Hola, Puerto Vallarta! Part 3
Woah! Don't read this without perusing Part 2!
Taking pictures on the Malecon
When I was planning this trip, I knew we'd want to get into Puerto Vallarta proper, but we'd also want plenty of relaxation time. Since we'd have three full days in PV, I figured the first and third days (a Monday and Wednesday) would have a "sit by the pool" focus, but for the day in between, we'd put on our walking shoes and explore the city. After a quick workout in the Marriott's gym, I showered up and joined Chris for breakfast, once again in La Estancia, the onsite restaurant; however, by this morning, we'd learned that the buffet was the way to go. I had a custom omelet with a freshly made mini waffle and some delicious pastries, but Chris found the true gem: a made to order, custom chilaquiles station! Mexico for the win!
Since we were on the 4th floor of the hotel,
we were apparently safe from tsunamis.
Cool, cool, cool.
Not worried at all now.
Well beyond fortified by breakfast, we grabbed an Uber to take us into the old city, so we could start our stroll along the Malecon, the open-air boardwalk, which runs right along the ocean.
Pelicans crammed on a fishing boat
From the Malecon, looking back toward the Marriott
and some are a bit...um...creepier
than others.
After strolling to about the halfway point on the Malecon, we turned landward, toward the commercial and residential section of old town PV. I'd read that you could climb a set of stone stairs to make it up the Mirador Cerro de La Cruz (or, the Hill of the Cross), where an observation platform under a set of television/radio/cell phone towers gave you some of the best views around. It was time to start some tourist fitness!
Looking at the tower with the Malecon at our backs -
that's where we're headed!
Someone's happy he chose to wear real shoes
today, instead of flippy floppies.
This climb was no joke!
The path up the hill starts along regular city sidewalks, but it quickly morphs into stairways that lead right past homes, businesses, and the like. We're so used to having a significant separation of "where people live" and "where cool things are" in this country that it felt strange (kind of invasive, truly) to be wandering up and down like this, right past everyone's front window, but it was pretty standard fare for the folks in PV. While we didn't see any other tourists during our climb, we did see several locals (with their doggos!) using the hike for a morning workout.
We're about halfway up here
I see the tower!
As we climbed, we went past several construction projects; it seems like folks were bound and determined to live up here, even if it meant paying a lot of money to keep their homes from sliding down the hill (the views were worth it).
There is a funicular to take you up the last little bit,
but it wasn't working today.
Bummer!
I love a good funicular ride.
These horses are like, what the sh*t are we doing here.
With the final climb all that was left, we started the twisty, turny, sometimes guard rail-y steps to reach the top!
Said steps
They were actually too narrow for Chris' full foot
to fit on, which was a bigger problem on the way down.
Looking down at the funicular
We finally made it! We spent some time wandering around the observation platform, enjoying the views and the breeze before we needed to head back down.
I mean, I can see why you'd build up here,
even if it meant you might eventually slide down the hill.
Looking away from the ocean,
further inland toward the rainforest/jungle
Selfie time!
The Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish,
from above
After catching our breath, we started the hike back down; upon reaching the bottom, we found ourselves in need of a cool drink and a bano. On the corner of a local market square, we located something that could provide us both - a Starbucks (YES I KNOW, HEY WHATEVER I HAD TO PEE) - and we utilized their facilities, including their air conditioning, while we recovered from our exertions. With our heart rates returning to something closer to normal, we set out for more exploration, including a visit to the church we'd seen from above, the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. As it turns out, it was the building's (or maybe the parish's) 100th anniversary this year!
The square with the church -
the statue is of Ignacio Vallarta, after whom the city is named
I just love that open crown structure up top
Inside, looking at the main altar
Peeking back out toward the street
After leaving the church, we wandered hither and yon for a bit; we headed up through Gringo Gulch, named after the Hollywood stars who settled here in the 1960s (most notably Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton), building fancy homes and whatnot. We tried to cross the river, the Rui Cuale, onto the Isla Cuale, the island that sits in the middle of it. The island normally has tons of fun little shops, a cute museum, and open-air markets; however, significantly increased rainfall in PV as of late had made the island inaccessible. The river had washed out some of the bridges that crossed to the island, and it was several feet higher than normal while we were there (more on that in next week's blog).
We strolled back to the Malecon to take some pictures and attempt to fight through the wandering sets of tourists deposited by that morning's cruise ship (yes, we actually did see one while we were there) on our way to our lunch destination, Barcelona Tapas.
Lots of cool street art in PV
The mascot at "Devil's" looked rather familiar...
