The finale....finally!!

Well, Louie and I did manage to get lost on our way to Guanajuato, of course.  We actually somehow ended up going a completely different way, but we did eventually make it.  Our hotel was cute and within walking distance from downtown.  There were full length mirrors on the closet doors, and Maya spent pretty much the entire time protecting us from that vicious looking dog behind the mirror.  It was super entertaining :)  Guanajuato is a completely adorable city in the mountains, and one of the most fun things that we did there was take a trolley up one of the hillsides for a fantastic view.  But more importantly, I wanted to visit the "kissing street,"  home of a very famous Mexican legend. 

Callejon del Beso!!

We had a pretty uneventful drive back to Puerto Vallarta, especially since we let Maya navigate!!  Louie was confident that her relative silence and occasional barking would be more effective than my attempts to give directions.  We enjoyed our last night in Puerto Vallarta with a walk along the ocean, drinks at my favorite ocean side bar (the Cheeky Monkey), a last minute tequila purchase, and a poolside dinner and swim at our hotel. 

Maya in charge of navigating.

It is so crazy to think that I have been home for 6 weeks already!!  My sabbatical year went so fast, and this summer doesn't appear to be going any slower.  But Louie and I are enjoying our new apartment (yes, our relationship survived!!) and all of the fun things that summer in Chicago brings, and I am looking forward to going back to teaching in the fall.  Thank you to all of my loyal readers!!  Keeping this blog has been a lot of fun, and I am so happy that I now have such a great record of my trip!!  Adios!!

San Miguel de Allende

After a wonderful stay in Guadalajara, we headed off to San Miguel de Allende in the state of Guanajuato on Wednesday.  Thanks to my excellent navigational skills and Louie’s speedy mountain driving, we made it to San Miguel in only 8 hours, instead of the 4 hours that mapquest predicted J  It was a really lovely drive though, and we got lost in some really cute Mexican towns!!  Louie was a bit scared once, when two teenagers on a moped volunteered to lead us back to the highway, but we made it out safely. 

Once we finally arrived at our hotel (after one VERY STEEP and scary road), things started looking up.  The hotel is completely adorable with a huge courtyard for Maya to play in and a swimming pool, and our room is gigantic.  It is quite far up a hill, so we have a beautiful view of the city, but it is a very steep walk up here.  We have taken a cab almost every day, and one time, our cab driver even refused to take us all the way up the hill because he said his car wouldn’t make it! 

The view from about half way up the hill to our hotel!!

The courtyard at our hotel

 We’ve have a lovely time in the beautiful town of San Miguel de Allende.  We guided ourselves on a walking tour (my navigational skills are significantly better with a street map and on foot!)  Actually, I would like to take this moment to say that it is really difficult to navigate in a foreign country.  I only had printed mapquest directions and a giant highway map of the entire country of Mexico.  I would read the direction to Louie plenty in advance, then all of the sudden, the road would split three ways and Louie would shout “which way, which way???,” and I would have to make a split second decision based on the information that I had just read aloud to him 2 minutes earlier, which didn’t seem to make any sense given the intersection, and as expected, I was right about 1/3 of the time.  It really was confusing, but I think that we are going to do a lot better on the way home J

 Anyway, back to San Miguel.  We guided ourselves on a walking tour and saw 15 churches!  And Louie took 2 pictures of each one, one in color and one in black and white.  We’ll be sure to post them all on facebook J  We also made it to a toy museum and an old textile mill that was converted into art galleries and studios.  Louie was super excited about all the art in one place!  And of course, we ate at several fabulous restaurants.  One of our favorite things, however, was definitely the hot springs that we visited.  The water was so warm, and it was very beautiful.

One of the most beautiful churches.

Hot springs

 Today we are off to the city of Guanajuato, which I have heard is amazing.  And we drove through it on the way to San Miguel, so we know it is beautiful and we should know the way there!!  I really hope we don’t get lost!

Together Again

Guest Writer:  Louie :)

Well hello everyone.  I am honored to be guest blogger on Liz's very popular blog.  I have been asked to write about our trip up to this point. So here it goes.
     I arrived in PV on Saturday, after a night of no sleep. You see, I have heard nothing but warnings about kidnappings, shoot outs, and blood thirsty drug cartels. So my nerves had been a bit on the fritz leading up to my departure. However, thus far we have encountered nothing of the sort, although a small part of me was hoping for a wee car chase or two. But I digress.
After spending our first night in PV, we hit the road early on Sunday morning. I was really excited to hit the road mostly because the car we rented was manual transmission (I love manual transmission) and partly because I was expecting a Roadwarrior type senario on the highway. Roadwarrior has yet to happen, but driving is still a lot of fun.
The scenery was gorgeous as we drove up through the mountains. Thankfully we did not have to drive along cliffs as I had originally thought we would. We did stop briefly to take in a scenic overlook, which for some reason smelled like fish.


