Reena and I have just returned from a wonderful trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where we were fortunate enough to stay in the Gupta Timeshare overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Our trip started early on Saturday morning, when we woke at 2:00 a.m. to make it the airport for our 6:00 a.m. flight. We had a layover at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, which, by some miracle, was not delayed any further and we made it to Puerto Vallarta on time.
When we landed at the airport we had no idea how we were going to arrive at our hotel, the Sheraton Buganvilias Resort. We thought there was a shuttle form the airport to our hotel, but we quickly learned that there was no such transport. But, it wasn't a problem getting a ride. There were dozens of people standing around offering rides; we took the one that actually had a line of people that were getting into taxi cabs. In no time we were at our hotel. We thought about what we wanted to do that night, but since we had been awake for so long, we ended up taking a nap. We had dinner at the resort, an Italian restaurant where our table was only a few feet from the beach. Later that night, our hotel had a display of fireworks.
Here is a picture from our room at the hotel.
The second day we started off by going to a timeshare presentation. It was in our hotel, only lasted 90 minutes and included a buffet breakfast. Since we were young, they let us go right away; we were probably the first couple that got to go eat. The buffet was great, it had all the usual American things, pancakes, scrambled eggs, French toast, etc., and there were also some Mexican things that were excellent, like the tortillas with green chile sauce and a poached egg in a red sauce. Sadly, after brunch, we had to return to the timeshare people, who apparently needed to be told 30 times that we weren't buying anything before they would finally let us leave. However, in addition to the free brunch, we also got a bunch of discounts and other things.
After brunch, we did what all the locals do in Mexico...shop at Walmart! Inside the Mexican Walmart, there is a great pastry section, where we bought food for breakfasts and some snacks and things for our room, which had a complete kitchen. Once we returned from Walmart, we decided to head downtown to the Malecon, the downtown area in Puerto Vallarta, which is also right by the beach. We stopped in one shop along the way, the Opal Mine, which is a store that looks on the inside like an actual mine. I had intended to buy Reena an Opal from the "Mine", but Reena and I were shocked that the cheapest opal in the store...even the tiny pieces that no one really wanted...were over $200. We ended up passing on the opals.
The Malecon was a nice area, but walking there was a little weird. We had to walk through the Mexican streets to get there. We weren't exactly sure how to get there, but it was pretty easy, you just follow the path. Usually the path has many tourists and is very safe. However, the first time we went downtown, there were no other tourists. But we did see some homeless beggars and a gang of bicycle riders. These sights did make us feel a little uncomfortable, but it was the only time walking downtown felt a little uncomfortable.
After walking around downtown, we decided to have dinner at Barcelona. A Spanish restaurant a few blocks off the main street. It was our 2nd anniversary so we decided to go to a nice restaurant. In order to get inside, you must first walk up the street, which goes uphill. Then you go up 70 steps to the restaurant, where you have a few of the beach. We got a seat right by the edge of the restaurant, where we watched the sun set over the ocean. Our meal was excellent too: We had a potato omelet, a goat cheese in tomato sauce on garlic toast, scallops and churizo in a saffron sauce and potatoes with spicy sauce and garlic mayonnaise.
When we left Barcelona, a cab was right outside the restaurant's door. We got in and returned to the hotel. Before going to sleep we decided to walk down to the hot tub. The temperature of the water in the hot tub was perfect. It was not scalding hot like most hot tubs, but warm enough to be comfortable while the night breeze came through.
Here we are eating and enjoying the view from Barcelona.
Day three we were relaxing. We started by swimming in the morning, and then we got a couples' massage by the beach. It was extremely relaxing and the whole time all you could hear were the waves crashing against the beach. Except when some annoying guy made an announcement over the loud speaker. At night we walked toward the downtown and went to a Mexican restaurant that Reena's family recommended. It was really good Mexican food, probably the best Mexican food we had south of the border. This place was also pretty touristy. A Mariachi band performed for a while. They were pretty bad. But it was hilarious when all 7 of them surrounded this one small table in the back, and the occupant did not seem to enjoy it :) He later came around to it though and even requested a song...which they knew! The place also had a singer who was Spanish, but singing old English classics, like Neil Diamond and Jimmy Buffet. The best part of his singing was the fact that he didn't know all the words, and made half of them up!
