1980 10 of 10
SUNDAY, JANUARY 4. Wake a few times, itching, thinking I hear mosquitoes through earplugs, and up at 5:35 to dress and write this by 6:10. Wander south, cloudy, see beach, aquarium (tiny and shoddy, keeper sleeping in hammock in entrance, more comfortable than hotel man on FLOOR behind desk, who had to get up to unlock doors to let me OUT), government building and park, post and telegraph office VERY modern; watch sunrise, think of the German's advice: taxi must be 35P to El Presidente to rent snorkel equipment. See Lopez at 9 am for room. Cloudy. Suddenly it hits: I have NO contact lenses or swimsuit or beach shoes, water will be COLDER in January under clouds, and as I'll return to Mexico City I'll surely return to Cozumel, and I've SEEN it: seen moped and snorkel rentals; 120P for 1.5 hours glass-bottom boat tour, KNOW the reef is good, so I'll be back in better weather, when I fly to Belize, too. Check "Wilson" and next boat's at 9:30. Breakfast in Las Palmeras 7:30-8:45, when my somewhat silent Austin partner says he thought boat went at 9! Oh! Dash to hotel after WOMAN says it leaves at 9, push stuff into bag, raincoat on top since it's raining, and pay 55P to get on boat at 9 WITH Austin and wait till it leaves at 9:35! Rocky trip across to Cozumel (passing Sac-Nicte), in at 10:45, no dolphins, and around corner to waiting Cancun bus that leaves at 11, past same vapid jungle scenery except where they're digging limestone, and to busy bus station at 11:45. No Blaisdell at Hotel Cotty OR at Caribe Plaza, when he suggested they might be there. He says to wait for room. I read newspapers, funnies, Cancun yacht folder, and "What to do" thoroughly and write this to 1:15, still no room. City busy and hotel-y, sort of halfway between Cozumel and Acapulco. Guy across from me on bus has AWFUL cold and Austin got sick from two days in Flamingo Hotel in Merida after Isla Mujeres. AGAIN that reputation! Really slowing down in energy toward trip-end. Mark ALL the things I want to do in the "What to do" book (and note that Cotty tours to Tulum is $30 or 600P, to Cozumel is $50 or 1000P): Pirates night at Hotel Playa Blanca (which I decided NOT to do); boat schedule from Puerto Juarez to Isla Mujeres; bike rentals for 300P, which I might do tomorrow, but that tomorrow never comes; cinemas on the city map, though the one in Manzana XXI appeared to be gone; Cancun tourist zone; Archeological Museum, which I never get to; Los Almendros Restaurant, though I never find the Chevrolet it's across from; and then mark ALL the laughable typos! Finally I ASK them at 2:30 if they have a room, and they give me one. In and unpack and out about 3:30, and decide "what the hell" and take the bus that's marked "Ruta 1, Hoteles" for 3P, camera at the ready, and we go along Bonampak and double back and start encountering GRAND monuments and fountains for the tourists at the causeway to the hotels, and then in the dividing margin, with flowers and brick walkways, are reproductions of stelas, frescos, carvings, atalantes, so that lazy tourists can feel they've "seen" all these distant places without bothering to GO there, no doubt. The distances are VERY long and the busses go VERY fast, though I do manage to take some good moving shots from the bus of new-building and old-standing hotels, but there's no REAL chance to get a good shot of the BEAUTIFUL homes built along the golf course and the private palaces, particularly the white stucco one with pink trim and potted plants and palms way out between the Cancun Caribe and the Sheraton. At one point debate taking the bus AGAIN and getting OFF and maybe touring the lobbies, asking prices, seeing the beaches, taking a look into the Parian shopping center, but that's not very INTERESTING, even when I don't have much ELSE to do. Have to pay another fare to get back, and one guy gets tossed off the bus when he doesn't want to. Then decide to see where the OTHER end of the line is, and ride FROM Cancun I (the VERY expensive VERY touristy "strip") THROUGH Cancun II (the still-expensive, if the Parador went UP from 200P to 600P and down to 400P only occasionally for people like ME), to Cancun III (the "native" town, with CHEAP hotels and restaurants and shops, dusty streets, much more color and animals and squalor), and into the countryside, past beach shacks and army posts, and to a ferry slip that turns out to be all that's left of Puerto Juarez! Driver stops for a soda and I get off and look around, then back on for 5P for the ride back to my stop in town. Wander INSIDES of super-blocks, looking at parks and restaurants and cinemas, finding one JAMMED with a line for the 5 pm showing of "Mama Solita" and "Al Fin del Tiempo," translated as "When Time Ran Out," with Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, William Holden, Burgess Meredith and some elegant aging star as Lunt and Fontanne. Around the corner to a nice hotel and the Restaurant Palenque, having soup and chicken in a cream sauce that was VERY filling, with mediocre wine that the waiter insisted on serving with RIDICULOUS flourishes and standings-back so that I can gasp freely in amazement. Chilly as the sun sets toward the end, some reasonably sexy people walking past, but the main show's around the corner on Bonompak. Pay the bill with my card and wait on still-long line for the movie, except they begin taking only "Time" tickets when it's about to start. Movie house JAMMED, lots of seats broken, screen dirty, sound track almost impossible to hear, so I move from front to back, at least BEHIND all the talking people, and it's just a HORRIBLE movie by Irwin Allen that doesn't even have reasonable representations of a "nuée ardente" but only sends flaming cannonballs from the volcano to wipe out a luxury hotel that seems to be in Kalalau Valley on Kauai. Out SICK of people and walk Bonompak until it appears to be getting empty about 9:30, and bed tired. Get two LARGE glasses of orange juice for 15P and 20P to assuage thirst beforehand.
MONDAY, JANUARY 5. Wake about 7, out to buy bus ticket for Wednesday, go to the post office at 9 and have to put NEW stamps over the old since the prices for US went from 2.5P to 4 and for Europe from 4 to 6, and mail off all the postcards anyway, then look for a crowded sidewalk restaurant for breakfast, NOT the more expensive one for orange juice last night, and service is slow, passersby boring, lots of rumbles from gas carboys being loaded and unloaded, and ham omelet VERY much underdone, but tasty anyway, and the fruit almost syrupy sweet for "dessert." Pack OUT of Cotty and am to "200P Parador for 600P room for TOMORROW reduced to 440P, leaving bag. Out at 11 to wait a LONG time for the bus, but with added entertainment: Tall handsome blond woman in high-slit blue long dress: "Are you American or Swiss or what?" "American." "They won't cash (OH, also cashed traveler's checks for an extortionate ADDED rate of 5P per $10, lowering effective rate from 231 to 225, almost as bad at the 220 the hotels are willing to give, but I'd STOOD in line and DIDN'T want to walk the three blocks to the Bancomer for ANOTHER line, so I PAID the 75P for $150, $3.50 to save half an hour) my Swiss money in the bank, and I have German marks (she fumbles in possible empty purse), and I need 20 pesos for the bus." I stare. "Can't you help me out? Only five dollars (that's silly, it's only 88!)? I helped people in the States before." I grimace, knowing I have a 20P bill, and give it to her. She grabs the bill IN my hand and pulls me forward to kiss me on the cheek. "Thank you," and she strolls swiftly off, pausing to ask a direction question from a Mexican. Bus finally comes at 11:35, to Puerto Juarez at 11:50, only 10P below and 20P above, and of course the Sultana del Mar doesn't leave till 12:30, laden with hippies and two beautiful blond shirtless boys I managed to get a slide of. BEAUTIFUL AQUAMARINE water going over white, yellow, and green and clouded bottoms. In at 1:20, walk CROWDED, rather TACKY island to north to Zazil-Ha, seemingly empty but still too many people swimming (walking, actually) in a lagoon waist-high between elegant houses and the pyramidal hotel. It's all BEACH life---at least Cozumel has a TOWN where people LIVE and WORK, and play ELSEWHERE. Tanning greasy bodies lying all about, acting uncomfortably brutish to be macho. I go to the INSIDE part of the Villa de Mar Restaurant and have Tehuacan (only their tasty mineral water) for 10P and tostadas de carne molida (hamburger, but GOOD) for 45 and leave 70P. AWFUL Texan saying, "Wal, I can't understand this shit, why can't they serve peas and corn like HOME?" Out at 2:30 and decide NOT to stay---Cozumel at least SEPARATES UGLY tourists from pretty hippies! Also, there's a Punta Sam ferry (that takes CARS) at 4, so I can see where CONTOY Island tours leave from tomorrow. Taxi out to point for 90P and take photos of GREAT ocean and ruins and lighthouse till 3:30, then catch cab back and get on board ferry (with loud radio, of course) at 3:50, and they actually LEAVE at 4:02, AND for only 5P for PASSENGERS. Obviously only ONE of these, but it's crowded with trucks, cars, motorcycles, and motor homes. Back about 5, having had a beer and feeling faintly ill, maybe from the TERRIBLE fumes from the boat---noting that the skies are almost ALWAYS hazed with pinkish pollution and smog. Punta Sam has NOTHING, no signs of ANYTHING to ANYWHERE, and people grab up cabs in groups and we others just wait for the bus back to town. Check into my room at the Parador after thinking I'd MISSED my stop but actually getting the PERFECT stop from the Parador, and take a shower while there's still heat in the room, unpack, since I'll be here two days, and get out to survey restaurants, not about to find Bluebeard's Tavern that Parador recommends over the Portal del Peregrino behind the POP restaurant next door, and want to find a SIDEWALK place where I can just sit and watch the passersby. That comes up, after much walking around and fatigue, after checking to find NO other movie houses showing ANYTHING I want to see, with Don's, where I order a shrimp dinner and milkshake inside and take it outside, and from a parade of effeminate younger Mexican males, I may have found the cruisy place in town, which even attracts health club older types in athletic togs and sneakers who are probably gay but would die before they showed it. For my thirst also get a large cock (oh, BOY!) Coke with ice, and maybe THAT'S what gives me stomach discomfort tonight so that I have to take a few Lomotil before I go to bed, about 10, streets DEFINITELY dying down.