Expect the Exceptional

This post is going to be a very long rave review like you never saw!

Thanks for sticking around through my absence -- I elected not to write from Mexico because my only means of accessing the Internet was via my tiny iPod screen. I was able to check emails, but that was about it. I also wanted to actually utilize my time away from everything that stresses me out during my daily life (e.g. email, Twitter, homework, studying...)

So now I can finally tell you all about our Spring Break in Playa del Carmen!

We flew out of Richmond at an unholy hour last Saturday. It is weird that I get quite excited for airport Starbuck's and breakfast sandwiches? Who cares!

We flew from Richmond to Washington, D.C., and from there to Cancun. Immediately upon exiting the airport, alcohol was available cheap. I knew we'd come to the right place ;)

A one-hour van taxi ride later, we arrived at the Royal Playa del Carmen,

with this guy waiting to welcome Caroline and me to our Junior Suite:

Let me tell you, there was nothing "Junior" about it! The Playa del Carmen is an all-inclusive resort, so of course, I took full advantage:

I drank more mojitos this week than I ever have in my life, plus there were the requisite tequila shots and pina coladas, and mango daiquiris, Tom Collinses, gin and tonics, Bahama Mamas, local beer, moscatos, and more. We only sampled the bottles of liquor available in our suite once, because there were so many other drinks to try so many other places! The resort refuses to allow guests to go thirsty, and it does not limit guests in their consumption.

It seems I have a very forgiving liver.

My sister and I ordered room service for a late dinner our first night in Mexico, because we arrived at an odd time:

 Obviously, Caroline was too excited about her steak for a normal expression...

I experimented with foods this week that I had never tried before (or haven't tried in the past 9 years of vegetarianism), such as shrimp flautas,

lamb,

duck,

grouper,

escargot (somehow forgot to snap a pic of the presentation), guava,

ham,

breakfast sausage (not a fan),

and some of the most decadent desserts I have ever had the pleasure of meeting:

I think it's pretty safe to say that my lacto-ovo-pescetarianism fell by the wayside in Mexico...

I also experienced some activities I probably wouldn't have in Virginia, such as Mom taking a tequila shot at lunchtime,

being asked to dance in front of everyone by a member of the very talented and very handsome entertainment staff, "sexy Omar," during Caribbean Night,

seeing an honest-to-goodness Mariachi band play live,

getting in a great gym workout in the resort's gym,

absolutely loving my first hour-long, professional, full-body spa massage,

sunburning on one side of my body more than the other while lounging in complete shade,

and truly relaxing my worries and stress away.

I was so disappointed about leaving after only 6 days, but this gem in the duty-free airport shops cheered me up a bit:

Check the sunburn -- only on my face, and worse on the right side than the left!

Does anyone else remember the coffee-flavored Chup-a-Chups from years ago?! These could have fed a family of four...

The Royal Playa del Carmen's slogan is "expect the exceptional," and my expectations were met vastly exceeded. I will be going back to Mexico! Like, as soon as possible...

P.S. If you're on Spring Break, what are you up to? If you've already had Spring Break, what did you do? If you don't get Spring Break anymore, what's your next big vacation?