This morning we went to a small Italian themed restaurant near our hotel that featured breakfasts for 59 and 69 pesos. I ordered a 59 peso breakfast with two pancakes with a lovely piles of fresh pineapple and cantaloupe on the plate with the pancakes and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Suzette was more adventurous and ordered Chiliquiles with coffee. She got a large plate filled with tortilla pieces fried with egg, chili sauce and cheese. I tasted it and the chili was mild in comparison to others sauces, so the cuisine must use milder hi like sauce for breakfasts.
We then took a taxi to Manzanilla Beach, which is on the other side of town. It is joined by a rock outcropping to Angel Beach with high headlands surrounding both. I remember someone telling me once that there was a beach with two small bays at Puerto Escondido that Disney used as the bay of Neverland in Peter Pan. This surely was a candidate for that image; two small bays shaped like eye sockets joined by a heavy brow of dark rocks open to the sea where a chin would normally be.
We were very low on pesos, so we had to bargain with the restaurant where we decided to sit and eat for the use of dollars. We arrived at an exchange rate of 16 pesos to the dollar. Later in the day we exchanged at a Money Exchange for 16.90 pesos per $1.00, so okay. We snorkeled twice. The second time at noon was best because it was near high tide and the wave action was less violent and the water was higher.
We then ate lunch. I ordered octopus in garlic sauce and Suzette ordered crabs in garlic sauce. Each was served on a platter with rice, fried potatoes, and salad. I ate my salad and Suzette did not. I may yet regret that decision.
Suzette's dish was a pile of fried whole small blue tipped crabs, so it was challenging eating. My dish was chunks of octopus sautéed in a garlic butter sauce that was very tasty. I liked my dish immensely. It seemed to have a little flour as a binder for the sauce.
After lunch we walked up the hill and found a taxi back to town.
We rested until 6:00 again, when the sun starts setting and the air cools a bit. We started walking toward downtown but I got tired at the end of our Zicatela Beach and we stopped at a restaurant offering two for one Happy Hour cocktails for 80 pesos. We sat and watched the waves pound the beach throwing spray high in the air. The power of the waves hitting the open beach is so great that one can only stand in awe. No one would dared go farther out than ankle deep here. There is an interesting phenomena in the wave action at this beach. The rip tide of the receding wave creates a line of spray that shoots up through the next incoming wave, because there is a slight pipeline effect. There are several surfing shops along this beach because this is the surfing beach but the proprietor told us yesterday that the sets of waves are too close together at this time of year to ride. So the owner of the surf shop does what we were doing. He sits and watches the waves breaking at the shore line. No one has gone out on a surf board since we arrived two days ago.
We walked along the beach to the marine beach which is protected by a headland that juts out enough to create a protected bay. This where most people recreate and the fishing fleet is located. As we walked along at 7:00 we saw a boat of fisherman departing in an twenty foot long open boat with nets and lines of big hooks ready for deployment.
Next to the apex of the bay and the headland is the main commercial part of town. There is a commercial street that starts at the road along the headland and runs for a mile or so along the high ground beside the marine bay toward the south to the National highway. This street is closed in the evening and becomes a walking street filled with street vendors of all sorts as well as permanent business such as, money exchanges, grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, and hotels. We shopped for a while. Suzette found crocheted hand bags made in a mountain village near Oaxaca that she bought to sell in the shop at the Center that were quite lovely.
Our hotel manager, Mirabella, had recommended Benditos for dinner. It is located at the end of the walking street and specializes in Italian Cuisine. Suzette was especially hungry after her minuscule amount of crab meat at lunch, so we took a seat under a fan so I could dry out the sweat that I was covered with. I ordered a bottle of water and was brought a liter of Bonafant purified water. Suzette ordered a sangria and spinach and ricotta filled ravioli in a porcini Mushroom Sauce.
I was tired of seafood so decided to order a filet mignon in a wild mushroom sauce 200 pesos, about $13.00. I asked for spaghetti instead of the usual rice and salad. Both of our dishes were beautifully presented. I received two small entrecôte sauced with a dark porcini and oyster Mushroom Sauce flavored with fresh rosemary. Suzette’s ravioli were just as fresh and delicate as the ones we ate at Destilado several days ago, but with a thick porcini cream sauce that was different than my mushroom sauce.
My spaghetti was good also lightly sauced with a fresh pomodoro sauce.
I drank a glass of red wine with my steak. The proprietress brought the open bottle of house wine which was Marques del Valle from Baja California that was very smooth and fruity, probably a Cabernet Sauvignon.
We enjoyed dinner very much, so when we were offered a dessert of chocolate mousse I accepted. This trip has been as much an exploration of all things chocolate for me. Suzette found the almost solid part of the mousse a bit gritty. I did not mind the intensely dense chocolate torte like texture. About 1/3 of the mousse was soft and creamy where the whipped cream and egg whites had become more integrated. We found a fine dining meal a pleasant change from beach restaurants.
After dinner we walked out to a waiting taxi and it drove us to our hotel where we watched several segments of SNL and went to bed.
I awakened at around 1:30 as the music from the beach front bars was still blaring. Just for fun I stayed up writing this blog segment until 3:30 when the last of the music finally stopped.
What a life some folks must lead, dancing and drinking until 3:00 in the morning on a Monday night.
Although this week is Spring Break and Easter week vacation for Mexicans.
Bon Appetit
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