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 6. Up about 6:30 and look around for place to eat, and find only a place for locals where the "chef" fingers out meat and gravy and onions and hot sauce onto a tortilla and rolls it, while the others squeeze fresh oranges into soda glasses, so I order four of the VERY tasty things and a glass of orange juice, enjoying watching the workers eat, and seeing the tourists investigate, wrinkle their noses, and move away. To the bus stop about 8 and it almost NEVER comes, but finally it does, at 8:40, getting me to Juarez in time for the 9 am boat, THIS time the single-decked Ma. Carnita, 10P anyway, choosing to stay OUTSIDE listening to girlish talk from rich Florida tourists until wave-water gets too great, then duck behind tarpaulin and look out SIDE to protect myself from bright sun. Nice I've seen the route already. Expecting to be besieged with tours to Contoy and other islands, but now I have to go to THEM, and it turns out that only TOUR to Contoy leaves at 7:30 am! Damn! American tells me of his "boat to catch fish, fish for lunch, snorkeling, turtles" for only 200P, so I dash across to rent snorkeling equipment for 70P, glad I'd worn my cutoffs under my jeans for swimsuit and brought a T-shirt for sun protection for back. We WERE to be 5, but the boat ends up with a VERY crowded 15-16, people sitting on top, the SON an interesting bodybuilder case with NO smarts at ALL, in a family that HATES each other, very ugly to watch. Fat Texans talk and talk, and I just watch the scenery pass on the inland side as we bumble down to pick up two huge frozen fish for lunch from 11-12, and then around elegant-housed point into ocean channel way down BUILT island (it looks deserted from the spinal road, but it has houses almost ENTIRELY along the west coast) to what turns out to be Garrafon Beach, where they throw over PACKAGES of crackers to attract the fish, so we change there and jump overboard before I can WORRY about the water temperature, and it's not cold at ALL, and the schools of fish are so fascinating that it takes awhile to notice that they're mostly GRAY, edged in black, though there are a few black edged in iridescent BLUE that cluster around the bottom of the boat nibbling at marine life growing there. Swim in toward shore, where the reefs have been rubbed smooth by the passage of bodies, and there are lots of PEOPLE to watch in the interior, but not that many fish and hardly any plant life. Outside at the periphery there's some tiny bright blue-and-yellow fish, but the life isn't NEARLY as lush as that around the Virgins. Interesting to have SEEN, but no need to return, only to hope that the reefs at Cozumel would be LARGER, therefore less subject to EROSION from tourists, and slightly farther south might be slightly lusher, though Belize is still probably the best. In for only half an hour, but I'm almost too exhausted to pull myself up on the propeller mount and take off my flippers. Really POOPED, and I'm possibly deathly pale, too, as I try to catch my breath. Then we land a bit south at one of the turtle farms for our picnic at 1:30, and I go into a smelly john to change into dry clothes, and sit in the shade and watch the tourists getting burned, drinking beer, and being obnoxious. I'm still queasy, but by the time lunch is served around 2:30 I'm hungry enough to enjoy the shrimp-seviche with onion-water, and leave some of the onion-water for the broiled fish, which is quite delicious with pallid rolls. Don't recall dessert, I had a mineral water to drink, and took pictures of the people wrestling the enormous sea turtles out to photograph them. Some NICE bodies, but I didn't care for the sun's rays. At last onto the ship about 3, back just before 4 in time for me to run back my snorkel equipment, pick up my driver's license security, and dash back to the Sultana del Mar for the trip back, lying on the foredeck with others and actually HAVING two playful dolphins rush in from right field and leap and swim RIGHT UNDER the nose of the ship for 20-30 seconds while I failed to maneuver for a photograph. Back to another rush for taxis, I'm relieved that I managed to survive the day without shitting in my pants, and back on a very crowded bus to the Parador for another shower and an exhausted lay on the bed until about 9, when I roused myself DETERMINED to find the Blackbeard's Tavern. DON'T find it, return to the Taverna, and when I get the menu find that it IS Blackbeard's Tavern! Have wine and some kind of mixed dish of food and watch passersby and listen to the MOANS and WAILS of the mariachi music, sometimes SO funny that I think it HAS to be intentionally amusing. Out about 10, streets really DEAD, and drop into bed to sleep, leaving a call for 6 to make sure I get up and pack and eat breakfast before bus.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7. 5 am: LOTS of dreams this morning: something on "How to put together a workable city" and Dennis and I taking a subway to a circus on the 18th floor of a Manhattan building that's "in the same trench as the 5th Avenue subway at Canal, and the Rector St. stop." Pack, get my 6 am call, out at 7:15 to have a sandwich at the bus station snack shop, having again taken Lomotil because I'm still feeling delicate of stomach. 8:05 am: Definitely end-of-trip syndrome. Dull-witted, only wanting it to be OVER. Then ask for the Merida bus at 8 and they mention "otra terminal," and "Otra esquina." "OTRA?" I shout! Well, it's just down where everyone ELSE is, and it's now THERE with fuss with people with second-class tickets and Americans who sit anywhere until they're DEMANDED to move to their proper seats; then a baby yowls when she thinks mother's deserted her, and someone's brought a crying CAT onto the bus! Music on QUIETLY (by comparison) at the start and seat next to me's EMPTY when we leave at 8:10. Mexican irritations: practically ALL the people, ALL the kids, Pemex stopping traffic BOTH ways to pull up their oil exploration wiring, the layer of grayish-pink pollution over Cancun, Isla Mujeres, and surrounding points from all the FUEL burned, and the eternal LITTERING on streets, busses, theaters, EVERYWHERE. Road is clear, sky is clear, forest is almost unbroken, bus runs smoothly through little villages, though there's no sign of any ruins around X-can. Drive past the Cenote square in Valledolid and I wander into station for a soda during the 20-minute stop, then into the melee of Chichen Itza to leave off people, driving quickly through the ruins area, and then through familiar roadside sights from my trips to Chichen Itza and Izamal. Into the city about 1 pm, get off at the FAR station and lug bag through busy market for the last time stopping off at the bank for one last exchange into AMERICAN money, into the post office for MORE stamps than they could sell me at Cancun, and back to Casa Bowen about 1:30 to find my room not yet ready. Leave my bag and try Casa Montejo one last time, to find from the tourist information desk that it's CLOSED for at least two months for renovation; find the church near the "Mother's park" to be closed (and one evening I went to see the Posada Toledo, before dinner at the Merida Hotel, and it HAD a nice large inner court, but it didn't seem significantly nicer than Casa Bowen, and it was probably NOISIER since it was closer to the busy center of town); and back to the Casa at 2:30 to find HANS-JORG there, JUST in the process of leaving me a note, saying THEY were back too; I was in ROOM 8; THEY were in SUITE 8! Meet them at 6. In for my bags, unpack, and out to walk to the ZOO again, looking at inscriptions, walking around the back that I'd missed before, still loving the animals, and at 3 pm a young male deer (horns only thimble-sized nubbins) licking (or sucking?) his stiff young thin, definitely HEADED cock! Felines, hippos, birds, more tasty snacks, but finally tired about 5 and walk the long walk (the circus, sadly, was gone) back to the hotel, and change into night clothes and get over to suite 8 for hugs from both of them, and they'd bought "special" brandy that we shared, and then out to my suggestion of El Patio, which they think is expensive, so we're out to look at Cedres du Leban, which I thought might be cheap, but it turns out even MORE expensive, so we're BACK to the Patio and get good chicken dishes and a bottle of wine and enjoy talking: THEY loved Isla Mujeres and HATED Cozumel for its expensiveness, feeling they couldn't rent a scooter for 300P, long lines for everything, and expensive taxis. Interesting. Compare more notes, I suggest I take their photos, and THEY suggest back at the Casa Bowen, so we're snapping each other with HIS flash, since mine doesn't seem to WORK anymore, and get into bed about 10, having borrowed an alarm clock from Mrs. Bowen and found that it DOES work for 5:15, she insists that a taxi's coming at 5:30, for my ride to the airport by 6 for check-in for the plane that leaves at 7 am---they say.