Declan was up at the crack of dawn and after his laundry session he went out for a walk on his own for an hour. When he returned, I got up and we went for a long walk in the blazing sun along the sea front.
It was very quiet, with mainly Mexicans in the sea and on the beach. An incongruous looking mob of fishermen hauled nets up the beach against the backdrop of towering luxury hotels. Surprisingly to us they threw the few big fish back and kept their tiny catch of small ones (about 3 inches long), including one of those “inflatable” spikey puffer fish.
Amongst the big hotels polite pedlars offered Acapulco-style “Kiss me quick” hats and T-shirts to fat American tourists in ludicrous garish outfits. Back at the zocalo we had some lovely chilled bottled water and a snack meal from the Comida Corrida menu before buying some postcards and returning to the hotel to write them and relax in the sun.
I popped out to buy some more bottled water and saw four skinheads in Union Jack shorts ambling along the sea front. Under the trees in the zocalo children were singing Christmas carols in some local festival.
It was a treat to put on some shorts and sit about in the sweltering heat. We had a refreshing cold shower at 15:00 hrs. and went out again in search of the market and the Post Office. The streets were busy with Mexicans in cowboy hats and the open fronted shops were doing a roaring trade.
Taxi drivers whistled and called from their highly polished cars that looked like American Police cars. We bought some stamps (estampillas) with little trouble, apart from the fact that the large 500 Mexican Peso and the 100 Mexican Peso stamp for each card covered half of the address area.
We went to a quiet spot on the harbour and Declan cut his toe whilst swimming in the Pacific Ocean off the sharp rocks. I was just about to join him when he had this accident, so I decided to give swimming in the sea a miss for today and sat in the shade while Declan dried off in the sun.
The Acapulco Beach Bay looks splendid as the sun goes down. Earlier we had popped into “La Puerta del Sol” for our usual “dos mas” cervezas (2 more beers). A large array of musicians were in evidence but drinking rather than playing instruments seemed to be the order of the day.
Men from the adjacent seafood stall bought shellfish around for the customers in the bar and a mad shoeshine man in baggy flared trousers staggered around singing and banging on his box. The American style of dress is very much in evidence everywhere.
The seafront is well patrolled by police, many of them women, carrying large batons and pistols. We returned to our hotel and dozed under the whirling ceiling fan in the coolness of our room.
At 19:00 hrs. we went out for a walk and a meal in the zocalo. The rounded white cathedral was packed for the evening service as we sat outside at a restaurant where the locals were playing chess. We took our chances with the local water quality and hygiene and ate the fresh fruit salad because the place seemed so clean.
We went on through the street traders to our favourite bar, but it was deserted except for one man in a cowboy hat. We had one beer but were not in the mood for a full session. We wandered down to the harbour front and watched fireworks bursting over the lights around the bay and then sheltered from the heat under the trees on the zocalo while children played around us and the tinkling fountains tempted us to jump in!
No comments:
Post a Comment