Warm Days, But a Cool Shower

One and all,

Very few surprises the last couple of days. People continually talk about the weather. We keep trying to convince ourselves that it is changing. With every little breeze, we think, ah, relief is on its way. The locals have been saying the humid, sticky weather has continued far longer than usual. Apparently storms that normally strike the Baja, have been diverted to the mainland of southern Mexico and pushing very warm air our direction. The result has been pretty stifling!

So much for weather. Our days have been routine. Wednesday we needed to do some errands, so the beach was not part of the routine. We did have a nice lunch at our regular haunt, La Fuente del Puente, just down the hill. We tried their Shrimp Ceviche, which, not surprisingly, was delicious. We keep raving about their kitchen. It looks very touristy, but the food is very good.

We also settled up our debts with a group of local musicians. There are two sets of 3 musicians that we have become friendly with. Of course, familiarity breeds, in this case, not contempt, but a sense of obligation. We try one a week to let them seranade us at our table. You have to understand that over the course of a day, we see them two or three times. You can only say "no" so often; financially, you can only say "yes" so often! So, Wednesday, Lorenzo, Victor, and Pedro gave us a couple of "cancións," one romantico and one alegre. It was very nice and it does continue to strengthen our bond with some of the locals.

We did get down to Roberto's on Wednesday evening and the sunset was spectacular!

However, what was even cooler, as a kind of "art shot" that I was able to get.

This is that same sunset that I discovered reflected in the window of the cafe. I am not sure how it worked, but it was very cool

II may have to play around with this some more and see what other effects I can get.

We also managed to pick up a little local color as this group of street performers wandered by.

It was so nice of them to pose. 2 minutes late they would be dancing madly and they would have been little more than a blur!

Thursday was a beach day. We headed for Langosta Loca, a little beachside shack that we enjoy. We drag the chairs from the restaurant out on the sand and enjoy a couple of Coronas. With the weather so warm right now you don't remain in the sun long. So would do a few minutes in direct sunshine and then retreat to the umbrellas for a few minutes before venturing out again.

Last night was another hot, humid evening, but we ventured down to El Patio for their 2 x 1 margaritas . Then, we moved on to Miel. We enjoy the place and the people at Miel and while we had been there a week ago, they had not had their new menu in place. We went back to see what changes had been made. The truth was, very little. However, we did try their lamb chop special last night. They were delicious and were served with a kind of chopped salad couscous. Very interesting idea of taking the basic ingredients of a Greek or Mediterranean salad and combing them with the couscous. It was really very good.

Having filled out stomachs, we caught a taxi up the hill, just as a thunderstorm hit. And just as we stepped from the cab, it really came down! We inched up the final 65 steps, trying to walk between rain drops about the size of bullets. We were less than successful. As we stepped in the door, I snapped these, one of Polley

another of me

Naturally, some serious tequila was needed to dry ourselves out! It seemed to be a day for water. Earlier, at the beach, a rogue wave had washed up and taken out shoes, my bag, and my wallet. All survived, but as with the end of the day, and probably with our livers at the end of this trip, they needed to dry out! More later.

 

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Little to Report

One and all,

Life simply seems to chug along. Believe me, that is not a bad thing, but for regular readers of these ramblings, it is less than fulfilling.

The weather continues to change as the humidity seems to be dropping and there are more breezes. Last night, we wandered down to the Malécon for a half bottle of wine and a sunset. It was quite spectacular, the sunset, not the wine! Did talk with fellow that we have seen there a number of times. His name is Dennis and he lives not too far from us. He told us, when he learned the information, that he was surprised that we were Americans, largely because we were not fat! I think it was a compliment. We also joked about the tight-fistedness of Canadians. He said that the difference between a Canadian and Canoe, is that the one tips!

After the sunset, we walked up the hill to El Patio Es Mi Casa, a local haunt that we pass nearly everyday. I sent a photo a few days back. Very lovely setting, nice people and excellent pizzas. Last night is was 2 x 1 sangria and pizzas. We now have enough leftovers for a week.

