So, yeah: Mexico. The Riviera Maya vacation we took last week. Very, VERY nice. But not at all restful, which is something Hubs and I were desperately needing.
But fun. Oh so much fun.
I wrote virtually nothing of this trip beforehand - in actuality it came together just a few months ago, mostly through the availability of the perfect number of miles to cash in for our flights, and the grace of Hubs' cousin who gifted us with an amazing condo for the week. We'd been to the Pacific side before, namely Zihuatanejo last August, and we loved that trip, thoroughly enjoyed Mexico and I wrote about it here. But just as Oklahoma and New York are technically part of the same nation, so drastic are the differences between Zihua and the Yucatan.
Where Zihua and the rest of the Guerrero state are slow, sleepy seaside fishing villages with not a lot to offer in the way of nightlife or touristy excitement, that snail's pace is exactly what you need for a childless week of relaxation and mental rest. The Riviera Maya on the other hand has something to fill every minute of every day, for every flavor and whim imaginable. And so we did....despite the fact we never actually made it into Cancun proper.
We flew into Cancun on Sunday night, the 4th, and believe it or not I only realized just then that the following day was Cinco de Mayo. In California it's mostly just an excuse for excessive guacamole and margarita consumption, but I assumed it'd be a bit more serious taken down here so close to Puebla. In fact it was not. Maybe it was the isolation of the gringo resort we were at, but other than a floor show and a mexican buffet there wasn't much celebration to speak of.
In fact, after checking in the evening before we spent our first day just stocking the condo with groceries and checking out the local town of Playa del Carmen. That guidebook you see over in the sidebar led me to believe it was a much smaller town than it actually was, but in reality development marches where tourist dollars lead. No matter, it was still nice to find gas, good restaurants, gorgeous beaches and an amazing grocery store with the best bakery I've ever seen and the best cappuccino I've EVER had, bar none. And so all of these mundane tasks filled day one.
The next day was devoted to all things archaeological. We drove about two and a half hours inland to Chichen Itza to see the ruins of, at the time of its building, the largest city in the world.
Hubs is the archaeology geek in this family, and while I appreciate those things it doesn't necessarily get me all hot and bothered. But even having seen pictures beforehand and reading some history, I was still unprepared for the raw power and effect the ruins would have on me. For one thing, the place is immense - 16 square kilometers on the perimeter wall, and the structures themselves including El Castillo pictured above tower above are so much bigger when you're standing in their shadows.
I could prattle on and on about how amazing the site is, with it's perfect acoustics built so you can hear whispers from one end of the temple court at the other end; the gorgeous relief work carved into almost every stone on every building and the simple awareness that at the time of its building, this was the largest city in the world, over 100,000 people. But lots of pre-Hispanic historians are better spoken than I on the subject, and I can better supply pictures.
The rest of the Chichen Itza pictures are here.
