Harrowing Hotel & Dinner Disaster

Okay, okay, so it hasn't all been great. When I checked into the Hilton at the Mexico City Airport, it was the perfect location. Right by International Departures, beautiful lobby, and I had already pre-paid for my room, so ahhhhh... nothing to do but sit and relax, right?

Well, when I got into my room yesterday I immediately noticed a strange smell. After a couple of minutes I didn't notice it again, so I didn't say anything to the front desk. Plus, I was totally exhausted and Ted was with me and he was leaving in an hour and I didn't want to spend that hour complaining. And after he left I just wanted to go to bed.

Anyways, when I got back to my hotel room this evening after my day tour, I couldn't get in. My key card didn't work anymore. I went up to the front desk and they said that it would take a few minutes to fix. The concierge let me into my room with his own key, but I quickly remembered that the key card actvates the lights in the room and I didn't really want to sit in the dark. So I told the front desk that I would be in the business center and they said that when the key was ready they would come and bring it to me there.

The business center is located right by the front desk. I sat in there for AN HOUR writing emails and the like, waiting for my bloody room key. Finally, the concierge brought it to me. I finished what I was doing and headed down to my room. Nope, this key card didn't work either. GREAT. Back to the lobby I go.

I see the concierge, tell him, and he tells me to please speak to the front desk. Well I would love to but now they are helping multiple customers and nobody has time to acknowledge me. I am just tired and hungry and I want to get into my room, for crying out loud! So I wait and wait and wait. Finally, they talk to me and I get my new card in about 20 seconds. Why have I been waiting for an hour and 20 minutes?

I get into my room. Oh, RIGHT. The SMELL. It's even worse and now I am choked enough to say something about it. Turns out that it's coming from the floor drain beside the toilet, which housekeeping has now covered with a wet towel. Yuck. I figure that for my last night in Mexico City, I will take myself out for a nice dinner (there are several nice resturants nearby) and even though I am not keen on eating alone, it sure beats hanging out in my smelly room!

So I stop by the front desk. I tell them about the smell. They want to change my room, but I don't want to since it will mean a lot of hassle and I am checking out at 4am anyways - that's only a couple of hours from now. They know I am unhappy and they are duly apologetic. To be fair, the front desk staff and concierge have been pretty great. It's all the rest of it I am not pleased about. I would have expected a discount on my room for all the trouble but since I prepaid that's not likely.

Anyways, so off I go to find some dinner. I settle on Casa Avila, a nice looking if-slightly-fancy-for-my-taste kind of place. I do a quick check on the menu to make sure I will actually eat something and in I go. I am almost happy to see that there's no-one else in there, so I feel less dumb eating alone.

The waiter asks me what I'd like to drink. Well, that's what he means anyways - his English isn't super great. I want some juice, they don't have any. He keeps suggesting all these alcoholic drinks, but I'm not interested. Finally he suggests lemonade, or so I thought. What actually came is the bitterest carbonated lime drink that I have ever tasted. It was so bitter that I actually winced. Convinced that trying to explain what was wrong would get me nowhere, I said nothing. I settled for the bitter drink. I would survive.

I ask about the Casa Avila salad. I ask what's in it and I specifically ask if there's meat in it. He says no. Sounds great - bring it on. In the meantime he brings out bread and sliced radishes.

While I wait for my salad, I try some bread (pretty good) and some radishes. I had imagined that the radishes would be cool & fresh with a bit of a kick, like they are at home. But these were just covered with salt. More wincing. More bitter drink to wash it down. More wincing.

So now a family of 5 comes into the restaurant, which is fine except that they could have sat anywhere but choose to be only 2 tables away from me so that their kids can stare at me wondering why I am sitting there by myself. It got even better when the father went ballistic and started yelling. Now they are staring at me because they are embarrassed about the scene their father is making. Get me out of here!

Salad comes. Initially it looks great - has endive, mango, avocado, tomato, and ... what's this? Crabmeat? That definitely qualifies as meat in my books. Oh well - it's not like I am vegetarian, I just won't eat the crab. No big deal.

I start into the salad and soon realize that it's drenched, no, DROWNED in salad dressing. It's so bad that I put my spoon under the edge of my plate so that I can get most of it to pool on one side of my plate (the side where I have put my crab). I actually want a paper towel to pat down the greens so I can have an easier time of choking them down, but why bother when I can just wash it down with this bitter carbonated lime drink?

