Casco Viejo - The Old Town

We started our day late ... the two hour time change is making it hard to get up and out before 8:00am. Can I also say that when you open the doors to leave the hotel ... it feels like you have just opened the door to a pre-heated oven! My gosh ... it is HOT!! We opted to have our breakfast at the bakery again! The beautiful server made an extra special effort with my Cafe Leche this morning!

Then, we ordered an Uber to drop us off in the old town. Jose took us there in absolute air-conditioned comfort for a total of $4.73USD. Honestly ... there are cabs everywhere but I really like the idea that I know how much it is going to cost me before hand ... and ... no money actually changes hands.

We had a lovely time wandering about the Old Town. The tide was out, however, so it wasn't as pretty for the pictures. We had barely made it around the promenade (lined with vendors) when we came around the corner and noticed our new friends from our hotel at a table having drinks! This meeting just had to have been divinely orchestrated because the Old Town is large!! Even if you agreed to meet there at a certain time and place, it might be hard to find each other! So ... we enjoyed another nice visit and decided to meet up on the pool side later in the day!

We entered one of the markets and the most charming vendor greeted us with a smile! His name was Raphael and he was from Roatan, Honduras. He was an exceptional artisan ... making all of his own fine jewellery! He was not even hard selling us ... but ... the old boy's favorite shark tooth necklace broke yesterday ... so ... when he spotted another shark tooth ... he was curious about whether Raphael could fix his. Instead, Raphael wired up a whole new neck piece for the old boy!!

All I can say is that the old boy is beyond ecstatic to be sporting a new shark tooth necklace! He also bought himself a new "Panama" visor. I just know he'll be wearing it when he racing his 68 Chick! I might also have to declare that many folks complain about the woman and their shopping ... but ... in our family the old boy is the EXPENSIVE date! I didn't buy ANYTHING. At any rate, the beaming smile on his face makes it all worth it!

We found our way to the "Mercado de Mariscos" (aka: fresh fish market) where you can purchase fresh caught fish and seafood ...or ... enjoy it prepared for you in one of the many restaurants surrounding the market! We opted to have some jumbo prawns and a beer. I ordered a glass of "vino blanco"... but ... it looked the color of gasoline so I send it back. With that heat ... it was probably best to stick with the "agua" anyway.

By 2:00pm, the temperatures were getting to us so we ordered another Uber back to the hotel. Diego was our driver ... and ... he spoke English!! He shared that it was his first day at Uber ... we were his second fare ... and his wife was panicking about him being alone in vehicles with people. She had warned him to remove all valuables from his car and never leave his keys unattended. It was such a great perspective shift to see things from the drivers perspective too! At any rate ... he was a five star ride and got a great tip!! It's so nice to feel safe and secure in transit in unfamiliar locales.

Upon arrival at the hotel ... we cooled down playing a game of Clever in our beautifully air-conditioned room ... and ... I got beat AGAIN. Gah. I was licking my wounds so ... we headed off to pool! The only place one should be in this heat is near or IN water!

We ended up having some interesting conversations with people at the pool. It was a bit of a challenge to make space for some of the perspectives I was hearing. I really had to invite myself to stay curious and compassionate. We don't have to agree but it is certainly interesting to see how many of us can or cannot hold space for differing perspectives.

We finished off the evening with some take-out food and another rousing game of Clever! It was tough to accept that I lost by ONE point ... but ... the game is always fun! And .... it's even crazie to think that our last full day at the hotel is tomorrow! We check out on Saturday and embark upon the Viking Star!

Sleep well friends and family!Read more