Up Close and Personal

I started this post last week and got distracted but I have just a little more to share about our big trip. I have decided that if we commit to our decision to stay childless than we will be taking a big vacation every 2 years. We'll do some kind of long weekend trip on the off years but every other year we'll plan some kind of big adventure for a few weeks. As long as we can afford it I think it is good for us to get out and explore.

On this trip there was a lot of up close and personal time. We spent a lot of time just the 2 of us which was nice. We also had to stand in a lot of lines up close with people from all over. The most close quarters by far though had to be the Atlantis submarine ride we took in Cozumel. It was Mike's choice of excursion for the day. I am a bit claustrophobic but it was a once in a lifetime experience so I went with it. We were luckily on the end of the row but there were 48 people packed into 2 single rows. Here is a shot I took from my seat of the confined space. We went over 100 feet below the ocean into a coral reef protected park. It was the most blue and clear water you can imagine. We saw fish large and small, a few sting rays, and one diver which was funny. Most of my pictures came out blue and blurry but the diver shot was kind of interesting. We were down there for almost an hour and at least one person got a little too relaxed and made it quite uncomfortable for the rest of us. Yes, there is no where for that smell to go down there.

I also got to know my Macro setting much better. I've had this camera for almost a year now but I am just starting to feel comfortable with it. I really want to take a digital photography class this fall but in the meantime I'm just playing at it. I really love the top flower shot that I took on a nice leisurely walk through New Orleans Garden District. These bottom two I took in Cozumel when I was walking around on my own. There was a garden right in the middle of the pier that was surrounding by cheesy shops. I had spent about 15 minutes taking pictures when a shop owner asked if I wanted him to take a picture of me and I said the flowers were much prettier. He then started chatting me up so I left the flowers and the Pier behind after that. That is the last of the vacation stories and pictures that I'll bore you with!

My Day with the Mayans

As I said the Mayan ruins excursion was one of the highlights of the whole trip. We chose to visit the ruins at Uxmal rather than Chitzen Itza. Uxmal is less famous but much more decorative. Chitzen Itza is one of the new 7 Wonders of the World so I knew that most of the crowds would be headed that way. I'm so happy that we made that choice since we practically had the place to our selves. There were over 6 buses just from Carnival going to Chitzen Itza but one lone bus headed to Uxmal. We had to travel 2 hours into the heart of the Yucatan to get there but we saw the real Mexico from the comfort of our air conditioned bus.

We were able to get up close and personal with the ruins as nothing but a few statues were roped off. We went into the buildings, climbed all over, and I took tons of pictures unblemished by other tourists.

We were allowed to chose from 3 different routes up or around the Governor's Palace . Mike and I chose to climb up halfway and come around the backside. At one point Mike had gone ahead and out of view. No one else had chosen to go that way yet so I was completely alone for about 10 minutes. I cooled off under a tree and communed with my surroundings. It was one of the most peaceful and memorable moments of the whole trip for me.

We ate lunch ate a local restaurant with real food from the Yucatan. We had to have our tour guide translate with the waiters for us. It was incredibly simple yet delicious food, and no we didn't get sick. Many from the tour bus sat in the bus and ate their ham sandwiches that had been given to us but I'm so glad that we chose to eat there instead.

I had been worried about the heat and the walking and climbing but I was so in the moment that day that I felt no pain until we got back on the bus to come home. My right thigh was burning for the next few days from all the stair climbing at an angle. I have a lot more pictures on flickr here if your interested.