I do my best with the salad. I decide that before I head back up to my room I am going to have some dessert. I saw chocolate mousse on the menu and that's what I want, please. Who cares if it was listed under the "low-calorie" part of the menu? How can they possibly screw up chocolate mousse?

By adding coffee. I don't drink coffee, never have, and generally abhor coffee-flavoured items (aside from an occasional Coffee Crisp, that is). So yes, the menu failed to mention that it was coffee/chocolate mousse, and here I am stuck with yet another consumable that I don't want.

Anyways. I paid. I tipped (it's not their fault they didn't quite have the English down, and they can't read my mind!). And I got the heck out of there. Now I am going to bed in my smelly room and will be home in a few short hours to a place that is all sorts of welcoming!!

Mexico City tour

This morning I woke up early and prepared myself for the Mexico City tour. I had ordered room service for breakfast, and on the form it indicated exactly what time you'd like your food to arrive. You could choose any 15 minute interval between 6:00am and 10:00am. I chose 7:00-7:15am. That would give me enough time to eat, and finish getting ready before I was picked up at 8:15am for the tour.

My food arrived at 6:45am. Which was fine, but slightly annoying. I had just put on my clothes 2 minutes before the knock on my door - why do they ask for a specific time if they are just going to show up early? Ah well, no harm done. Breakfast was pretty good - fruit and eggs and toast and something unidentifiable which tasted ok.

I exchanged a few bucks into pesos and waited to be picked up. Eventually a friendly English-speaking Mexican man arrived and whisked me off to the tour van. We picked up some other people who were also going on tours (not the same one as me though) from France and Peru. While we were driving around town picking up people I noticed that the little man who indicates that it's time to cross the street is green & animated. First you see him walking and as the time counts down closer to the end, he walks faster and faster - he kinda seems to break into a run. I found this rather mesmerizing to watch. I wish I had gotten some footage of it.

We went through the main square of the Zocalo area, and our guide explained that it was fairly quiet in Mexico City today because of it being Good Friday and many of the people are out of town. I noticed large groups of police everywhere, and in particular, a group of cops on horses with sombreros - the Mexican version of RCMP. Quite the sight!

Anyways, we headed to the tour office, paid for our tours, and split off into different groups depending on what we were doing that day. My group was heading to the famous Teotihuacan pyramids and a few other places. It turns out in my tour group that I am the only native English speaker. The driver & tour guide are Mexican, a family of 4 is Mexican, and a group of three sitting behind me were all from Germany. We all managed to communicate pretty effectively by the end of the day - although it started off rather lonely for me.


The first stop on our tour was to see the ruins at Tlatelolco. They were located right in the middle of the city and were many centuries old. We took some photos but did not stay there very long. Off we went to the Basilica of Guadalupe, and it was rather busy since it was Easter weekend. There is an "old" basilica and a "new" basilica - the old basilica is rather like the leaning tower of Pisa, and it is very off-kilter. From the outside you can tell things are not level, but from the inside it is even more apparent as you try to gain some solid footing.


Inside the new basilica there is a painting of Lady Guadalupe (the virgin Mary) on display at the front of the altar. There is an underground level right underneath the altar, and there are 3 or 4 escalators that go back and forth underneath this painting, so that people can pay their respects to it without disturbing whatever service is going on above. Photos are even allowed - with no flash.

The next & last stop on our trip was out to the pyramids. We drove for an hour to get outside of the city limits. Before the actual pyramids, though, we headed to an artisan shop where individuals gave us a tour, information about their craft, and then invite us to do some shopping. This seems to be a popular and convenient (and probably lucrative) arrangement for tours - I remember it from when I travelled to Egypt.

Anyways, we saw how they carved obsidian, how they did craftwork with silver & beading, other souvenirs and how they used the local plants. We had samples of a few drinks made from plants - the only one I recognized was tequila, and no, it does not taste any better down in Mexico. They did point out though, that it's not supposed to be salt, tequila, then lime - like so many in Canada do, but that it's supposed to be salted lime, then tequila. The lime juice "prepares" your throat for the tequila and make it easier & smoother to take.

After we had a good look around the shop, it was time for the big ticket event. We were heading straight to the Teotihuacan pyramids! These ruins are different than the other ones in Mexico in that people are allowed to walk on them. You used to be able to climb up Chichen Itza, but no longer - I wonder how long it will take Teotihuacan to follow suit. I imagine that having thousands of people trod on the archaeological sites does a fair amount of damage.