The next day started with a canopy tour! There are four such tours where we were at; we chose the "River". A canopy tour is where you have a harness which is strapped to you and clipped to a handle bar which is placed over a rope. You then clip your harness to the handle bar and shoot down a long rope suspended over deep ravines and through the jungle trees! The tour started off a little odd. We were exactly where we were supposed to be at 10:40 a.m., but nobody else was there. After a while, people started showing up late, and finally a person came wearing a shirt that said "River Canopy Tour". We followed our "guide" to a windowless bus and off we went. The trip to get to the canopy tour took about 1/2 an hour. The worst part was when the bus went through a tunnel which smelled horribly of exhaust fumes and dust. After the tunnel, the bus wound its way up a mountain through dusty roads. We passed numerous ATV riders on our way up the mountain. Every ATV rider looked as through they had been bathing in dirt...I do not see the appeal in driving a windowless go cart through the dirty Mexican terrain. Anyway, we eventually arrived at our destination and the tour began. The guides were all very friendly and spoke English remarkably well. I would say overall that almost everyone we met had a very good grasp of the English language.
The guides gave us a quick lesson in safety and we were off. By chance, Reena and I were the first two people in line, so we were the guinea pigs of the tour. The Zip-lining was a lot of fun. It was perfectly safe and was a great experience. We would speed down the rope lines over vast ravines sometimes hundreds of feet above the ground. There were 10 lines total and the best was "The Tunnel", a zip-line that takes you through the trees and you cannot see the end of the line until you are very close to it. Other lines were named "Speedy Gonzalez" and "The Human Bullet". Reena and I took a disposable camera to the Zip-lining and Reena is dropping those off to be developed. We haven't had to have film developed in a long time; most of our pictures are on the computer.
When the zip-line tour ended we were offered a chance to attend a free tequila tasting. There were 6 tequilas that we were given to taste. Only a tiny amount was given to taste. The first was a standard tequila. This particular tequila maker uses 100% blue agave to produce his tequila, which results in a better tasting tequila, which supposedly will have no bad side effects should one overindulge. We decided to take him at his word on this point. The second, more expensive tequila, was a one year aged tequila. Reena and I both thought the standard was much better tasting than the aged tequila. The aged one had a very strange flavor to it. Then we were given the flavored tequilas. These were not very alcoholic and some of them were very good. The flavors were: Java (a Mexican fruit), pina colada, coffee and almond. The almond was my personal favorite, which was very sweet and tasted nothing like tequila. Sadly, our tasting did not include the cappuccino tequila a/k/a the chocolate tequila.
After our Zip-lining tour we returned to the Malecon to find a new restaurant. Reena had done a lot of research and wanted to try an Asian Restaurant called Archie's Wok. I had heard very bad reviews about most Asian food not ordered in Asia or the United States, but, after some persuasion, I agreed to try Archie's Wok. This restaurant is located in the Old Downtown, which is less touristy than the Malecon. To get there you first walk past the Malecon and then over a bridge. Unbeknown to Reena and me, there is a nice little path along the beach that connects the two areas. We ventured through a different bridge that led us through some streets where we were the only tourists. After a few minutes of wandering the streets, we saw some tourists and discovered the touristy area of old town; this area was packed with people and had a number of good restaurants. Archie's Wok was a small venue next to an exquisitely decorated Chinese restaurant called Peking House. That restaurant may be good, but skip it. I have a new found respect for Asian food served abroad. Archie cooked me mahi mahi steamed in banana leaves with scallions garlic, a little bit of fresh red pepper and a light green curry sauce. This was some of the best fish I have ever had. It tops even the mahi mahi served at Disney's The Living Seas (which is still my favorite sea food restaurant). Reena, a huge cilantro fan, was a huge fan of the cilantro garlic sauce that was served with every meal. The only knock on Archie's Wok is the very poor service. We had to ask for Reena's coke three times before it finally arrived; and on the bill, they kindly billed us for three cokes. apparently the wait staff was sure to bill you for everything you ordered, but not quick to bring it out. But the "error" was fixed for us with no problem at all. Despite the service, I would highly recommend Archie's Wok.