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 8. 4:35 am: Wake at 2 with dream of green-eyed handsome "devil" with VERY red WHITES of eyes, who was against me, and I found by BITING his rubbery chin VERY hard his face AND power would collapse and everything became "like Santa Claus was real" and had money and chocolates as thick as the packets of crackers that were crushed to feed the fish Tuesday at Isla Mujeres. I bit TWICE, wanting SO badly for the devil to switch to good. Then wake at 3 with dream of handsome men infiltrating German lines and escaping through holes dug at the bottoms of holes the Germans had prepared for TRAPS for the spies, but somehow it switched to an expedition into GUATEMALA that I thought I would leave when the going ACTUALLY got DANGEROUS. Then at 4 there was the wedding of Monica Mushinski with her knowing eyes bulging the "fact" of her virginity, languidly posing against a doorway, saying "And when they get too demanding I simply lowered my dress front and paraded my perfect bosom before their astounded eyes. They were so entranced by their beauty that I and my attendants could walk the last few hundred yards to my home in perfect safety." Then at 4:30 I seem really AWAKE, so shit, wash, dress, pack, drink water, and look over fog rising over lit Zocolo, and down at 5:25 JUST as cabdriver knocks at door. 50P to the old fart who probably cleans (who said "some muchacho" told us we had a room on Day 1), and 15 minutes ride to almost empty airport at 5:45. Talk to boring accented Canadian and check-in starts at 6 and I'm NOT on their list! Hope flight from Acapulco ISN'T full! Wait 20 minutes for my 20P tax change from 50, and still gray and foggy at 6:40. Read. At 7, announce flight delayed to 8. Finish "Profiles of the Future" at 8, still in lounge. Start "Time Probe." Finally the air BRIGHTENS at 9:25---gone is my LONG wait in Acapulco! Finally call for boarding at 9:30, and on to left window seat in front. Leave 9:50, much too foggy-hazy-smoggy for pictures. Still CLUTCH with held breath at sharp DC-9 turns. Cenotes DOT landscape with round little lakes. Fly ALONG coast, Cuidad del Carmen hidden under clouds, little bumps ALL the way keep me jumping. Land at Villehermosa 10:35, one of few LONGER than estimated rides of 40 minutes, and take pictures out of REFLEX, more than actual scenic value. Again forty minutes for Oaxaca, off at 10:56 and ABOVE clouds by 10:59, quite a turning climb! Breathing HARD, hands almost too wet to turn PEN! Arthritic CRAMPS in BOTH hands! Land at 11:35, somewhat less bumpy flight; view over HILLS and dusty roads/trails joining hilltop communities. Lots less "clutch" now. Flight's HALF over for today! Valley of Oaxaca VERY smoggy and hot looking. Fruit and some butter-less rolls welcome for breakfast at LAST after two large cups free Aeromexico coffee at airport and 7P for some sunflower seeds when I didn't want to pay 30P for dry sandwiches. Thirty minutes to Acapulco, leaving at 11:51, taking off to SOUTH this time. No new view of Monte Alban. Same clouds over same mountains, leveling off at Pacific. Land at 12:21, ONE flight left! Decided NOT to bother about reseeing Acapulco City. Woman says I AM on both flights today. Kahlua prices range from 185 to 220P. Sit and watch people at 1, said to start processing flight at 2:30. Read more, and flight opens at 2, so I pay my 100P airport tax, buy cheapest Kahlua I can find for 180P, get lunch for 143P and leave my last 8P tip, my worry how to face the pleasant waitress with such a puny tip greatly RELIEVED when she goes off DUTY. Check through at 3, giving up my tourist card, and find that Kahlua in the TRULY duty-free shop is 150P. Complain; cashier says "It's not right," but obviously nothing will be done. I begin (or continue to develop) to hate Mexicans. Into VERY warm waiting area to write this by 3:20---time passing! Feel just plain ILL---hope it's just nerves. Change waiting rooms at 3:40---looks light a pretty empty flight. Board at 3:50, 4.5 hours flying time; take off at 4:20, I'm just AWFULLY JITTERY! Acapulco again on the right, though there are lots of suburbs off to the left, too. Then hills, and not much to view since we don't seem to be flying over anything in particular, and they hold off dinner while it's still light outside, and then clouds begin to come in with sunset and the Caribbean, and they serve dinner which I have no problem eating, drinking nothing to protect my stomach, and family next to and behind me chats back and forth, people copmparing notes on their trip, mainly how expensive all the hotels were and how mediocre the food and how hot the beaches. Night falls with black clouds, but there are some scattered lights and then lines of lights along the Gulf coast, and LOTS of brilliant cities: one might fantasize having seen New Orleans, Birmingham, Atlanta, and other large southern cities, jewel-like in their black settings, and I wrap my coat around my head to look out past the brightly-lit cabin where epeople are talking louder and louder. They announce it's 14 in New York, so I'm glad I packed with multi-layered clothing! At last we're over the bright lights of Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, almost continuous, and Manhattan in the distance before they even announce landing. Flight quite smooth, but landing bumpy as usual. They tried out the wing light a NUMBER of times, making me vaguely apprehensive, but now we're over the shores of Long Island and I'm relieved, landing directly rather than circling, and it's only 8:20, flight having taken 4 hours, or 9:20 NYC time. Pull blue jeans, looser, over red trousers, put on all layers of shirt, sweater, jacket, raincoat, and across plane-bridge to terminal and walk a LONG way to customs, not even LOOKING at my passport, and customs doesn't even look through my BAG, so I'm out DIRECTLY to the cab stand and have to WALK to the cab for my only outside exertion, so I don't really feel the cold, and new cabdriver tells me about the cold and the storm that I've missed, and we drive Atlantic Avenue and I'm HOME at 10 pm, paying almost $20 for the ride back ($18.50?), happy to see the apartment in good condition, PILES of mail, a letter from Bill, notes from John about the plants, which seem in reasonably poor but savable condition, and I'm HOME, and with the end of nervousness I FEEL somewhat better, only TIRED from HAVING BEEN nervous and looking forward with eagerness to ALL the letter reading, phone calling, slide developing, journal transcribing, and catching up I have to do in the next MONTH, which this is now the END of!
10 flights
1) NYC - Mexico City
2) - Villahermosa
3) - Oaxaca
4) - Acapulco
5) - Mexico City
6) - Merida
7) - Villahermosa
8) - Oaxaca
9) - Acapulco
10- - NYC
DAY-BY-DAY LOG OF TRIP TO MEXICO: December 9, 1980 to January 8, 1981
TUE, DEC. 9: Fly JFK to Mexico City 9:20 am to 2 pm. Visit zoo. Fly to Villahermosa 5-6 pm, wander center city looking for hotel, most of them full. Finally "expensive" Hotel Olmeca for $21; eat in Los Faroles.
WED, DEC. 10: Bus to ruins of Palenque in tropical jungle setting, few tourists; buildings wonderfully reconstructed. Rains while I'm in the museum and take slides of rainbow afterwards with my new camera. Most of the slides come out better than I would have hoped. Quick, but adequate visit, bus back to Villahermosa and watch mall-walkers from mediocre Azulejo Restaurant. Not the most beautiful or exciting town in Mexico.
THU, DEC. 11: Walk to the adequate museum, lunch at Los Persicos overlooking the Grijalva River, in drizzle to the ruins of La Venta in a park-like setting---it's more fun WORKING to see them. Deer and lizards in park. Eating in Los Faroles when the Guadeloupe-celebrating parade passes.
FRI, DEC. 12: Fly to Oaxaca and meet couple who'd been there 3 weeks: they take me to markets, recommend Hotel Senorial right on the main plaza, and show me the Tourist Office. Santo Domingo Church and Museum for the fabulous treasures from Monte Alban's Tomb 7. Ask why the girls are all dressed up and get sent to the Church of Our Lady of Guadeloupe for the festival celebrations throughout Mexico today. Walk to the Casa de Cultura, the Cathedral (dismal), and eat hot and chocolate-y (black, almost) chicken mole at Cafe Guelatao, seemingly most popular restaurant on the square.
