NOVEMBER 2007 TRIP REPORT - DAY 2 FRIDAY Norb is very happy that I'm not at the mall today, Black Friday. He figures it's cheaper to take me to Mexico than let me go shopping! We slept until 8 a.m., we must have been exhausted from traveling yesterday. We got ready for the day, and headed to the main buffet for breakfast. There are so many animals here, gorgeous peacocks ... Beautiful birds ... Fish in ponds ... Many iguanas ... and, lots of agouti ... The waterfall next to the buffet is so pretty ... After we were greeted and seated, I asked the waiter for a mimosa. He came back with a glass of orange juice and a glass of champagne ... I guess it's a DO IT YOURSELF mimosa! :roll: In the mornings I normally have a yogurt and a banana, and I'm good to go. I went over to the buffet looking for yogurt. At every other resort the yogurt comes in it's original container ... at the Iberostar Quetzal the yogurt is in big bowls, sitting on the buffet. It is so watered down you could drink it through a straw. It's more like soup than yogurt. Norb gets an omelette, and I get a banana. At 9:30 we go outside to get our beach towels at the towel hut, and search for chairs. Every chair at the pool and on the beach has a towel on it! The towel game is in full force here, and the beach is sooooo crowded. We discovered that you have to be out very early to get a good seat. Finally we find chairs by the pool. Sheila and Mike arrive, and the three of us go for a walk on the beach while Norb relaxes. The hotel next door is closed for remodeling, so you can walk and walk and walk on a beautiful, nearly deserted beach. There are no rocks or shells or drop offs ... just lots of white powdery sand. Spent the day talking and laughing and drinking, just enjoying the hot sunshine. There is waitress service at the pool, but for drinks only, not food. There is a small buffet restaurant near the pool where you can get a continental breakfast or lunch. We had guac, salsa and chips, along with chicken, for lunch. Later in the afternoon we went in to shower and dress for dinner. Just as we were about to leave our room the rain started. Thank goodness for Dollar Store rain ponchos! 2 for $1.00 I had packed four of them. We put on our ponchos, and headed to the lobby to get a taxi. We couldn't wait to get to Playa and EAT! People on the Playa board rave about a restaurant called H.C. Monterrey, and we wanted to go and see for ourselves. We arrived, and ordered guac and chips, then we all ordered the arrachera steak. OMG! I can't even describe to you how delicious it was! That steak is like BUTTAH! It comes with a wonderful baked potato with sour cream, and a half of an avocado ... YUMMY! YUMMY! YUMMY! We had diet cokes and waters, and the bill for 4 of us was only $42.00! Now we're really happy ... we're in PLAYA and we had a GREAT meal! The rain had stopped while we were at the restaurant, so we decided to walk to 5th Avenue. We stopped at Starbucks for coffee, then we got a taxi back to the hotel. A detour to the lobby bar for a drink ... ... then off to bed. TOMORROW ... MORE FUN IN THE SUN!
Ahhh.... thanks for sharing your wonderful trip reports. I so enjoy reading them. I guess I better try this restaurant next time I'm in Playa in a few months.
HC Monterrey is one of my favorite restaurants too....can't wait to get back there. After seeing your photo of the meal, my mouth is watering...lol.
I love the pics you took, your trip reports always have excellent flow with them. HC De Monterrey (Super Carnes) is one of my favorites for a pre-shopping at Wal-Mart meal. 212eric
yesssssssss...it had started out a very untypical janie report with no food pics in part one. much better...nice steak
