There were a few things that we did and that I noticed on this trip that were decidedly different than the other two trips KC and I have taken to Mexico. Here they are, in no particular order:

• First off, I’d fly Mexicana Airlines again. While they weren’t exactly what you’d call punctual, they were courteous. Also, the food served on the plane was more than edible.
• The Mexico City airport was rather interesting. With enough time, I did a fair amount of people watching. Let me tell you that there are MANY nationalities going through that airport. I heard Spanish (of course), English, French, Dutch, German and Portuguese. I know I heard some east Asian languages, but I’m not sure what they were.
• I read a lot about issues with the resort where we stayed, especially with the front desk staff not having a good grasp of English. It couldn’t have been more wrong. All of the staff was great.
• Far and away the rooms at this resort were larger than any we had before. In fact, you could have put two of the Iberostar rooms inside one Crown Pacific room. Also, the balcony was big enough to host a party of at least a dozen people; we never had that opportunity but it was available.
• There was a funicular at this resort as it was built into a hillside and a lot of the sidewalks were pretty steep for walking. However, the funicular was out of order. The staff more than made up for it by having the trolley trucks going constantly. We never waited more than a few minutes to go up to our room or to go down to the beach.
• When KC and I went to the Riviera Maya, we were told by our Apple reps there to not eat local and not drink local water; we were risking our health. This trip we did NOT do all-inclusive and ate local. What we were told before couldn’t be farther from the truth. We never once suffered “Montezuma’s Revenge”. The food, in fact, was excellent in the restaurants we tried.
• Breezomatic purchased some of the local Huatulco coffee to bring back with her - it’s supposed to be the most cherished of all Mexican coffees. Never let it be said that our customs officers don’t have a sense of humor. On our return the customs officer in Chicago joked with us that “the dogs would be all over the coffee”; then kind of smiled and laughed with us. Quite a refreshing point of view.
• The taxi drivers we had all spoke broken English at best; however, that didn’t stop us from carrying on a basic conversation about the cabbie asking where we were from and us asking what were good restaurants. Hey, it’s their country and we should have to learn their language.
• On the plane ride back to the states, we met what I’d call an “ugly American”. First he’s complaining about the plane being late, then he’s on the plane telling anyone who would listen that “We showed Acapulco how to party” (yeah, RIGHT!). Then he’s complaining about waiting in line to take off on the plane. Then he’s making snide remarks to the flight attendants (who were quite cute, by the way). Then he’s complaining about the food and telling everyone he can’t wait to eat a Big Mac. Then he’s arguing with the flight attendant that he shouldn’t have to turn off his personal CD player. Geez, I wish people like that would just stay home. No wonder we have a bad reputation abroad.