Dear Family and Friends,
As the night before promised, it was another stunning day in PV. This week, after it being kind of dreary the week before, has been among the best. Everyone seems to be remarking on it.
I got a full 5 miles in on my walk, although this morning I am feeling the effects and think I will take the day off, as the cough and sore throat continues. Setting that aside, once I returned from the walk and, of course, the store, Polley and I headed out to the Galleries Vallarta, a large, modern mall near the marina and Walmart. Polley was on a mission. She normally hates clothes shopping, but when there is a particular accessory that it needed, she is "relentless"!
We usually catch the bus out, but at the last moment, and in a rare mood of generosity, I sprang for a cab. There is a driver whose station is right across from La Fuente and we have used him a number of times. He was available, so what the hell!
Once we arrived, we discovered that malls in Mexico don't get going until 11. We were about 20 minutes early. So we wandered through the two-story structure casing out the possibilities. Polley wanted a pair of shoes to go with the new green blouse she bought (and I photographed) a few weeks ago. She has been wearing it with a long skirt and some very heavy black cowboy boots. Not the best for climbing the hill.
The top is a rich, rather dark green with brass rivets on the shoulders. As we had been searching for these elusive black sandals for about a week now, and the green/brass combination was not an easy match. Every sandal with brass on it, was paired with brown! I thought the chances of finding anything that matched somewhere between slim and non. However, on we went.
We tried a number of stores once they opened with little luck. And then, voila! In a large department store we came across a pair of sandals that we ornamented in brass. But, alas, I said to Polley, "Oh, but they are not black!" No, they were green, the exact green! Not only that, but they were marked down from 899 pesos to 486. At the register, that became 314! The only question, as we did not have the blouse with us: would the greens match? See for yourselves.
Amazing! We then did a little Walmart shopping since we were out there. The first few years down here we went out to Walmart almost weekly. This year we have been exactly twice. We are getting better at knowing the local territory and by the time you cab out and cab back, you don't really save much.
We took a cab from Walmart to La Fuente. Had a great cab driver. Very chatty and seemed impressed with my Spanish. Obviously, it takes little Spanish from gringos to impress him.
It was a simple lunch in and a siesta before going out for the evening. We wandered down to Langosta's for the sunset. Which was very pretty, in a rather straightforward, cloudless kind of way. I did catch one of the waiters in a silhouette as he took down umbrellas and began putting up the tiki torches.
Having put the sun safely to bed, we went on to Sapori di Sicily. It was a place we tried last Tuesday and liked it so well, that as we sat there we made a reservation for the next week. Last night we shared their special, a sea bass stuffed with olives and capers. It was very good and it was served with the most fabulous mashed potatoes. Polley suggested that this recipe had more butter in it than potatoes. She was not far off. This place also makes their own chili-infused olive oil, their own delicious little cookies and some excellent lemoncello. We had a nice talk with the owner, whose family runs 4 restaurants, 3 in Sicily and his venture here in Puerto Vallarta. Believe me, they are a welcome addition to PV. In fact, we made another reservation for next Tuesday.
Then, on another lovely night, it was a cab home and another great and very funny cab driver. He was obviously taken with Polley and was baffled that she could have ended up with someone like me! His last suggestion to her as we paid the fare, was that she "make an appointment and see an eye doctor." Ah, well, perhaps love is blind, or least a little farsighted!
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