Happy New Year!

Well, this will probably be my last post because tomorrow on New Year’s Day we leave for the other side of the country and I won’t have internet where we are staying. I will only be able to read email at an internet café and won’t have the time to update my blog.

We’ve been having a lot of fun here this week. We’ve met the neighbours who are staying in the unit next to ours. They are from Calgary. Tonight we are going with them and Linda and Lorne to a brand new Italian restaurant around the corner. Yesterday when we were on the beach, two young girls came by with a basket full of fans with the name and address of the restaurant on them. They were letting everyone know that the grand opening is tonight and everything is free! Food and cocktails and beer and wine and champagne at midnight. I think it will be packed!

I am busy trying to pack and do laundry. Boo Hoo we do not want to leave! But of course we will be back in March for a couple of weeks to get the keys to the townhouse we bought here in Bucerias. In case you would like to see photos, here is a link to the website where I have loaded them.

http://community.webshots.com/slideshow/561757996lDWnXr?mediaPosition=1

I hope it works!

Happy New Year 2008!!

Mexican Christmas!

This Christmas was what we hope will be the first of many here in Mexico. Naturally it was not at all like the traditional ones we have had in the past! Later in the afternoon on Christmas Eve we had a visit from our landlady’s friend Linda. Linda had collected us in Puerto Vallarta to take us to the rental we have here in Bucerias because the owner is back in the USA. Linda is great fun and an invaluable source of information about Mexico and Bucerias in particular.

Linda was with her husband Lorne, her son Tony and Tony’s partner Josh (who had both arrived to spend Christmas just the day before.) Tony and Josh decided to stay for a beer and sent the parents on their way to prepare for Christmas Day. They only live about two blocks from here. We had a great time with them. Both live in Birmingham Alabama. Tony is a pediatric neurologist and Josh is a Spanish professor in the university there. Before we knew it midnight had come and they had to get home.

Christmas morning was quiet! No phone ringing constantly, no tree, no turkey to prepare and best of all no snow or rain! I gave Gail one lone DVD and she gave me a Christmas ornament. If it wasn’t for Santa Lea and Dale who had sent a huge gift and care package to us before we left Victoria to take along, we would not have known it was Christmas at all.

Never mind. In the afternoon, we took the bus into Puerto Vallarta to have a real turkey with all the fixin’s dinner at Café Roma. Fox had closed the restaurant so he could host a friends and staff Christmas party. He provided all the turkeys and ham and everyone brought a pot luck to share as well as a $100 peso donation to the “Children of the Dump” foundation in Vallarta. I made real Newfoundland cod cakes as I actually found salt cod in the supermarket last week! They were snapped up quickly while the turkeys were cooking. We had a blast. There were over ninety people and I think we knew about 20 of them- so it was a lot of fun. The very hard working staff all brought their families, so there were little Mexican kids, teenagers and grandparents there. Mexican’s celebrate on December 24th rather than Christmas Day. This was very evident going home on the bus in the dark later at night because the streets were filled and the shops and stores were all open as if it were a regular day.

Tony and Josh had arranged with us to spend Boxing Day on the beach. They had never heard of Boxing Day but agreed it is a very sensible way to spend the day after Christmas! We were on the beach at 10am and had to drag ourselves back to our little casita by 4pm so I could be home to receive my phone call from the family in Newfoundland. We had such a fantastic day with them which dragged on into the late afternoon. They finally went home, showered and were back by 7pm with Linda and Lorne in tow to take us out to dinner.

We went to one of Linda’s favourite restaurants in the little town square. The restaurant had a special evening event to celebrate the day after Christmas. It was a Mexican buffet with wonderful Aztec costumed performers dancing, singing and chanting a traditional celebration of thanks to nature. The food was fabulous and the company even better!

Christmas Eve in Bucerias

Life in Bucerias is not as hectic and crazy as the South Side of Vallarta. It is very pretty and peaceful and has very friendly people- just not as many! Every day we take a long walk on the beach in the morning and spend time at our private pool in the afternoon. For the most part the beach is deserted but at the point where the town square meets the beach there are about a dozen or so very nice restaurants and bars that are only a five or less minute walk for us. The amazing thing about this part of Mexico is the numerous very excellent restaurants!