Once we arrived at Teotihuacan, our guide took us to a few places and we climbed up a pyramid to have a look at the Temple of the Feathered Serpent. It was harder than it looked - the steps are really high & steep. Going down wasn't much fun either - you had to go sideways, and it had a bit of the dizzying effect. I can see people just bailing down the steps to certain injury.


Then he let us go and have free time to walk around the huge site - apparently it was about a 1km walk from one end to the other end. It didn't sound like much to me, but in the heat of the afternoon it seemed to go on forever. The walk was punctuated by the huge Pyramid of the Sun and ended with the Pyramid of the Moon. There were people everywhere and lineups to go up and down each pyramid.

After that our guide met with us again and talked about the frescoes in the Patio of the Jaguars and then we were off to have lunch. By this time we were starving! We went to a little local place, and we all ordered various authentic Mexican food. I had chicken tacos - they were okay. We had a great time talking and laughing. The Mexican family that we were on tour with didn't speak any English but their two kids were uninhibited and adorable. We all bonded over food & drink and our shared experience.

Happily fed, we chatted all the way back into Mexico City. We parted ways at our various hotels, and even promised to share photos online. How fast we make friends when travelling!

Tulum to Mexico City

Today we got up early and packed our things. We checked out of our resort and started the 2-hour drive back to the airport. The speed limits are all posted at the side of the highway and they frequently change. Anytime you pass by the entrance of a big hotel, it slows down to 40km/hr and then is right back to 80 or 100 a few seconds later. Needless to say, most drivers ignore the slow-down-zone. And I was getting comfortable enough to start ignoring it myself. Except well, I forgot about the fact that there are Mexican police parked by the side of the road every 5 minutes or so - there are a lot of them around.

Anyways, so I go zooming past one of them, and sure enough, he pulls out and gets on the highway after me. I am sweating bullets now because I can't speak Spanish and I have heard that the police are uber-corrupt down here, and I pretty much want to do anything I can to avoid them. To my surprise though, he goes more slowly than I was expecting, and as it turns out, pulls over a van that was travelling behind me. Needless to say, I drove the speed limit thereafter pretty fastidiously.

After we get to the airport, we check-in, go through security, and settle down to eat some lunch. I hate to admit it, but it was fast food. We didn't really have time to sit down at a restaurant, and convenience food IS rather convenient. I don't think I need mention that I regretted this decision later - kinda goes without saying. :P

The flight back to Mexico City was uneventful. They served us "cracker peanuts" for a snack. The Spanish translation on the package means... "Japanese peanuts"? I don't know. But they were peanuts coated in this cracker-like substance and there was some kind of spice (wasabi, maybe?) in it that gave it a slight kick.

We got to the airport and took the shuttle to Terminal 1 where my hotel was supposedly located. After a few glitches (one information agent insisted that there was no Hilton hotel at the airport), we found it, checked into my room - there was a strange smell but otherwise it looked pretty nice - and headed downstairs to check Ted into his flight back to Europe. While waiting in the incredibly long line for the KLM check-in, I had many close encounters with the woman behind me who seemed to think that "personal space" was just an expression. Ah well, I was too tired and too Canadian to do anything about it.

Ted & I grabbed a snack before he left, and then I was by myself in Mexico City again. This time however, I was feeling much less nervous. I went upstairs, talked to the concierge at my hotel (named "Jesus") and he arranged a tour of Mexico City for the next day. It was exactly what I wanted: they picked me up at my hotel, toured me around a few sites for the day, and returned me back to my hotel. Nice! All this for $55 USD. I'm in.

Another thing I love about the hotel is that it has free Wi-Fi and free 24hr Business Center access, which means I can get on the internet as much as I want in the next 36 hours. Yay! Right now though, I badly need a shower (the salt-water shower I took at the cabana in Tulum just doesn't cut it), and sleep. Last full day in Mexico tomorrow!

Another Life Goal Completed

We got up early today because the woman in the cabana next to ours had been to Chichen Itza before and she strongly suggested that we get there as early as possible, to avoid the crowds and the heat. We had meant to leave by 7am, but it ended up being more like 8.

On the way to CI, we stopped at 7-11 and got some snacks to eat for breakfast. At home, 7-11 is not ideal for breakfast and this is still true in Mexico. However, we needed something to sustain us on the 2 hour drive, so bad convenience food it was.

