CAYO LARGO				2005
THE CASTRO TRIPLETS... KAREN                                      FIDEL                                   DAVE

Friday February 11, 2005

I met Karen after work at her house.  She had a Dairy Queen supper ready for us, so we gobbled that up then threw our suitcases in my car.  We took the 401 to Toronto.  Karen brought her Neil Young Harvest tape for us to listen to.  I was thinking, ?Can it get any better than this??  I had just received my Valentine?s Day present from Karen ? my favourite painting of a sailboat in a Caribbean scene.  I was listening to my favourite tape, with my favourite person, going to my favourite island.  

Traffic was excellent and speeds were kept at a steady 120 kph all the way.  Holiday Inn didn?t have our reservation?since we were at the wrong one.  Once this was sorted out, we left and drove to the next one down the road.  I parked the car 20 blocks away for our one week of included parking while Karen checked us in.  Karen insisted we check out the beds by jumping up and down on them.  I didn?t argue since Karen stays in many hotels and knows the rules of etiquette far better than I.  After an hour, the jumping became tiresome so we went to bed.  Slept soundly until our 3:30 am wake-up call.

Saturday February 12, 2005

We took the airport shuttle to Toronto Pearson Airport and found our tickets waiting for us at the World Of Vacations booth.  I bought Karen some water at the outlandish price of $2.13.  Can you believe it? 

Everything went smoothly?although customs asked me to show them the contents of my camera bag.  Karen was asked to remove her shoes?  I tried to warn them but it was too late.  They quickly realized their mistake.  Everyone suffered.

Our Westjet flight left on time at 6:30 am.  Lunch was served aboard at 7:30?  They had television screens built into the seats in front of us.  One channel showed a map of where we were and statistics such as elevation and jet speed.  Each of us picked a different sport channel.  I had mountain biking and Karen chose skiing.  We watched each other?s program.  It?s true what they say ? ?the grass is greener on the other side of the fence (or in this case?armrest)?.

About 10:00 we arrived at Cayo Largo and sailed through customs with no problem.  We took a small crowded shuttle bus 6 km to our hotel.  The bus was packed but fortunately, Karen was the only one who wasn?t able to get a seat.  She had to stand precariously at the back, falling over every time the driver braked.  My seat was quite comfy.

AT THE AIRPORT	COUCH POTATO	STANDING ON BUS

Arriving at the Barcelo Cayo Largo, we were told, along with everyone else, that our rooms wouldn?t be ready until 4:00.  As our vacation progressed, we were to learn that 4:00 was actually a fictitious, non-existent time and was only used as a delaying tactic.  To pass the time we went for a walk on the beach then had lunch at the Ranchon ? a thatch roofed restaurant overlooking the ocean.  It was pretty good.  I had a chewy beefsteak and Karen had a red snapper.  Wendy would probably say that was too much information.

AHHH!!	KAREN SHOWS DAVE THE PROPER WAY TO TEST A BED	TIME FOR SOME YOGA

I went back to the desk early and asked if our room was ready.  It was, so we traipsed up to the second floor and unpacked.  It was a very nice room except for the smell of raw sewage and the two twins rather than the king we requested.  I went back to the desk and requested a change.  The deskman was not very helpful and said that the sewage lagoons were below our room ? as if that were a normal placement for sewage lagoons.  When I pressed him he hinted it was possible we could get another room at 4:00 tomorrow.  I asked to see the top man and was directed to none other than Jesus himself.  Jesus was equally unhelpful.  I figured it was going to be a lost cause if even Jesus couldn?t help us.  Regardless, I decided to try at 4:00 tomorrow. 

We went for dinner at the buffet restaurant, which was pretty good.  From there we relaxed in our room and planned the next day and unpacked. 

Sunday February 13, 2005

Got up.  I went to the lobby and unsuccessfully tried my hand at changing rooms again.  I still have to come back at 4:00.  We decided to borrow a couple of the hotel bikes and go for a ride.  The one-geared bikes weren?t too bad.  We biked to all the resorts and checked out their gift shops.  They were all pretty much identical, prices and all.  Not a lot of choice.  We also stopped in at the Sol Pelicano where I stayed last year.  I gave Karen a tour and when we rounded a corner, Julio yelled ?hola? to me.  He remembered me from last summer when we went snorkeling every day. 

There is only one road on Cayo Largo.  It is virtually impossible to get lost.  We decided to head back.  Karen was dying of thirst.  Somehow I got us lost and we headed off in the exact opposite direction.  We were nearly at the airport before I realized I had taken us about 5 miles out of our way.  That?s when Karen realized that she was allergic to sand fleas and her hand swelled up.  We dropped in at the hotel pharmacy for a remedy.  The pharmacist suggested a $20 U.S. bottle of ?Sand Flea Be Gone? but Karen spotted some peroxide for $1.75 and chose it instead.  It seemed to help. 

For lunch we ate at the outdoor restaurant.  We couldn?t get a seat but Dave and Nancy from Brantford were kind enough to share their table with us.  Karen had a whole chicken curry pizza that she said was excellent.  From there we laid out at the beach for a couple of hours and read and drank pina coladas from the little beach bar.  Then we retired to the pool.  I got us each a banana daiquiri.  They were terrible so I got us a Havana Special.  Terrible as well.  We tried a mojito, which is supposed to be excellent.  It was worse than terrible.  We went back to pina coladas. 