Yesterday we went back into Vallarta to see Sr. Fox at Café Roma-laptop in backpack to see if he could resolve the problems I am having connecting to the internet. It is not me or my laptop according to Fox- who had a computer business in Winnipeg in a previous life. Unfortunately, out landlady had to return to the USA just before we arrived due to a family emergency. So the problem is most likely with her connection or modem. The only real problem is that it limits my posts and after January 1 there won’t be many if any more because I do not have a connection at our next place in the Yucatan.

I am only posting one photo because I am including a link to Webshots and the pictures I have uploaded there. The Winter Solstice Sunset here was one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. I have a lot of photos and hope if you click on the slide show you will feel as if you were here on the beach with us watching this incredible sight!

I hope the link works and you can see them!

It is Christmas Eve here in Bucerias and I have to say to everyone who has been following our adventures how much it means to Gail and me to hear from you and to know you are enjoying reading the blog.

In a small way though I cannot help playing a line in my mind – made famous by Bing Crosby and courtesy of Irving Berlin….

“but it’s December the 24^th, and I am longing to be up north”……

Well, I know it is just sentiment today and I know I will be over this as soon as I talk to friends and family tomorrow on Christmas Day and hear about the snow and rain and cold!

Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas and God Bless Us Every One!

Love from the snowbirds Karen and Gail

Casita Tres Palmas in Bucerias

Bucerias is a charming town just about 45 minutes north of the south side of Vallarta. The beach here is beautiful and much calmer than Los Muertos. We are only two blocks from the beach so it is easy for us to spend lots of time walking and jumping in the surf. The sunsets here are incredible and the Sierra Madre Mountains surrounding this part of the bay are spectacular.

There are lots of great restaurants and bars in the town. Saturday evening we found the Irish Pub and had fish and chips. We really enjoyed having non-Mexican food for a change!

Every Sunday the daily street flea market expands to a very large one. A lot of streets in the town square are completely taken over by the vendors and it is a very festive atmosphere. It’s also a lot of fun!

Monday we went grocery shopping and because we now have a BBQ outside our door we were craving chicken! It’s been about 25 years since we lit a charcoal fire and now I know why everyone switched to propane! It takes forever for the coals to be ready! It was worth the wait though to have delicious BBQ chicken outside in mid December while listening to the waterfall and watching the water tumble into the pool.

Today we walked for only 15 minutes on the beach to reach the DeCameron Resort where we stayed in November 2006.

On the way the most thrilling thing happened! Gail noticed a little tiny turtle running toward the surf, then we saw more and more and MORE!! There were at least a hundred little ones all racing for the water. I had heard that the Bay of Banderas is renowned as a turtle-hatching place but never expected to see such a thing. In about twenty minutes it was all over, so we were in the exact right place at the exact right time. We still do not know if the turtles were laying eggs or if they had just hatched.

Tonight we found a little fish taco stand around the corner and had take out street food. It was excellent!

Final Days in Puerto Vallarta!

A long overdue update! Part of the problem is that I have very limited Internet access and part of the problem is I’m starting to think like a Mexican….mañana has become a favorite word!!!

Thursday evening we invited our neighbours over for drinks. Our next door neighbour Muriel is a delighful lady in her late 70’s and is from White Rock BC! She has been coming to Puerto Vallarta for about five months a year since the mid 90’s, originally with her husband, who has since died. Muriel is quite the gal because she has a car that she leaves here year round and drives like a Mexican taxi driver! She is fearless! Our other neighbour, Larry, is from Colorado and lives here all year. Of course Marilu came and later, David, who is first nations from Bella Coola. David had just arrived from BC that day and decided to stop by to see Larry and Marilu. Because there is no intercom system in the building the only way to get in is to stand on the street and holler until someone hears you! We heard shouting from the street “LARRY!!!!” “MARILU!!!!” Muriel and Larry brought their dogs and so, in our little apartment we had a small Christmas party! Thanks Carol for bringing a tin of your Mom’s baking, it was a big hit, especially for Marilu who had never had a mince tart or shortbread in her life!!

