PUERTO VALLARTA...........DOWN MEXICO WAY

PUERTO VALLARTA........................

This city has changed my mind ...................about a country.
It was 28 years in making but extremely well worth the wait.  Now, three consecutive years in going to this wonderful, friendly city by the sea, I yearn for a return. Just a 4 hour trip by air from Seattle and I am in a Margarita type of heaven.  So many things to say about this city. No matter where you go, who you speak with, friendliness is on their mind. Could it be ....................because they depend on tourist.  I say not. Their friendliness seems to be sincere and it's very welcoming.

Once you're able to maneuver the way through the waiting taxi drivers as you exit customs, you'll find sunshine.  The one thing I have learned, is that bargaining is acceptable all over Mexico but you have to be reasonable in your negotiations.  Going so low is not acceptable and could loose a deal totally. Another tip is always, always get the cost of a cab ride before you actually enter the cab.  If you are at a hotel ask the bellhop what the approximate cost should be to your destination. Confirm this price with your driver..............just to make sure. If your final destination changes while you are driving ask to see if there is an additional cost. I have found that if the final destination is just a few blocks away you can bargain for the additional distance to be included. There are no taxi's, that I am aware of, with a meter in them.  Tip properly, not only in cabs but to the bellhop, who opens the door for you to the servers. I always carry a lot of dollar bills just for those occasions. What few pesos I end up with also goes for tips. Canadian and USD are always much appreciated.
Due to previous experience, I am still a little quezy in drinking the tap water but bottle water is supplied in room, restaurants and wherever and whenever you ask. With this in mind..........just drink tequila, it will kill all germs.  According to local sources the water purification system in very modern and takes care of everything...............my bad experience still plays tricks with my head.  Stay safe.

FRIENDLY VALLARTA RESORT AND SPA

We prefer the ALL INCLUSIVE hotels, and what they offer. For one price, which some can find a little expensive, it will include of course your very nicely decorated room with private extremely clean bath, shower either tub/shower combo or standup shower , with a bar for those unsteady soles. All shower amendities and hair dryer. Same electrical as USA/Canada. All rooms have TVs and some have small refrigerators or kitchen facilities. If you need a frig. just ask for it, just incase you need it to store medical supplies. The all inclusive offer food, usually at three or more buffets or food shops scattered around, along with a coffee bar and perhaps two drink bars. Just the thought of not having to carry money around all the time is attractive to me. Food is available usually starting at 0800 to midnight. Never been awake longer than that so don't really know what's available. The drinks are somewhat watered down which just means you have to have two to equal one. Guess you could ask for a double, then the ratio would change somewhat to 1/2=1. Cool drinks seem so nice during the hot days, but the headache that follows feels .........................terrible.

On the beach side you have umbrellas or little grass covered huts. I prefer the little grass covered hut and then just pull my lounge chair out into the sun area. I found that some people get up at 0500 run out with their towels to block certain chairs both poolside and on the beach. Go back to bed for a couple of hours, have breakfest,  go shopping and then still have their umbrella or little hut ready for them when they want.  Such a practice is a little rude but apparently quite acceptable since I have never seen any fist fights ................so far. The friendly pool and beach staff will always be able to find you a spot and just seem to be able to find chairs and umbrellas as needed.  Don't forget to show your appreciation thought by throwing them a dollar or so.

Regardless where you choose to burn your skin, you can rest assure it will be comfortable.

Early March brings the spring break crowd from USA colleges. Some kids........needless to say get a little wild, but on the most part I found them to be very polite and even willing to talk to us old people. Matter of fact, Margot was asked to join a group in the pool and later on I found her spraying sun tan lotion of some young dude.  Was the mother factor or is she turning into a cougar. Anyway, activities turn to the younger set once the crowd arrives.  From water aerobics and zuma lessons to riding the bull, and pool bubble baths.




They have it all.  Beachside BBQS, beachside dancing, open mike night, beach volleyball.


This year, they set one pool aside just for the spring break crowd........so that the old folks and the kids could enjoy the bigger pool.  Music plays constantly, drinks are readily available throughout the day, all one has to do is raise their hand and hail a passing waiter. There is always a "drink of the day" usually something very imaginable and always contains Tequila.  My favorite turned out to be the "alligator" a mixture of tequila, fruit juice and a little vodka.
I introduced them to my favorite  " the Stiletto"   half amaretto half baileys cream

                                 THE MALECON  (city promenade)


Downtown Puerto Vallarta is simply that. Stores of all types selling everything to everybody. Restaurants, bars, small coffee shops, including Starbucks. Walk the Malecon, a boardwalk like promenade with the beach and ocean on one side and stores of all types on the other. We were introduced to one particular small restaurant and bar 3 years ago by a good SAS friend we all know.  Dave Woodcock and his wife Marisela, told us about this one. It is located on the Malecon, owned by a Swede from very northern Sweden on the Finnish border. He is a master of master chefs studied in Switzerland and has worked all over Europe and now owns, I believe 2 or 3 restaurants in Puerto Vallarta. His name is Ulf Henriksson .
This one is "ViteA ".  Sits right on the Malecon with both inside and outside seating. Cuisine is Mexican American absolutely delicious. If and whenever you drop by and ask to talk with Ulf, he makes it a point to visit your table.  For any Scandinavians, this gives him a little time to keep up with his Scandinavian language. Of course he also speaks Spanish (Mexican) and I found that he is quite interesting to talk to.


A great place to sit, have a wine..............or whatever and watch the sunset.

You can also enjoy some of the entertainment provided by free-lancers doing their thing in front of the café. When they finish their act, give them a few pesos. They will appreciate it.

