mayaflya
2nd October 2007, 01:58 PM
Our last night, we wanted to eat at Posada Margarita, as we had read rave reviews of this place. It is Italian and small, and the reviewers all said you needed to make reservations. This was going to be our "dress up" dinner. We stopped in on a Sunday afternoon to make reservations for Monday night. It turned out that they were closed on Sunday, but the owner, a charming young Italian expatriate, climbed down from the roof he was thatching to talk with me. He assured me that in the low season a reservation would not be needed. He promised if they were full when we arrived he would set another table for us.
We went back the next night, and there were only two other couples there. We took the table closest to the beach. The owner plopped down in a chair at our table, and recognized me from the day before. I thanked him for saving us his “best” table. We laughed, and he described the menu for the evening. We made our choices and he left for the kitchen, returning with a huge appetizer tray, with cheeses, olives, bruschetta, and breads.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1075/1472888932_aca8065492_o.jpg
We had pastas, all made fresh after ordering, shrimp and broccoli. The owner came back around after we finished, and sat down with us again, we visited about the meal and about Tulum. The restaurant had actually filled all of the tables by then, which I teased him about. He was pleased and a little shocked. He told us that normally, mid May through June is extremely quiet.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1079/1472037493_b911a53749_o.jpg
He runs a small hotel on site as well, and closes the hotel during low season. He was adding rooms on, while they were closed, which explained the thatching going on. He asked us where we staying, and when we told him Azulik, he sighed and said, “they have very good advertising". I did get him to agree that the setting of the cabanas was impressive. He did not seem to have a high opinion of the management there, or of the restaurants. We finished the meal with a chocolate mousse. Great evening.
We had one mid day snack at Copal and one breakfast at Zahra. They were both fine, but darn they just weren't on the beach, and life is too short not to eat on the beach. The day we ate at Copal we tried to get service at Tun Tun beach bar, but were ignored for twenty minutes, so we left. We were going to eat at Zahra another night, when we were short on pesos and hadn't made an ATM run, because we could charge it to the room. We were looking for a simple meal, and had looked at the menu earlier so we knew what we wanted. When we got there, they had a special menu that night, which was much pricier than what we wanted. We left and drove into town.
We did not order room service at Azulik. How good can the food be if someone is running it a quarter mile through the jungle to get it to you? Makes no sense to me.
Lastly, our favorite breakfast place was Zamas, at the south end of the little village.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1340/1472890548_7188c980f7_o.jpg
On the beach, great coffee, and just what our diet plan called for, variations on fruit, granola and yogurt. The banana pancakes with fruit, granola and yogurt were our favorite.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1163/1472040687_6ae345e4b8_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1246/1472040125_46c4522349_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1248/1472891094_ef022fc52f_o.jpg
We loved Zamas. We liked it so much for breakfast, we ate there all but two days. I even liked the little walk along the road through the village at that time of day, before it got hot.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1381/1472889870_0f3ace63f4_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1436/1472037745_ccb487799c_o.jpg
We never had anything there from the meat/eggs part of their menu, but that was by our choice, as we wanted to keep our breakfast light for swimming afterwards.
One of the commitments the wife and I had made to each other that spring was to take time just to be with each other. We’d had a short vacation earlier in the year, but it was hampered by family issues, which followed us, via cell phones and modern technology. Azulik was planned as our first extended time away together, and the fact that it was apart from phones, computers and electricity was important. My guilt over responsibilities, compelled me to try to get emergency contact information to leave behind, but after several attempts at contacting management, I gave it up and told folks here, "sorry, but we can't be reached next week". The world got along fine without us.
Azulik (and Tulum in general) is a remarkable place to relax.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1008/1472039285_77dea4140b_o.jpg
The natural beauty of the beach, ocean, and sunrises is stunning. We have been working on sorting and editing photos and I can't get over the beauty of this place. From the sweep of sky, sand, rocks and water to the reflection of pebbles in a pool, or the sunlight filtered through jungle flowers. We slowed our lives down enough that week to begin to see that beauty, but in looking at the pictures again, I see that we were only scratching the surface.
The beauty of the place commands an awe from us that hits our “reset” button. There is a sense of isolation from the world that comes from being away from phones and electricity. The warmth of the sun and water are gentle comforts, telling our "northern" bodies that they can relax in this benign environment.
