Countdown to W-Day: Saturday, April 30th

This is the story of the epic (if we may say so ourselves) Ixapa wedding of Edouard and Camelia, seen through the eyes of the latter, with (promised) ulterior posts from the groom.

Chapter 1: Attention! Gringos landing.

After taking a flight out out SFO on Friday evening and landing in Orange County to spend the night at Odile's (Ed's mom) in order to drop off Minoush (our cat), we head out to LAX,  bright and early Saturday morning, Mamma Draga in tow. 

The flight to Ixtapa is only 3 hours, but we are so giddy with anticipation that it feels like five. In fact, Ed is playing mind games with Mamma Draga and mid-way through the flight she is convinced that we are actually going somewhere in Latin America, possibly Colombia. She is also wearing a white zip-up fleece that she commandeered as her own from my closet and swears that she will not take it off when we land. Her temperature-related suspicions are based on her experience in San Francisco, which did not correspond to her visions of California as a sun-soaked windless heaven. The flight is only half-full, so we have plenty of space to lie down and sleep. We also buy a soggy sandwich and regret it immediately.

After we land and collect our luggage, we are welcomed by Wes and Eric (aka Homes), cheery and already tanned, holding a sign that says "Senor Frog, Senorita Camelia and Mom." This cheers us up immediately (not that we lacked in the cheer department at all). 

We proceed to the car rental where Ed gets a little BMW and, with Wes and Homes following in their Pirata Plata Tres (still not sure why their car had such an intricate nickname, but i'm sure there's a story there), we head out straight for the Mercado de Zihuatanejo. A small aside: the stop at the Mercado is a tradition institutionalized by Ed's dad, who after many surfing trips with the three Gendreau boys realized that logistically and financially, it made more sense to buy half of mercado and take it to Saladita rather than try to feed them there and decimate the local Huachinango population. 

So, we stop at the mercado and get the bare necessities: watermelon, papayas, apples, grapes, bananas, an inflatable shark. Then we drive to Park Royal where mom and i get dropped off and checked in and the boys head out to Saladita for three days of surfing before most of the wedding party gets here.

The Three Musketeers: Wes, Homes and Sharkie 

Mom and I have a sinful dinner at the hotel's all you can eat buffet (we are staying at an all inclusive resort), and call it a night. The adventure begins with two very full bellies.

This is just a tiny sample. Not to be confused with the ACTUAL size of the portions we indulged in...