Day Trip to Puerto Vallarta....

I can't remember the year Bill & I first landed in Puerto Vallarta...  I say "landed" because we were on a cruise and that was one of the stops.  Then, and in the other times we've stopped there while on a cruise, we took excursion trips...  I'll never forget the Zip Line tour...  that's the one that Bill did the zip thing and I chickened out and waited in the bar....  And one trip we were both sick and all we managed to do was get off the ship, walk across the street to Walmart to buy some meds...  back to the ship and back to bed.  And then, of course, the times we've flown into PV...  to the airport and then got transportation to our final destination.  Even Home Depot and the airport, which we've been to many times are located just on the edge of the city.  So, in reality, we'd never really spent any time in Puerto Vallarta.

Our house has a ceramic plaque out on the wall, showing the house number and street where we live...

This is the plaque....

The former owner's name was "McBride" and most people still call it the "McBride" house.  It's time to change that...  We have named our house "Casa Colibri"....  "Hummingbird House"...  as we hope to attract birds, butterflies and other insects by planting colorful flowers and shrubs, and providing water and food for them.  Our friends Elaine and Don have a ceramic plaque on their front gate and we asked them where they had it made....  At the World of Tile, in Old Town, Puerto Vallarta.  Bill had already found this and a few other tile shops in the area and circled them on his map.

So Tuesday we set out on a mission....

We took the Compostela bus out of Lo de Marcos to the end of the line.  It dropped us off in PV in a really up-scale part of town.  Nothing like an hour bus ride to whet the appetite...

And nothing like a hearty desayuno of huevo divorciados (divorced eggs) and huevo poblano...  along with beans, rice and tortillas ....  to give us the energy to walk through PV.

Actually, we took a "blue bus" from the end of the Compostela line into the old section of PV...

Bill had printed a map off the internet so he knew exactly where to head...

 The outside of the World of Tiles....  displaying some of the beautiful work  inside...

The floor, as you walk in, has this mosaic tile entryway.

That's just the beginning of all types of colorful ceramic work within.  

A few years ago Bill & I lived in the section of Seville, Spain that is famous for ceramic tiles.  This store reminded me so much of that place.  In fact, many parts of this old section of PV, like the cobblestone streets, the flowerboxes on balconies, the narrow streets leading up hills from the sea, reminded me of cities we visited along the Mediterranean Sea.

The showrooms had displays of dishes, bowls, water jugs and works of art that are just to enjoy.

Next year we plan to have a 2nd floor added with a bedroom and bath.  I looked at all these basins....  it will be fun to pick out one for that upstairs bath!

The upstairs part of the store not only houses more ceramic displays, but also has an area you can watch the artists at work...  painting tiles with custom made designs.

We talked with the salesperson about what we wanted and when we got back home, I sent him some photos of hummingbirds that they could use.  It will be a couple of weeks before our plaque will be done, but I'll be sure to take photos of it to show you.

We continued wandering through the streets...  checking out various shops...

We came across this shoe store..

I cannot see huarache sandals without thinking of our friends Paul and Kathleen Smith.  Years ago, when we all were on an RV caravan traveling through Mexico, Paul bought a pair of huaraches....  he wore them only a few hours before they totally fell apart.  He got teased a lot...  and it's just one of those stories that make a trip memorable.

There is an island on a river that runs right through a main part of Puerta Vallarta 

There are restaurants, lots of shopping stalls, outdoor artwork, and even a tequilla tasting store.  It reminds me of Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas.  Not really in looks, but more because of the ambiance...  the quaintness...  the magical feel.

From that area we walked up some steps to the Malecon...

The walk alongside the ocean...

You can walk a long way...  stopping at shops and boutiques, looking at the artwork and outdoor sculptures...  have your hair braided (upper right)..  look down onto the beach and out into the ocean...  you can stroll or power walk...  you can stop and have a beer or tacos at an outdoor cafe...  Or...  like me...  you can just watch all the people who enjoy being there.

At one point, we left the malecon and headed onto a city street...

I wanted to see the cathedral...

It's beautiful inside and out...  A huge church with exquisite decor and artwork.  The altar was banked with flowers making it especially lovely.

There is an Information Center right across the street from the cathedral...

I hope these folks didn't ask the couple next to them for directions...

I'll write another post about the Catrina figures...

they are the skeletons especially popular around The Day of the Dead.

We wandered around the streets...

Admiring the architecture...  the balconies...  the colorful flowers and banners....  the cobblestone streets and the steep hills leading from the main street into the hills up from the ocean.

Eventually we caught a city bus and headed back into the more modern part of PV... back to the marina area....

And this Princess Ship... Ruby...  had docked in a slip in the cruise ship area while we were in town.

And across the street...

The Walmart that we stopped in to get some meds several years ago.  

This time we didn't need any medicine  and we didn't have to board that cruise ship.  We used the ATM then went back outside to the bus stop and caught a Compostela bus which took us back to Lo de Marcos...  home.

When we were here a few years ago I never would have dreamed that we'd be back here to live and have the life we have today.

That's All For Today!