Fishy Overlook

Tequila Lunch

Our first stop was Tequila (The town, not the drink). When we got off of the highway along the road leading us up to the town, there were very large billboards shaped like tequila bottles, so we were certain we were headed in the right direction. The town made me think of Hershey, Pennsylvania as that where ever the could, they had agave plants: built into fences, handrails, etc.  The town was quite cool; however, should you ever decide to make a visit, try not to do it on a Sunday as most of the town is closed down. After having lunch and the obligatory margarita, we hit the road toward Guadalajara.

Mandatory Margarita

In under an hour we were in the city limits, at this point I really started wishing we had a gps, because among Liz's many and varied talents, navigation would not be counted among them. However we still made it to our lovely hostel.

Centro Historico

The very next day we went out to explore Centro Historico (our neighborhood). We saw many beautiful old buildings, including a Cathedral, The Government Palace, and theater.  The true highlight of the day was our visit to the Wax Museum and The Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. The Wax museum was quite fun and somewhat educational; it was filled with famous Mexicans and Politicians, as well as a few American celebs. The Ripley's Museum was quite fun. I kept getting tricked by this little boy in front of us, he was laughing so hard he may have peed his pants....serves him right.

Michael Jackson

Don't Mess with Wax Superman!!

Lunch in Tlaquepaque

Today we hopped on the bus to a suburb named Tlaquepaque, which is the center of art for the Guadalajara area. The town was right out of a Mexican movie set. One thing I love about this part of Mexico is that where ever they can put a gazebo, they have one. Tlaquepaque had some of the coolest art galleries I have ever seen. I fell in love with the art galleries much more than my travelling partner who was done with them by about the 3rd one. We also had one of the most delicious/expensive meals to date here, but well worth it.

Tlaquepaque Town Center

Tomorrow we hit the road again to San Miguel. Keeping my fingers crossed for a car chase.

Almost Finished!!

I can't believe that I will be picking Louie up from the airport tomorrow afternoon, and we will begin our road trip adventure through Mexico!!  I am so excited; I'm glad that I had a lot to do today so that this day is going by fast!!!

On Wednesday, I had my last day of volunteering at the after school program.  We had a little party to celebrate International Children's Day (April 30), and like usual, my dad generously gave me some money to spend on the kids.  As a teacher, of course I bought them all two books to keep at home and also plenty of new books for the classroom.  And treats too!!  But as I predicted, the cupcakes were very popular, but not nearly as popular as the books!!  The kids were so excited to get to take home two books of their very own!

Cupcakes!!

Carefully selecting books

Such cuties!!

Thursday, I was feeling adventurous, and I still had one more new beach to check off my list, so I took a water taxi out to Yelapa.  I had heard a ton of great things about this beach, and it definitely lived up to my expectations.  First, the boat ride was super fun.  I had to text Louie immediately to tell him to start saving his money to buy us a boat!  We would be so popular :)

 The beach was very beautiful, but the real highlight of the trip was the little town of Yelapa.  There are no cars there, so the village only has sidewalks, no roads.  It was super cute.  I also took a little hike to see a really cute waterfall.  It was a really nice day, and I totally want to take my family there next time we visit.

I "heart" tours.

This title is not actually true.  I do not like tours.  And when I say tours, I mean very touristy, guided tours that you pay $50 or $100 for a day of "fun."  I almost always refuse to do them while traveling.  I would much rather explore myself and try to find more local places.  So I am not sure what gave me the idea to take a city tour of Puerto Vallarta today.  My mom recommended it, but I should have known not to listen to her because she LOVES tours!!  I also should have known that since I have been living in Puerto Vallarta since January, I probably have seen everything on the tour.  

Last week when I went to book my tour, the agent told me that if I listened to a timeshare presentation, I could go on the tour for free...plus have a free massage!!  So I spend my morning yesterday at a random hotel listening for two hours to someone trying to get me to buy a timeshare that I definitely wasn't even considering buying.  But the massage was nice.  And at least I didn't actually pay any money for the day of boredom today!