I went for a pointless 4:00 meeting with Jesus.  He was nowhere to be found ? presumably out walking on water or turning fish into loaves.  Anyway, we decided it wasn?t worth the hassle, which is exactly what they had been planning on all along. 

Went back to our room, had a shower and fell immediately asleep for several hours.  We always seemed to be exhausted although we didn?t do much. 

Later we went to the restaurant for a good supper and many glasses of wine. We retired for the evening.  I set the alarm for 6:30 as we had paid for a non-refundable $69 U.S. catamaran cruise for the following morning. 

Monday February 14, 2005

The alarm woke us.  We relaxed and talked and planned our day.  Karen set off for the shower remarking on how light it was outside for being so early in the morning.  That got me to thinking.  Suddenly I realized that I hadn?t reset the alarm for the time change.  I yelled at Karen that we had less than 10 minutes to be in the lobby to catch our shuttle.  Fortunately, Karen thrives on stress so we were ready in record time.  I didn?t even have time to put my contacts in and we were going snorkeling so I was disappointed.  I took them with me and we caught the shuttle to the Marina.  We boarded the Catamaran with about 20 other couples.  I found a mirror downstairs and was able to get my contacts in place.  When I came up, one of the crew members yelled ?hola? at me.  It was Kiki who gave me a ride in a hobby cat last year?small world/island. 

Since I knew Kiki, I took that opportunity to arrange a little something for later.

First stop was a small island full of iguanas.  We disembarked and had a great time wandering around.  We almost stepped on several, as they tend to blend in with the landscape.  From there we headed out to a reef.  It was fairly cold today but Karen surprised me by saying she wanted to join in the snorkeling.  Later she told me she was a little seasick so it was a choice of freeze or be sick.  Anyway, we donned our flippers, masks and snorkels.  Karen hadn?t snorkeled since she had her braces welded on.  She discovered that she couldn?t get a seal around her mouth.  Luckily there were few seals around?just the occasional sea otter.  But actually, she couldn?t use the snorkel so I set her up with a snorkeless mask and that seemed to work.  We had a good time viewing the myriad multi-coloured fish.  Kiki hoisted the anchor and we sailed over to the so-called ?natural pool?.  Basically it was just a spit of sand.  The boat was re-anchored and as cold as we were, we had to swim to the sand bar where we wandered around starfish gazing.  I followed Karen back to our boat.  The water seemed warmer this time.

Capt?n Isobella and Kiki had an all you could eat, excellent lobster dinner waiting for us.  Karen had her fill and mine as she tricked me into folding her towel while she got 15 people ahead of me. There were only 3 lobsters left by the time I got there.  Once again, Kiki brought up the anchor and we sailed over to a small beach near the marina.  It was a nice little strip but I think everyone wanted to get back as we could actually see the marina from the beach.  So near, and yet so far.  Sitting on a log with Karen at the end of the beach we spied some broken eggs in the sand.  We were guessing as to what they were. 

Karen: ?I think they might be bird eggs?.

Dave: ?My guess would be turtle eggs or perhaps scrambled eggs?. 

Suddenly a little critter skittered under our feet and into the bush.  I believe it was a baby crocodile.  Hoping mom wasn?t around, we made our way back to the boat.

While Karen and I were sitting down by the helm, Captain Isobella gathered a small group together and approached the two of us.  He solemnly gave a speech in Cuban and presented a puzzled Karen with a scroll of paper to sign while one of the guests took our picture. 

?What was that all about?, asked Karen as she finished with her awkward left-handed signature.

?Nothing really?the captain of the ship just married us, that?s all.  Happy Valentine?s Day?, I replied while kissing my new bride. 

Much to the amazement of my best man, John and bridesmaid, Debbie, Karen yelled, ?I want a divorce?. 

?Fine,? I pouted, ?but I get half your house, car, the new stove, fridge?and visitation rights to Mischief, Farley, Gidget?Andy, Scott and Lindsey?.

PRE-WEDDING JITTERS	CAPT'N ISOBELLA PERFORMS THE LAST RITES	SIGNING THE OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS

BEST MAN & BRIDESMAID	THE HAPPY COUPLE	A TOAST - "CHIN, CHIN, LOVE"

BEACH BRIDE	LATER KAREN GOT A LITTLE WILD - BUT ON THE PLUS SIDE, HER TABLE DANCING PAID FOR OUR TRIP	KAREN WAS ALWAYS WRITING MESSAGES IN THE SAND

We cruised back to the marina then took the shuttle back to our hotel.  I went down to the bar with my large water jug and asked for it to be filled with wine.  The bartender cracked open a new bottle and added another half bottle for good measure and sent me on my way.  I broke open some Valentine?s Day chocolates and the wife and I retired to our rockers on the balcony.  We read, drank wine and ate chocolates all evening.  An excellent relaxing honeymoon.  We could hear some great dance music from the disco.  We were too tired to go but vowed to show up tomorrow night.

Click Here To Go On To Part II