SAT, DEC. 13: Elegant breakfast outside at the Hotel Marquis del Valle, then bus to Monte Alban, buying TWO sets of tickets: to go at 10 am, NOT return at noon, NOT go at 2:30 pm, and return at 5, Even at $1.50 that's better than the regular tours (for shorter times) for $15. Hot, barren, mainly reconstructed pyramids on mountaintop overlooking Oaxaca. Best parts are the newly discovered tombs to the north and the still-unreconstructed rubble to the south. Meet a French couple who praise Kohunlich and other ruins in the south. Bus back in time for the stupendous Indian Saturday market until after dark, then collapse at an open-air bar until an American couple I'd met earlier join me and we dine together at the awful Senorial.
SUN. DEC. 14: Bus tour to Tula, for the 3000-year-old tree; Mitla, for a sketchy view of the Mayan mosaics; and Tlalteclolo for the market. Back to town for lunch of pork in RED mole (pronounced mo-LAY) sauce, but the day was too much: I read, feel sick, go to bed until 9 pm, when I get up for the best dinner at El Asada Vasco; they didn't even charge for dessert.
MON, DEC. 15: Bus to Mitla passed other archeological sites, so I took the LOCAL bus for pennies to Lambityeco for newly found clay mask decorations, to Dainzu to be the ONLY tourist in a newfound area, and to Yagul for an incredible view over the valley and hillsides from little-known ruins. Spectacular setting. Hitchhike to Mitla, join an English-speaking tour for the American Jewish Congress (doctors from NY and NJ) for a THOROUGH tour, including all the churches built right ON the outlying parts of the ruins, and then to visit Howard Leigh's collection NEXT to the museum, and his collection makes the museum's collection look pale. Bus back to Oaxaca and eat in El Patio; this time they don't charge for crepes suzettes!
TUE, DEC. 16: Fly to Acapulco 9:35-10:05, cab into city and HATE it: all for beach-oriented tourists with lots of money, and I'm no part of any of that. Cab back to airport after taking a few pictures of the admittedly spectacular hotels and bay, and fly to Mexico City 1:55-2:30, checking into the tour-required (for cheaper stopover fares) Hotel Doral---not a bad choice, except that I had to pay $36/day on the tour-basing for a room that was $20/day on an individual basis. Great central location, however, Walk the "Zona Rosa," the tourist area, dine with EXCELLENT food in the Fonda del Refugio, recommended by a NYC friend, and walk into Chapultepec Park at night to find everything closed, including the Amusement Park, and even some roads around the President's Palace, located in the park. (Not in the AMUSEMENT park, I might add). Lovely fountains outside the Restaurant del Lago. Altitude of Mexico City seems not to be bothering me at all.
WED, DEC. 17. Tour-based half-day city tour shows me the Rivera murals in the Government Palace, the Cathedral, and parks and residential areas. Get to Gray Lines immediately after for their tour to Our Lady of Guadeloupe---where they made an enormous mistake building something flashier than Madison Square Garden to house one of the most revered pieces of fabric in the Christian world. But the old Cathedral's sinking into the lake on which Mexico City is built. Too short a time here, too long a time at another market, and then to Teotihuacan for the enormous Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, and the current unearthing of incredible carvings in the Castillo. Rebel against the tour's shortening our time, so we have little time to waste at the dreadful La Gruta Restaurant in a cave before the Sound and Light goes on at Teotihuacan, with the voices of Charlton Heston and Agnes Moorehead and spectacular lighting effects. Chilly at night.
THU, DEC. 18: Gray Line tour (only way for a single person to get around) to Puebla, but I find the best museums on my own AWAY from the tour, have a great quick lunch of Chalupas in a local beanery while the tour's embedded in a hotel's restaurant, and then to a shop in San Martin Tuxmelucan, and finally to the Cholula Pyramid, where 12 MILES of tunnels hardly dent what may be the largest pyramid in the world---another church built on top! Dinner at the Rivoli, one of the most prestigious restaurants in Mexico City, but I find it a laugh: the Chicken Chichen-Itza is obviously based on the Aztec idea of tearing hearts out of people: this is red-sauced (achiote sauce) chicken meat wrapped in two layers of banana leaves which have to be pulled apart like a chest cavity before the meat can be pulled out, AND they brought my Grand Marnier soufflé (which was very good, however, so I'm glad I wasn't full) before I finished my meal! Drank water.
FRI, DEC. 19: Breakfast at VIPs Mexican fast-food, then on a tour of Tula with Swiss Miss Schnitzler who told me Tahiti and Moorea aren't worth visiting, but that Fiji retains native cultures. Feel ill (from water?) during lunch; tour guide is very obnoxious, the museum of Tepotzotlan is not very interesting, but the pyramids of Santa Cecilia and Tenayuca are interesting enough to be worth the half-hour spent at each. Sleep!
SAT, DEC. 20: City tour enables me to leave group and see the City of Mexico Museum with its models of how it looked in Aztec times, and it continues with the Museum of Anthropology, which contains the cream of Mexican artifacts. To the Saturday Bazaar, a Hawaiian restaurant for lunch, University City, and the Floating Gardens of Xochimilco, empty and depressing in the last of the afternoon. I return to the amusement park and enjoy two rides on the roller coaster before it closes at 8 pm, and then have the best meal in Mexico City at the Del Lago. Great climax for my visit to Mexico City.
SUN, DEC. 21: Fly (two hours late) to Merida in the Yucatan 12:50-2:05, and sit just ahead of Hans-Jorg and Christal, whom I'd met in Teotihuacan. They suggest the Casa Bowen, a great hotel for less than $7/night. I stroll the city and the Christmas-y parks and meet them for dinner at the Hotel Caribe.
MON, DEC. 22: Exchanging plane reservations and planning rest of trip and changing money all morning, buy bus tickets and making hotel reservations, and dine with Hans-Jorg and Christal at Alfredo's, an old hacienda.
TUE, DEC. 23: A cheap tourist bus makes the rounds of three small sites: Kabah, Labna, Xlapak; one medium site, Sayil; and one masterpiece: Uxmal. I see about half what there is to see by the time the bus returns to Merida at 2 pm. Walk to Centenario Park for the zoo, stop in a local restaurant, and talk to an Oregonian while watching passersby. No great entertainment town.
WED, DEC. 24: Take the same bus to the same places and see the REST of the sites; this is the only way to do it. Then to the Merida Museum in a grand white palace, stroll the rich Paseo Montejo, have dinner on the main square.
THU, DEC. 25: Local bus to Mayapan ruins, chat with the caretakers and their daughter, who sees me back to the bus to Merida, and dinner and show at one of the most embarrassingly awful restaurants I've seen: Faison Y Venado.
FRI, DEC. 26: 7 am bus is the only way to get to Dzibilchaltun, but I hitchhike back with Louisianans. Lunch is a Bonny Burger at Super Bonny, a touch of America, and then I return to Uxmal for the Sound and Light, seeing both the Spanish version at 7 (eating a mediocre dinner in the Villa Archeologica between) and the American version at 9:30, but NO one will pick me up to take me back to Merida, so I have to spend over $35 (having already paid for my room in Merida) for a room at the Hacienda Uxmal. Luxurious evening.
SAT, DEC. 27: Dawn at Uxmal, grand breakfast in the Hacienda, then spend two hours waiting for a bus to Merida, finally hitching to Uman and getting a cheap taxi who'd just left tourists off for the day. Meet Gerard, a Texas professor who says we should share a car out of Chetumal, meeting there in four days. Good! Local bus out to the Izamal convent and pyramid, a lovely unspoiled-by-tourists town (few of them left!), where conveniences are marked in Mayan and Spanish: XIBOOB/HOMBRES and XCHUPALAL/Mujeres. To the Hotel Merida for their dinner show, only slightly better than Faison Y Venado.
SUN, DEC. 28: Bus to Chichen Itza, checking in to cheap but distant hotel, and spend the day in the old section, avoiding the crowd of tourists across the road. Dinner in the hotel with Peter and Jan, pleasant Americans.
MON, DEC. 29: To the NEW section of Chichen Itza (500 years old), and incredible remnants of original color on frescos and carved columns. Dine with Felice & Gus.
TUE, DEC. 30: Bus to Valladolid with time for the Church of San Bernardino, not worth visiting, and the Cenote (natural pool) Zaci, filled with CLEAR water as opposed to the pollution of the cenote in Chichen or the DRY cenotes I've encountered before. Bus via Carillo Puerto (nothing) to Chetumal, to find that Gerard changed his mind and went to Tikal. Pity. One of the best meals of the trip for $7 at the Dora Maria Restaurant in this charming town.
WED, DEC. 31: Rent a cab for over $60 for Kohunlich, Xpujil, Becan, and Chicana, an extraordinary day and unbelievable QUALITY to what they're finding NOW, so that I think archeologists are MAKING them, not FINDING them. No guides or maps, since everything's so newly found. See the awful movie "S.O.S. Concorde" starring my friend Mimsy Farmer, and to bed at 10:30 pm!
