Finally, A Chicken on the Bus!

Well, Monday we decided to go to the beautiful little beach town of Sayulita. Because Rosalee is here, we thought it would be fun to ride the bus- it's about a 25 minute ride and saved me a twisty winding drive. The beach in Sayulita is one of the prettiest around here, and it is famous as a great place to learn to surf. The water is shallow but the waves are long and rolling. We walked around the town, did a little shopping, then sat at a beachfront restaurant on the sand and had lunch, treated to the entertainment of watching the surfers. There were lots of vendors selling everything from purses to tattoos to jewelery. Rosalee had a great time shopping while sitting in her chair. She bought a few really nice pieces of silver from Ismael- a very good salesman I have to say! It was a thoroughly relaxing morning. We caught the bus home, and at one of the stops a fellow got on with a live chicken under his arm. I didn't have the nerve to haul out my camera to take a picture but sure wanted to get a shot! Gail was convinced that the chicken was a pet, because it had a leash around it's neck, but I had to burst her bubble and tell her that it was surely bound for a pot that night. Ah, Mexico. I love it here!

Yesterday, we drove to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, the next little town to us. There is a small beach that you can see from the highway which I've often wanted to check out. It is a very beautiful but small beach, with soft sand and low waves. We took a stroll past the tables and chairs of a large restaurant and could see bits of Bucerias off in the distance. La Cruz is a very quiet little town, none of the hussle and bussle of Bucerias. Afterwards, we took Rosalee on a final shopping spree in the market here. She has become quite the little bargainer and was able to get a few things at very good prices!

Last night we packed a picnic of cold chicken, potato salad, macaroni salad, fresh bread from a bakery in La Cruz and a bottle of wine and walked to the beach to watch the sunset. It's only a five minute walk to our beach access. We were treated to a magnificent sunset. The beach was fairly quiet, just a few people strolling; three or four Mexicans kicking a soccer ball on the sand; a few more in the water up to their waists throwing out fishing lines and a few kids playing in the surf. It was lovely.

Today, Rosalee flies home to the cold of Nova Scotia but we hope with good memories of her first trip to Mexico!

Blessing of the Fleet

Gail's sister-in-law Rosalee is visiting for a week. She arrived Wednesday and we have kept her busy ever since! Up to the market in La Penita Thursday; a trip into Puerto Vallarta Friday; Saturday was the finale of the Festival of Our Lady of Peace and today we are finally getting some down town- on the beach.

We met friends at Adriatico's restaurant yesterday morning as they had reserved seats by the open window on the beach. We wanted to be there to witness the "Blessing of the Fleet". When we arrived it appeared that there would be quite a wait for the boats so we went for a walk through town first then back to the restaurant on the beach side. Was it ever hot!! Finally we heard lots of music and ran outside because there was a parade of dancing horses all ridden by locals dressed in traditional costumes. The little girls were so pretty in their very colourful dresses. While the parade was going by we looked back into the restaurant to see the boats all lined up on the water and slowly coming in towards shore.

It's quite a spectacle, the fishing boats were decorated with balloons and flowers shaped like hearts and crosses. When they get close, they each take turns revving the motors and racing in to the beach. All the crew hop out and march to the church for the annual blessing.

The beach was packed with people cheering them on. It was a lot of fun. When we started to walk home we ran into at least 12 people that we knew, so each time we had to stop and visit. By the time we walked home it was about 32C and we were very pooped!

Last night we walked back into town as Rosalee treated us to dinner at Aduano's, another beachfront restaurant which is very popular. Afterwords we walked through the town square, which was hopping with people, music, vendors, food etc. Rosalee had a great time dancing in the middle with people who just grabbed her for a whirl. We wanted to stay for the fireworks finale but it was so so crowded and hot. I think they finally happened around midnight, but by then I was home and fast asleep.

Here is a short video of a boat racing into shore.

Happy Hours and Fun in the Sun

Every few days someone seems to organize a party or happy hour around here. Last week our neighbour Lupita’s sister Lourdes came by to invite us to happy hour at her house. Lupita lives in Switzerland and her sister Lourdes and her husband Mike live in Victoria! Lourdes has spent the last three winters remodeling her house here in Bucerias. It is in the complex behind ours. She did an amazing job, designing a fantastic cook’s kitchen, a gorgeous garden including a waterfall on the side, and even a pergola on the roof where they go each evening to watch the sunset. She installed a spiral staircase up to the roof and Gail actually climbed it. Now she wants one too as we have an even more fabulous view of the bay from our roof-, which she has never seen!

Tony and Maureen came by one day last week, hollering at all the neighbours to come out and have a game of water volleyball in the pool outside our door. That was lots of fun too- even for me who was just a bystander! Now Maureen has organized water volleyball every Wednesday afternoon and card games every Monday afternoon, all followed by Happy Hour of course.

Anne and Jack had friends over to their house a week ago Tuesday. I had to abstain from becoming happy, as I had to go to the airport at 8pm to pick up Karen and Bud, our across the street Los Amores neighbours (who are here from Stony Plain Alberta) for a short weeklong visit. We were so glad to see them. They are great neighbours! After we got home we sat outside on their patio to visit and update them on all the happenings around here since they left at the end of November. Sadly, they left last night to fly home but at least they are coming back in five weeks. While they were here though we had a great time- out for dinner at Senor Iguana’s one night for awesome fish and chips; then a stroll though town because we are currently in the middle of the two week Festival of Our Lady of Peace-the patron of Bucerias. The town is full of people here to celebrate. There is a carnival in the middle of half of the streets in Centro, so just about impossible to drive down there. Anyway, it was lively and fun.