It was basically one road from Tulum to Chichen Itza. And it was one road (albeit a different one) from the Cancun airport to Tulum. I kind of like this one-road thing! Makes getting around really easy. :) We saw a couple of small side streets that said San Diego 2km, and San Francisco 1km and had ourselves a chuckle about how close we were to California.

Anyways, when we arrived at Chichen Itza my first impression was that it was HUGE. We walked in and was immediately greeted by the famous "El Castillo." This was what I came here to see, this is what was on the life goal list. I was a little awestruck, and I think I kept murmuring "Oh my god, oh my god," but in truth I don't remember much. Let me just tell you that it was impressive.

In the middle of it all, they were setting up for a concert - Elton John was coming to play right amidst all the ruins. But despite all the equipment everywhere, we pretty much had free reign and walked anywhere and everywhere we wanted. It wasn't even all that busy at first.

There were several little stands set-up by locals who were there to sell some souvenirs, and it was really nice looking stuff. As the day went on, they were everywhere. You couldn't walk anywhere without going by them. Ted bought a really cool mask. It was really very hot though, and I was not that interested in shopping & bartering, so I didn't get anything for myself. I suppose I probably should have.

After we left the huge site, we stopped for some lunch at the little local cafe. We shared some burritas and they were excellent. While eating we were entertained by some Mexican dancers one of which performed while balancing bottles on her head!

When we drove home we went through a military checkpoint. We had seen them on the way there, but they were waving everyone through. On the way back, however, they seemed to be pulling people over and searching their car. Lucky for us, they seemed busy enough and we were waved through again. Big sigh of relief!!

On the one road between Tulum and CI, you pass through several small towns. One of which was called Valladolid, and it was charming. An old cathedral, colourful buildings, a park, and many great shops accentuated it. It was really pretty.

Passing through another small village, we could see kids up ahead on the road playing soccer. There are always speed bumps in the main parts of town (any town in Mexico, it seems), and they "accidentally" kicked the soccer ball right at our car and hit it straight on. As we slowed down, they came racing up to our vehicle trying to sell us stuff. Clever ploy, eh? I imagine that some people feel bad enough to buy something from them.

When we got back to our resort we went to the beach to join up with the rest of the group, soak up some rays, and play in the surf while the sun was still out. And then for our last night in Tulum Ted & I went in search of a really nice dinner. We walked down the road and found a lovely hotel that was serving outside on the patio right on the beach. We had the sunset, then candlelight for dinner. It was very romantic (although at times, really quite windy).

After dinner we spent the last bit of our time with the group, having drinks and socializing at the resort restaurant. Up at the bar they had swings instead of stools, so that was fun to hang out there. It was our last bit of time in Tulum - tomorrow we are back to Mexico City!

Day of Whatever-we-want

Slept late this morning. Ahhhh, it was decadent. Well, pretty decadent anyways. The cold night and the birds chirping at 5am were not ideal, but hey, it's just a different form of paradise to adapt to. ;)

Speaking of those chirping birds. The one right by the cabana had me awake long enough to determine that it was changing its chirp over and over. It would always do the same chirp twice, and then change it up. Double-chirp, just to make sure you heard him correctly, and then onto the next. Made for interesting listening, actually - just not at 5am. Anyways, I haven't seen him yet, so I don't know what kind of bird he is.

We headed down to the beach bar, which served breakfast overlooking the ocean. Crystal blue waters and gorgeous sand beach. Warm air, tropical breeze. NICE. Oh, but if you sit facing the wrong way you can get more than you bargained for - the beach is clothing-optional. It was a little jolt in my morning paradise to see naked-man doing handstands and yoga poses as I was trying to just chill out and enjoy my meal. Ted says it's all in where you sit and what way you face.

We decided to take the 10 minute journey to the Tulum ruins, which are just down the street from where we are staying. Apparently they are unusual because they are situated on the coast, while other ruins in Mexico are inland.

We were there for a couple of hours and it was pretty awesome. I am always amazed by being able to experience something that was built so long ago. I am walking in those same footsteps, seeing the same rocks, wondering at the same carvings. Fantastic!

When we were done we stopped at the little market/shopping area located on the way back to our car. There were a few cultural performances happening around us, too. It seems like many of these people depend on tourist dollars or tips to make a living.

I had lunch at Subway. Despite all the bonafide Mexican food I have been eating, I really have been craving a good veggie sandwich. And so that's what I had! So far, no problems with my stomach - hope it lasts. The sandwich is just like what I'd have at home... except for the pickles. I don't know exactly how to describe the pickles, but they are not the same. More sour, more salty maybe?

