Chillaxing

Monday was a wonderful day. The breakfast buffet was excellent-especially the Stuffed French toast, smoked salmon with Brie and Figs, excellent Café leche, 

I had the hotel all to myself except for a few people. It was time to take advantage of the pool, hot tub, and sauna. 

Touch down! Best ceviche of the trip!

Swimming with my new ten year old Colombian friend. His brother and him are both from Medellin (where I am going). They are staying with their nun who is the babysitter. Another nun on an Iphone playing scrabble.  It’s funny seeing a nun in the Hard Rock pool, but again they are just people too.

The Colombian girls and I were dancing near the pool and being silly.  They had no one there so it was okay to let loose and have some fun.  They all invited me to Cartagena(where they are from) and I said, “Okay after Medellin I will stop there.” Oh boy, if I could I would-trust me!

After my swimming, I spent sometime exploring different areas of the hotel. They have some fantastic lounges where you can just get lost reading and relaxing. So that is what I did. I also went up to the Bling bar area to sit on the balcony.  

Finally, dinner at the steakhouse with impeccable décor and a Halibut to die for and a chocolate soufflé to write home about. It was my birthday time on overdrive.   

The best part about Monday and Tuesday was that everyone cleared out of the hotel. It was truly a time to relax and take advantage of the hotels nice spaces: juice café, Rock n Roll lounge, sushi restaurant, and great coffee café.  Bling Nightclub looked nice, but I did not attend because I can proudly say....It just doesn't hold the importance it used to, but relaxing and enjoying life always will.   

Bonne and Clyde

As we were walking, we stopped to chat with these three old men sitting in their rocking chairs on the street sipping on whiskey. These were nice, classy old men dressed well. From this blog, it’s evident that I love the older men in this cute, adoring way.  It was so nice to see his smile brighten when he spoke with them. He also loved older Spanish men with their cute mannerisms and reminiscing of the future. They were speaking Spanish like Speedy Gonzalez (all I got was the war and how their friend died). Of course, he accused me of not knowing Spanish because he was translating for me. Along with the men calling us “a cute couple.” I was just laughing it off and swimming in embarrassment between the Spanish and the boyfriend comment.

We left and kept walking and he said he was on his way to his hotel and I was on the way back to mine. He said, “I think we should make a stop first. I want you to see this place.”

We stop into the Hotel Granada and we are walking around. He is showing me the history and I absolutely fall in love with this hotel.  It just looked so simple on the outside, but the inside felt like being in the pyramids. We circle around the back and I see this beautiful, blue pool surrounded by palm trees. It’s gorgeous. We are standing outside and he tells me this is his special place. He comes there to relax and just feel peace.  He spoke with sincerity and spirituality-it was inspiring-not romantic.

“So do you want to go swimming?” Him  

I looked around and it felt like there was not a soul at this hotel.   It felt like we were the only ones there and this was our…moment……..to swim!

He says, “So you want to or what or Are you one of those girls who can’t get her hair wet?"

The moment he said that I looked at him and shook my head. I took off my shoes, pulled my hair back, and jumped right in with my black tank top and water proof capri pants (a good outfit for swimming-Pris always fashion prepared). He jumped in and we just talked about all the suffering in the world and how the change comes from one person at a time(That was literally our discussion between two people working for the pure benefit of others). He is so passionate about his work with water treatment as he should be. That is one of the best things you can do with the world. 

The half moon was shining bright and the palm trees surrounded us. I like to lay there and just stare right at my higher power’s beauty. 

After a half an hour of bliss, we are interrupted by a security guard. He asks our room number and my friend explains that he comes here all the time during the day, but no one was here to pay for this visit.  This was partially true as he did know the owner through work, but this security guard didn’t care. He was calling the police. That’s right- the tourist police!

We didn’t think he was going to do it so we sat in the pool and there came the tourist police-angry and very serious. This is a serious offense to use the pool at night without permission. We were both using our charm with the security guards apologizing for this awful behavior. This guy sure knew how to talk to people just like me. We asked about what’s going on in the tourist world and they said they didn’t have much today. They are loosening up a bit and they escort us to the front desk to pay our fine of $20 each.  Of course, he pays for this one as I was just an innocent bystander-not really.

“I didn’t want to swim officer, he made me do it.”

Someone’s arm practically got taken off with a machete and they are haggling two tourists about swimming in hotel pool.  We even asked them if they knew about it and the stuttered, “Umm no.” We made friends with them because that is what real people do. They make a mistake, they apologize, and seek forgiveness through laughter and humility.  

That ended the night for us to as he walked me to a restaurant to eat. Um I originally came out that night to eat my last meal and look where it lead.  We planned to meet up in Chicago for a coffee or dinner or a swim….;) 

Finished by a fantastic dinner made with love by this beautiful spirit. Fish with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies and flan.