We also walked by Yo Yo Mo’s- a very popular sports bar here. I love the sign outside! The picture is of Karen (not me, other Karen) and Gail outside the bar featuring Hockey Night in Mexico!

Our neighbour Sue threw a party Friday night to celebrate her husband Paul’s birthday. They live in the Muskoka area of Ontario but are originally from Yorkshire England. Amazingly, Paul and our neighbour Tony grew up within 20 miles of each other! I love their accents. Paul, Sue and Tony are avid soccer fans and we all hear them yelling at their TV’s during a hot match!

A Visit with Bob and Joyce

Last Friday we were up bright and early to drive to Punta de Mita to pick up Bob and Joyce at their resort. We met them at 9 and immediately headed into Puerto Vallarta. It took about an hour until we reached the beginning of the malacon (kind of like a boardwalk but concrete instead) and parked the car. The day was sunny and warm as usual so the stroll past all the beautiful statues on the malacon was lovely.

We walked all the way to Los Muertos beach, which is the most popular beach in the entire Bay of Banderas. It is always lively with tourists, vendors, beach bars and restaurants and lots of activity. This is where you can go parasailing, or take the ferry to Yelapa or rent jet skiis etc.

After the beach we walked through the south side and over the "drunken bridge" to the island in the middle of the Rio Cuale. There are lots of shops on this pretty little island and at the end of it is a large indoor flea market. Afterwards, we went to Cafe Roma to have a beer and chat with Juan Carlos and Fox.

Joyce mentioned that she wanted a pair of leather sandals and we knew of this great little shoe store where everything is still made by hand by the owner. Joyce walked in, saw a sweet pair of pink sandals and immediately bought them! They are really cute.

Finally, we headed home, stopping along the way at Walmart so Bob and Joyce could buy their duty free. We sat outside on the patio and watched the sunset, which was particularly beautiful Friday night. We ended our day by going for dinner in Bucerias. We had a delicious meal at Claudio's, all four of us had sizzling hot fajitas, but the drinks were way overpriced so we were overall disappointed at the end.

Bob and Joyce stayed overnight- they gave us a stunningly pretty pitcher that they bought at their resort. We were thrilled as we have so little decorative things here yet. In the morning I was up early to make scrambled eggs, hash browns and to grill these wonderful little breakfast chops which are halfway between ham and pork chops. Yummy!

It was really nice to have them stay over, only too short a visit!

Tapas Del Mundo Cooking School

On Friday morning, we took a three hour cooking class at Tapas del Mundo with our friends Josh and Tony. The owner/chef Jorge is a real character and a good deal of the fun was watching him perform and entertain us. This is a little restaurant within walking distance which serves only tapas (little snacks). We were there from 10am-1pm and had the most fabulous tapas. Jorge and his helper (I forget her name unfortunately!) did all the cooking, but we watched everything and learned a lot about ingredients and cooking methods and received the recipes of everything we were served.

We knew we were wise to sign up when we were told there were only two rules: Come with an empty stomach and no drinking before 10:10am! I should have taken pictures of the food but we were having too much fun eating and drinking margaritas.

So our menu was:
Charred Tomato Table Salsa (with fresh bread)
Fried Olives Eduardo (absolutely addicting)
Brie Cheese Pasta
Shrimp in Garlic Sauce
Caesar Salad
Brie Stuffed Chicken Breast
Whole Roasted Garlic Head
Margaritas
and just for me a shot of Screech! Can you believe that Jorge actually has a bottle and only Newfies qualify for a hit!

The only sad thing about Friday was that we had to say goodbye to Tony and Josh. They flew home to Birmingham Alabama on Saturday. It will be a year before we see them again. We only saw our boys three times this visit, Christmas Day, one evening when we had them and Tony's parents Linda and Lorne for dinner and our cooking class.

Happy New Year 2009!

Wow, what a fabulous night we had last night. We went out with eight of our neighbours for dinner on the beach. It was just off the town square and a great location, especially as we were able to walk there. We had a table set up on the beach with linen napkins and tablecloths (a rarity around here), candles and sand in our toes. Kids were going table to table selling the largest sparklers I've ever seen. Nancy bought a bunch to light at midnight.

After dinner we walked a block to the Twisted Rose Bar where they had no cover and free entertainment all evening. We met another seven neighbours there so we all sat together. The bar had a ten piece mariachi band, followed by an Aztec group dressed in traditional costume who performed fire dancing. At this point it was around 11:15 so most of us left to walk up the road to the big bonfire on the beach close to our place. A group of our neighbours have known each other for years because they all RV'd together. The RV park is right on the beach about two blocks from us. Every year they have a big bonfire on the beach to ring in the New Year. They also have a sound system set up so we could listen to Auld Lang Syne.

When we arrived, the bonfire was huge and the pre-celebration fireworks were already being set off. We had a panoramic view of the entire Bay of Banderas. There are probably hundreds of hotels and resorts all around the bay and every one of them has a fireworks show at midnight. It was spectacular! We were sort of in the middle of the bay and I literally did not know which way to turn as the fireworks were in every direction.

Today we were up early, even though we didn't get to bed until 2:30, because our Victoria friends and current housesitters, Bob and Joyce are in town. Well, actually, they are staying about 15 minutes north of us in Punta de Mita. They arrived yesterday and shame on them, are staying in a resort rather than with us. They very kindly brought us a few items from our list of things to bring from home. We picked them up at 11 am and took them on a wee tour of Bucerias, then a few hours here enjoying the 28C weather. I've just taken them back to their resort. Next week, they are coming for a sleepover and we will take them into Puerto Vallarta to shop and sightsee.

We have had a wonderful start to our New Year. Hope all of you have had as well. We are wishing all of you health, prosperity and melting snow!