Best of British

The Brits are in town.........
So last week friends from England arrived for a few days , a few days that should have been longer and there aren't many people you can say that about. Our friendship goes back a good number of years to the  Lynton , North Devon days in England. Jane and Ben ran a posh Victorian double fronted Bed and Breakfast and we ran a three floor Victorian Bed and Breakfast not so posh in the same village. Neither of which we all do now.... thank goodness. They say " I could write a book" well between us we actually could and believe me it would be very entertaining ...... eat your heart out  Fawlty Towers. But hey .... another time maybe.

Jane and Ben live in a gorgeous little Derbyshire  village in the Peak district now. Stone built cottages, dry stone walls, a pub, a church and a  village green....... very English and quite the bees knees. The last time we saw them was about 8 years ago in Sundre,  Alberta. They have this wonderful habit of turning up to visit wherever we are ...... thank goodness . So as you can imagine we had some catching up to do. Also we had to fit a few 'Yucatecan" things in too so it was all go and way too short. They had just come from a few days in Mexico City and are heading for Palenque ( as I write ) then on to Guatemala. 6 weeks in total with only a couple of backpacks and a Galaxy between them...... Galaxy as in a nifty palm type Samsung  computer thingy and not a bar of chocolate just in case you were wondering.

Parwich

We first headed into Merida for one of the evenings.  Jonna and Nan and Les were joining us so we knew we were in for a fun night . I love showing off Merida it is quite the loveliest of cities and Jane and Ben agreed.... phew. They said it was better than Mexico City in many ways. Although having heard what  they said and seen their pictures of Mexico City it sounds like it should  definitely be on the visitors  'to do' list .

We headed for the Plaza Grande first . The Cathedral being at its best when it is lit at night, although it is quite spectacular during the day too. It was the first time I had actually been inside but when you are with Jane you do tend to ' boldly go where no man has has gone before' It has quite an understated elegance I have to stay and I am not a churchy person by any means but I can appreciate it's beauty.

We then went to look at the Museo Casa Montejo. Built between 1542 - 1549 by Don Francisco de Montejo conqueror of the Yucatan Peninsular. It is a fabulous renovation  and well worth a visit. It is located on  Calle 63 x 61 y 60 Grand Plaza.

Casa Montejo

After the culture bit we got down to business and went for an aperitif... that would be a Mojito or two before heading for Panchos Restaurant.

For those who haven't been, Panchos is more touristy than most but we like the ambience and the food has always been good and tonight was no exception. The  flambe steaks were the best steaks we have had for a long time . It's funny but flambe steaks seems to have gone out of fashion these days. I think there was an era when flambe was very 'in' but I am not admitting to a decade. We had such a fun time. I suddenly relised that I was actually sitting at the table with three Oracles. That's what they are called by us anyway. Jonna is our Merida and all things Internet Oracle. Nan is our Chelem , Diario and useless (sometimes useful ) bits of information Oracle and Jane is travel/ tour guide and  general information  Oracle. As you can guess whatever the subject one of them knew something about it., which led to a very interesting evening which invariably led to lots of laughing and general stupidity....... as you probably gathered non of the rest of us are exactly shy and retiring types either..............We were quite a mix of nationalities around the table too. Four Brits, Two Scots and an American. I'm sure there's a joke in that somewhere but I'll refrain. (for now!)

It's the only photo I have of Panchos. ( too dark for our little cameras)
In the photo Les ,Nan and Ben.

So next, Uxmal.  This was jane and Bens only real tourist request . We had been before and as I am not 'into' ruins  but was pleasantly surprised the first  time we went but I did think that I was going to be a little bored the second time around but hey they were friends right? As it happens we were pleasantly surprised again and second time around really enjoyed it........ third time I may have to 'pull a sicky'.

Of course going anywhere with Jane is always a rather unique experience. I remember when we all went on ski holidays together, ah happy days. We nicknamed Jane ' Piste Master ' ( for Americans reading this please  please substitute 'trail' for 'piste',  just another English lesson  for my American friends....oh hold on a minute piste is a french word!? well I'll go to foot of our stairs... yes it is )  she always had the piste  map in hand and the ski trails for the day worked out ahead of time and once on the ski slopes we ' vood vait for zee instructions' from 'meine Piste Master ' Just as well because no one else had a clue. Well done Jane I jest with fondness and gratitude.

Anyway I digress. However, true to Jane's nature she did have all the  information printed out and proceeded as tour guide as normal. There is however one lovely moment that will go down as yet another one of those ' I can't believe it' moments..........

To get this photo Jane accosted a lovely elderly couple who as it happens were English living in Canada. Would they  be so kind as to take a  photo of us, and of course they said yes. Then Jane proceeded to give exact instruction as to how she wanted the picture framed , ruins in the background please , take two in case the first one isn't up to standard etc. All the time she was  being ribbed by us as to what else she would like our friendly snapper to do ( nervous banter I think it was ). The couple were laughing thank goodness and did say that we must be really good friends to be able to
give and take so much banter.....

 Despite all of the above our intrepid photographer did get  the shot. Wether or not it was up to standard .... well who cares.

Uxmal

The weary travelers

The happy wanderers

Hear no, see no, speak no?

 It was a great few days and we are lucky to have good friend who will come to come and see us and also great friends  here  who will come out to play with us.