Easter Break in Mexico

Anna and her sand art

Easter at the Virginia Fagella household looks different each year.  In fact, no two years are a like.  Sometime Anna has gone to Ohio.  Other years, she went to New York.  Sometimes family came to us.  Other years if the weather was nice we simply went hiking.  This year we decided to leave the chilly weather behind and spend Anna's Easter break in Mexico.

Mexico has become our go-to warm weather get away.  Each year we debate going to Florida or another beach, but the warm weather and friendly people of  Mexico keep calling us back.  We left early on Saturday, April 4 for the airport to catch our flight south of the border.

A visit to the Mayan ruins at Tulum

This year's flight was on Aeromexico.  It has been a long time since we have flown a non-US air carrier, so we were in for quite a surprise.  The surprise was the entire ride was a flashback to days when you were actually served on airlines.  First, there was no charge to check-in a bag (remember those days????).  Second, they actually served real food during the flight - at no additional charge!  Finally, they gave everyone headphones AND showed a movie - also at no additional charge.  This was all quite shocking to Anna, who has never experienced such airline service.  We were off to a great start to the trip.

The rest of the trip proved to be a very restful vacation.  The weather was sunny each day with a high of 85 degrees,  The ocean was warm.  The pools were nice and the food was good.  The biggest challenge at the beach was the massive amounts of sea weed that were washing on shore.  There was an entire crew of men and a backhoe that worked all day to remove it (Joe noted that they really needed some Jersey beach equipment to make the whole operation more efficient). 

As always, Anna enjoyed the food - especially breakfast.  A typical morning meal for Anna included a bowl of cereal, hash browns, bacon, maybe an egg or yogurt, some sort of bread, a couple glasses of juice.  This was not a sampling - she ate everything on her plate.  Of course you need to fuel up to jump in the waves all day!

Since we were in Mexico for Easter Sunday, we attended a local mass.  We knew it would be memorable when the opening song was When the Saints Go Marching In - in Spanish of course
.  The mass was outside and conducted in both English and Spanish.  It was definitely festive!

The sand crocodile

We decided to venture off the resort one day and headed down to the Mayan ruins at Tulum.  Anna wanted to stay at the pool, but was forced to go on one of her parents' historical tours.  Theresa really wanted to go to Tulum, but was not convinced that taking a cab was the best option as it made it easier to be kidnapped by Mexican drug lords.  Joe was not as worried about the drug lords as much as making sure the cab driver gave a fair price for the ride.  In the end, the cab ride won out.  There were hundreds of people at the ruins, but it was quite spectacular.  Anna was not as impressed and was more focused on the heat and how soon we could leave.  In the end, we made it safely back to the hotel without incident.

We spent the rest of the week enjoying the beautiful weather on the beach.  The big excitement was a baby crocodile that was spotted sunning himself on the rocks.  In honor of the sighting, Joe and Anna constructed a sand crocodile the next day.  This provided a photo opportunity for several folks walking by throughout the day.

All good things must come to an end and we sadly boarded the plane home on Friday.  It was a great week full of lost of fun and relaxation.  We are already dreaming of the next spring break.

Anna riding the golf cart shuttle