Mes: enero 2022

As you are exploring Caribbean vacation options, do not look just at the islands and cruises traveling between them. Mexico has a beautiful Caribbean coast, complete with paradise beaches, unique cultural destinations, and luxurious resorts. A Caribbean vacation to Mexico might be perfect for you the next time you plan a getaway.

When planning a tropical trip to Mexico, look at locations on the Yucatan Peninsula. This peninsula is made up of Mexico’s Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo states, as well as parts of Belize and Guatemala. As found in much of the Caribbean, the climate in this part of Mexico ranges from sunny and warm to extremely stormy. This region is in the Atlantic Hurricane Belt, which means it is susceptible to wind damage and flooding. Typically, hurricane season lasts from June 1 to November 30 every year. Late August to the end of November is considered the off-season and rates to Mexico are usually lower. At all times of the year, however, you can visit some of the famous tourist destinations in this area.

If you like to dive, Valladolid in Yucatan is your ideal destination. This town is the site of a number of sinkholes, which are connected via underground streams and caves. In some of the safe spots, you can swim, as well as dive into these underground caves with a tour guide. This is a unique opportunity for any diver, as you can see locations different from the typical ocean dive.

The Yucatan peninsula is also famous for its Mayan sites, which you can find in archaeological zones such as Kabah and Labna. One of the most famous of these is the ceremonial Chichen Itza, a UNESCO World Heritage site that includes an observatory, a ball court, and pyramids where they put on shows. A number of the Mayan sites offer guided tours, while at some you can also explore on your own if you want.

If you are more interested in what the coast has to offer, you can check out any of Mexico’s beaches in this area. Cancun is an extremely popular destination for international tourists, as it has a number of resorts and hotels with direct access to the beach. Along with sunbathing, you can try snorkeling, diving, fishing, jet skiing, sailing, parasailing, and a number of other marine activities. The great thing about the weather in this area is that, with the exception of hurricane season, rain usually clears rather quickly, giving you plenty of time to enjoy the beach.

Are you planning an upcoming trip to Mexico’s Caribbean Coast? If so, here are some travel tips to keep in mind:

o Apply for your passport early. Yes, United States citizens need a passport to get into Mexico and back home, even if you travel there via boat. You should apply for your passport at least three months prior to your date of travel, and it is better to apply about six month in advance if you can. Keep your passport in a safe place while on vacation, such as in your hotel safe.

o Do not drink the water. This is not an urban legend. When you are in Mexico, ask for bottled water, because the tap water contains bacteria that could make you sick. Locals have built up a tolerance, but as a tourist, you can become sick.

o Make sure you check customs laws. Without proper paperwork, there are certain items that you should declare when you come back into the United States. If you are going to shop while on vacation in Mexico, make sure you can keep your items! This can save much frustration and stress because by checking customs laws you know what can be brought back into the country.

You have a number of booking options when looking for a place to stay in Mexico. First, you can look for a hotel and plan your own activities. The cheapest options are inland, away from the coast, but remember that you may have to pay for beach access whereas hotels on the beach often give guests free access. You can also look at all-inclusive resort options. These can be very affordable and they give you more options with less time spent planning.

Even if you do not want to spend your entire Caribbean vacation in Mexico, you can use this as a starting point to for a cruise. Many Caribbean cruise lines spend time in Mexican waters before moving on to some of the islands you can find in this part of the world. Most people do not realize that Mexico is a prime location for a Caribbean vacation. This location should not be overlooked because along with unique cultural opportunities, Mexico can be more affordable than other island vacation options.

New Mexico nurtures the soul and the spirit with a landscape so intensely beautiful and varied that everyone within her boundaries is inspired to reach beyond the ordinary. Cooking and food preparations that would be considered mundane endeavors in other places receive a touch of magic there. The spice of imagination is in the air. Special recipes uniting all the elements that feed the body and soul are created regularly by cooks blessed with a knowledge of tradition and a desire for innovation. New Mexican cooks have had the challenge of inventing a cuisine for dining in such places as the shadow of the sacred Taos Mountain. This is a mountain that talks to people, whispering to kindred souls that they can find their true home in her embrace. Uninspired food will not do.

