Pleasant Accommodations

You may recall that the last time we traveled to Ohio, the hotel where we stayed, the Best Western Plus in the Cleveland suburb of Strongsville, was absolutely terrible!  So, when planning this trip, I was looking for a different hotel that had good reviews but was not too expensive.  We decided upon the Sonesta Simply Suites in North Olmsted, another Cleveland suburb.  It had very good reviews, and the price was only a little more expensive that the Best Western.

The location is good.  It is a 15 minute drive from the airport, and it is located adjacent to Great Northern Mall.  So, there are plenty of restaurants nearby.  It is also just a short drive from my old stomping grounds of Olmsted Falls and Berea.  It is close to the interstate highway, making it easy to reach most places in the Cleveland area.

We arrived at the hotel around 11 P.M.  We checked in and were assigned our rooms.  At first I thought that the place was going to be similar to the Best Western.  The public areas and hallways looked rather tired and in need of renovation.  However, once we reached our room I was quite pleased.  No, it is not a luxury hotel, but we don't need luxury.  It was clean, quiet, spacious and comfortable.  As the name of the hotel implies, this was more that just a bedroom in which to lay our heads... it was a small apartment.

The bedroom

There is a fully equipped kitchen, although during our two night stay we did not use it.

Adjacent to the kitchen is a living room with a sofa, armchair and TV.  (There is also a TV in the bedroom.)

And this is the smallest of their suites!

I really liked that there was plenty of room to store our stuff.  There were two closets and loads of drawers in which to put our things.  The bathroom had plenty of counter space to spread out our toiletries. During our two weeks here we will spend a few nights at the homes of two different sets of friends.  In between those visits and at the end of our trip we will return to this hotel.  At the end we will make use of the hotel's laundry room.  The washing machines and dryers are free.  We won't have to feed them a bunch of quarters!

I think we have found the place to stay on our trips back to Ohio.   

Flying Norith

On Wednesday, we flew from Mexico City to Cleveland via Houston... a route that I have taken countless times.   (So, these photos are nothing that you have not seen before.)  As I mentioned previously, we snagged an excellent first / business class fare, so our flights were very comfortable.

We pulled away from the gate in Mexico City a few minutes early.

Up, up and away

It was a cloudy day, so we could not glimpse the volcanoes to the east.

 The heavy rains of this summer appear to have revived Lake Texcoco, the lake which once covered most of the Valley of Mexico.

It's a short flight to Houston... just over two hours... and before long we were flying over the Texas Gulf coast with its barrier islands.

Soon after we were descending over the Houston metropolitan area, and we landed at the airport ahead of schedule.

We had a layover of more than three hours in Houston.  However, more than an hour of that time was eaten up waiting in line at immigration, reclaiming our luggage, rechecking it for the flight to Cleveland, passing through security again. and walking to our gate.  

The line at immigration was very long and at first was moving painfully slowly.  There were only two windows open with immigration agents.  Thankfully, after a while, several more windows were opened, and the line started moving at a steady pace.  No questions were asked of me.  I showed my passport, had my photo taken, and that was it.   By the time I got to luggage claim, our suitcases had been taken off the carrousel and were sitting to the side.  We then walked straight through customs... a rather superfluous step... and then rechecked the luggage.  Then we had to go through security once again... another long line, although it moved at a fairly good pace.  We were not required to take off our shoes.  (Going through security in Mexico City, you have never had to take off your shoes.)

Because we were traveling first class on an international flight, we were granted admission to the United Club.  There was a United Club not far from the gate for our flight to Cleveland.  By that time we had about an hour to kill in the club, and we took advantage of the free food.

Once again, our flight left a few minutes early.

There must have been a good tailwind behind us, because we arrived at Cleveland International Airport at 9:38 P.M., more than a half hour early.  After claiming our luggage, we took the shuttle from the terminal to the car rental center.  We picked up our vehicle, and by about 11 we were getting settled into our hotel.  Although everything went smoothly, it was still a very long and tiring day.

Heading North Again

Tomorrow, we will be flying north to Ohio again.  The primary reason behind this trip will be to attend my high school reunion, as well as give my Christmas cards to a friend so that they can be sent out after Thanksgiving.  During the two weeks that we are there, I have tried to schedule visits with as many friends as possible, but unfortunately in twelve days I couldn't fit everyone in.  As it is, every day is booked with social engagements.

My suitcases are packed.  The yellow one is filled with gifts to take to friends; the blue one with clothes.  Today, all I have left to do is pack my carry-on backpack, and check-in online.

When I booked the flights, once again I was able to find a round trip, first/business class fare at an excellent price... around $850.  And incredibly, it cost less than "economy plus".  The schedule is not too bad.  We leave Mexico City in the late morning, fly to Houston, and arrive in Cleveland at night.  Coming home we will have to be at Cleveland airport in the wee hours of the morning for an early flight, but we will be in Mexico City in the early afternoon.  Both going and returning we have layovers of around three hours... long enough so that I don't have to worry much about missed connections, but not an excessive amount of time.

