a view from underneath my pink umbrella..: ¡Hola!

My graduation gift from my mom and stepdad was a mother-daughter vacation to Florida! I counted down the days until we left, left for the airport at 3am, and anticipated paradise! Upon arrival to Chicago O'Hare, my mom told me to look up the gate for our transfer flight. Scrolling down the screen for Flight 445, my eyes landed on our destination: Cancún! That's right... I was punk'd.

Our resort was about an hour down the coast from Cancún itself, between Playa del Carmen and Tulúm right on the Riviera Maya. The resort itself was seriously the most beautiful place I've ever seen in my life! Off the street and down a long driveway was the main lobby: a giant open-air Palapa. The rooms were organized into separate buildings and scattered throughout the jungle, with a stone pathway leading to each one. Our building was the closest to the beach, and a 5 minute walk to the lobby. On the way to our room, we passed by a beautiful cenote, and came across many different species of native Mexican wildlife. How cool?

The pool, beach, and spa were all fantastic, and the food selections were all incredible! The resort is adults-only and all-inclusive, with incredible service and the most beautiful views of the Caribbean I've seen in any picture.

There were all kinds of activities, such as free scuba lessons (!!), pool aerobics, beach soccer/volleyball, and zumba! The activity leaders were sourced from an Italian company, so the people-watching was pretty dreamy :)

On Wednesday, my mom and I took the ferry from Playa del Carmen to the island of Cozumel, where we took a taxi to the Chakanaab national park and went snorkeling. If you know me, you understand that this was a serious feat for me to accomplish. I have a crippling fear of fish, but aside from a few instances (such as being followed by a school of creepy-looking silver fish, to encountering a barracuda, face-to-face) I was totally fine. The water was absolutely beautiful and the coral reefs were stunning!

Today was our last day in this beautiful place and I'm very sad we're leaving. Hopefully I can make it back to this beautiful country (and the land of my ancestors!) someday soon!