Arriving at our lunch spot 10 minutes before our reservation - that we'd booked on their website a few weeks prior - we were surprised to learn that the restaurant had recently decided to serve only dinner. Um, thanks for letting us know? We strolled back to the Malecon to consider our next move. Although it would be a bit of a hike, we decided to head into the Zona Romantica, the oldest part of PV, to Los Muertos Brewing, one of the local breweries in town. Since it was hot and sticky (in the high 80s and oh so humid, with the storm clouds building up and whatnot), we stuck to lighter beers and tried a few of their IPA/blonde/lager options. All were pretty darn good, and we enjoyed our pizza as well (even if we could only eat half of it - it was HUGE).
Liquid refreshment!
Noms!
After we'd finished stuffing ourselves silly, we were more than ready for a well deserved break, so we called an Uber and headed back to the Marriott, content to shower up (this was for sure a "multiple showers a day" trip) and take an afternoon nap. Post-nap, we sauntered down to the Ceviche and Tequila bar where we'd been a few nights earlier, so Chris could take advantage of the free tequila tasting that came along with our stay (I abstained, as I was feeling less than amazing after our earlier excursion).
He enjoyed these, but he really enjoyed a different option,
from Clase Azul, that he actually paid for
from Clase Azul, that he actually paid for
A shot from our balcony of the marina
(see the fake lighthouse and the boat masts?)
of the clouds rolling along the mountains
Before too long, it was back up to the room to start getting ready for dinner. Since I didn't know how much time we'd spend in old town, I hadn't made any dinner plans, figuring we'd handle those on the fly (that's right, people - I planned to not plan. At least I'm always on brand). Our eventual pick was a spot really close to us at the Marriott - the Sonora Prime Steak Club - not only did it look fun, but it was within easy walking distance, a nice bonus! While their focus was steak (as you might imagine from the name), we both went in a slightly different direction; I picked the "prime potato foot," which was a tower of thinly sliced potatoes, all gratin-d up with several cheeses, surrounded by steak bits. For his part, Chris went with the menu item that captivated us when we saw it online - it looked like a dare in meat form: the CID Wellington Burger, a hamburger cooked entirely within a bun; the server brings the food to you and tableside, they inject it with cheese sauce using a giant syringe. How could we possibly pass that up?
Here's the video of the tableside injection:
And here's Chris cutting it open:
I won't lie, we were disappointed that cheese didn't gush out in a giant, cheddar tidal wave like they showed on their website. By comparison, here's a still from their site:
I mean, not exactly the same, right?
For good measure, this is what mine looked like.
Gimmicks aside, Chris' burger was really good - the meat was well cooked (never a guarantee for any sort of wellington), the bun was soft, and it was just super tasty. Mine was kinda meh, to be honest. While the potatoes were good, the little meaty bits around the potato stack were an afterthought. We took care of finishing Chris' food, saving room for a slice of tiramisu (which came surrounded by a plastic collar, the better to allow the somewhat liquid-y preparation to flow onto your plate after the waiter removed it with a dramatic flourish - it was kind of their thing here) for dessert.
Again, more than full (sensing a theme in these blogs?), we asked for the check so we could head home. What ensued next fell firmly into the realm of absurdist comedy; I could have sworn we were being punk'd on PV's latest hidden camera tv show. Due to the recent storms, the first credit card scanner our waiter brought to our table wouldn't connect to the payment server. There was a good 10 minute period where our card was scanned through the reader multiple times, which included our server raising the scanner high into the air and moving it next to the restaurant window (he also tried placing it on the now empty table next to us, as it had previously worked there). When all of that proved futile, our waiter confiscated a second scanner from another server and tried again. Once again, no dice. Eventually, after 20 minutes or so, this was the scene playing out at our table:
Please take a good look at how many credit card scanners
and staff members are now assisting us.
We'd been trying this with our Capital One Visa, which had worked totally fine everywhere else around the city, including within our own hotel. At this point, one of the managers asked, "do you have an American Express card we can use?" I quickly handed mine over, and it went through immediately (they had to bring another scanner for the Amex card, as I guess it has its own terminal, different server, etc - apparently, a better one). We were finally on our way, ready to stroll home and get ready for bed.
Before we crashed out, Chris spent a bit of time on our balcony, sipping on a glass of the Mexican wine we'd brought home from La Leche the previous night and watching our resident geckos catching bugs.
Oh, what a feeling; this gecko is dancing on the ceiling!
The cruise ship, heading back into the ocean
On the next blog, we take advantage of the spa in our hotel and enjoy another day of sitting around!
Later!
Amy
P.S. - some shots of the shenanigans at doggie daycare today:
Auggie made a friend!
This child loves the pool!
"Why do you want me to get out now?"
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