How I spent my April vacation, Part Four (the end)

Day 6 - Tuesday

This morning we decided to check out La Jolla de Mismaloya, where they filmed "Night of the Iguana". I'll be honest with you: I've never seen it. I might now, though, just because I was there. We got up and motivated, Kim ran down for the chairs, and skipped breakfast - the plan was to find a place there for breakfast. So I had it in my head that this would be like a town, or a village or something. At least the beach part, anyway. But this is what I get for not doing any research and not knowing my surroundings. Kim had been there once before, but it was a long while ago, and there have since been some pretty good storms. We took the city bus (I say "city" because it basically is the same bus that takes you into PV) so it was $6 (remember, pesos only in these reports). The drive itself is very pretty, and we weren't 100% sure where we were getting off. Luckily an old caballero took a liking to Kim, and told us where to get off. The bus ride might have been 15 minutes, maybe 20, if I recall correctly. We got off, and walked down a little road that flanked a big resort, and that led to the beach.

The beach was very pretty. There were one or two beach clubs set up, and lots of fishing boats ready to go out. When Kim asked one guy where the iguanas were, he told her they didn't have any. And he wasn't lying. We walked along a path at the far side of the beach that Kim kind of remembered, though she remembered more rocks and lizards. I don't think iguanas like water, though, and the rocks just below the path were pretty much in the ocean. Perhaps the scenery changed with the hurricanes. It was very pretty, anyway, and I do actually have some pictures of that.

We obviously weren't going to get any breakfast here, so we went back the way we came and debated our options. Luckily, a guy selling tours started telling us what we wanted to know (he was from LA), and he pointed us across the street and down a hill to the "town". Which basically had a minisuper and a restaurant that was too nice for us. Back up the hill, the city bus happened to be just stopping, so we grabbed it and opted for breakfast at the resort. It was a fun little adventure!

After breakfast we were back in the sun for a few hours, relaxing and reading and napping and getting some good color. At least Kim's has lasted. Seriously, I am white as a sheet right now. Whatever.

For dinner Tuesday night Kim wanted to treat me to a restaurant that she has been to many times and has never been disappointed. Barcelona Tapas is in old town, but up the street from where the malecon begins. We took a taxi (and thank God, because seriously the streets up that way are practically vertical). The restaurant is on the fourth floor so it has a fabulous view - we got there before the sun set, which made it even better. It's a tapas restaurant, so you basically choose about three items per person and share - they are smallish portions (sometimes) (the mushrooms could have fed a family of four) but perfect - and even then we were stuffed. Service was excellent, the food was delicious, this is a place I would totally recommend to anyone down in that area.

After dinner we walked down to the malecon (the sidewalks were actually steps because the street is so steep) to walk off our meal. Lots of great people watching, and lots of fun art, and sand castles and activity and bustley-ness and it was very very cool. Street performers and vendors and even those guys that swing around the tall pole by their feet - somebody help me out, can't remember what they are called, but you know what I'm talking about if you've ever been to like Chichen Itza for a show. Tons of people, families, everyone out for a stroll. That area is home to all of the big clubs (not my scene) so things were pretty loud, adding to the air of festivity. Add to that the pirate ship (just like in Cancun, they have the pirate ship dinner/party cruise situation) was just out in the bay and started shooting off fireworks. So THAT was fun (because I LOVE fireworks. They make me very happy. As a matter of fact, that was the third set of fireworks I had seen in this one week trip! Amazing!).

We made our way to the end and started looking for a taxi, when (like Mecca) I spotted a Starbucks just across the street. Well of course I needed a cajeta frappucino sin crema batida (because you cannot get cajeta up here) (and sure you could get caramel, but it's not the same). Kim chilled while I fought the crowd within and came out finally with my treat. We got a taxi back home and ended the evening on the deck, watching the water. It was a great night.

Day Seven - Wednesday

Full day sun. It had to be, for me, because so far I had spent very little time compared to Kim laying out. I'm not sure what it was. Perhaps the lack of humidity, which helps you feel no so much like a peice of bacon sizzling in your chair. We spent the whole day laying out, and reading, popped in for some lunch in the room, that kind of thing. They were advertising an Oriental Buffet at the restaurant, and neither really WANTED to cook, so we chose that. I kind of pushed Kim toward it, so I ended up paying for us (it was no match whatsoever for last night's dinner treat, by cost or by quality). We cleaned up and went down. The soup was good. Kim's tappenyeki was okay. The rice was good. The rest of it, meh. Kim's never had a succesful Chinese food experience in PV, and this didn't help her cause at all. But hell, it was food and we didn't have to do dishes. We spent the rest of the evening on the patio, packed up and prepped for the next day.

Day 8 - Thursday

We had to be out of the room by 11am but we did early-check out the day before, to avoid the lines, so by 10 we were ready. We decided to spend a couple of hours at the pool before the 1pm taxi. I didn't see the point in showering, since we'd be in the sun and pool a little bit, and it's not like I was sweaty at the buffet the night before, so we got rid of our suitcases and headed down to the pool. When it was time, the front desk let us use one of the studios to change clothes and freshen up. Taxi back to the airport, then a little bit of lunch, and then we were off. No issues for either flights, and we were back to Portland just around 9:30. I got home about 11pm after all was said and done, hosed off, and went to bed.

All in all it was a good trip - I was kind of a dud as far as partying goes, but I don't think it held Kim up at all. I liked the city and the resort was nice and it's always good to get sun and explore new places. I'm still trying to get used to being back at work and back in the swing of things, but it's been sunny so that's been a big help.

Thanks to you 17 readers for hanging in there with this. It wasn't as exciting as it could have been, but it's probably because I am getting older and my memory is fading...