One and all,
We have, not surprisingly, not been up to much the last several days. The weather has continued quite warm, oppressively at times, and just when we think it is changing to what to more attractive winter patterns, another wave of high temperatures mixed with high humidity comes languidly sauntering (or is that saun-ering in) in. While our apartment may have much to be desired, we do thank our landlord on a daily basis for the ceiling fan.
The mornings have been quite comfortable and Polley and I have been going out of our way, a bit, to take advantage of the new white bridge that connects our area of town to the park that splits the Rio Cuale.
They did a terrific job on it. It is 125 small steps and leads to a lovely park that includes a cultural center, about 3 restaurants and about (just guessing?) 50 cats. They are everywhere and because of the unrestrained inbreeding there are some of the most fascinating mixtures of colors, and breeds. At its entrance, the park also contains a statue tribute to director John Huston.
It was his filming of "The Night of the Iguana," in the early 60s, that put Puerto Vallarta on the map. At that time, it was little more than a sleepy fishing village.
We are focusing a bit more on acquiring a bit of sun. I can think of little worse than coming back from nearly 7 weeks down here and looking like we never left Oregon! So, each of the last two days, we have headed for the beach. The sun is still so intense that about 30 minutes each day is about the extent of our "Tomar del Sol" - to take the sun. We then retreat to a tent at a little beach-side cafe and finish up with a couple of Coronas!
I have been getting walks in each morning. I make a point of not listening to music or books, or anything. I use the time to take in the town, the tourists and the locals. Yesterday morning I passed this fellow
and his 5 (yes, 5!) matching pugs. Very funny. I also thought it might be nice to stop at the store for some frijoles and give you a different perspective on my so enjoying my breakfast treat. This is breakfast from behind the tub of beans
Pure heaven for just 8 pesos!
One other pleasant change that has happened, is that some of our favorite restaurants are opening. Thursday evening we went to a sweet little place called Encuentros (it means "encounters"). It has always intrigued me as it is billed as a "Pizza, Pasta Lounge." And it is. The sweet little fellow, and he is very small, works very hard. It has a nice feel and is beautifully decorated. He has an amazing selection of pizza toppings and the gimick is that you can have those toppings either on a small, personal pizza or mixed into a bowl of pasta. The food is very good; we had an interesting Mediterranean salad as neither of us was particularly hungry.
Last night Miel (means "Honey") opened for the first time this fall. We always enjoy Willie and April, who run the place. Willie is the chef and takes real pride in his offerings. April is Willie's rather loud, heavily tattooed blonde, who is everything she doesn't appear to be: warm, caring, attentive. Very nice people - and the food is excellent. It was great to reconnect with them and to sample their excellent offerings. We enjoyed at ginger, shrimp stir-fry, a favorite of ours from last year. Very nice evening, once we made out way there between quite dramatic thunder showers! Did cool things off for a while, at least.
Life continues to be good and we are looking to a relaxing weekend of a bit more sun, our books and good food. "Esso si que es la vida" - Life is good!
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