Cozumel, Mexico Day 1

For my 33 birthday, I wanted to go back to Cozumel, Mexico. When I last visited with Andrej, Wes and Ashley it was May of 2010. That's the trip we met Erik, a wedding officiator from Venezuela who was living and working on the Island of Cozumel. We all became friends and Erik was adamant we could come visit anytime; so I finally took him up on the offer two years later! I was so excited to have the opportunity to stay with a local and have my own translator with all the inside scoops about local things to do.

Erik picked me up from the airport and we headed to his place where he finished preparing for the wedding he was performing that evening. He generally officiates the wedding ceremonies, but he also does all sorts of other things for weddings as needed. For tonight's wedding he made the glasses for the sand ceremony the couple would be doing. The couple had met on a bus in 2009, thus the bus with 2009 and 2012 dates.

Before the wedding Erik took me to his favorite Italian restaurant on the island. It's called Cucina Italiana. It's ran by some Italian immigrants who migrated to Cozumel many years ago. They run it out of their home. The open kitchen and dinning area becomes the restaurant from noon to 4pm daily. Upon entering the restaurant, the patrons choose what is available that day and displayed on the kitchen table. Then the chef's go about preparing the item.

I had a spinach stuffed chicken with pasta. It was delicious!

Then it was time to head out as Erik had a wedding to perform on a smaller island off the main island of Cozumel. We drove along a dirt road for some time, and then came to the dock where the wedding party had already arrived. We took a small boat across the bay to the little island "Isla Pasion". Yes, it's an easy translation; Passion Island. This picture captures a lot of the main area; the dock, the Isla Pasion sign, the small Catholic church and some covered areas to the left for parties, weddings etc.

While Erik was officiating the wedding I explored around the Island. There were little tiny crabs in shells scurrying around. It was while I was wandering around that I took the best picture of the entire trip. It's on the Island of Passion, looking to the north out across the ocean. The Catholic church is behind me.

Several people have commented that it looks like a postcard, but I assure you; it's as real as real can be and taken by me! ^_^ After the ceremony Erik and I picked up his friend Oscar and Oscar's friend David who was visiting from the mainland. We went to the San Martin Beach and played in the ocean until it was dark. The water was warm and it felt great! We didn't go too far out, as this was on the eastern ocean facing side of the island and the currents are apparently strong! I slept very well this night; I was exhausted!