We got back to our cabana and had a bit of a rest. The heat really saps your energy, and we just spent 2 hours walking, walking, walking. A nap was in order! Upon waking we went to the restaurant and had a snack and a drink. While we were sitting there we saw 2 guys from the wedding arrive. We visited with them for a while, and waited a bit longer for the rest of the group - 20 more were on their way. We are going to take over this place, haha!

As the rest of the group arrived we hung out with them down by the beach and then we eventually all moved up to the restaurant when it became too windy. We are planning to go to Chichen Itza tomorrow but none of them will come with us since they have another week her and just want to relax. We can hardly blame them. But, as we are leaving in 2 days, we want to take the chance while we have it!

Off to shower & bed. I think the shower water is salt water, and it does not do a great job of washing my hair. I don't really feel clean afterwards. I suppose I'd get used to it if I had to, but for now it just leaves a little grimy feeling. Ah well, better than the sweaty, sticky-suncreen feeling. Tomorrow, Chichen Itza!!

Travelling to Tulum

Today was a travel day. We got up early, which was difficult since we got home so late from the wedding last night. We arranged a taxi to the airport through our hotel, and checked into our flight.

Then we had breakfast at a restaurant at the airport. It had a buffet, but I think that best be avoided when travelling. I ordered some familiar-looking stuff, and Ted had bread - he was feeling rather sick.

A friend of mine recommended that I get some Grapefruit Seed Extract and put some in whatever I drink down here in Mexico. It's from the health food store and apparently neutralizes any (bad) bacteria that is in your system. Anyways, I must admit that I am a bit of a skeptic, but after getting sick on my last trip I am willing to try something new. More than a few drops makes your drinks taste bitter though, so I just put it in my juice.

One thing that I am impressed about at the airports here in Mexico is that there are many individuals in wheelchairs working as information agents. I don't see that much at home, and it seems like a good job to have.

The flight to Cancun was pretty uneventful - only 2 hours. When we arrived we talked to some information agents about how to get to Tulum, which is almost 2 hours drive away. We were convinced to rent a car, as it would be cheaper in the end and allow us a bit more freedom.

They gave us a standard, so I started us off with the driving, much to a few people's surprise. Ted hasn't driven a manual in a while, so he didn't want to take the first shift. Anyways, the drive was long and in some places harrowing - not surprisingly, there are fewer rules here than there are at home. Cars squeezing themselves into any spot that they can find, passing within inches of each other, Mexican police parked by the side of the road every 5 minutes or so. There were also these speed bumps every once in a while which forced everyone to come to a virtual stop on the highway. Lucky for us it was one road from the airport to Tulum, but I have to admit, I was wishing we had taken a taxi by the time we actually got there.

When we arrived at our resort, Copal, I was initially charmed. Cabanas right by the beach, water views, the sound of the ocean with clear blue water and the finest sand I have seen. Magical! The reality of the eco-friendly resort was, however, not terribly luxurious. I describe it as similar to camping. No electricity, no lights, sleeping with the sounds of the outdoors (ocean = good, squawking birds at 5am = bad), sand everywhere on your floor, running water but fickle plumbing, etc. All in all, it was good - but luxury, it was not. There were however fresh tropical flowers waiting for us in the cabana when we got there, courtesy of Ted. They were beautiful and made the cabana smell lovely!

We were pretty hungry by the time we checked in and so we had dinner at the resort restaurant. We were accompanied by a very friendly feline friend who sat next to us and talked to us and wanted to be petted and waited patiently for handouts while we ate. We had yummy Mexican food - fajitas and guacamole and chips and salsa... it was heaven. It was right at dusk though and there was another feast going on - and the dish was me. That's right, mosquitoes came out in force and I got about fifteen bites in 10 minutes. By the end of dinner I was squirming. Why didn't I bring my insect repellent??

Off to the local grocery store we go. We pick up some Off, After Bite, sunscreen, snacks and drinks. The sunscreen was about $17. I think that store made a killing from unprepared tourists! Ah well. The After Bite was soooooo nice, and made me much more tolerable to be around, I'm sure.

Sleeping in the cabana was fine, although it takes some getting used to. I didn't know it was going to be so cold! In the middle of the night I had to get 2 more blankets. The sound of the ocean is nice to fall asleep to though, and even though I had nightmares that night, I still woke up to a little bit of paradise. :)

The Wedding

Well, today was the big day. The day of the Mexican-Norwegian-British-Canadian wedding that we have all been anticipating. We found out that we would be getting on a bus at 11:00am and the bus wouldn't be coming back until 1:00am, so this really was going to be an all-day event.

