So the forecast had said 90 percent rain all week.  So far, we’d only had a smattering of sprinkles here and there.  Waking up in paradise on Monday, however, was a full on downpour…  and a minor hangover… to start the day.

Call me kooky, but I’d never had a rainy day in paradise, and I was excited to see what it entailed.  I was amazed to watch the employees CONSTANTLY wiping down decks and skimming pools to make sure that things stayed pristine.  I saw some people, towels over their heads, running around and making the best of the situation.  I plopped down on the super comfortable balcony bed and read until I got hungry.  The bear stayed inside and played on his phone and watched TV.  I figured on a day like this room service would take a long time.  I figured wrong.  It still was only about 30 minutes.  The green chili chillaquiles with a couple of fried eggs on them….  Ohhhhhhhhhhhh my!   And, as always, the French toast was fabulous.  I had not figured out, yet, however, that the coffee was causing my insane heartburn, and had more on day 2.  Not a good plan.  It made me feel ooogie for most of the rest of the morning.  But I had The Blindside to watch and a compfy place to be.  Life was not so bad.

After lolling around lazily for the majority of the morning, we decided to see what was happening around the rest of the resort.  The thought that went into designing it is pretty amazing because you can get ALL the way from building 8 to the theater and the main building without ever stepping out into an uncovered area.  They had food set up in the theater and I braved some rice and got a club soda while nursing my heartburn.  They had a movie set up on the big screen, some people playing blackjack, and after the movie, a coconut making demo where you could have a coconut drink if you liked!  I’m sure they had been doing the activities that were scheduled to be by the pool in there all day long.

I walked over to the gym and got some chlorophyll water and was starting to feel human so went by Aroma and got a croissant.  The bear got an ice cream and we went inside the main building to go try a magnarita in the EC lounge.  I’m glad I tried one because I’ve seen so many people talk about them, but it was WAY too sweet for me.  I couldn’t have more than two sips before I switched to a sparkling wine with some dry vermouth and green tea.  That was WONDERFUL.

After that, we wandered back to the room.  The sun was starting to come out and I heard the band playing above the main pool.  I LOVED hearing the music and briefly considered canceling our mixology class for the day to go get some main pool party time, but realized I could always do it again next year.  So, instead, I took a jacuzzi in the room and opened the windows to the outside to hear the music.  The water always comes out a tad yellow in the beginning, so I just let it run until it runs clear, then I start over.  It’s so relaxing!

After that, it was time to head to mixology.  I already know I love Diego, and I had heard so many great things about the class.  It really was a blast!   Lots of molecular bartending with tequila caviar and vodka key limes.  We had some excitement in the beginning when Diego caught a scorpion under a glass.  We met many charming people from the Facebook page and had fantastic fun!

From there, it was off to Spice for dinner.  I’m trying to get to all the restaurants for dinner eventually.  We really liked Spice a lot.  The Dragon’s kiss sushi was excellent, the beef carpaccio was good.  The gyoza was fantastic.  I had the pad thai which I really liked.  The chicken in it was so tender.  The bear had the duck.  He liked it, but it was almost overwhelmingly spicy.  We shared an ice cream for dessert to help with some of the heat.

We went out to Prelude after that, but because of the rain, there wasn’t much going on, so we decided to head back to Havana.   Diego was finishing up the second mixology class and we went back to our seat at the bar.  All of the people from our class came back in along with some newcomers who had heard of Diego’s famous “jellyfish” shot.  He made one for everyone in the bar.  They’re really cool looking even if they aren’t my favorite flavors.  (It’s a mixture of a bunch of sweet stuff, the base is coconut rum and the “jellyfish” is Bailey’s.)

Since it was Monday, we decided to go back and check out silent disco.  They had moved it to the theater because of the rain, and people were having a BLAST.  Maybe one of these times I’ll participate!   I think I’d have to have other friends with me because it’s definitely not something the bear would enjoy.

When we got back to the room, we had towel art for the second time in a row!   I sat outside and listened to the resort for awhile before ending my wonderful third night in paradise.