Vallarta

I finally bit the bullet today and took off to Puerto Vallarta to escape the monotony (but still nice and relaxing monotony) of Bucerias. By the end of my 40 minute bus ride, it was raining outside which surprised me and had me a bit concerned seeing as I was wearing shorts and a tank top, but no worries, it was still about 85 degrees out! At the Walmart (yes there's a Walmart), I hopped onto a city bus, hoping it would take me somewhere where I could go exploring although honestly, I wasn't quite sure where. We drove down bumpy cobblestoned streets, next to hundreds of tourist shops, restaurants and other local businesses. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a cathedral with a familiar top (ever seen the crown on Corona bottles? Well it comes from the tower above the church in Puerto Vallarta) and decided it was as good a place as any to commence my exploring. I have to admit quite sadly that I went to Starbucks to start my day off with some caffeine. It's funny because wherever I am in the world, I can always count on Starbucks to have my iced latte available (see Spain, Morocco, Ireland, Ecuador etc). Then I just started walking along the ocean.

Vallarta is divided into three distinct areas -- the hotel zone, the downtown centro, and the "zona romantica" or old town. I wanted to see old town the most for a taste of the real Vallarta. The streets are filled with a lot more locals as are the shops (although there are definitely plenty of gringos and gringo-catering businesses around). I just kept walking, stumbling upon a farmer's market up a steep narrow cobble-stoned street and getting to enjoy the misty hillside flowers. Then I decided to continue my exploring and headed back downhill to the Isla Rio Cuale open air market to buy a few (and cheap) souvenirs and where I surprised vendors by being able to talk in Spanish and best there many "hey, girl, come look, very cheap". After that I went on a hunt for the one place I really wanted to see -- Elizabeth Taylor's and Richard Burton's old homes from when they lived here. My guidebook said Elizabeth Taylor's house had been converted into a museum and B&B but unfortunately when I went there, aside from the pink covered bridge over the street connecting the two homes, everything else seemed to be falling down and only empty cement construction.

By then I was hungry so I meandered back down to the entertaining Malecon on the waterfront to scout out overpriced restaurants. Choosing a restaurant to eat here is a task in itself because every time I try to sidle up quietly to a menu and pursue it, without fail some waiter or host descends, telling me all the great things about the restaurant and offering me two for one margaritas and the like. Today though, my mission was to find a place where I could watch the US vs. England soccer game and finally, I ended up in a nice Mexican restaurant (no I refuse to eat Italian or go to Hard Rock Cafe while I'm here) where I got to watch the surprise tie game.

By late afternoon, I was full of good food and thought, well hey, I bet walking back to Walmart from here isn't that far. Okay well I was wrong. The sun had finally come out and my feet were getting a bit sore so I gave in and took the hot and crowded city bus back and luckily I did since it was still a good 15 minutes to where I wanted to go. But all in all, I had a really fun Saturday made even better by the nice pool awaiting me back home. Now time to rest my weary feet.