Friday, we spent packing and getting ready for our move to Bucerias. We stopped by Café Roma to let everyone know we would not be around much anymore. We signed up for Christmas dinner there though, as Fox told us he closes the restaurant for the day and has about 100 people come for turkey and ham which he provides and everyone else brings a potluck. He asks for a $100 peso donation to go to the “Children of the Dump” charity here in Vallarta. It should be fun!

Saturday morning when we were finished getting organized both of us smelled smoke. There was a fire directly across the street! We ran out onto the balcony to see plumes of black smoke pouring out of the roof and one lone fire truck with about four fire fighters dealing with it. It was mayhem because the police had to block the traffic on our street, which is a main bus route and is always very busy. It took about an hour to bring under control, all the while everyone in our building had ring side seats. Muriel and Larry had planned to go to Home Depot in the morning. HD has just opened here and it causing a sensation! The things they carry have never been available in PV before now! We had arranged to meet the owner of our Bucerias apartment at the central bus station so she could take us to our new place. We were planning to take a taxi but that was impossible with the street blocked off but Muriel offered to drop us on her way shopping. Her car was parked just outside the building so we were able to go. And that is how I know what a wild driver she is! Just like everyone here, you play “DARE ME” with everyone else on the roads!!

Linda met us at the bus stop right on time and took us to our casita. It is very tiny and very cute and equipped with everything we need. There is a lovely pool and fountain right outside our door. Terry, the owner had to fly home to South Carolina last week for a family emergency so she sent her friend to meet us instead. There are two apartments here: a larger one and ours plus the top floor is where Terry lives. A family from Oregon was in the other unit but they left Monday. We now have the entire complex to ourselves until Boxing Day! We are thrilled to have this beautiful place, with gorgeous gardens, BBQ area and lots of hummingbirds all to ourselves. It is so peaceful and quiet after the hussle and bussle of Vallarta.

I've added a few pictures of our little place in the south side of Puerto Vallarta which we will miss very much. They are from Bob's webpage not mine but are very accurate!

I’ll do another update on Bucerias and what we have been doing here later this week.

Our Lady of Guadalupe and RBC'ers!

Today was the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This is just about the largest religious celebration that the Mexican people have next to Christmas and Easter. Lots of things were disrupted, especially the buses because of the huge progressions to the cathedral in town.

It was quite amazing, seeing literally thousands of people, many dressed in traditional costumes (lots of Aztec style-nothing to do with Christianity!) marching and singing on their way to the cathedral. This cathedral is beautiful but not large. I have seen much larger in small towns in Canada so I can only assume that as people marched in the front door, others were marching out on the sides! All the while, the bell tower had people visible who were ringing the bells by hand. I think they must all be deaf tonight lol!

We were in the area because we had arranged to meet Carol and Shannon (for those who do not know-we worked with them at the Royal Bank) for the day. They are in town staying at the Royal Decameron in Nuevo Vallarta. We were just walking towards the hotel where we had arranged to meet when we saw them walking on the other side of the street!

We had a great day, showing them "our neighborhood" and stopping at our favorite bars and restaurants. Just a few hours in the middle of the day in not enough to do justice to this great area of Vallarta.

Beach and Tequila Tasting

Monday we took a beach tour with a group of Canadians/Americans who are just here for a short 2 week holiday. It was with a private driver in a van-only 11 of us including Tony the driver/tour guide . Tony brought a cooler and we were able to bring along our own, ahem, refreshments.

We met a couple of fun ladies (Cheryl and Laurel) from Kamloops. Cheryl was on her first trip to Mexico. She does not drink beer and had discovered "rum and coke in a can". I swear to God it's true!

Tony took us north to a wonderful practically deserted beach called Destiladeras. The ocean was pretty shallow very far out but the waves were incredible. Because we were just about the only people there, we were able to all go into the ocean together. This was a treat because usually one of us has to stay on shore to “guard our stuff”! Now, anyone who knows me well, knows that I am a newbie beach baby. This mainly means hanging out on the sand, not the surf but I went all the way out past the breakers and was hammered and tumbled into the ocean. It was exhilarating and scary and fun all at the same time. I had sand in between every crease and fold I own lol!!! Gail was just as proud of me as I was of her zip lining!!!

