Tulum II

The Templo de las Pinturas has large faces carved into the front corners. You can see some vestiges of color on the carvings (the red seems to have survived somewhat better than the other colors, if you look into the more deeply etched lines). Note the face is broken up with two lines, one above and the other below the nose, dividing the face into three separate bands. Intriguingly, the eye is in a separate band from the eyebrow. I'd tell you more, but our guide had nothing to say about the banding (or any other topic of interest), and the signs at Tulum were devoted to items such as speculation about what the Mayan and Spanish leaders might have thought at their first meeting.


Over at the nearby Casa de las Columnas, there are columns visible on three sides. You can see one column in the foreground here, and the top of another one on the far side, through the doorway. It's a bit difficult to see stone against stone, but this and some other views made me think of Ireland for some reason. (I haven't been there yet, but I'd like to go on a walking tour.)



On the "back" (non-columned) side of the Casa de las Columnas, the Mayans made up for the lack of columns by setting some nice X's into the wall, along the top.


Alas, all good things come to an end. We eventually had to reboard the Rhapsody of the Seas.

Fortunately, we got a break from the cruise ship's incessant musical motif (get it, the "rhapsody" of the seas, as in music?) in a room called the "Solarium". Or rather, it was named the Solarium, but we called it the Egyptian Room. This Egyptian-themed room was not only a lot more interesting (and less dingy) than the rest of the ship, it was also an oasis of calm with no organized activities. The saltwater pool and jacuzzis in the Egyptian Room were also (mercifully) restricted to kids ages 16+. The columns were carved with what appeared to be genuine hieroglyphics (although I cannot vouch that they were arranged in a meaningful way), and the sculptures - including painted (presumably plaster) mummies, "stone" falcons, and a cast metal scarab - were pretty cool. I also liked the retractable clear glass roof. This is where I spent most of my time on board.



Here's a portrait of the crowd I ran with on the cruise (as opposed to the madding crowd, which I largely avoided):



And a portrait of my second cousin, who learned to play Scrabble on the trip (and did really well as a nearly-nine novice against hardened Scrabble afficionadoes; we didn't win more than a few days' lunch money from her):


(Only teasing, of course. Mere honor, not money, was at stake. We try to wait until kids are at least 10 before we introduce them to gambling.)

That's about it for now. Further bulletins as events warrant.