PUERTO VALLARTA
We went to Puerto Vallarta after seeing our famous grandson
PJ graduate from high school on June 7.
We did the usual stay at the Newark Hilton before the flight
on June 9. It was a great non-stop
flight on United with upgraded service and meals like the good old days. We checked in for the free transportation to
the Nuevo Vallarta Luxxe Resort and were taken in a private luxury car. Then to our surprise the room was actually
ready, and on a high floor with a view of the city and the bay!
We were last at the resort
5 years ago and it is barely
recognizable because of all the expansion.
There is still lots of construction. Alice commented that they couldn’t have built
in the US with all the wetlands that have been changed.
The Vida resorts seem to have a greater emphasis on Mexican
food. And there was a gourmet Mexican
restaurant in our building which we patronized for our first dinner.
Second night we had steak at the
beach, at the Havana Moon restaurant.
Third night at an Italian restaurant, Tramonto.
Fourth night at a seafood restaurant on the beach, Punta
Arenas.
Etc., with only two repeats for the week.
It seems to be very hot during the day (high 90s) an low 70s
at night. Usual challenges of lack of
shade and noisy background music. We
managed the shade and they even turned down the music! And they gave away washcloths that were cold,
and ice cream on a stick.
It is interesting that the English spoken by the staff is nearly
perfect. A large number of the people
have lived in the US and returned to Mexico.
But they are very interested in speaking Spanish with you.
We refused the sales pitch/”tour”, but the next day they
offered a large credit off our food bill, so we accepted. We learned lots about
the plans for the resort, including a train to the airport, a casino and Cirque
de Soleil theater. We were offered an
upgrade that would double our weeks. But
it was expensive and we declined.
We played tennis every other day, so three times including
our departure day.
Then we took a taxi in our tennis clothes to our next
destination, the Presidente Intercontinental, south of Puerto Vallarta near the
famous Mismaloya beach where the film “Night of the Iguana” was filmed. The trip took us past a lot of places where
we have stayed in the past. In contrast to Luxxe, this hotel is on a very small
parcel of land, but it manages to have a great beach and even a tennis court. A very nice room on the top floor, with a
view to the north of Puerto Vallarta and
our Luxxe resort. Very pleasant. Excellent palapas for shade and no music!
Reading is always fun.
This time:
--the US Navy in the Civil War
--The Contras and Sandinistas in 1970s Nicaragua
--A re-read of Vonnegut’s “Player Piano”, a 60s forecast of
the Future (now)
--Wired magazine and Foreign Policy magazine
And Alice read three books on her Kindle which she had checked
out and downloaded from the Wilton Library.
It was an uneventful trip home, but with the plane being
late out of Houston.
Great vacation!
