mouthing the words

The pull date on my promises seems to be approximately nine hours -- if today's experience is any measure.

Yesterday I swore I would try to see Melaque through the eyes of a first-time visitor.  And I did.  But not quite the way I had originally imagined.

Christy was interested in buying a Mexican sun dress.  She looked through the local tourist shops, and found nothing.  Worry not, several expatriates told her.  You can always find what you need at the tianguis -- our weekly traveling flea market.

I kept my mouth shut.  My experience is that the tianguis is nothing more than a garage sale with egalitarian pretensions.  In my six years of living here, I cannot recall buying anything of value there.

But I had a promise to keep.  To see my world through new eyes.

It didn't work.  Even though, I tried.  I chatted up the vendors.  I fingered the merchandise.  I even tried on a rayon Hawaiian shirt.  But it was the same garage sale experience that has left me cold in the past.

Fortunately, Christy saved the day for me.  She was disappointed with the whole experience.  It was not the market experience she had anticipated.  I suspect she had Oaxaca in mind. 

Other than talking with a silver jewelry salesman, she picked up nothing to examine.  A sure sign of a disinterested shopper.

But, we also agreed that feeling disappointed was fine.  Not all travel experiences are equal, and I managed to end up in the same place she did.

All was resurrected with a new adventure for me.  I had never taken the lancha -- water taxi -- across Barra's lagoon to Colimilla.

Isla de Navidad is home to our local area's only luxury hotel, the Grand Bay, and to the far less-luxurious village of Colimilla -- famous for its seafood restaurants.

We ate at Mary's.  Said by some to be the best of the village's lot.  Its food was good.  But probably no better than seafood in most of the seafood eateries in Barra and Melaque.

What was superb was the view.  I have a theory that excellent food and outstanding views simply do not exist.  Nowhere in the world.  And the view here was great.  It was absolutely traquil to be sitting on the edge of my dinner's former home.

Even though I would not make Colimilla a habit, that trip across the water is something to save for future visitors.  Of which, I hope there will be many more.

Soon.