THU, JAN. 1: Quality Hotel Continental Caribe breakfast buffet for $8, then a bus to Tulum, idyllic and overcrowded with tourists; I get the last hotel room (the Germans who come after me have to sleep on the floor of the awful restaurant---but then I usually have good luck), even though there's no water for an evening shower. Restaurant runs out of food. Bed at 8:30 pm.
FRI, JAN. 2: Watch sunrise over Tulum ruins, get chased out by guard since the grounds don't open until 8 am. Risk taking a bus to Coba -- NO ONE knows when buses LEAVE Coba. Since there's only one hotel, I pay for my room in Tulum in case I'll need it. Find a room in Coba: two hotel rooms again! The Coba ruins almost undiscovered, one of the most incredible sites in the Yucatan: enormous, overgrown, finely carved, unbelievably romantic, unforgettable site along lakes Masconxoc and Xkanha. Hotel pleasant but totally boring.
SAT, JAN. 3: Watch sunrise over Coba; fog rises soon after so even the guards can't see me. Back to breakfast where they charge me $1 for two slices of toast; when I complain they haughtily insist I don't pay the $6 for breakfast at all. Perfectly all right with me. Return to ruins and total enchantment with Coba. But no bus today! Bum ride with trailer caravaners from South Dakota, who suggest they drop me off at Xel-Ha. OK. Beautiful land-locked bay with tropical fish swimming as if in clear air. At gate, a long walk from bay, I hear English from a taxi. They're Swedish. Can I join them? They're fur and skin traders, world travelers; I tell them all about Yellowstone and Yosemite and Grand Canyon, where they want to visit next. They drive me to Playa del Carmen, where I'm going, then when I offer them a beer for their taxi hospitality, they insist on paying for my lunch. Grand! They tell me all about Cozumel, our destination on the ferry from Playa del Carmen (my second rainbow here, captured on film; first was over the Palacio at Palenque my second day out). I love the place, even though I can't get a room in the hotel I'd like. Expensive lovely dinner.
SUN, JAN. 4: I figure I'll be BACK to Cozumel for the world famed snorkeling, so I leave and bus to Cancun, not able to find Felice and Gus, taking local bus through the tourist area---VERY impressive but impossible to walk in, terrifically polluted, extremely expensive---not my place at all. Eat in a mediocre restaurant and see a dreadful movie "When Time Ran Out." Nothing else to do in Cancun.
MON, JAN. 5: Finally mail cards, needing supplementary postage for the rate raise---usual in this tremendously inflationary economy. Local bus to Puerto Juarez and a boat to Isla Mujeres. All beaches and hotels and sun-baking tourists. Had planned to stay the evening, but take the ferry back to Punta Sam to get a look at it, and return to Cancun to watch passersby.
TUE, JAN. 6: Cancun has NOTHING to do; bus back to Puerto Juarez and over to Isla Mujeres and find a tour leaving for a morning's snorkeling at the "world famous" Garrafon Beach (Virgin Islands much more colorful, and lots fewer tourists), lunch on the beach of fresh-caught fish, riding (if one gets a kick out of it) on sea turtles in their ocean pens. Like Cozumel much better. Back to Cancun and a decent meal in Blackbeard's Tavern.
WED, JAN. 7: Bus to Merida, revisit the zoo, re-met Hans-Jorg and Christal for a final dinner and plans to meet them possibly in Berlin sometime. We have so much in common it amazes all three of us---fast, lifetime friends.
THU, JAN. 8: Wake at 5 am to take the 7 am-scheduled plane which leaves at 9:50, so I'm glad I had books along to read. Skip via Villahermosa and Oaxaca and Acapulco (each of which I'd seen so thoroughly I don't both to leave the airport) to New York City, taking only four hours to fly back home by 10 pm.
So Mexico City (with all its noise, crowding, pollution, and horrible people) and Cozumel are the two places I'd like to return to in Mexico.
LIFELIST FOR 1980
E 80-01-01 Levey's 3-6PM
M 80-01-06* Faust (Chicago, first 2 acts)
M 80-01-06* Man in the Iron Mask (first half)
O 80-01-06* Faust (Chicago, first 2 acts)
M 80-01-10* Dishonored
M 80-01-12* Lathe of Heaven
M 80-01-14* House on 92nd Street
M 80-01-15 Star Trek--The Movie
R 80-01-15 Dan
M 80-01-16 Ten
E 80-01-17 Carrie Smith at Michael's Pub
R 80-01-17 Michael's Pub
B 80-01-18 Eiseley: Darwin's Century
M 80-01-18* Late Show
R 80-01-19 Almontaser
M 80-01-20* Charade
B 80-01-21 Rorem: New York Diary
M 80-01-21* Nicholas Nickleby
M 80-01-21 Nineteen Forty One [194l]
P 80-01-21 Night and Day (Maggie Smith, Peter Dent)
M 80-01-25 Black Hole
R 80-01-25 Ginza Sushi
M 80-01-26* Beyond Atlantis
M 80-01-27* Missing Are Deadly
M 80-01-27* Strangers on a Train
R 80-01-27 Hubert's
B 80-01-28 Eiseley: All the Strange Hours
M 80-01-28* Delicate Balance (end)
M 80-01-28 Escape from Alcatraz
M 80-01-28* Martian Chronicles, part 2
M 80-01-28 North Dallas Forth
M 80-01-29* Blonde Venus
M 80-01-29* Survive!
I 80-01-30 Cold for 3 days
B 80-01-31 : Shikasta
M 80-01-31 All That Jazz
M 80-01-31 Cage Aux Folles, La
M 80-01-31* Scarlet Empress
R 80-01-31 Healthworks
R 80-01-31 Ray's Pizza
M 80-02-01 Apocalypse Now
R 80-02-01 Cantina
B 80-02-03 Conrad: Heart of Darkness
M 80-02-04* Rhinoceros (AFT)
M 80-02-05* Damian: Omen II
R 80-02-05 French Shack for Lion Stew
B 80-02-06 : Unexpected Universe
B 80-02-06 Wyndham: Sleepers of Mars
E 80-02-06 Met Mus for Greek Art of Cyclades
E 80-02-06 Musm of NaturHist:GreekEmbroidry/SpanshWeavng/HuicholIndnPeyote
R 80-02-06 Le Refuge
R 80-02-06 Museum Cafe
P 80-02-08 Lady From Dubuque (Irene Worth, Tony Musante)
B 80-02-09 Eiseley: Notes of an Alchemist
B 80-02-10 : Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook
B 80-02-10 : Mind as Nature
R 80-02-10 Huberts
I 80-02-11 Flu for 4 days
B 80-02-12 Gamow: Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland
P 80-02-13 Evening with Viveca Lindfors (and Kristofer Tabori)
E 80-02-14 Mouches, Les, to 3AM
D 80-02-15 Joan Lombardi
M 80-02-16* Ballo in Maschera
O 80-02-16* Ballo in Maschera
E 80-02-17 Yolande Bavan at Village Vanguard
R 80-02-17 Deli lunch
M 80-02-18 Overland Stage Raiders
M 80-02-18 Pandora's Box
R 80-02-18 Criollas on Atlantic Ave.
