Thursday, April 25, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once during the night, final waking/getting up at 6am.

Today is the NFL Draft! More specifically, Day #1 of 3.

The ice maker is working again. I see enough cubes for cubed ice but we might have to wait a bit longer (for more weight) for crushed ice.

Playing now in Viva Envigado Cine Colombia is Civil War (7.6) at 1pm, 3:30pm, 6pm, and 8:40p.

Marcos texted me that he sprained his ankle on the treadmill last night so we’re changing our coffee get-together from this morning to tomorrow morning.

I left the apt at 8:30 and walked to the mall where I printed the computer analysis of our (Jose and I) last 2 chess games in Auros. I bought a blueberry muffin in Starbucks and took it to Urbania. A new waitress spoke to me in English. I reviewed the game analysis, completed my Aimchess tactics for the day, and reviewed the basic opening Jose uses against me when I play the White pieces. I read on Facebook that the California Buffet restaurant closed. I’m not surprised, they had too many offerings and too few customers resulting in cold food.

Teresa called and asked me to buy dishwashing soap before I return to the apt. I left about 11:15, bought the soap and a large carton of eggs and returned to the apt by taxi. I noticed Doyle sitting in the porteria as I walked through.

We had a thunderstorm come through from about 1:15 to 1:45. I hope that’s not going to be a problem tonight for watching the NFL Draft.

2:30 and now we have a downpour which changed to a light drizzle but was over an hour later.

I finally got caught up on my blog. 😊

I sat down about 4:30 and started watching the pre-draft coverage.

At 6pm I took out my bag of peanuts and they still taste fresh. This is the bag my brother brought me back in February and I just put it in a cool dark place until today. I transferred a couple handfuls to a Ziploc bag for Glenn to share.

With the #1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears selected Caleb Williams, QB, USC. With the #9 pick the Bears chose Rome Odunze, WR, Washington.

I stayed up a few more picks until the Vikings chose J.J. McCarthy with the #11 pick then turned off the TV to start my pre-sleep ritual.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly but was awakened at 3am by a cramp in my left calf. I worked it out, ate a banana and returned to bed by 3:30. I was awakened at 6am by another cramp starting in my right calf but managed to work it out before it developed.

Breakfast was a couple scrambled eggs and an arepa de chocolo with cheese spread on top. Note to self: Buy Bagels! Oops, Teresa informed me we need to finish the arepas first.

I’m skipping gym this week to give my body time to return to normal.

Teresa believes I could have used the Colombian Citizen Immigration line if I had shown them my cedula.

I defrosted the ice maker; I think I’m going to have to repeat this every couple months before it frosts up.

I left the apt at 9am and had a latte in Los Porteños for 2 ½ hours before returning to the apt. My friend is back:

I had a 30-minute nap after lunch.

I posted more vacation notes to my blog.

Tomorrow is the NFL Draft!

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, I got up once during the night, was awakened by Teresa just after 6am before my alarm went off at 6:30.

It was raining lightly so I checked The Weather Channel and it predicted the rain would stop by 11am with more showers possible later and a high today of only 80 degrees. It’s obvious to me that we’re in the rainy season.

I dressed in my convertible pants, shoes with socks and a t-shirt. I took a Didi to Unicentro for 16,100 pesos. I arrived a few minutes before opening and then went up to Parmessano where Jose soon met me.

We each had their French toast with a latte and I got a bottle of water to go for 40,000 pesos.

We played two long competitive games but he got the better of me again.

We finished by 2:30 and Didi wanted 30,000 pesos for a ride to Viva Envigado so I switched to Uber where it was only 22mil.

I had the yogurt with granola and chia again with a small latte in Pergamino. Teresa called and asked where I was and when I told her she asked me to meet her at Wilson’s at 6pm. I did but she had already gifted Wilson the bottle of rum and MT her bracelet and purse gifts. ☹ This is the purse that's supposedly made from coconut shells:

We left about 7pm and returned to the apt by Didi.

After completing computer analysis on both our games I created a .pdf so we can analyze our games again next week using the computer comments.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Monday, April 22, 2024

Last night we went to bed at 10:30. I got up once during the night finally waking/getting up at 6am.

Now we’re in “use it last and pack it” mode. We had a delicious breakfast in El Matador.

We finished our packing, stopped in the VIP reception desk to check-out and had our bracelets removed, and ordered a bell hop to pick-up our bags. We sat in the main lobby a while because we were so early then I ordered an Uber which again was a minivan that took us to the airport. Later online I saw that our 30-minute ride cost $38.