After we left Archie's, we walked back along the beach. This is when we discovered how we should have come to Old Down Town by following the Malecon around the beach. We were hoping to find a place for dessert on our way home. I wanted a real Mexican flan; Reena was in the mood for something chocolate. We wanted to try a place called "Zoo", mostly because it had a giant rhino coming out of the wall. We had passed it earlier and thought we would come back later. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a loud dance club at night. Thus, we stayed away. We ended up eating at Hamburger Paradise. This was the only restaurant we ate at which turned out to be a mistake. This place was bad. They had run out of all desserts, but one, a chocolate cake. We ordered the cake and after one bite regretted the decision. It was not moist, the frosting was like that found on a bad cake from Meijer and there was not a single redeeming quality to the dessert. Also, the service was very slow. Though by now we realized that all Mexican restaurants have slow service.
Here is Reena by one of the statues on the Malecon...good thing that male dancer isn't really me!!!
The next day was our day to relax. We didn't really plan anything and thought that we would start the day by walking around downtown. Our relaxing day, however, turned out to be more of a death march. The sun was out in full force and before long we were wondering whether our plan to wander around was a good one. Our water supply was dwindling and we were having problems finding a restaurant. I had hoped that we could find a small little place where they give you a mountain of food for $2.00. We heard many stories of other tourists finding such places, but as Reena told me, more than once, that she did not like this plan, we decided to stop at whatever place we could find that looked shady and cool. Weary and parched, we stumbled into a place located along the beach called Epoca. They only were displaying the dinner menu, which was all seafood, and rather pricey. However, Reena had let me know, with looks more than words, that it would be advisable for our death march to end. So we went inside and asked for a lunch menu. Lunch was very reasonably priced, and the food for lunch looked much better than the dinner selections. We ordered a few drinks to cool down, since you cannot drink the water, and there was a nice breeze coming into the restaurant. Before long, we were feeling rehydrated and refreshed. Reena ordered a pina colda, which was excellent. She also ordered the Epoca sandwich, a sandwich with spiced chicken, bacon, avocado, alfalfa, and a few other things. This was a great sandwich. When Reena couldn't finish, I was glad to finish the sandwich for her :)
After lunch, we went back to the hotel and went swimming in the pool. Now fully rejuvenated, we prepared to have dinner at the Mexican Fiesta held in the hotel. The Mexican Fiesta featured an abundance of authentic Mexican food, including sweet tamales, quesedillas, tacos, and a whole host of other things. The Fiesta also included all you can drink tequila. While Reena and I did not drink a lot of tequila, the old man sitting next to Reena did. His wife looked pretty embarrassed by the end of the night, especially when our neighbor kept telling the waiter to make his drinks even stronger. The Fiesta also included numerous dances from various states in Mexico. The most impressive was a dancer than used a lasso during his whole performance, jumping in and out of it, always keeping it moving. Another show involved a very controlled fight between two roosters. When all the shows were over, and it was time to go, our neighbor at the table wouldn't let us leave until he gave us a hug.
Matt and Reena, enjoying lunch at Epoca.
On our last day, we had to go home :( This was the saddest day. We had to pack up and leave the hotel. The Mexican airport was crazy! First we wait in line to have our luggage checked. This took 45 minutes. Then we waited another 45 minutes for the line for the security check point, which was so long that it wrapped around the entire airport. We eventually boarded and arrived in Chicago to learn that our flight would not leave on time; but we did eventually arrive home at 3:30 in the morning. But it was still a great trip, and a new country to cross off my list :)
We had a wonderful trip at Disney with my parents and my youngest sister, Jenny. On our first day we went to the Magic Kingdom and went on some of the classic rides, such as Pirates, Jungle Cruise, and the Haunted Mansion. Since one of the best things to do in Disney is eat, we had lunch at Pinocchio's (where I satisfied my craving for chicken strips and fries!). We also went on a few attractions that I'd never been on before, including Winnie the Pooh and Micky's Philharmagic. For Dinner we went to Ohana, at the Polynesian Resort, which had great food, but really slow service. The smoked turkey and marinated shrimp were both wonderful and the dessert bread pudding was incredible! So good in fact that we got the recipe to make it at home. The only bad part about the bread pudding was that it was made on the same planet where Macadamia Nut Cookies are also made, which apparently caused a ruckus amongst the chef who learned Reena had a nut allergy. There were NO nuts in the bread pudding.
For dinner on the second night we enjoyed a German Buffet in Epcot. I ate way too much, but I had to try all the different potato dishes and all the desserts :)
On our last night in Disney we had dinner at the Flying Fish with my parents and Jenny. It was sad that we had to leave, but we all had a great trip. I can't wait to get back to Disney; Reena and I are already planning where we want to eat :) And next time we will have our son with us!