There is a dramatic, palpable, shift in pace that occurs in Tulum. That is the gift of that place. For whatever reason, it is a place like no other in my experience, where I can lose myself in the moment.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1038/1472038391_bde34cee7f_o.jpg
We went back the next night, and there were only two other couples there. We took the table closest to the beach. The owner plopped down in a chair at our table, and recognized me from the day before. I thanked him for saving us his “best” table. We laughed, and he described the menu for the evening. We made our choices and he left for the kitchen, returning with a huge appetizer tray, with cheeses, olives, bruschetta, and breads.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1075/1472888932_aca8065492_o.jpg
We had pastas, all made fresh after ordering, shrimp and broccoli. The owner came back around after we finished, and sat down with us again, we visited about the meal and about Tulum. The restaurant had actually filled all of the tables by then, which I teased him about. He was pleased and a little shocked. He told us that normally, mid May through June is extremely quiet.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1079/1472037493_b911a53749_o.jpg
He runs a small hotel on site as well, and closes the hotel during low season. He was adding rooms on, while they were closed, which explained the thatching going on. He asked us where we staying, and when we told him Azulik, he sighed and said, “they have very good advertising". I did get him to agree that the setting of the cabanas was impressive. He did not seem to have a high opinion of the management there, or of the restaurants. We finished the meal with a chocolate mousse. Great evening.
We had one mid day snack at Copal and one breakfast at Zahra. They were both fine, but darn they just weren't on the beach, and life is too short not to eat on the beach. The day we ate at Copal we tried to get service at Tun Tun beach bar, but were ignored for twenty minutes, so we left. We were going to eat at Zahra another night, when we were short on pesos and hadn't made an ATM run, because we could charge it to the room. We were looking for a simple meal, and had looked at the menu earlier so we knew what we wanted. When we got there, they had a special menu that night, which was much pricier than what we wanted. We left and drove into town.
We did not order room service at Azulik. How good can the food be if someone is running it a quarter mile through the jungle to get it to you? Makes no sense to me.
Lastly, our favorite breakfast place was Zamas, at the south end of the little village.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1340/1472890548_7188c980f7_o.jpg
On the beach, great coffee, and just what our diet plan called for, variations on fruit, granola and yogurt. The banana pancakes with fruit, granola and yogurt were our favorite.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1163/1472040687_6ae345e4b8_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1246/1472040125_46c4522349_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1248/1472891094_ef022fc52f_o.jpg
We loved Zamas. We liked it so much for breakfast, we ate there all but two days. I even liked the little walk along the road through the village at that time of day, before it got hot.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1381/1472889870_0f3ace63f4_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1436/1472037745_ccb487799c_o.jpg
We never had anything there from the meat/eggs part of their menu, but that was by our choice, as we wanted to keep our breakfast light for swimming afterwards.
One of the commitments the wife and I had made to each other that spring was to take time just to be with each other. We’d had a short vacation earlier in the year, but it was hampered by family issues, which followed us, via cell phones and modern technology. Azulik was planned as our first extended time away together, and the fact that it was apart from phones, computers and electricity was important. My guilt over responsibilities, compelled me to try to get emergency contact information to leave behind, but after several attempts at contacting management, I gave it up and told folks here, "sorry, but we can't be reached next week". The world got along fine without us.
Azulik (and Tulum in general) is a remarkable place to relax.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1008/1472039285_77dea4140b_o.jpg
The natural beauty of the beach, ocean, and sunrises is stunning. We have been working on sorting and editing photos and I can't get over the beauty of this place. From the sweep of sky, sand, rocks and water to the reflection of pebbles in a pool, or the sunlight filtered through jungle flowers. We slowed our lives down enough that week to begin to see that beauty, but in looking at the pictures again, I see that we were only scratching the surface.
The beauty of the place commands an awe from us that hits our “reset” button. There is a sense of isolation from the world that comes from being away from phones and electricity. The warmth of the sun and water are gentle comforts, telling our "northern" bodies that they can relax in this benign environment.
There is a dramatic, palpable, shift in pace that occurs in Tulum. That is the gift of that place. For whatever reason, it is a place like no other in my experience, where I can lose myself in the moment.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1038/1472038391_bde34cee7f_o.jpg