great 3g signal here on my kindle! there was none in puntarenas and it was flaky in chiapas. puerto chiapas was very small, so if you didn't go on an excursion the only place to go is the port center which is built like a huge thatched roof hut with shops all the way around the outer edge and a pit in the middle where they had dancers in local costume all day - very sweet. they all gathered on the dock to sing, dance and hoot us away, telling us they love us and to come back. tourism is a pretty new thing to the area and we got the impression that they are still getting their bearings. but it was nice.
we had a great dinner last night at the summer palace dining room, which takes its decorating inspiration from czar nicholas's summer place (st petersburg?). and then mom and gert came to see our room. we all agreed that the few dozen extra square feet in their cabin makes a big difference.
this morning steve and i got up as we were pulling into port and dawn was breaking. then off to the 7:30 stretch class, followed by me on the rowing machine and a walk while steve worked on the elliptical. followed by breakfast where we have discovered muesli! yummy.