Finishing up the topic of food, Monday evening we ventured to a little Italian place that we had tried a couple to times in the past. It is called Bocca de Vino. Very plesant little place. As an appetizer they served us some toasted bread and the most delicious garlic pesto spread. Fabulous! We immediately held the chef hostage until he revealed the recipe, which he did. After that, Polley had a very tasty seafood soup that was loaded with mussels, shrimp, clams and octopus. I had a portobello mushroom in a balsamic reduction topped with goat cheese and walnuts. It too was excellent, but very rich! We will have to add this place to our regular stops.

Polley is much better. It turns out that the problem, we think, was an intolerance to ibuprofin! Someone had recommended it to her. She started taking some and her stomach problems seemed to start about the same time. She stopped and voila!

However, it am now the one who is dragging a bit. We have been getting to the beach each morning for an hour or so. Somehow, with the sunshine, the light breezes and the tepid water, I was feeling 25 again. It did not take long, yesterday for cruel Mother Nature to remind me that in reality I am going on 67. While pulling myself from the sea, a wave caught me sideways and I seem to have pulled a back muscle. Now I truly do walk like I nearer to 70! These are the vagaries of travel. It will pass, but in the future I will keep my distance from that siren of the sea. More soon.

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Lying Low

One and all,

Another quiet weekend in PV. Polley came down with some sort of stomach bug and we have avoided a good deal of eating and drinking this weekend. Saturday we pretty much stayed in all day, finally taking a stroll down to the Malécon on Saturday night. Even then, she was not up for the walk back so we grabbed a taxi up the hill/

We did get a good deal of reading done, that I will admit. Polley tore through a couple of books: Wally Lamb's "She's Come Undone," and Catherine Hyde's "When I Found You" ; I managed to complete "The War Brides," which I quite enjoyed until a kind of hokie ending and am now into something called "The Ghosts of Belfast," which, so far, has really grabbed me. Polley is now starting on "The Luminaries," the book that just won the Booker Award and is, apparently, an 800 page sage of New Zealand. Reports later.

I did manage a couple of rather humorous photos as I wandered about on my walks over the weekend. Some of you may not know that my brother, Dave, and his wife, Katie, have a paint striping business in Portland. Saturday morning I came across the Mexican equivalent:

A hand-painted masterpiece, no doubt.

Also, just down the hill from us a home has sold and the workman are doing some major repairs for the new owners. We often joke about whether these projects include a cement mixer. This is a Mexican cement mixer

They just throw down some bags of cement in the middle of the street, add water and stir! Then, they just leave the residue and allow it to serve as a kind of mortar between the cobblestones! As you walk along the the streets, you see places in the cobblestone that are smooth, obviously the leftovers of previous housing projects.

As I have mentioned, the weather is now beginning to change. There is more air moving and, for most of the day, it seems less humid. You see more and more people willing to dine outside. We did get another thunderstorm on Friday evening, but it was relatively brief. It did make for a very fresh Saturday morning. Most people suggest that by November 1st, we will be into more comfortable times

Lastly, just as filler, I will leave you with another photo of the bridge that I included in a previous blog.

It really is a very nice design. And it is so convenient! When you get to the top of the bridge (125 baby steps), it is just 66 more steps to our front door!

As I mentioned, this bridge leads right into a lovely park, just filled with cats. Polley and I did manage to capture a couple of them -- on camera that is.

This photo show the interesting mixture of breeds - notice the tail especially. Here is another very handsome fellow

And, yet, a third look

Always a treat to wander through. I have to think there are in excess of 50 in all, some very friendly and other just being cats!

We will hope for Polley's improvement and out being able to provide you with more interesting adventures.

 

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Random Thoughts in the Sunshine

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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TIME FLIES

One and all,

Well, I must apologize once again for not being more regular in my missives. I know it might be hard for those at home to believe that time seems to just fly away in this tropical paradise, but it does! Yesterday, with every intention of writing a blog, just seemed to disappear. Between our obligations to helping the Mexican economy recover, to tag along with our landlord on some meaningless errands and getting a bit of reading under out belts, the day was gone - and still no blog. Sorry.

Life has not been too different in the last few days. We have been frequenting Roberto's and getting to know the new waiters since the re-opening. Bruno is a very charming guy who works days, with Nasario working in the evening. We have made it a quite regular stop for a glass of beer or wine and a sunset.

Last night was probably the best since we have been here. Also, the weather is beginning to change (we think!). Mornings are slightly cooler and once the sun goes down, the evenings cool off as a nice breeze comes up. Last night felt almost like an evening in February or March. However, on Tuesday night, we went to El Patio (full name: El Patio Es Mi Casa - The patio is my home), which was re-opening for the first time since we arrived.