M 80-02-19 God's Gift to Women
M 80-02-19 Love 'Em and Leave 'Em
S 80-02-19 JO party #1
B 80-02-20 Eiseley: Firmament of Time, The
E 80-02-20 Isolation tank for one hour, first of 3
M 80-02-20 Girl in Every Port
M 80-02-20 Love Goddesses
R 80-02-20 Marcy
R 80-02-20 Miami
M 80-02-21 American Gigolo
M 80-02-21 Up In Smoke
E 80-02-22 Dolly Dawn at Marty's
P 80-02-22 Snow White at Radio City Music Hall
R 80-02-22 Marty's
M 80-02-23 Elixir of Love (Cincinnati Opera)
O 80-02-23 Elixir of Love (Cincinnati Opera)
D 80-02-24* NYC Ballet: Other Dances, Calcium Light Night
B 80-02-25 Updike: Too Far to Go
S 80-02-26 JO party #2
B 80-02-27 Finney: Time and Again
E 80-02-28 JOYI at WSDG
M 80-02-29 For a Few Trailers More
M 80-02-29 Gone With the Wind, making
M 80-02-29 Gulliver's Travels (Animated, l939)
R 80-02-29 Rincon Argentina
M 80-03-01 Kramer Versus Kramer
B 80-03-02 Eiseley: Star Thrower
B 80-03-02 Woolf: Freshwater
M 80-03-03* In Celebration
R 80-03-04 Fon Yuen
S 80-03-04 JO party #3
I 80-03-05 Cold for 5 days
M 80-03-08* Brave New World
M 80-03-08* Brotherly Love
M 80-03-09* Lathe of Heaven
R 80-03-13 Promenade
B 80-03-14 Kubler-Ross: On Death and Dying
D 80-03-14 Luis Fuente
R 80-03-14 Kende Green Tree
D 80-03-15 Rhema Starling Haitian Dance
T 80-03-20 Fly to Guatemala for 13 days: Posada Belen, Brinks'&Others
R 80-03-21 Jungle Lodge for 3 days (Tikal)
T 80-03-21 Fly to Tikal, Central Tour, Sunset from Temple IV
T 80-03-22 Temple of Inscriptns/Complex G/Group H/Temple V/SunsetTempleIV
R 80-03-23 Maya International Hotel (Flores)
T 80-03-23 Temple III/North Acropolis/Complex F/Bus to Flores
R 80-03-24 Mesa Reconda (Guatemala)
T 80-03-24 Fly to Guatemala/PopolVuhMus/BotanicGarden/SeattlePeople
R 80-03-25 Auto Mariscos (Guatemala)
R 80-03-25 Longarone for breakfast (Longarone)
T 80-03-25 Copan with Lazatins
R 80-03-26 Las Majaral (Camarones del Rio lunch, Puerto San Jose)
R 80-03-26 Ritz (Guatemala)
T 80-03-26 Puerto San Jose with Lazatins/Likin/Amatitlan
R 80-03-27 Brink's Hotel breakfast (Chichicastenango)
T 80-03-27 Chichicastenango Market/Huehuetenango/Zacaleu/Quetzaltenango
R 80-03-28 Poco Loco (Panajachel) with Lennart and Osten
R 80-03-28 Soup Kitchen lunch (Panajachel)
T 80-03-28 San Francisco El Alto Market/Solola/Panahachel/MayaInternatl
M 80-03-29 Charge of the Light Brigade (Cooper)
R 80-03-29 Chinese dinner treat by Shukoff
R 80-03-29 Hotel Tanjuyu breakfast (Panajachel)
T 80-03-29 Santiago Atitlan Boat/ErvShukoff&LynnMiller
R 80-03-30 Barbara's (Antigua Guatemala)
R 80-03-30 Palacio de Dona Leonora (Antigua Guatemala)
T 80-03-30 Panajachel/Solola/LosEncuentros/Chimaltenango/Antigua
R 80-03-31 Palacio Royal Chinese (Guatemala)
R 80-03-31 Posada Don Rodrigo breakfast (Antigua Guatemala)
T 80-03-31 CapucinesConcent/Guatemala City
M 80-04-01 Hero at Large
T 80-04-01 La Merced Procession/Kaminaljuyu/ShoppingforTextiles
R 80-04-04 Hunam
M 80-04-05* Mystery of Elche
M 80-04-05* Non-Stop New York
B 80-04-09 Clarke: Fountains of Paradise
R 80-04-09 Mei King Lun
M 80-04-10 Breaking Away
R 80-04-10 Verandah
M 80-04-12* Don Carlo (Met)
O 80-04-12* Don Carlo (Met)
P 80-04-12 Mornings at 7
R 80-04-12 Leo Lindy's
S 80-04-15 Jerry Crown
S 80-04-15 JO party #4
M 80-04-17 Changeling
M 80-04-17 Saturn III
R 80-04-17 Susu's Yumyum
B 80-04-18 Wyndham: Web
M 80-04-19* Ark of Noah
R 80-04-19 Tripoli
E 80-04-22 Met Mus
R 80-04-22 Le Plaisir
S 80-04-22 JO party #5
B 80-04-23 Watts: Beyond Theology
D 80-04-25 Paul Taylor: Dust/SacreduPrintemps(sexy)/Airs(GREAT)
R 80-04-25 Chez Napoleon
R 80-04-26 Parker's
S 80-04-26 Bob Rosinek
S 80-04-27 Mineshaft for 9 hours
M 80-04-28* Butley
B 80-04-30 White: Elements of Style
I 80-05-02 Seabury says yes to indexing handbook
M 80-05-02* Inferno
B 80-05-03 Bailey: Labors of Hercules
D 80-05-04 ABT
B 80-05-05 Marquez: Innocent Erendira
D 80-05-06 Sergio Servetti at ATL
M 80-05-06* Lost Horizon (l973)
R 80-05-07 Capulet's
B 80-05-08 : Death, the Final Stage of Growth
R 80-05-08 Cookery
I 80-05-09 Dentist: Root canal!
M 80-05-10 Being There
R 80-05-10 Old Mexico
M 80-05-11* Capricorn One
M 80-05-11* Greatest Heroes of the Bible
M 80-05-11* Return of the King
M 80-05-11* Tempest (BBC)
D 80-05-15 Alvin Ailey LaterThatDay/Inside/LesNoces/Memoria(GREAT)
R 80-05-15 Magic Pan (free meal for Strawberry Daiquiri on jacket)
M 80-05-16* Hustler of Muscle Beach
R 80-05-17 Old Original Bookbinders (Philadelphia)
R 80-05-17 Wine Cellar of Inn (Philadelphia)
T 80-05-17 Philadelphia: ASI meeting for 2 days
S 80-05-20 JO party #6
I 80-05-21 Hangover
P 80-05-22 Black on Broadway
M 80-05-23 Empire Strikes Back
M 80-05-25 Friday the l3th
I 80-05-26 Cold for 1 day
E 80-05-27 Eskimos at Museum of Natural History
M 80-05-27 Black Stallion
M 80-05-27 Corvette Summer
R 80-05-27 Cuban Restaurant at 94th and Broadway
B 80-05-29 K : Way of the Kabbalah, The
P 80-05-31 Happy Time at Goodspeed Opera
R 80-05-31 Galston House (Goodspeed)
D 80-06-01* ABT Bayadere (Makarova)
R 80-06-01 Hungarian Rendezvous
M 80-06-02 Tex Avery and Walter Lantz Cartoons
M 80-06-02* Tom Jones
M 80-06-02* Twelfth Night (BBC)
M 80-06-03* King Henry IV, Part l
S 80-06-03 JO party #7
M 80-06-04* King Henry IV, Part 2
M 80-06-05* King Henry V (see also Henry V)
M 80-06-09* Xi'an
S 80-06-10 JO party #8
R 80-06-12 Vieille Gare (Winnepeg)
T 80-06-12 Fly to Canada and Alaska for 27 days: Winnepeg/St.RegisHotel
T 80-06-13 Winnepeg-Saskatoon by bus/Patricia Hotel/PeterMillard's
T 80-06-14 Saskatoon-Edmonton/Muttart Conservatory/YMCA
M 80-06-15 Luna
T 80-06-15 Edmonton-PeaceRiver/Sunset Valley Motel
R 80-06-16 Pizza Patio (Hay River)
T 80-06-16 Peace River-Hay River/CaribouLodge
T 80-06-17 Hay River-FortSmith-HayRiver/JacquesVanPelt/Pelicans/CaribouL
M 80-06-18 Tom Horn
R 80-06-18 Wildcat Cafe (Yellowknife)
T 80-06-18 Hay River-Yellowknife(fly)/ConMineTour
T 80-06-19 Yellowknife/Rae-Edzo/FortProvidence/Enterprise/PeaceRiver/Ed
T 80-06-20 Edmonton/Calgary/Banff/Golden/Revelstoke/Penticton/3GablesIn
T 80-06-21 Penticton-Vancouver Bus/Fly Vancouver-Inuvik
T 80-06-22 Inuvik Tour/FlyVancouver/Gastown/SeaBus/YMCA
M 80-06-23* King Solomon's Mines (Hardwicke)
T 80-06-23 Vancouver-PrinceGeorge/RanchMotel
T 80-06-24 Prince George-DawsonCreek/MacPherson'sHotel
T 80-06-25 Dawson Creek-Whitehouse Bus
E 80-06-26 Frantic Follies (Whitehorse)
T 80-06-26 Schwatka Tour/Trail Walk/Fort Yukon Hotel
T 80-06-27 Whitehorse-Fairbanks/Fairbanks Hotel
T 80-06-28 Fly Fairbanks/Point Barrow/Prudhoe Bay/Fairbanks/FrbnksHotel
S 80-06-29 Rob Miller
T 80-06-29 Fairbanks-Anchorage/Jake and Mark's
R 80-06-30 Top of the World (Anchorage)
T 80-06-30 Anchorage:EarthquakePark/SexShop/PortageGlacier/BirdHouse
T 80-07-01 Anchorage-Juneau-Whitehorse/EggIsland/YukonRiverBarbeque/FYH
T 80-07-02 Whitehorse-Skagway/Skagway Inn
T 80-07-03 Boat Taku from Skagway-Juneau/Alaskan Hotel
T 80-07-03 Skagway:WalkingTour/Flightseeing/SoapySmith'sTomb/Museum
T 80-07-04 Juneau-Gustavus/Explorer in Glacier Bay/Randy lunch
R 80-07-05 Red Dog Saloon (Juneau)
T 80-07-05 Gustavus-Juneau/ClimbMt.Roberts/AlaskanHotel
T 80-07-06 Boat Malaspina Juneau/Petersburg/Wrangell/KetchikanTotems
R 80-07-07 Dining Pavilion (Vancouver)
T 80-07-07 Prince Rupert Wait/Vancouver:StanleyPark/Zoo/Aquarium/Beluga
R 80-07-08 Cafe Galleria
T 80-07-08 Fly from Vancouver to NYC
B 80-07-11 Frisch: Man in the Holocene
M 80-07-11* Norman, Is That You?