After that we went to a hillside restaurant overlooking the Bay of Banderas for lunch. There was a fabulous view of the entire curve of the bay and steps to a very pretty beach just below us.

On the drive back towards Vallarta we made a stop at the flea market in Bucerias. This was not so important to us as we will be staying just a couple of blocks from the market starting next week, however, the others really wanted to go. We decided to spend the hour walking the beach instead. We could see the Decameron in the distance and headed that way but didn’t have enough time to get there and back. We stayed at the Decameron in November 2006.

Finally we went to a family run tequila farm/factory/tasting tour. It was very interesting to see the entire process starting at seeing the agave plants growing in a field, the harvest, the smoking underground, the boiling, pressing and distilling all the way to the bottles in the shop. The pulp left over after the pressing is considered a candy delicacy in Jalisco (which is the state in Mexico we are in and is where tequila is made.) The guide gave us each a piece of sticky, very sweet pulp to chew. It's a lot like sugar cane and is surprisingly good! We were also given four different samples but our favorite by far was the coffee flavored, which tasted like a less sweet version of Kahlua.

I am writing this at 3:30 am because today is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The celebrations on our street started about an hour ago (YES INDEED, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!) with rockets, music, bugles and shouting! I expect the church bells to start shortly. There is no way I can sleep through it! It’s going to be a LONNNNNNGGGGG day!

Sunday brunch at La Huertas in the Hills

Saturday we spent trying to find a place to rent for next fall/winter. We were so lucky to meet Robin and Serge because they wanted to come with us and having their car was a godsend. We saw some beautiful and some terrible places but nothing that we wanted to commit to so far in advance.

Sunday we planned a day in the hills just on the outskirts of Vallarta for a birthday brunch for another friend we have met. Jamie and Darren are a young couple who live here full time. They are both from Oregon and have a beautiful condo in the Marina. They have just bought a 34 foot sailboat to use for charters. Jamie's adorable 9 year old daughter Hanna has captured our hearts. She is just at that perfect age, wanting to be grown up but still a kid. Darren's 38th birthday was Sunday. Juan Carlos, the waiter at Cafe Roma told us about this hidden gem of a place called La Huertas where every Sunday they have a fantastic Mongolian buffet with an hour of live mariachi music for entertainment. The locals all come on Sunday to enjoy the day off. The place is right on the River Cuale outside Vallarta. The sides of the river are sheer cliffs but the kids in the village have climbed the face to attach a rope to a tree growing from the rocks and use it to Tarzan swing into the river. They have a ball and it is so much fun watching them.

Juan Carlos (wearing an Alexander Keith's Pale Ale t-shirt no less!) came with his family, including his very handsome grandfather, who used to be a soap opera star here in Mexico! He was introduced to us and is very gallant and charming.

Serge and Robin picked us up and we met the others there. We had a fabulous brunch under the huge palapa, with avocado, mango, papaya and more fruit trees all around the perimeter. Wild parrots and exotic birds were all around and we watched the kids swinging into the river. The coronas and tequila were plentiful lol!!

Snorkling and Exploring

I’m trying really hard to update the last few days but I’m sure I will forget something!

Tuesday we packed our beach gear and headed out to take the Mismaloya/Tomalan bus to spend the day at the beach by Robin and Serges’ condo. Mismaloya is where we stayed last January so we knew the bus and area. We were surprised to see Serge pull up at the stop while we were waiting at the bus and holler out “Taxi”! We hopped in to find out that Robin had stayed at home to wait for us while she sent Serge into town to find a dentist for her. Her gold crown had popped off while she was eating her muffin poor thing! Just what everyone needs on a Mexican holiday. I don’t think I mentioned that they were supposed to fly home last Friday but Robin convinced Serge to call work and tell them that he couldn’t get back for another week. She is off work for a couple of months as she had surgery on her hand recently. Their beach was beautiful, very white silky sand, very small and very private. There were no beach vendors there, which was a nice change although they really don’t bother us at all.

Robin and Serge had brought extra snorkeling gear as their beach has some fabulous snorkeling. Gail went out and loved it. I’m not a good enough swimmer to be comfortable going out way over my head so I stayed on the beach while the three of them went out to see the beautiful coloured fish and sea life. Gail just loved it. After the beach we went to their pool and Serge went back to their condo to make lunch. We love having a cabana boy waiting on us!!! Robin had her crown glued back on in the late afternoon.