At the Avianca machine I checked-in and printed our boarding passes but not the luggage tags because I’ve yet to see exactly how they attach to the suitcases. An Avianca employee soon repeated the process, much faster, and printed our luggage tags and boarding passes (again). At the next station we had to download that stupid form again but this time the Avianca rep did it for us in between helping others. We dropped off our bags – 20# for Teresa and 19# for me.

We went through rather long immigration and TSA lines and finally found our gate. We still had about an hour to kill so we looked for someplace to eat. They had a Wendy’s and Pizza Hut but Teresa chose Nathan’s (hot dogs) because they had chicken wraps. We each ate one and she wrapped one each to go.

We went through immigration and TSA and with 30 minutes before departure they changed our gate.

We took our seats, 16C & 16D, on the plane. The flight was 2 ½ hours but we saved an hour when we crossed a time zone.

I texted Manuel (Bryan’s 2^nd) after we landed in Rionegro. At immigration Teresa had a short line but I was in a very long line.

It took me 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to the front and then it took only a minute to approve my Visa and stamp my passport. Almost two hour standing with a heavy backpack really wasted me. At customs the girl just waved me through and I found Teresa sitting with our suitcases. I’d been in touch with Manuel the whole time (although at the end of the immigration line there’s a sign that says cellphones are prohibited). We had to drag our suitcases from Door #1 to Door #4 and across the street where Manuel soon met us. The drive to Envigado in a light rain took about an hour.

We had the porteros turn our water back on, we unpacked some, and it was still raining when I went to bed at 10pm.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Sadly, this is our last full day here in Punta Cana ☹ but Teresa has a nice tan and I have a little tan myself.

Last night we went to bed at 10:45, took me a while to fall asleep, got up twice during the night, and was finally awakened by Teresa leaving at 6:20. ☹

I got up right away and got ready for the day and met her for breakfast in Elcano at 7am.

I had some pineapple slices, a banana, a bowl of corn flakes and 3 scrambled eggs with 2 small cups of coffee.

We chose our spots on the beach but soon had to move because of the changing position of the sun. (I know, I know, it’s due to the rotation of the earth.)

About 11:15 I saw dark clouds coming in from the north so I recommended we leave. Teresa wanted to wait until she felt raindrops but I packed up and left and she followed me. My key card didn’t work but thankfully hers did. She moved to our back patio and told me she would be out on the recliner. I told her to let me know when she felt raindrops so I could come out and retrieve the towels drying on the rack. She laughed but not a minute later a downpour started and I grabbled the towels and got them in before they got too wet.

The rain stopped about an hour later but now it’s almost time for lunch. I made a quick trip to the VIP Reception desk where I got a new key card made.

We had lunch in the large buffet restaurant, El Matador. I had a bowl of beef vegetable soup that Teresa recommended then pasta with ground beef and tomatoes stuffed with ground beef. For dessert I had a little rice pudding and strawberry and cake ice cream.

Teresa returned to our outside patio while I went to the lobby where I had a café con leche. I heard a taxi guy looking for his customer so I asked how much for a ride to the airport and he replied, $40.

 I finished the paperback, Triple Cross by James Patterson and returned it to the VIP Reception area.

When I returned to the room Teresa wasn’t there but I found her on the beach close to the restaurant. She said she’s waiting for the salesman to return with bracelets she believed would be less expensive than the beach store.

I told her to let me know when the guy arrives as I’ll go get cash from the safe and then wait on the patio outside the restaurant. I ordered a piña colada at the bar and while waiting I saw an old guy try to use the narrow submerged walkway from one side of the pool to the other but he fell in holding his dry clothes. I’m just glad it wasn’t deep and I didn’t have to save him. I took a seat (the furniture here is all rattan) and immediately realized the pads were missing.

One of three ladies sitting nearby came over and asked if I was all right and we chatted for a while. They are three sisters from Toronto and one has a time share so they come here every year. Sadly, the same sister has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

I decided I’d better see what Teresa is up to. I went to her spot and she was gone. I checked our room but she wasn’t there. I decided to go to the beach store but on the way found her in the VIP area. We walked to the beach store where she bought 4 more “coconut shell” purses for family for $35.

ONEIPAMETATO1453 resigned our game on the 23^rd move. On my 17^th move I had an advantage of 0.81 (almost one pawn) but there was one move that would increase my advantage to 4.28 (more than a piece) and I can’t believe I found it. The computer said my play was “flawless” and my rating increased 5 points to 1580. 😊

Troyclough had a sure win but missed the move and now I can fight for a possible draw.