It is always one of our favorite haunts, for two reasons: 1) it is a lovely, largely open air venue; 2) it is on the way up to our place and we must pass it nearly every evening. It is so pleasant to sit up on the upper level, under the stars and enjoy the cool breezes the play through the place. However, on Tuesday night, it was nearly unbearable. After walking up the hill from the beach, with quite a gust of wind pouring down Calle Guererro, the air suddenly seemed to disappear and in the stillness, the temperature and the humidity seemed to continually rise! We finally had to flee.

Yesterday, was a pleasant morning. I did a bit of grocery shopping. Actually I did a bit more shopping than I had planned. They were offering wine and tequila, 3 bottles for the price of 2! How can you pass up such deal. Of course, you do have to carry it all home! That was a bit of a chore. However, I gave myself a bit of a rest with a "Frijole Break"! Ley Mercado has the best frijoles. When I shop, I often buy a little plastic tub of them and then pause out on the point of Bandaras Bay and partake of the fruit of the bean.

As this "selfie" indicates. Ah, the simple pleasures!

I mentioned our assistance with the Mexican Economy. Well, as Polley and I sat there enjoying the wine and sunset last evening, we figured that we had helped four waiters, 5 musicians (three of whom are seen here)

We have gotten to know these guys over the years and they have played for Polley's birthday a number of time. We tease each other and I try to hire them at least once a week. They are very good and for 100 pesos you make another good connection with the Mexican people. We hired two groups yesterday, and that does not count the mirimba player who plays regularly at La Fuente and who I have on a regular retainer - 100 pesos a week. He gets his tip whether we are there or not.

I am not sure what has changed my thinking down here about tipping. While my reputation may be that of a poor tipper, that is not really true. I have always been the 15% guy and for places that I visit regularly, it is likely closer to 20%. Down here, I am really trying to come closer to 25%. Gratuities are so important here. Our friends, Ricardo and Arturo, waiters at Langosta Loca told us that they have been working for a salary of 70 pesos a day. That is about $5.40. Everything else is dependent on tips. I am glad to report that there little cafe has recently undergone a change of ownership. The new owners doubled their salaries: 150 a day. Still, they work from early in the morning sweeping the sand and arranging the tables (which yesterday a high tide completely wiped out and they needed to start all over), and they serving for at least an 8 hour day. With things so slow right now, I can't think they are making a great deal over the salary during this slow season. That gave me a new perspective on what I can do to help improve the lives of people we really enjoy. We are trying! Perhaps, if you come here, you can help as well.

So for now, I will leave you with that thought and see if we can find some new adventures in the days to come. One of our favorite restaurants re-opens on Friday, so I hope we can share some experiences with the wild group at Miel.

 

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A Quiet Weekend

One and all,

I am a bit late with the post weekend blog, but it seemed a busy morning and things, even when you are doing nothing, just seem to get away from you.

It was a quiet weekend. Some sun and some reading. Polley finished a novel called "The Sunshine Girls," which she apparently enjoyed very much and is now reading "The Silent Wife" (I will refrain from making some smart remark after that title). I finished an old Elizabeth George novel, "The Great Deliverance," the first of her Detective Linley series. Good stuff!

It was mostly a weekend about eating, with a forecast of scattered drinking. Saturday we returned to a restaurant we hadn't been back to in several years, Cafe Naranjo (the orange cafe). It sits up in the Mexican section of town and is always inviting. It had just faded from our radar as it is not an area that we pass regularly. I was reminded of it on a morning jaunt on Friday. It was excellent! Polley and I, who both very much enjoy soup, have decided that when you go to a place, you try the soup. If it is good, then there is a good chance that other offerings will be good as well. Cafe Naranjo passed with flying colors! Polley had a wonderful crab bisque and I had an equally terrific Cream of Mushroom. Both were so perfectly seasoned that we need to add nothing. Also, a wonderful pino grigio. Strong recommendation and we will be returning. It was as we left the restaurant, the third evening out of 14 so far, that we have had a thunderstorm. The streets were flooded as we chased down a cab for the trip home.