What is a suitable dinner menu when you are surrounded by the animated red-clouded sunsets of White Sands? What is a suitable snack under the night skies of Chaco Canyon where the Milky Way is a thick cloud of stars suspended between heaven and earth that hums with songs of light? New Mexico can convince the most pragmatic people that they are having out-of-this-world experiences, that they have entered a mystic realm. It is scarcely possible to find a corner of the state that is not enchanted, or a place where food is not revered.

Perhaps special appetites are created from the experience of stepping inside a surreal Georgia O’Keeffe landscape and seeing the world she painted from the inside out. The gold and purple mountains, the hills of splattered colors, the meander of blue rivers across red canyon floors, the prickly green of juniper, cedar and sage are the reality of the countryside around the artist’s home in Abiquiu. Does an elegant squash soup, horno-baked bread, green salad and a local wine best combine the sophisticated simplicity of this world? On a near diagonal line from Abiquiu across the center of the state to the southeast, highways run across the plains of Peter Hurd landscapes. His snapshots of this reality transported to canvas make us yearn for vision of cowboys on horseback. Is this the place for a cowboy supper of beans, biscuits and beefsteak? Somewhere in between these opposing landscapes, and slightly to the north, are the high mountain pine forests and Pueblo Indians of the Taos Society of Artists’ canvases. Do the colors and shapes call to mind a supper of grilled trout, blue corn tortillas, chiles and posole?

Allan and I, along with friends Jim, Janet, Marilou, and Isa are staying at the Maria de la Luz Hotel, a no frills, $40 USD/night hotel with pool right on the city center square with decent double beds and unbeatable location. I walk out the front door and am greeted with the hustle and bustle of city life as it bends around the city square. At night the Church of San Servacio with dual spires looms over the rooftops and shines like a beautiful medallion.

Day and night I feast on rich and creamy homemade coconut ice cream with pieces of whole coconut. It certainly helps to beat the heat and humidity which is noticeably more oppressive than at the coast. However, the beauty and charm of Valladolid make any temporary discomfort more tolerable. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast on the city square at the Meson de Marquez with cool interior courtyard with green grass, water fountain, hanging plants and Mexican art on the walls.

The perfect way to really escape the weather is to visit Cenote Zaci which is right off the city square. A large round bowl shape, the Cenote is half covered with a large lofty roof with some stalactites. The deepest part of the Cenote reaches a depth of 300 feet below the surface of the green water. For adventurous types like me there is a rope swing and many places to jump or dive including a 36 foot / 12 meter platform which I could not get up enough courage to use even though an 8 year old boy jumped off at least 2x right in front of me. Winding down the edge of the Cenote down the stairs to the base, the temperature seems to drop 20 degrees.

We also explored Cenote Dzitnup, roughly a 15 minute drive north west of the city. Most remarkable were the children on Sunday who ran up to the car eager to «watch» your car for a few pesos. We were most taken with these kids with their eager faces, strong personalities, quick hands, shifty eyes and cute devilishness features. We agreed to have them «watch» the vehicle, which they did quite well, but considering how entertaining and enterprising they were to try to squeeze as much money out of us as possible, in the end we probably gave them $300 pesos (roughly $25 USD) which we gladly thought would buy them a few good treats to enjoy their day.

Cenote Dzitnup is an underground cavernous Cenote with domed roof, large stalactites and crystal clear water. Unfortunately on a Sunday it was overly crowded and felt more like a public pool than a pristine oasis. Although I did jump in briefly to cool off, half our group refrained, while the other eagerly plunged into the cool depths.

On the way home from Valladolid we stopped at the town of Uyama with it’s beautiful red, white and blue church. Once a major stopping point between Merida and Valladolia, Uyama was once a very bustling town. Now a days it’s a very quiet town with nothing more really than a beautiful church built from the stones of the Mayan pyramids.

Even though our weekend away was a short one, it was nice to finally take off two days in a row and relax. We are looking forward to doing more exploring now that things are slowing down for the summer.

Experience the glorious past and the vibrant present of FC Barcelona through pictures and news readily available online. Apart from the official club website, exciting and breathtaking FC Barcelona pictures are in abundance in several blogs, news sites, and websites dedicated to the club. Check out the latest FC Barcelona news in the top news sites in the world as well as in the official and other unofficial websites.

