Reillys on Tour

But not for much longer! Currently a major component of the day still involves the seeking out of good coffee wherever we might be. Much as Indiana Jones seeks out historical treasures, I seek quality beverages! Rather than the standard coffee that I go for at home I´ve been instead imbibing iced coffee by the bucketload - partly for the heat and partly for this is truly the elixir of the annointed! To give you some idea of the affection in which I hold this drink I should say that I type these words in a cafe in which I have so far consumed 4 Cappucino Frio`s today. Ahhhh, life is good! First of many... In general Merida was a dead loss on the coffee front, this may explain (at least partially) my lack of delight with the place. We actually spent most of our time in Merida going on trips to get out of Merida. And some of these trips were champion. I can now say that I`ve seen 24,000 flamingos in the flesh! (well more the pink feathers) To my surprise not one was standing...

But fear not you "Wind in the Willows" fans out there - "mole" as far as the Mexican people are concerned has nothing to do with cute brown burrowing creatures... Rather it´s a thick sauce that is poured liberally over tortillas. For added differentiation it's also pronounced "molay". So we've had endless fun repeating "moly moly moly moly" whilst sporting makeshift beauty spots constructed of compressed bread. Keeps us entertained. Surprisingly it (mole) tastes like chocolate. This is because it´s made of chocolate (amongst other things) - unusual in a main meal but very nice indeed. We´ve never quite got to grips with our jet-lag on this trip - mainly as I´m firmly convinced that Mexicans have got it dead wrong time-wise. The sun rises at about 5am. Early. However it sets at 5pm... Too early to my mind. I think personally that they should take a "let´s maximise the sun" approach to their lives and switch the clock...

....Do you need more money? If so then I have the step-by-step plan for you: Step 1: Remove light fittings from rooms - no wasting money on expensive bulbs. Step 2: Remove plug sockets from rooms - let´s not have customers using that expensive electricity. Step 3: Stop changing the sheets and towels in the room - saves the environment and saves on the laundry Step 4: Treble your prices. Step 5: - And this is key - Change the name of your hotel. You are no longer the " Hotel Filthy Lucre " - you are the " Righteous (* not * miserly) Eco-Lodge ". Now sit back and watch the cash roll in! :-) I can write this with some authority as Lisette and I have been staying in an eco-lodge (and staring with shock at various bills in the interim). We moved on from Isla Mujures on Monday. At this point I was still bagless and getting a little weary of the "wash clothes in sink before going to sleep" routine I´d adopted for sanity´s sake (and for that of the...

Dear All, We're in Mexico. And clothes-wise all that I have is all that I'm wearing. If I could offer you a few pieces of advice to guide your life they might go something like this... 1. Don't go to Miami - ever 2. Don't fly American Airlines (Mangesh I should have listened) 3. Pack everything useful to you in your carry-on luggage 4. Don't buy liquids in an airport Let me elaborate. Lisette and I arrived in Miami yesterday afternoon en-route to Cancun (Mexico). We thought it would be a simple matter of changing planes and off we go. No such luck. Instead we were stuck in the longest slowest moving queue we've ever experienced so we could go through "immigration". Why we had to do this since we had no interest in the USA apart from treating it as a glorified petrol station I don't know. Anyway you can't argue (well you can but people that do that are rarely seen again) and so we bided our time,buttoned our lips and finally got...

Hi All, Am 30! Currently sitting in internet cafe prior to catching the bus to Siena for a day out. So far have been to Pisa, Lucce and Florence (where we are currently holed up in a very nice place indeed!) Yesterday was spent cycling round Chianti with Keith (Irish) and Andy (Scottish) - for some reason Italians dont feel up to running bike tours themselves... Was very pleasant - we got to taste award winning wine and olive oil along the way made by a Count and Countess no less! (Not of the vampiric variety we have been assured) A fair portion of the days entertainment was provided by Andy who is possibly the most blatant of chat-up merchants I have ever seen in operation. Sample quotes: This way people this way - and American blondes can sit just here... Everybody in the van - girls you sit next to me So Keith, the story is they dont like me very much but they do care for you. You talk them round and we'll see what we can do next... Re-reading all of this m...

Dear all, Lisette and I have finally made it to Bologna - and have officially left Tuscany behind. Now that we've got here I'm increasingly of the opinion that we never should have left. Bologna seems somewhat industrial, hostile and - dare I say it - mugging territory. (For the more nervous of you I haven't actually seen direct evidence of this - it's just a feeling) We pulled into town latish last night having caught the Eurostar from Firenze/Florence to make our journey. That in itself was a bit of a surprise - I was only aware of the Eurostar chugging along between Waterloo and Paris. Quite unexpected. Having arrived and hauled our stuff to the hotel we went for an evening saunter during which I made the following observations: There's a lot of cars There's some dodgy looking blokes and a distinct absence of women travelling by themselves (in stark contrast to previous destinations) The graffitti here is excessive and depressing. You mig...

Because then I wouldn't feel so bad.... 3 weeks in and we're feeling the pain of not being able to communicate. Last night we went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner (in Bocas del Toro - where we've been for 3 days now). I don't think anyone in the establishment actually was Chinese but that's still what it called itself. The menu was presented and as with Chinese places the world over we were presented with a menu which was comparable in size to the complete works of Shakespeare. Not to be defeated we ordered some beers (we have at least learned the phrase "cevesa" during our travels). Further study of the menu didn't really render much hope apart from the fact that I identified "chow mein" which I thought might make a nice side dish to share. When the waitress came we decided to chance it and order with our fingers crossed.... This was a mistake. When the meal finally came we discovered we had ordered the following: Stra...