It is interesting that when you look at the weather map of PV, there is an indication of thunderstorms everyday. That is really misleading. While it is hot and humid and there certainly is a threat on a daily basis, we have experienced them only 25% of the time. They seem to hit in the evening hours, after sunset, but while they are intense, they are brief.

We have also been enjoying the reopening of Roberto's, which sits right on the Malécon.

It is a great place to watch the action along the seaside walkway

and to catch a sunset

For those of you in the know, it was definitely "A F G P V S." Enough said. For those who want a translation, just contact us and we will provide it.

Sundays are great times to get to the Malécon early and watch the Mexican families. It is always delightful to watch, often, several generations strolling together. It is the one day that Mexican families have off and they talk full measure of it. There is a real carnival atmosphere, with carts of food, vendors, street artists, etc. As it is still early in the season and there are very few of us Americans and Canadians, so there is a more authentic Mexican atmosphere, which seems the point of visiting a "foreign" country.

Sunday evening, after "pre-functing" at Roberto's, we enjoyed dinner at our "restaurante favorito," Vitea.

It is just down from Roberto's and as most of the people down here know, if you want to find Ed and Polley at 7:30 on a Sunday evening, just look at Vitea. From this picture, the place looks empty, however, at this time of the year, most people are choosing to enjoy air conditioning. For us, why come to a warm climate and stay in an ice box! As always, we are treated like royalty at Vitea. Everyone seems to know our names, we have our table(!), though in this picture we are not at it as two young guys with computers had come in early and sat at our table (how dare they!) just drinking some beers for a couple of hours. Not a big deal, and the establishment more than made up for it with little free additional sauvignon blanc!

All-in-all, a very nice weekend. It is a very quiet time of the season. That is beginning to change as is the weather and in another month we will be longing for these nearly tourist-free first couple of weeks. We will see if we can pick up the pace as well and bring more exciting reports. For now, all is well.

 

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Days Drifting On By

One and all,

Well, having missed a day, I am pleased to tell you there is little to report. Routine has become routine. Polley meets with her feline congregation each morning

I manage to get my morning walk in each day and have to succumb to the Zumba class meeting on the square. It, frankly, just looks like too much work.

The weather continues to be quite warm, reaching a humid 90 degrees each day, but there is a sense that things are changing. I am interested to see what happens on 15 October. That seems to be the magic date all the restaurants seem to have designated as "Opening Day." Signs appear everywhere saying, Opening, 15 October." We shall see the signficance of that date.

The staff at La Fuente say that things have picked up a bit and there were at least 3 cruise ships in during the week. While there yesterday, I met a nice couple from San Antonio. Learned a bit about there city and the River Walk. They were enjoying PV and I was able to make a couple of restaurant recommendations for them. You are aware how small the tourist area of PV is as I ran into that couple on two more occasions within 24 hours.

The humidity has been high and Polley and I were projecting ourselves as possible drinking a case of beer a day. That, of course, led to bilingual pun! If we drank a case of beer each day, would that not, indeed, be "a case a dia." Get it, "quesadilla!" Oh well, it keeps us entertained.

One place that did open Friday, a bit earlier than 15 October, was Roberto's. This is a cafe/gelato place that sits directly down the hill from us and has umbrellas, chairs and tables right on the Malécon. It is a great spot to watch the sunset along with the activity of the Malécon in the evening.

Some of you have followed the blog before will, no doubt, recognize the "Dancing Couple." It was done by a Washington state artist. It is always one of our favorites.

While we were sitting there, I also caught this cab driver who was taking a break, sitting beside this bandito.

Just after I took the shot, he woke up and wanted 50 pesos for posing. Very fun.

Last night we decided we had had all the tuna, egg salad, ceviche and chicken we could stand. We headed for a Spanish place that we had not visited for a year or two. It has been open every time we passed by it this year. Wouldn't you know it. Last night, "Closed!" So, we scrambled down a block to a place called "No Way Jose." We had been there once before and had been less than impressed. The same this time. Polley has boring shrimp soup; my truffle quesadillas were a step up, but not great. It is a shame as the place has a nice feel and the owners are very pleasant. Unfortunately, that will not be enough.

So, life goes on. We are enjoying the apartment, and Kira and Lucy are with us almost constantly, both day and night. I will try and get some pictures of our place and share with you the hidden charms of our domicile. Have a great weekend!

 

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