Futbol Club Barcelona, nicknamed Barça, is not as much as a football club as it is a Catalan institution. Founded in 1899, it is one of the best Spanish clubs with Real Madrid as its closest rival. At present, it home to other sports teams apart from the football club.

FC Barcelona is said to be the most popular football club in the whole of Europe. Some surveys show that it has a fan base of 44.2 million fans in the football-crazy continent alone. Hence, FC Barcelona news and Barça rumors are in great demand online. Fans are also racing to shoot photos of their beloved club during matches and sell them online. Online buyers are faced with several options.

Track Record

Barça is among the big three Spanish football club. Alongside Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, it has never been relegated or demoted from the La Liga, the premier league in Spain. All in all, the club has lifted 18 La Liga titles, a record of 24 Spanish Cups, two League Cups, and seven Spanish Super Cups.

In European leagues, FC Barcelona has won four UEFA Cup Winners’ Cups, two European Cups, two UEFA Super Cups, and three Inter-Cities Fairs Cups.

Camp Nou

The home stadium of Barça is Camp Nou, also referred to as «Nou Camp.» Constructed in 1957, it has witnessed hundreds of football matches against visiting clubs since 1857. Camp Nou is rated by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) as a five-star stadium. It can hold up to 98,772 people and is the biggest European football stadium.

Camp Nou is one of the preferred hosts of UEFA Champions League Finals. The club won their very first game at their new stadium in 1957. They thrashed Legia Warsaw of Germany, 4-2.It was built from 1954 to 1957 and was designed by a group of three architects. The stadium has also been the venue for several major music events.

There are plenty of FC Barcelona pictures with Camp Nou as the background available to fans. They come in colored and black-and-white. Sometimes, the pictures are able to capture the club in their most intense action. There is drama, joy, love, and passion in pictures. You could also easily find group and individual photos.

Latest News

In the most recent Barça news, the club bulldozed Malaga in a pre-weekend La Liga match. The resounding win catapulted the club to the topmost position in the league standings, six points ahead Real Madrid. They are slated to next face Valladolid but their recent triumph over Malaga is bound to boost their spirits prior to their anticipated UEFA Champions League quarterfinal fixture against Germany’s Bayern Munich. Browse online for photos and the latest news of the match.

As a defender Carles Puyol remains somewhat in the shadow of players such as Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o or Lionel Messi, but with his energy, stamina and focus, he remains a favourite in the Nou Camp and is an essential member of the current line-up. Considered to be one of the best defenders in the world, Carles Puyol is also the first Catalan captain to have held the Champions League Cup aloft after the team defeated Arsenal in May 2006, the competition in which he was awarded Defender of the Year.

As team captain since the 2003-2004 season after Phillip Cocu left Barcelona for PSV Eindhoven, Puyol’s stocky build with legs built like tree trunks and a trademark head of curly locks all belie his speed and agility on the pitch and once he removes his shirt he reveals a ripped torso that is the product of many hours of hard training, impressively fee of any sign of body fat.

In fact Puyol’s dedication is such that he objects to being left out of a single match selection, even if it is for a rest period when the team is playing a number of matches is a short space of time and he has been noted to attend training sessions where he was specifically given a rest day.

Born in La Pobla de Segur, which is located in the interior of Catalonia, on April 13 1978, as a boy Carles Puyol played for the local side. He was signed for the FC Barcelona B team in 1996 at the age of 17 and made is first team debut in 1999 under Louis Van Gaal, when visiting Barcelona beat Valladolid 2-0.

Currently playing in the centre-back position, Puyol first played for Barcelona in the right back position when he was promoted from the B team. His original position as a boy was in goal, but when shoulder injuries prevented him from continuing he began to play as a striker, perhaps contributing to his attacking mentality today – you can only imagine what he would have been like as a goalkeeper given his absolute determination to stop the ball as a defender, but what is sure is that he would have played hard, perhaps contributing to his injuries.

Although he plays in the Spanish selection, which he has also captained on occasion, Carles Puyol is a Barcelona diehard through and through and it is difficult to imagine him playing for any other club when his contract expires in 2010, whatever offer was on the table. While Messi has been brought up at Barcelona – and there is no doubt about his current dedication to the club – it remains to be seen whether he could be lured away, but players such as Ronaldinho and Eto’o, whatever their brilliance, can only ever be considered hired hands.