Mexican Riviera

[BearBath]

Anne,
My wife, kids and I went to Playacar or Playa del Carmen about 6 years ago. I'm sure it has changed but I found it to be a pleasant spot. Slow pace of life, great scuba diving, nice beach. Negatives were some kind of jellyfish that stung and came in and out. There were warnings on days not to swim in the ocean. Also, the reef is fairly close to shore near the southern end where we were, so limitted ability to swim out. Didn't bother me.
We took a day trip to Chichenizta (sp?) and it was fabulous. Kids still remember that part of the trip! lol.
Cheers,
BearBath

[Bonibelle]

Yes, Bearbath, those ruins were amazing as well as Tulum and Shalha (sp).  Anne, the diving is great but the ruins will leave you with a new respect for ancient cultures. I still get goosebumps when I think about the phenominal accomplishments of what we consider ancients....the Azetcs did human sacrifice, if I remember correctly, but they were a brilliant society that undertood far more than they should have??..

[anne]

Thanks, everyone, for the input....the crazy thing is, we've changed out plans! A one week vacation to our neighbor, mexico, has turned into 16 days overseas! I have never been to europe, and always wanted to. So we're going big, and heading to Italy and Spain. Bought the tickets last night!  

[tmknies1]

OH Anne, you go girl! I have not done Italy yet however Spain was wonderful!

Enjoy.

[anne]

OH Anne, you go girl! I have not done Italy yet however Spain was wonderful!

Enjoy.

Any pointers? We want to avoid tourist traps, see history, meet people and eat great food. I have heard great things about Sevilla and Malaga. We're flying into Madrid.

[tmknies1]

It's been so many years since I have gone I am sure a lot has changed. I remember the people being extremely friendly. I was in school at the time and our Spanish Professor lead the tour so we had many "in's". We visited along the coast mostly. I remember our Professor would not take us to a bull fight, he said they were not pleasant and not worth going to see. It was my understanding they were very bloody.  We took the hydro-jet over to the casbar in Tangiers Africa for a day. I remeber shopping for gold. We went to Seville and saw flemenco (sp?) dancers which was wonderful.