Happy birthday, Terry! We started out this day by driving into Puerto Vallarta for breakfast, at a restaurant called:
Again courtesty of Google maps, let's take another look at where we were, this time even more close up:
This map shows the heart of the city, which is at the southern end - if you look back at the street map I included on the October 17th page, you'll see that the area in the map above is down toward the bottom of the larger map. The city appears to have spread out to the north and east as it grew.
Notice the patch of blue labeleld "Rio Cuale." The areas immediately north and south of the river are the oldest part of town, and the streets are cobblestoned. Charming and quaint and old world and all that, but hell on the car and the driver - not to mention wheelchairs! Anyway, the area just south of the river is the Zona Romantica, and that's where Daiquiri Dick's is located - right on the bay:
The day wasn't too hot - yet - we had the place to ourselves, and we could hear the waves. Lovely.
After breakfast, we drove around the city for a little while, and then returned to the hotel for the major adventure of the trip - parasailing! This was Joanne's bright idea, and she talked us into spending more and getting the ten minute ride instead of the seven minute ride.
We went out in back of the hotel, and down to the docks, where we all put on life jackets and got into a boat:
...piloted by Alberto and Santiago:
...who took us out onto the bay, where I took these pictures of Paradise Village as seen from the water:
So here's how it works. At the back of the boat is a brightly colored parachute, called a parasail:
...which is attached to a harness, which is attached to a tow rope, which is attached to a winch. You put on the harness, and stand on the platform at the back of the boat. The pilot starts speeding up the boat, the winch starts paying out the tow rope, and away you go, sailing up 1,400 feet in the air. Then, after about ten minutes, they start up the winch in reverse, and reel you in like a fish, until you land back on the boat. Nothing to it.
So - here goes Joanne:
Joanne says: Terry was supposed to go first, because it was her birthday. However, somebody got mixed up, and I got the dubious honor. I tried to catch some birds, but they were below me. That was an awsome experience!
And then - there goes Terry:
And finally... (gulp!)... there goes Grinnell! Sorry, no pictures.
In other trip logs, I've commented on my fear of heights, so I won't dwell on it here. Suffice it to say that I prayed a lot. Still, I'm glad I did it. It's good to take a step outside your comfort zone every now and then - and this was a big step outside of mine!
We then drove back into Puerto Vallarta. On the way into town, we passed a shopping plaza called Plaza de Neptuno, with a big stautue of Neptune:
...as well as a real live bull ring, advertising bullfights every Wednesday.
If you look back at the map at the top of this page, just north of the river, you'll see a street along the waterfront named Paseo Diaz Ordaz. Along this street is a beachfront walk called the Malecón:
...which features a number of interesting sculptures. There were these three musical mermaids:
This sculpture of a boy riding a seahorse - El Caballito - is particularly well known:
There's also this rather bizzare item called Come Piedras - "Eating Rocks:"
This one was too big to get in one picture. First, there's this... person? with a pillow-shaped head, standing on the ground:
...facing a ladder to the sky, up which are climbing two smaller pillowheads:
Here are several more:
And finally, in a small plaza at the southern end of the Malecón, is this statue of Ignacio Luis Vallarta, governor of the state of Jalisco from 1872 to 1876, after whom the city is named:
In addition to all the permanent sculptures, there were a number of sand sculptures on the beach, like this one:
After walking the length of the Malecón, we walked a few more blocks, and came to the aforementioned Rio Cuale:
Although you can't see it on the map, there's an island, the Isla Cuale, in the middle of the river. You get to the island by going down steps leading down from the street:
On the island are several bars and restaurants, including River Cafe, where we stopped for a drink and a light lunch:
As I've previously mentioned, the weather was exceedingly hot and humid. So if I look a little wilted in that picture, it's because I was.
Let me call your attention to the paintings on the wall behind us. I was sitting across from Terry and Joanne, facing the paintings. I was very taken with the painting of the five Indian women, and made sure to include it in the picture I took of Terry and Joanne. I tried to take a picture of the painting to the left, of the cactus plants, but it didn't come out. So I was pleased to see that it's visible in the picture the waiter took of the three of us. Notice that the tall cactus in the center of the painting has a ladder leaning up against it, and although you can't really see it in the photo, at the top of the ladder is a window, with light coming out of it - as if elves or fairies were living in the cactus.
After we were sufficiently rested, we walked along the Isla. It's crowded with souvenir shops and crafts booths. Some good stuff but a lot of tourist schlock:
Terry and Joanne waited on the island while I walked back and picked up the car. On the way back, I took this picture of a pile of coconuts on the sidewalk - something you rarely, if ever, see in Los Angeles:
We drove back to the hotel and rested a bit, and then went out for dinner. This was Terry's birthday dinner, so we went to a very fancy French restaurant, Piaf, in another of the many luxury resorts at Nuevo Vallarta.
Just inside the entrance of the restaurant was this crystal tree:
We enjoyed an excellent meal, and were serenaded by a guitarist. I had tipped them off that it was Terry's birthday, and although this was too classy a joint to have waiters singing "Happy Birthday To You," they did make Terry a present of a scroll containing the lyrics of the song "La Vie En Rose," made famous by French singer Edith Piaf, for whom the restaurant is named. Then they brought us a plate with three chocolate truffles, and a message written in chocolate syrup:
All very elegant.
After dinner, we did a little shopping. Terry was trying to find Tequila Almendrada, an almond-flavored liqueur made with tequila, to bring back for a friend of ours. We went to a store called Mega, a sort of Mexican equivalent of Wal-Mart. I've seen these stores, with their orange and white pelican logo, just about everywhere I've been in Mexico:
(I actually took that picture the previous day, when we drove north out of town - that's why the sky is blue in the picture. Of course, it was night when we went there.)
After we left the store (without finding what we were looking for), I made a U turn to head back to the hotel. And then I saw what every American tourist in Mexico dreads - flashing police car lights in my rear view mirror! (Cue ominous music here.)
It turned out that there was a left turn arrow traffic signal controlling the intersection where I made my turn, that I didn't see. The officer was polite, and so was I. The first thing he told me was that he was going to hold my driver's license, and that I would have to report to the police station between 9 and 2 the next day to pay my fine and get my license back.
Well, this didn't sit well with Terry. We had plans for the next day, and this would interfere with them. And besides, this was not a great way to end her birthday. So she was upset. The policeman, noticing this, called me aside and asked what was the matter. I explained, and he thought for a while, and then told me that actually, the police station was open 24/7, and I could go and pay my fine right then, and not have to come back the next day. I said that would be great, and he told me to wait a minute while he called the station. After a few minutes, he came back and said that when he called the station, they said I could pay the fine directly to him. I did so, and he handed me back my license, with a folded paper that I assumed was a copy of the citation. But when I looked at it later, I found it was nothing but a blank sheet of paper!
Okay, call me suspicious, but I'm fairly certain that the municipal treasury will never see that money. But I was free to go, so I asked no questions. Although I was somewhat apprehensive for the rest of the trip - I had visions of being stopped at the airport when I tried to leave the country... "Señor Almy, there's the matter of an unpaid traffic fine..." But thankfully, that didn't happen.