Blog #13 Fun in PV

I'm writing today, Sunday, as I didn't want to spend my last full day in Mexico tomorrow writing the blog for an hour or two or three even. Today we moved nextdoor from Blue Seas to the Tropicana. Above is the entrance. Very majestic. We have a gorgeous room with a king sized bed with a fabulous view of the beach and ocean.

Tonight we intend to dine at the restaurant here. The breakfast and lunch menues looked good. At lunch time we had the thrill of friends coming to visit from home. Wow!!! It was so good to see them and catch up on all of our collective news.

PV is a town of wonderful restaurants but the other day at noon we hit on a bad one. The only good thing about it was the way they gave you your leftovers as seen above. Pretty fancy I'd say!!!

The other night we were sitting at a cafe on the Malecon. I was drinking a caramel mocka frappe and Ray was sucking back some Ameratto Capaccino when all of a sudden from the corner of my eye I think I see this baby flying past us headed to the ocean on a skate board!!! OMG!!!! I jump up, grab the camera and take persuit. Sure enough there is this little critter riding along. He had crashed into a step when I caught up with him and from the look of his face it wasn't the first time he had come to a sudden stop!!!!! Too funny!!!!!

One afternoon there was a band playing and people dancing in the middle of the afternoon!!! Never a dull moment around here!!!

Heer is Ray getting the treatment on the second pair of his shoes. My Spanish is good enough now that I was able to explain to this really nice shoeshiner that my husbands shoes were very dirty and we would be back next year to get them cleaned again. The shoes look brand new and the price for this service, less than $2 a pair. The shoeshine man got a really big tip - he deserved it!!!

Another night on the Malecon we sat on a bench to rest and I said to Ray, "I'm going to sit here until the entertainment starts." Within five minutes these guys appeared and danced up a storm for us. Now, how funny is that???

Beautiful Churches and Squares

This is the Malecon or boardwalk that goes all along the beachfront in downtown PV. We are staying in Old Town or the Romantic District and it is a fair walk to the Malecon but well worth it.

Every night we have been downtown there has been some kind of performance going on at this ampitheatre. It is a unique space and I love how so many Mexican families come to the shows. This tends to be a very touristy town.

Statues Everywhere

Sandcastles like you probably haven't built!!!!

Well, it has been an awesome winter. Thank you for being there to share the experience.

Blog #12 Puerto Vallarta (A)

We have arrived. Going to San Blas every winter feels like going home. Coming to Puerto Vallarta has given us culture shock. Good grief this place is busy. Above is the picture from my chair on the beach. Lots of vendors hawking their stuff and me buying lots of their stuff. One guy carrying gorgeous wool rugs missed me the other day so I had to call him back. He must have been in shock but afer MUCH haggling I bought one for the cabin.

See the surfer fighting for his life? This is great entertainment to watch. This weekend is a long weekend to celebrate Benito Juarez's birthday so the beach is crazy with people. I should be down their now bribing my way into a front chair!!!

The second day we were here we went to the Botanical Gardens. Delightful. Took a bus for about half an hour down the coast. Breath taking views and breath holding from the near misses with other vehicles. It was a new bus and this driver was going to be first, no matter what!!!

This hanging plant is tourquoise. Gorgeous!!!

They are trying to have an orchid collection of one hundred different varieties. I think I have killed almost that many!!! Gorgeous, gorgeous specimens. About 20-30 at this point.

Nestled in the mountains. One huge carp type in this pond but no fishermen.