Wednesday we spend a quiet day just went to the beach for the morning and decided to take some time to recuperate. I cooked dinner at home which was nice for a change. Afterwards we walked to the Malacon to see some of the festivities. The first twelve days of December is full of activity in Mexico because the 12^th is the feast day for Our Lady of Guadalupe. It’s celebrated all over the country. The big finale will be December 12^th.

The next day we drove all the way north to the little village of La Peñita, which has a huge outdoor market every Thursday. It’s about an hour from Puerto Vallarta. There was also a motel/condominium conversion open house that we wanted to see but it was a piece of junk! Of course we were with Robin and Serge again. The market was very entertaining. I had a delicious cold Horchata in the market that Serge highly recommended. It was one of his mother’s specialties. It tasted like a vanilla milkshake without the milk, cost $1.50 and was like the huge big gulp size-so much that I had to pour most of it out! We bought a couple of little ceramic bowls and Robin bought a couple of silver necklaces. On the way home we stopped in a couple of other towns- Ricon de Guayabitos and San Francisco. By the time we returned to PV we were all very hungry. Serges’ cousin had taken them to a typical Mexican seafood restaurant the last time they were in town and that’s where we went.

Neither of us had ever experienced a meal like it! The location is on a very busy road, it’s open air under a palapa, plastic tables and chairs, HUGE, crowded at 4pm in the afternoon and has Mariachi players wandering through the restaurant.

The meal was FANTASTIC! As soon as we sat down we were given ceviche on a tortilla, shrimp soup, nachos and salsa and a bucket of beer. All but the beer was complimentary. Serge and I ordered surf and turf- steak and prawns, Gail had on one of combos-lobster, snapper and prawns and Robin had the prawn combo-prawns cooked three different ways. The plates were ENORMOUS!! Most of Gail and mine came home with us. After dinner we were given complimentary Kahlua and each of us an entire pineapple to take home!! The bill was $70.00 for all four of us tip included.

Back to Steve's for a while then we all came home to continue having fun. We finally made it to bed at 3:30am.

Zip Line Canopy Fun!

We've been so busy over the last three days that I need a HOLIDAY!!

Saturday we did the usual, long walk, beach time out to dinner etc. Sunday we started out the same way but it was really windy on the beach so I had a lot of trouble keeping the umbrella up so we decided to leave and go to the pool instead. On the way home we saw Robin and Serge sitting in Steve's Sportsbar, literally around the corner so our plans were changed almost immediately. We ran home, showered off the salt and sand and went back over. It's another very fun place and Sunday it was very loud as they had two football games playing simultaneously and different people were following different games. NOISY! A little while after we arrived Danny (aka Neil Young) walked in and convinced us all to go to Cuertes & Cuertes on the beach to watch the sunset. We had planned to go to the Malecon Sunday night but one of the amazing things about Puerto Vallarta is that plans seem to change so much it's hardly worth making them!

Robin and Serge then talked us and Heather- another girl we've met (poor thing in on the plane home to Houston right this minute) to go on a canopy zip line tour on Monday. I still cannot believe that Gail even entertained the idea but she did! Serge picked us up first thing yesterday and off we went. The place was out past Mismaloya where we stayed last January. It is a very very lush jungle and is very green and beautiful. The people in the town all got together to build this canopy of nine wires across the canyon. They start out tame- not so long or high but they get increasingly scary. Gail dug her feet in and said "No way, I'll just wait for you guys" but it was 90 minutes so we were able to get her to agree to do the first one and see how she felt. We had to pour two Coronas in her first but it worked! Now she is so proud of herself! The pictures are not great because we are so high up and far away from the landing/take off spots but there is one of each of us to prove we did it!!

Afterwards we went to the zoo. I hate zoos but didn't want to be a party pooper. Heather really wanted to go especially as they had two 22 day old Bengal Tigers that they let you hold if you pay extra. She did and was so thrilled it made if fun for all of us.

The day ended back at Robin and Serge's place where Serge cooked us a fabulous Mexican meal using his mother's recipes. His mom used to own and run a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles.
YUMMM