Teresa has already started packing although I could be packed in 5 minutes if I didn’t have to worry about separating clean clothes from dirty or her adding her stuff (purses) to my suitcase.

I ended up losing to Troyclough lowering my rating to 1570.

About the Punta Cana “dress code”. You can wear almost anything you want for breakfast and lunch although a shirt (sleeveless is okay) is required. For supper you need a shirt with sleeves. As far as footwears, sandals and even flip flops are acceptable.

All the food here in VIP Cayena Beach (buffets and special restaurants) is noticeably better quality than the Grand Bavaro Princess. But their “shows” leave much to be desired although I can’t compare it to our first hotel because we never stayed around until 9:30pm to see one.

We had supper in the buffet restaurant, El Matador.

We stopped at the theater but left about 10am and returned to our room,

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Saturday, April 20, 2024

Last night we went to bed at 10pm, I fell asleep quickly, got up once at 3:30 and was awakened by Teresa leaving at 6:15. ☹ I got up and got dressed and we met at Elcano shortly after their 7am opening. I had a few slices of pineapple (I love it and don’t know why I waited so long to have it), a bowl of corn flakes, a couple scrambled eggs and the usual 2 cups of coffee. This is Teresa’s breakfast sandwich:

We found places on the VIP beach area, mainly sun for her and as much shade as I could find for me.

At 12:30 we returned to Elcano where we ordered off the menu and I had chicken fajitas and a couple Cokes.

I thought this photo was special. It’s not a painting, but the view of the beach and sea from one of the restaurant windows.

Back on the beach we both moved around following (or not) the sun. I’m on page 300 (of 400 pages) in my book. I left about 4pm and returned to the room. I still got burned on my chest. ☹  I showered and worked on my blog notes until Teresa returned just before 6pm.

I completed online check-in for our 12:55pm Monday flight back to Medellin, choosing the same aisle seats as before - 16C & 16D.

We got dressed up again and returned to Trattoria, this time for Mexican food. Teresa had fresh fruit and ordered a beef taco but didn’t care for the latter. I had a few pieces of fresh fruit and chicken enchiladas that were pretty good. Teresa had a taste of mine then ordered them for herself.

She ate half of one of the two enchiladas. I had 3 small delicious churros for dessert.

We walked over to the theater; tonight’s show was billed as Dominican Folklore.

Their show always starts out the same way with this Dominican dance:

Teresa dancing with one of the professional dancers:

We watched only a few minutes of the show then returned to our apt for the night.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS

Friday, April 19, 2024

Last night we went to bed at 11pm, I fell asleep quickly and was awakened by Teresa at 6am. ☹

We left for the beach at 6:30 and went to Elcano as it opened at 7am. I was told I couldn’t enter without a shirt on. Teresa took a seat while I returned to our room. The plastic card key didn’t work. ☹ I checked the hours for our VIP Reception office and they don’t open until 8am. We returned to the beach until 7:50 when I returned to the office and they quickly made me a new key. I returned to the room and put on a t-shirt and returned to the restaurant. We had a nice breakfast, I had fruit slices, a cup of yogurt then an omelet with a couple cups of coffee.

Back at the beach we both sought our preferred spots, sun for her and shade for me. Internet access is spotty, usually I know when it’s returned when I hear the sound of a notification arriving. I reached the halfway point in my book.

I noticed this lizard camouflaged in the grass.

At 12:30 we returned to Elcano for lunch. I had their ribs (3 meaty) with fries and a couple Cokes.

We returned to the beach but by 2:30 I’d had enough of the heat and returned to our room to shower and work on my blog.

Teresa returned at 5pm and took her shower and got dressed and I changed also. She’s in her “Greek” dress and I’m in white pants with a nice shirt. All the clothes I have with me are dressy or very casual, nothing in between. 😊

We went to La Trattoria but their menus said, “Estrella del Mar”. We both ordered the chicken breast with baked potatoes and mine was good but Teresa said hers was too hard. ☹

This birthday celebration was going on a few tables away.

We went to the theater and took seats and waited an hour for their show, La Noche Latina to start. It was a disappointment mainly consisting of bringing a few ladies on the stage and having them “walk sexy”, etc. we left after about 45 minutes. How lazy of them, they can’t even put on a production.

We were in bed by 10pm.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS