with the “look”, but I know it was changed at least 5 times while we were there…

There is a new Hard Rock Hotel going up right next to the GP. very close to Bar La Jarra… You can see bldgs going up at the end of the walkway to near bldg 49 and looking into shore form the sea…you can see how much vegetation they removed and see that the bldgs are about 4 stories high… I hope they don’t turn out to be the “noisy neighbors” as the Kantenah has always been a tranquil quiet beach area…

To sum it up, Dave and I could not have asked for a better place to spend our Birthdays…. We both agree the weather is fantastic in Dec. and probably will return this time of year in the future, as opposed to the summer, now that I am retired from teaching….

It’s always a pleasure to reconnect with staff, who have now become friends over the many years we have been visiting…Coming back to the Palladium is like coming home for sure… Until we meet again…