On Friday we went to the Grand Mayan Resort to "have a look". Yes, I hate to tell you but it was a timeshare joint. First Class. They picked us up in a taxi. Drove us about 30 minutes to Nuevo Vallarta into the most incredible place we have ever seen. As we walked into the entrance, it was completely dark. There were 4 warriors about 60 feet tall on each side of us and a pool infront of us lit by candles. Our guide explained that they were getting ready to make a sacrafice. "Yeah," I whispered to Ray, "We are the sacrafice." I have never seen such opulance in my life. The buffet breakfast was out of this world. I had sushi and smoked salmon for breakfast. Why not, my favourite foods!!!! No more details BUT the first figure the guy writes on the paper when we finally get down to business was $277 774.00 and thats dollars not pesos. He keeps talking like he is checking on the weather when I'm going, "Woa, woa let's back up a bit here!!!" So the short story is that the 90 minute experience took 5 hours and I have had to take an oath in blood that I will never make Ray do that again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blog #12 A Salute to San Blas (B)

The singing banana man

Nina who sells us fruits and vegetables

Juan, one of many great taxi drivers

Our good friends, Joy and Carl

Our nextdoor neighbours, Fernando and Elaina

My friend and neighbour, Ramona

Guadaloupe from Iguanas Ranas

Wonderful Marybel

The woman who does our laundry

Juana, our wonderful plant loving neighbour

The man who sells me flowers

The woman who sells me flowers

The woman who sells us fish

Marta who sells us groceries

Chito's wife, the torta maker

Chito, the liquado maker

Lapita from the Mini Super

Our good friends Kathy and Larry

The Banana Pudding Woman

Our landlords, Alyshia and Gustavo

The Seafood Coctail Man

Marta's wonderful Mother

Our good friends, Suan and Lucio

Blog #11 Last Days in San Blas

The Mardi Gras Parade in San Blas happened Tuesday afternoon. The parade was supposed to start at 3 and actually started about 5:30!!! I have to say, Mexicans have to be the most patient people in the world!!!! It was so much fun to sit on the curb between members of some Mexican family and watch all the interactions that were going on around us. The parade was great and well worth waiting for!!!

On Wednesday we headed off on a bus for a ride south to Miramar, about 15 miles, and stayed for two nights at El Encanto a wonderful eclectic resort. We were kept awake quite a bit the first night as the waves crashed onto the beach. We enjoyed fresh oysters on the shell for two days in a row!!! What a treat!!! You can check out this wonderful spot at elcantomexico.com .

We were in an apartment over looking the ocean just a short walk through the garden away. It was heavenly!!!!

Friday morning I joined a yoga class up on the roof as we waited for the tsunami to arrive. Good thing to do while awaiting for a disaster!!! We went through this last year once. The marines from the base went from house to house notifying everyone last year that they may have to evacuate in another two hours and to get ready. There was none of that this year and as we headed back to San Blas we noticed that it was business as usual all along the Pacific coast. There is always the chance of a rouge wave at any time that you are near the ocean. Just adds to the excitment of a day at the beach!!!!

Blog #10 San Blas Countdown

In just a week from tomorrow, we will be leaving San Blas for another year. The time has flown by. We will head to Puerto Vallarta to play tourist for two weeks!!! It will be interesting and we will definitely let you know how that goes!!!

These first two pictures show the start of the Mardi Gras festival that began here on Sunday night. The costumes are a little scary. Like black kkk members!!!! Oooppps, maybe I shouldn't say that!!!! They are actually carrying a coffin that has words on the side saying, "Death of bad humour. Long live happiness or laughter". They were playing instruments and marched all around the square carrying burning torches.

This is our favourite woman to buy fish from. Here she is cutting us two slabs of red snapper. Ray thought we needed two for one night but when I went to cook it, it was way too much so we will be eating it again tonight!!!

This is my "garden". When we were in PV last week, the delightful grandmother from across the road came over and watered my plants. I love living in this neighbourhood!!!

If you like roses and the smell of them, buy a purple rose. This one is heavenly to look at and smell!!! Sure wish I could take it home. Next Tuesday all of the plants are going to a new home!!!

I'm sure some of you have heard me say how I never want to live in a gated community BUT take a look at what is happening to us!!! They are building a huge gate and fence around us!!! Yikes!!!! Not sure I'm going to like this!!! I sure hope all the visitors still feel free to come and visit and the sellers still will come to sell me stuff.

Here we are yesterday going off to the beach again. What a wonderful day we had. Great food, great company, great weather and amazing swimming in the ocean!!! Can't wait to do this again next year!!!

What a great place for our grandbabies to come to!!!!