We bought a car

To live here, we will need a car to go back and forth between Playacar and Playa del Carmen, to go grocery shopping and starting next month, to take the kids to school. There is no public transportation available besides taxis that charges tourists 5 dollars for the smallest ride. Let’s face it, we’ll always be taken for tourists, thanks to my blond child.

To make a long story short, Alain bought the car (a 2004 Volkswagen Pointer) from the owner of the Internet Café where he goes every day. The guy is Israeli. Israelis, like Italians, are everywhere! Anyway, we hope to have it in the next few days, assuming Chase does not make it impossible for us to transfer money to our Mexican bank account.

In the afternoon, the kids wanted their share of “brown ice cream”, so we went to La Quinta and visited the local Hagen Daaz. Their prices are crazy: 4 dollars for a single scoop chocolate ice cream.

We also went looking for Corto Maltes, the cabanas complex where we stayed during our vacation in 1997. Well no more! They are now building 15 luxury apartments on the beach. The two French guys who owned the place at that time were complaining about the expansion of Playa, I guess it is now their turn to take advantage of it. It was a bit disappointing; we had such a good vacation there! But at the same time, it is prime real estate, so who can blame them? For consolation, the condominiums (always only three stories high) will be called Corto Maltes as well.

On the way home, I finally found the little Italian grocery store I have been hearing about. I chatted with the owner, we talked about soccer, obviously, and, as always, he enjoyed the fact I have a French husband on the eve of the WC Finals!