Another riviera

I've been gone for a while, but for a great reason.  Vacation!

It seems like not "working" for 4 months a year is fantastic.  I'm not complaining, but it's not as though we sit around all day napping and eating potato chips.  We have a bed and breakfast open all year, apartments we rent out, and two restaurants that require constant attention, even when closed.  I write, we organize the mountains of stuff that have accumulated between two restaurants and over 30 years running them.  I took a master's course in sustainable tourism.  I'm learning french (badly).

So, it was time for some well overdue beach fun.  Though I do work at the beach, it's much different then actually sitting on one all day with a fun coconut drink in hand, so we headed to another riviera - the mexican one.

We spent 3 weeks traveling around Isla Mujeres, Akumal, Tulum, Playa Del Carmen, Vallodolid and Cozumel.  After many margaritas, 45 avocados, 5 spanish verbs learned, approximately 30 bowls of pico de gallo, 2 bottles of citronella spray and 4 bottles of SPF 30 (reef safe!), we returned home happy and relaxed.  I conquered my fear of everything by literally just jumping in feet first and snorkling on a reef with starfish and sea turtles.  Dolphins joined our little boat as we were heading to the Sian Ka'an biosphere.  It doesn't get much better then that.

Mexico is really great.  One of my best friends is Mexican and I've always felt a warm, fuzzy feeling towards the country.  The people are easy to laugh and smile, and believe it or not, better then Italians at sitting silently for long periods of time in places like the piazza or a shady bench.  I love the food, I love the colors, I love the music, the fun painted skulls, and the beautiful, dark eyed kids with honey skin and silky black hair who whisper a shy hola.  I even love how they put their punctuation at the front of the sentence so you can figure out the point of the whole thing at the get-go.  I love how the language flows alongside Italian, I love scooping up rice in tortillas, I love carnitas and pacifico and clearly run-on sentences, but I think you've gotten the idea.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from one of my favorite countries...