My biggest worry was that I would receive permission to leave the country in time for the trip.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am in the process of applying for my permanent Mexican residency visa.  While that application is going through, I cannot leave the country without a special document from the government.  I hired an immigration lawyer to handle it for me, and yesterday the document was delivered to me.  The paper has to be stamped by Mexican immigration at the airport before departure, and then stamped again when I return to Mexico.  Then, within ten days of my return I have to hand in the document at the Mexican immigration headquarters.  I am hoping that by the time I return, my permanent visa will have been approved, and I will not have to deal with this bureaucracy ever again.

Patriotic Food

I have frequently mentioned that "chile en nogada" is the traditional dish for month of Mexican Independence.  Not only are the walnuts and pomegranates in season, but its colors (green poblano pepper, white walnut sauce, and red pomegranate seeds) are those of the Mexican flag.

As we were walking through the neighborhood of San Juan de los Pinos, we saw a restaurant advertising another dish of their own creation for Independence Day... "patriotic enchiladas".

These enchiladas are served with green sauce and red sauce and have a stripe of white "crema" spooned over the middle.

¡Viva México!

A Last Bit of Shopping

I thought that I had finished all my shopping for gifts to take to Ohio.  But after packing my suitcases I still had some room.

Last week the World Trade Center held a coffee and chocolate expo.  My friend Katie is passionate about coffee and chocolate.  (She rarely reads the blog, so I am safe to write this.)  So, on Saturday, the last day of the expo, Alejandro and I planned to check it out, and perhaps buy more gifts for Katie.

Many, if not most, of the expositions at the World Trade have free admission.  This one, however, was charging 270 pesos (more than 14 US dollars) to get in.  We agreed that paying almost 29 dollars for the two of us for the privilege of buying something inside was highway robbery.  We turned around.

Later in the afternoon, we were in the adjacent neighborhood of San Pedro de los Pinos, and went into this little shop that I have mentioned a number of times previously.

The entire building is beautifully painted, and the store carries an interesting variety of artisanal and organic products.  That day they were featuring products made from goat's milk.  They were giving tastes of "cajeta". a kind of Mexican caramel made from goat's milk.  It was very smooth, both in consistency and taste.  Even though it was not made in Celaya, the city that is the most famous producer of "cajeta", this was perhaps the best I have ever tasted.  Katie also is very fond of Nutella, and I figured that if she likes Nutella, she is going to love this.  They also had packages of Mexican table chocolate (what is used for making hot chocolate).  The chocolate beans are toasted and ground by hand by the women of the indigenous Amuzgo tribe in the state of Guerrero.  

So, I bought two jars of "cajeta" and a package of chocolate.  My shopping is now definitively done.

(As a side note, Alejandro told me the origin of the name "cajeta".  It comes from the word "caja", meaning "box".  The goat's milk caramel was originally sold in little wooden boxes... "cajitas"... and so the sweet confection came to be called "cajeta".  

Testing

A little over a week before we were scheduled to leave for Ohio, I got sick.  I don't know what I had, but there was no fever, no sore throat, no runny nose, just a terrible hacking cough and wheezing in my chest.  For one day I felt terrible.  I had an at-home COVID test here at the apartment, and with everything that I have read about cases on the rise, I decided to take it.

Thank goodness, the result was negative.  Somehow I have managed all these years to never catch the coronavirus.

The next day I felt considerably better.  I was still coughing but not nearly as much.  I actually felt able to drag myself to one of nearby pharmacies that have an attached doctor's office.  The doctor asked me questions, took my temperature (still normal) and listened to my lungs.  She gave me some prescriptions to fill.

A couple days later, I went to another pharmacy, and bought some more COVID tests. I took another one, and it was negative too.  Maybe I'm being compulsive, but I'll probably take another test before leaving on the trip.  I hope that I will be completely symptom free by the time I leave for Ohio.

Supposedly, the newest Pfizer booster will be available at some pharmacies down here, but there is no mention of when.  I am hoping that while I am in Ohio, I will be able to easily get a COVID shot as well as my high potency flu shot at a drug store in spite of Mr. Brainworm's campaign against vaccines.

A Good Remake

Usually when they a remake of a movie, the original was better.  Why does Hollywood keep redoing movies that were perfectly good the first time around?  However, the last few times that we went to the movie theater, we saw the trailer for "The Roses", and I thought, "I want to see that one."  It opened at the World Trade Center Cinema, and last weekend we went to see it.

(Image taken from the web)

"The Roses" is a remake of the 1989 dark comedy "The War of the Roses" which starred Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas in the story of a marriage explosively falling apart.   The new version stars British actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Coleman, both of whom are favorites of mine.  I know that I liked the original, but it's been so many years, I really can't judge which one is better.  I think that it is the pairing of Cumberbatch and Coleman that make this retelling worthwhile.  They are tremendous actors, and their very British repartee of sarcastic barbs is amazing.  The thing about this movie, and I can't recall if it was true of the original, is that it is obvious that, in spite of everything, they are very much in love.  You root for them to overcome their obstacles, and you feel a pang when there is a missed opportunity for them to repair their relationship.  I won't give away the ending, but it is different from the original.

I would be amazed if both Coleman and Cumberbatch are not nominated for Oscars.  Their performances are worth the price of admission.