You can always find Ulf at either of his restaurants.



The Malecon is a must do when in Puerto Vallarta. This approximate mile long promenade runs thru old town and up to the romantic area.


THINGS TO DO

Puerto Vallarta  offers many things to do from shopping to tours in the jungle area, to zip lining to riding the balloon . 

Like fishing ?  Then try your hand at some great deep sea fishing for swordfish or dolphin.

Act II brings you new guest acts every week in March. Enjoy som great theatre.

Visit the Palm Cabaret for some good excitement or the Royal Opera House for good Opera.

SOME PERTINENT FACTS

Currency is the Mexican peso but Canadian and USD are accepted widely.
Buses charge 8.00 pesos per leg and a new ticket must be bought each time to change bus.
Taxis have set rates within defined zones of the town. Like I said, do not enter a taxi without agreeing on the price with the driver first.
Tipping is usually 10%-15% of the bill at restaurants and bars. Bellboys, taxis,waiters, maids, etc depend on the service.
Suggest taking a good city tour to familiarize  yourself with the town.................or just enjoy walking around. The city is advertise as.............a safe place.
NOW, before the wall is built make your way to Puerto Vallarta and get one of those T-shirts shown above.

Finally, Let me ask you to click on the below link for extra stuff.  (click on the link once, then click a second time)

https://youtu.be/m73mhRz0SDM

(thanks Dave Fenwick for this little donation)


Enjoy and welcome to  Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Vito

SOUTH OF THE BORDER..........DOWN MEXICO WAY

AAAAAHHHHHHHH    CUCARACHA!!!!!
I must admit, Mexico has never been my most favorite place. The reason was quite simple. When Margot and I were first married, we were given a trip, by American Airlines to anywhere on their system.  We chose Acapulco, Mexico for our honeymoon. It turned out that this was a big mistake. I remember drinking with a guy by the name of Montezuma and before long it started to play a revenge on me. The honeymoon came to a screeching halt and there, I laid, leaking from all ends of life.........to put it mildly.  I totally blamed Mexico and their water for this. Years passed and even the mention of Mexico put fear into my eyes. Margot eventually convinced me to give it another try. This time we visited a totally different locale, Cabo San Lucas, a resort town on the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. Just by adding the word California, my guess would be that everything would be OK.   WRONG !!!!  We arrived into Cabo took a taxi out to our hotel, a pink palace located in the city of Cabo San Lucas, I learned that the nickname of the hotel was..............the prison. We had passed over two bridges on the main road to reach our destination and one of the first things I remember seeing was how high the curb of the streets were in comparison to other cities.  It was that two nights later that I found out why. We had left our hotel for a walk to the city. Stopped for an ice cream just as the sky opened up and it started to rain...........buckets.  No problem, the rain was warm and when a slowing down occurred we made our way back to the hotel....only about a block or two away. The water was rushing down the street and now the reason for the high curbs was noted, there were no drains. The water literally ran down the street to its lowest point................a river bed that one of those bridges were built over.  Well, we were now safe in our hotel...............so I thought.  That night we went to bed listening to the rain coming down. No problem,...................until I woke up about 2am for a need to go to the bathroom. I step out of bed .................onto a soft wet carpet.  Knowing at that moment not to turn the light on. I pulled my legs back into bed, wiped them off on the sheets, woke Margot and told her not to get out of bed until I checked out what the hell was happening. I called the front desk and told them my discovery and at that point, they sent a person up to check it out. They discovered that it had been raining so hard that the rain had found a small hole in our ceiling and found its way down the back wall of the room. They helped gather up few clothes we had with us and quickly changed our room to a lower floor.
Next morning, we found the desk clerks and the maintenance  staff with mops and push squeegees attempting to clean the main lobby. NOW  was the time to move and leave Mexico.
First discovery was lack of taxi cabs since the water had literally washed away the two bridges since the building code was apparently so relaxed that the bridges were built on nothing more than the sand.  The rushing water had washed away the sand at both ends of the bridge and the bridge toppled.  The only way across was to wait in line with other people for a helicopter to fly in and out taking people to the airport................or starting out now, take the taxi to the first river and walking across.  We decided to do that. We reached the river and found that  here we could wait on line to get a horseback ride across the river with a guide or try wading the river.  Here again carrying only hand baggage we rolled up our pants and  with our hand carry on our heads, started across.  Wasn't so bad except for the water rushing and trying to pull us off to the side...............but we reached the other side and to waiting taxi's that were stranded in between the two rivers.  We made our way to bridge number two, where we were dropped off. This river was a little steeper...............guess the sand was softer and washed away quicker.  We sat there thinking about how we were going to escape this horrible, lousy trip Margot had talked me into going on. Finally a Mexican worker in his peek-up came by, viewed the situation and decided that his 4 wheel drive would be able to go down the embankment, across the river and up the other sided with no trouble. He offered us a ride in the back of his truck which we took him up on and down, across and up we went. He drove us to the airport but dropped us off on the main road which gave us about a mile to walk to the terminal.  When we showed up at the Alaska airlines check-in we were quickly reminded that airline standbys had a dress code. At this point we simply wanted to get out of Mexico so off to the bathrooms to change. That Mexican water will get you .......one way or another...................
It was 28 years later that my kids talked me into taking them all to Puerto Vallarta   to celebrate my 80th birthday. That was my turning point in my Mexican vacations. We have been back 3 times since that most memorable vacation. This is now my city of CHOICE. Just have to remember not to go during the rainy season.(August)
More to come about Puerto Vallarta in the next post.