R 80-07-11 Sung Tsung
M 80-07-13* Animals Are Beautiful People
M 80-07-13* War of the Worlds
M 80-07-15 Road House
M 80-07-15 They Drive by Night
S 80-07-15 JO party #9
M 80-07-17 Muppet Movie
R 80-07-17 Proof of the Pudding
M 80-07-18* Fortune
M 80-07-19* In Search of Noah's Ark (not Ark of Noah)
M 80-07-21 Fame
P 80-07-21 Ain't Misbehavin'
D 80-07-22 Berlin Ballet: Firebird/MissJulie/DonQPDD/5Tangos(Nureyev)
B 80-07-24 Watts: In My Own Way
D 80-07-25 Berlin Ballet: Idiot (Nureyev,Panov,Evdokimova,Panova)
M 80-07-25 Amityville Horror
M 80-07-25 Dressed to Kill
R 80-07-25 Rincon Argentina
D 80-07-26 Berlin Ballet: Nutcracker (Nureyev, Evdokimova)
M 80-07-26 Last Waltz
M 80-07-26 Quadropenia
B 80-07-27 Lem: Tales of Pirx the Pilot
M 80-07-27* African Safari
M 80-07-28 Shining
R 80-07-28 Le Petit Pre
S 80-07-29 JO party #10
M 80-07-30 Airplane
R 80-07-30 Le Cygne
M 80-07-31 Arabian Nights (Pasolini)
R 80-07-31 Palace for $153.64 for Dennis's birthday
B 80-08-01 Watts: Art of Contemplation
B 80-08-01 Watts: Cloud Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown
R 80-08-03 Promenade
M 80-08-04 Tom and Jerry and Bob Clampett Cartoons
P 80-08-04 They're Playing Our Song (John Hammil, Rhonda Faren)
R 80-08-04 Levant
S 80-08-05 JO party #11
P 80-08-06 West Side Story (KenMarshall,JossieDeGuzman,DebbieAllen)
R 80-08-06 Thai Restaurant
M 80-08-08 Dracula (Langella)
M 80-08-08 Nosferatu (Kinski)
E 80-08-09 Vera Auer in Forest Park, Queens
M 80-08-09* Olympia, Part I
M 80-08-09* Olympia, Part II
M 80-08-10* Four Feathers (l939)(Richardson)
S 80-08-12 JO party #12
S 80-08-12 Paul
M 80-08-13 Dark Star
M 80-08-13 Hardware Wars
R 80-08-13 Cake Madeleine
R 80-08-13 Gardenia Club
M 80-08-14 Battle Beyond the Stars
M 80-08-14 Starcrash
M 80-08-14* That's Entertainment Too
O 80-08-14 Peking Opera:MonkeyKingFights/JadeBracelet/YenTangMountain
M 80-08-16* Other Side of Aspen (p)
M 80-08-16* Wicker Man
M 80-08-17 Close Encounters Special Edition
P 80-08-17 Dancin'
R 80-08-17 China Palace
M 80-08-18* Musical Comedy Tonight
M 80-08-19 Tin Drum
R 80-08-19 Mary's
B 80-08-20 Sturgeon: Golden Helix, The
B 80-08-21 Heinlein: Number of the Beast, The
P 80-08-22 Talley's Folly (Judd Hirsch)
E 80-08-23 Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
E 80-08-23 Rockaway Playland
R 80-08-23 Martin's Corner (Rockaway)
M 80-08-24* Metropolitan Opera Gala with Sills
M 80-08-25 Cartoonal Knowledge
B 80-08-26 Lofting: Doctor Doolittle's Post Office
D 80-08-26 Roland Petit
R 80-08-26 Jimmy Ray's
P 80-08-27 Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
B 80-08-28 Prophet: Prophecies for the 1980's
B 80-08-28 Stapledon: Far Future Calling
E 80-08-28 Picasso exhibit at Modern
M 80-08-28* Heart of the Matter
R 80-08-28 American Charcuterie
E 80-08-30 Austro-Hungarian costumes at Met
M 80-08-30* Crazies
P 80-08-30 Pirates of Penzance in CP (Kevin Kline, )
E 80-08-31 Feather Art at Museum of Natural History
R 80-08-31 American
P 80-09-01 Evita (Patti Lupone,Mandy Patinkin, )
E 80-09-02 New York Historical Society
M 80-09-03* Great Santini
M 80-09-03* Sooner or Later
S 80-09-05 Buddy Paul
S 80-09-05 Club Baths
E 80-09-06 Shirley Scott at Sweet Basil
R 80-09-06 Sweet Basil
E 80-09-07 Dardenelle at Cookery
I 80-09-07 Dennis calls me "ex-lover"
R 80-09-07 Cookery
S 80-09-08 Rick Pollock
B 80-09-09 Watts: Behold the Spirit
E 80-09-09 Fraunces Tavern drinks with Lorene and Mike and Dennis
R 80-09-09 Hors D'Ourverie and Windows on the World
R 80-09-10 Arabia Felix
R 80-09-13 Cahoots
D 80-09-14 Roland Petit:MarcelProustRemembered(Schaufuss/Gil/Ganio/Khal
M 80-09-14* Blood Sport
M 80-09-14* Drowning Pool
M 80-09-14* Tarzan the Fearless
M 80-09-15* Foul Play
M 80-09-15* Spartacus and the Ten Gladiators
M 80-09-16 Big Red One
M 80-09-16 Carny
R 80-09-16 Embajada
B 80-09-18 Avalon: Serpent Power
D 80-09-18 Kenneth Rinker at ATL
R 80-09-19 Keewah
B 80-09-22 Lem: Perfect Vacuum, A
M 80-09-24 Closed Set
M 80-09-24 Dirty Picture Show (55th St.)
M 80-09-24 Tuesday Morning Workout
B 80-09-30 Watts: Myth and Ritual in Christianity
M 80-09-30* Playing for Time
M 80-10-01* Crime and Punishment (Hurt--Part l)
B 80-10-02 : Great International Disaster Book (skim)
M 80-10-04* Funny Face
M 80-10-04* Manon Lescaut (Scotto, Domingo)
O 80-10-04* Manon Lescaut (Scotto, Domingo)
E 80-10-05 Allan Block at Palace Theater in Norwalk, Connecticut
E 80-10-06 Folio Publishing show at Hilton
B 80-10-08 Schneebaum: Bend in the River, A
B 80-10-09 AAA(ed.): Time and Frequency
S 80-10-12 Everard Baths
B 80-10-13 : Indexing, Art of
M 80-10-14* Cape Fear
R 80-10-15 Gazebo
D 80-10-17 San Francisco Ballet: Intro&Allgro/Duettino/Psalms/SongDeadWr
D 80-10-18 San Francisco Ballet: Quanta/TempestPDD/Nothin'Doin'Bar/Mozat
D 80-10-19 Cincinnati Ballet:ConcertWaltzes/StillPt/SlpBtyPDD/Frnk&Jhny
R 80-10-19 Dona Flor
S 80-10-19 Man's Country
I 80-10-20 Dentist Auerbach estimates my periodontal work
S 80-10-20 JO party #13
B 80-10-21 Barthelme: Great Days
P 80-10-22 Brigadoon
R 80-10-22 Charley Brown's
R 80-10-23 Dodin-Bouffant $113.30 GREAT
B 80-10-24 Marquez: In Evil Hour
R 80-10-24 Dakota
B 80-10-26 : In a Free State
E 80-10-26 Met Mus for FrenchDrawings/Paintings/American Wing
S 80-10-27 JO party #14
M 80-10-29* Endless Night
P 80-10-29 Deathtrap (Farley Granger, Peter Dent)
M 80-10-30* Plumber (Peter Weir)
M 80-10-30* Topper
S 80-10-31 Ansonia 73
S 80-11-03 JO party #15
R 80-11-05 Noorjehan
B 80-11-08 Wellisch: Indexing and Abstracting (skim)
M 80-11-08* Bridge Too Far
M 80-11-08* Man Hunt
M 80-11-08* Witches Mountain
E 80-11-09 St. Ann's Craft Fair
M 80-11-09* Cenerentola
M 80-11-09* Spy Who Loved Me
M 80-11-09* Three Men in a Boat
O 80-11-09* Cenerentola
R 80-11-09 Foffe's
M 80-11-10* Hamlet (Jacobi)
M 80-11-12 Go Into Your Dance
M 80-11-12 Wonder Bar
D 80-11-13 Los Angeles Ballet:BeethVar/Tarntla/PomElec/Fantase/Symphony
M 80-11-14 Lisztomania
M 80-11-14 Mahler (Russell)
E 80-11-15 Vonnegut Drawings
P 80-11-15 Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A, at ELT
R 80-11-15 Robata
R 80-11-15 Uncle Wong's Harbin Inn
B 80-11-16 Gaddis: JR
M 80-11-16* Birds
B 80-11-17 Updike: Picked-Up Pieces
B 80-11-18 Loeb: Battle for Investment Survival, The
B 80-11-19 Heller: Good As Gold
P 80-11-19 Forty-Second Street (42nd St.)