We got up fairly early (we had crashed pretty early from all the travel-itis) and had breakfast at the hotel. Then we got all dolled up (me in an orange dress, no less) and got onto a bus that took us 1.5 hours and outside the Mexico City city limits.

When we arrived at the Ranchero, it was immediately apparent that it was going to be gorgeous. And lush. Apparently it's the oldest Ranchero in the area. It was green and lovely with rock-face walls and a back-in-time kinda feel. We went through corridors to nooks and areas that held flora & fauna everywhere. There were little lizards about, and lovebirds in cages all around the outside.

It was a gorgeous day. It was sunny and unfortunately for me it was quite hot. I managed to almost pass out during the (long-ish, Catholic) ceremony. Heatstroke is always nearby with me. Anyways, after the ceremony, we went to a courtyard where we were treated to some live music and waiters serving drinks and canapes. Yum! Food and drink was exactly what I needed, and it was really quite good.

Then the reception started. Pretty much right away. We were seated pretty close to the stage and our 3 course meal started coming out. We all had menu cards explaining what our choices were for the meal. Oh, except that for the starter, we didn't really get a choice, everyone just got what they got, random as it was. I managed to snag my choice of tomato, cheese, & balsamic salad tower. It was great.

Did I mention that this wedding was British/Mexican/Norwegian/Canadian? The groom is English & Canadian, and the bride is Mexican & Norwegian. This made for some really entertaining traditions. Read on.

The Norwegian cousins and friends at our table explained that one tradition at the wedding reception is for all the men in the room to run up to the bride and kiss her if her groom leaves her at the table. And if the bride leaves her groom alone, all the women rush up to kiss him. There was also the typical clinking of glasses. Muchos kissing!!

Our main courses and desserts came quickly too, and all-in-all, we were done all the eating by 4:30pm. 4:30!! So early. Then came speeches, which were suitable, funny, and in three languages. At one point a very inebriated Mexican relative or friend came up and interrupted the MC's, which lead to laughter of course. They shooed him away pretty effectively.

Dancing started at 5:00pm and lasted the rest of the night. It was obvious that the bride LOVES dancing, but it was hard not to bust a move yourself with the great music that was playing. There were Mexican favourites and Latin songs and the usual top 40. The dance floor was pretty much packed all night.

There were also dancefloor "novelties" as well. Little gimmicks that made things quite interesting, and which appeared every hour or so. First, a mini-wrestling ring was brought out and Mexican wrestling masks were handed out to everyone. You know, like the movie Nacho Libre? Some theatrics ensued and then dancing continued.

The next novelty was a guy that came out on stilts with a mini-soccer goal attached behind his head. Then beach balls that looked like soccer balls were thrown about and everyone tried to score. That was pretty fun. Perhaps that was a nod to the groom since he's a soccer player.

At one point, the bride was given a box full of slippers embroidered with her & the groom's initials, and she threw them up in the air all over the dancefloor, "for the ladies." I didn't get any, but then I was wearing pretty comfortable sandals so it didn't much matter.

The next novelty was wigs of all sorts of colours: red, green, blue, yellow, orange. Everyone passed them around and posed for photos. That was quite comical too.

The last novetly was a man on stilts who came out on the dancefloor, passed out hats (kinda looked like a Mexican cowboy hat) and gave out shots to everyone - in cups and sometimes straight from the bottle. That one was popular!

Eventually some typical traditions came out, sortof. At one point late in the evening all the girls were gathered together, linked hands and ran around the room - first slowly and then faster and faster. We ended up in a line in front of the bride & groom, who were waiting on top of chairs. You had to pass between them and have them feed you tequila as you went under. THEN they did the bouquet toss. I guess a little tequila helps your bouquet-catching abilities. Needless to say, I didn't catch it. Nobody was disappointed about that. :)

Next the groom-taking-garter-off-the-bride ceremony. Then all the guys lined up, linked arms and ran about the room. And then yes, they also had to be doused with tequila by the bride & groom. There were a lot of wet shirts.

Sometime before the end of the night, they served a snack which was really tasty - chips and black beans and some kind of green sauce. It was REALLY yummy and well-timed since we had all eaten nothing since 4:30.

The reception finally ended at 12:30am after 7.5 hours of dancing. Whew! What a party! And a wedding like no other!