Well, you all saw photos from Leyah & Pako’s wedding in Zihuatanejo, Mexico – but I have yet to share with you pictures I took in the time I had there to myself! So, I figured what better way to launch the new blog than with some photos from beautiful Zihua, right?!
(I feel like I should give you a quick background story to the trip so you guys aren’t confused!) So, my lovely cousin Chelsea (who was the maid of honor), actually met Leyah in Spain a few years ago when they were both studying abroad. Upon returning back to the States their friendship continued to grow because, lucky for them, they both lived in Madison! Chelsea eventually introduced Leyah to my younger brother Will (who also lived there), and they too became friends.
Fast forward a few years – Chelsea and Will were both obviously planning on attending Leyah and Pako’s wedding already by the time Leyah asked me if I would be her photographer. Due to work and school, James couldn’t make the trip with me (bummer) – but it worked out okay since I had Chelsea and Will that I would know there!
Leyah had me fly down to Zihuatanejo on Thursday to ensure there were no travel snaffoos that would cause me to miss the wedding. So I arrived about midday on Thursday, while Will, Chelsea and her boyfriend, Dan, weren’t arriving until Friday afternoon. So I had a full day in Zihua to myself prior to anybody I knew arriving… which turned out to be quite alright since I was pretty exhausted from traveling and in definite need of a day of rest. (However, you never really consider how awkward it will be going to dinner or breakfast by yourself at a resort full of couples until you are actually doing it. haha I got lots of strange looks about why on earth I was wandering around everywhere by my lonesome, while everyone else had travel companions. Thankfully all the locals were very friendly and put up with my terrible Spanish! And I can say that I was super excited to see Will, Chelsea and Dan when they arrived! I’m pretty sure I talked Will’s ear off for a good hour when he got to our room. haha!)
Anyway – speaking of talking – that’s enough! Here are the pictures!
The view of Zihuatanejo from the airplane on the flight in:
An adorable little homeless puppy that followed us in the parking lot at the airport when Leyah came to pick me up. He parked himself right in front of her car and was not going to move until we took him home! haha
My hotel… obviously.
A terrible make-shift panoramic I made in Photoshop so you guys could see the full scope of the view from the balcony of my room! Gorgeous!!
As you can see – I didn’t do much the first day! Just unpacked, sat on my balcony and read a book, ordered room service for dinner (which included a cheese quesadilla and 2 Pacifico beers) since I was too embarrassed to go sit in the restaurant by myself and went to bed by 8pm! haha
I slept for a good 12 or more hours and then got up the next day and went out to explore the hotel:
Aww, they make you cute little birds out of towels even if you’re by yourself! haha
And then – Chelsea, Dan and Will arrived! Yay!!! So we did what anyone would do – went to dinner and checked out the neighborhood!
Then Chelsea and Dan had to head to the rehearsal – so Will and I walked down to the beach to explore. The view in the photo below is looking back towards our hotel. (Our hotel is out of the frame on the left hand side near the wall you see above the umbrellas, in case you’re curious.)
(Or the reddish-orange building you see on the edge of the left side of the photo below.) We saw a wedding happening on our walk … naturally, I had to take pictures (which Will was such a sport about the entire time)!
Reading a book on our balcony while the sun is setting? Yes, please!
And of course – the wedding happened! To prove it – here I am (looking mighty gross if I do say so myself) with the beautiful couple after the ceremony!
And here we all are at the goat BBQ at Pako’s sister’s house the day after the wedding. It’s apparently a tradition in Mexico to throw a party the day after the wedding where everybody finishes any food or drinks that are left over. A pretty fabulous tradition if you ask me! (I’m thinking I’ll do an entire post with photos from that party as well – since there are too many to include just in this one post!)
On our last night in Zihuatanejo – we watched the Oscar’s at an ocean-side bar/restaurant that had satellite TV (which also happened to be the same place Leyah & Pako had their ceremony). Let me tell you – watching the Oscars on my couch at home will never be good enough from this day forward…
Will’s beverage and meal of choice while watching the Oscars. (He let me try some shrimp…. BEST. SHRIMP. EVER. And I don’t normally like shrimp. Oh my… SO good.)
And… so sad… our last day in Zihua! Thankfully our flight didn’t leave until mid-afternoon so we had all morning to soak up the last bit of sun and fresh ocean air! We headed for a walk down the beach and then to the market (because I was dead set on finding some jewelry while I was there)!
I didn’t get many pictures of myself on my camera while I was there – so I insisted Will and I take a picture on our balcony before we headed to the airport. Hence – this crazy photo below. I think we’re saying – Zihuatanejo is amazing!!! (haha)
Chelsea – the fluent Spanish speaker of our group – chatting it up with our cab driver on the way to the airport…
Goodbye Zihua! I hope to come back again sometime when James can make the trip!!