B 80-11-20 AAA(ed.): Indexers on Indexing
M 80-11-20* Homebodies
B 80-11-21 Watts: Way of Liberation in Zen Buddhism
B 80-11-22 Watts: Deep-In View
M 80-11-22* Car
M 80-11-22* Same Time Next Year
B 80-11-23 Watts: Theologia Mystica of Saint Dionysius
B 80-11-24 Watts: Zen
B 80-11-25 Watts: Nature, Man, and Woman
B 80-11-26 Watts: Easter
R 80-11-26 Didi's
B 80-11-27 Watts: Does It Matter?
E 80-11-27 Lebanon Consulate General's House for Samira's Thanksgiving
M 80-11-27 Caligula
B 80-11-28 Watts: Tao, The Watercourse Way
B 80-11-29 Watts: Spirit of Zen, The
B 80-11-30 Burroughs: Dead Star
E 80-11-30 Jazz at City Lights
R 80-11-30 Villa Storica
B 80-12-01 Burroughs: Arcade
I 80-12-01 Buy $250 camera, slide projector, screen
M 80-12-01* Three Little Words
B 80-12-02 Burroughs: Daratz
M 80-12-02* Christmas in July
B 80-12-03 Burroughs: So Who Owns Death TV?
M 80-12-03* In the Good Old Summertime
S 80-12-03 Rolf and Paul Cazanove over for movies, and come
B 80-12-04 Burroughs: Sidewalk 2
B 80-12-05 Burroughs: Minutes to Go
E 80-12-05 Russell Paul Schofield
E 80-12-06 Avi's for Hannukah
D 80-12-07 Phildanco
E 80-12-08 China exhibit
R 80-12-09 Los Faroles (Villahermosa)
T 80-12-09 Fly to Mexico for 31 days: Zoo/Fly Villahermosa/Hotel Olmeca
R 80-12-10 Azulojo (Villahermosa)
T 80-12-10 Palenque Ruins all day, ending with rainbow
R 80-12-11 Las Faroles (Villahermosa)
R 80-12-11 Los Persicos (Villahermosa)
T 80-12-11 Museum/La Venta/Gauadeloupe Parade
R 80-12-12 Cafe Guelatao (Oaxaca)
T 80-12-12 Oaxaca/ElSenorial/Markets/SantoDomingo/GuadeloupeFestival/Ct
R 80-12-13 Marquis Del Valle breakfast
R 80-12-13 Monte Alban Museum Restaurant
R 80-12-13 Senorial (Oaxaca)
T 80-12-13 Monte Alban/SaturdayMarket/talk with people
R 80-12-14 El Asada Vasco (Oaxaca)
R 80-12-14 Jardin (Oaxaca)
T 80-12-14 Tula/Mitla/Tlalteclolo
R 80-12-15 El Patio (Oaxaca)
T 80-12-15 Lambityeco/Dainzu/Yagul/Mitla by bus/HowardLeigh'sArt
R 80-12-16 Fonda Del Refugio (Mexico City)
T 80-12-16 Acapulco/MexicoCity/DoralHotel/ZonaRosa/ChapultapecParkWalk
R 80-12-17 El Roble (Mexico City)
R 80-12-17 La Gruta (Mexico City)
T 80-12-17 City Tour/RivieraMurals/Cathedral/Parks/Guadeloupe/Teotihuacn
R 80-12-18 Rivoli (Mexico City)
T 80-12-18 Puebla Tour/BelloMus/Alfenique/SanMartinTuxmelucan/CholulaPyr
R 80-12-19 VIP breakfast in Doral
T 80-12-19 Tula Tour/Santa Cecilia/Tepotzotlan/Tenayuca/sick and sleep
R 80-12-20 Del Lago (Mexico City) **
R 80-12-20 Moana Loa (Mexico City)
T 80-12-20 Old Mus/CityMus/Market/AnthroMus/BazaarSabado/UCity/Xochimilc
M 80-12-21 Thief of Baghdad (Sabu)
R 80-12-21 Caribe Hotel (Merida)
T 80-12-21 Merida/PosadaDesAngeles/WalkCity&Park/Hans-Jorg&CristalMullr
R 80-12-22 Alfredo's (Merida)
R 80-12-22 Restaurant Express breakfast (Merida)
T 80-12-22 Casa Bowen/plannning and moving and errands
R 80-12-23 Cantamayac for pok-chuc
T 80-12-23 Kabah/Labna/Xlapak/Sayil/Uxmal/CentenarioParkZoo
R 80-12-24 Montejo Palace (Merida)
R 80-12-24 Yucateca on Zocolo (Merida) cochinita pibil
T 80-12-24 Kabah/Labna/Xlapak/Sayil/Uxmal/MeridaMuseum/PaseoMontejo
R 80-12-25 Faisan y Venado show, Venado Enterraneo (BuriedDeer)(Merida)
T 80-12-25 Mayapan/Cenotes/Castillo/girl
R 80-12-26 Bonny Burger for Super Bonny and Malteado Freso (Merida)
R 80-12-26 Villa Archeologica (Uxmal)
T 80-12-26 Dzibilchaltun/dolls/UxmalSound&Light/HaciendaUxmal
R 80-12-27 Hotel Merida Dinner and Show (Merida)
T 80-12-27 Uxmal/IzamalConvent/Pyramid/Gerald in Hotel Paris
R 80-12-28 Hotel Delores Alba (Chichen Itza)
T 80-12-28 Chichen Itza/HotelDeloresAlba/OldChichen/friends
T 80-12-29 Chichen Itza:Warriors/Castillo/Interiors/BalancancheCave
R 80-12-30 Dona Maria (Chetumal)
T 80-12-30 Valladolid/SanBernadino/CenoteZaci/Chetumal/JuanCarlosMotel
R 80-12-31 Baalbeck for dinner (Chetumal)
R 80-12-31 Grijalva for breakfast (Chetumal)
T 80-12-31 Maria Delores Hotel/Kohunlich/Xpujil/Becan/Chicana
R 81-01-01 Hotel Continental Caribe's buffer breakfast (Chetumal)
R 81-01-01 Mexico Restaurant (Tulum)
T 81-01-01 Bus to Tulum, Hotel Cruzero
R 81-01-02 Vill Archeologica Restaurant (Coba)
T 81-01-02 Tulum at dawn/Bus to Coba:Maconxoc/Pinturas/LakeXkanha
R 81-01-03 Pepe's Grill (Cozumel)
R 81-01-03 Reclos lunch treat (Playa del Carmen)
T 81-01-03 Coba at dawn/Glockenspecter/NohochMul/GreatPlatform/Xel-Ha
T 81-01-03 Playa del Carmen/Boat to Cozumel/ Bahia Hotel
M 81-01-04 When Time Ran Out (Day the World Ended)
R 81-01-04 Los Palmeris (Cozumel)
R 81-01-04 Palenque Restaurant (Cancun)
T 81-01-04 Cozumel at dawn/PlayaDelCarmen/Cancun/HotelCotty/ThruCancun
R 81-01-05 Don's shrimp dinner (Punta Sam)
R 81-01-05 Villa Del Mar (Isla Mujeres)
T 81-01-05 Cards/BustoPuertoJuarez/IslaMujeres/SouthPoint/MayaRns/Lgths
R 81-01-06 Blackbeard's Tavern (Cancun)
T 81-01-06 Snorkel Garrafon/FishLunch/BoatTrip/Cancun
R 81-01-07 Patio (Merida)
T 81-01-07 Bus to Merida/Zoo/Hans-Jorg and Cristel
B 81-01-08 Clarke: Profiles of the Future
T 81-01-08 Fly to Villahermosa/Oaxaca/Acapulco/New York City