Our first stop was a small church in Pitillal, a cute little neighborhood about 20 minutes from downtown.  I was actually excited to visit this neighborhood, but my spanish teacher had told me last week how to get there on the city bus, and I should have just done that.  The church was our only stop!!  After about 10 minutes of picture taking, we got back on the bus to headed to a tequila distillery, where we had a quick presentation about how they make tequila and got to taste a few different kinds.  Now don't get my wrong, I really enjoyed my first tequila presentation back in February.  My second one with Louie was fun too.  And I even enjoyed my third one while Kellie and Joe were visiting.  But my fourth one was a little boring.  

Mariachi Band in church :)

So the day wasn't starting off very well.  Next, we headed to Old Town (a few blocks from my house) for an hour of shopping.  And not even fun market shopping, but "store" shopping.  Clearly this tour company has a deal with these store owners because I have checked out a LOT of shopping areas here in PV, and this was not the best one.  Not that I have any money to spend or any room in my suitcase to buy anything anyway!  And I definitely have all of the Mexican souvenirs that I need already.

Next we headed south to my favorite beach, Mismaloya.  This is the beach where Night of the Iguana with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton was filmed.  Parts of Predator were filmed here as well.  But as I stated before, Mismaloya is my favorite beach, so I have already been there several times.  And since nobody had their swimsuits, we only pulled over to get a view of the beach from the side of the road!  But at least I got to take a picture holding an iguana.  

We ate lunch at an expensive and super touristy restaurant, and I was a little nervous that I was going to have to eat alone, but fortunately, I had chatted with another single lady traveling by herself earlier in the tour, and we found each other, and had a really lovely lunch together, discussing the state of the world.  It was definitely the highlight of my tour.

We made one more stop along the road on the way home for another scenic overlook (which was pretty beautiful, but I have driven along that road like 10 times already), and headed back downtown.  I was getting a little worried that we weren't going to visit Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's old houses which are connected with a bridge and that was the part of the tour that I was most looking forward to!!  So I asked the guide, and he told me that they don't go there any more because people have to walk up the hill (very steep) and some lady broke her leg once!!  But he told me that the house was downtown, and the bus could drop me off at the bottom of the hill if I wanted, and I could walk the 5 blocks uphill myself.  I said yes, and when the bus stopped, I realized that I was only about 2 blocks away from my own house!!  Yes, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor's old houses are only about 4 blocks away from my own apartment!!  So I guess I could have done that on my own too.

The bridge between Richard's and Elizabeth's houses.

Anyway, at least I know that I did a great job of exploring Puerto Vallarta on my own, and this whole experience reaffirmed the fact that I am just not a big fan of guided tours.  When traveling, it is way more fun to just explore.

Two Weeks Left!!!!

I can hardly believe that the time has gone so quickly, but I only have 2 weeks left here in Puerto Vallarta!!  This coming week is my last week of Spanish classes, then I have one more week to just relax and enjoy PV before Louie gets here and we head out on our road trip to Guadalajara, Tequila, Guanajuato, and San Miguel de Allende.

April seems to have flown by, probably partly because my family was here for the first 10 days!  Actually, Kellie and Joe arrived on March 29, and stayed in a hotel downtown near my house for 3 nights.  I had a great time showing them all the sights of downtown Puerto Vallarta, including the zoo of course.  The rest of my family arrived on April 1, and Kellie, Joe, and I met them at their hotel.  I got to spend several afternoons at the hotel with my family, including Easter weekend (when Maya got lost!).  Also, the rest of my family came downtown for an afternoon/evening to see my apartment and go out for dinner at the best taco place in PV. 

Tacos at Panchos in Old Town

After my family left, I realized that my time was ticking down very quickly, and there was still a lot of things that I wanted to do while I was here!!  So of course, I made a list!!  And I have been steadily checking things off for the past two weeks, but I still have lots more things to do!  One of the most important things on my list was to visit at least 2 new beaches (one down, one to go).  There are a couple of beaches here that I just love, so I always end up going to those or to the one closest to my house, but there are so many great beaches here, and they all have their own character.  Last weekend, I visited Playa Conchas Chinas for the first time, and I loved it.  Here is the description from the Puerto Vallarta website.  It really was as good as it sounds!

Conchas Chinas Beach, is one of the most fascinating beaches you are likely to find here. Only a few minutes south of downtown Puerto Vallarta, flanked by lush mountains on one side and aquamarine waters lapping at the clean, white sandy beach. Enjoy natural pools formed by encircling rocks, a fried fish on a stick, relax & enjoy yourself as you rarely have before. The transparent waters offer you a clear view into the depths where you'll see a wide array of fish and other sea animals that are found in the area, an experience you will likely never forget. Proof that is is one of the cleanest Vallarta town beaches available.

This weekend, I have also been busy checking things off my list.  I went to the movie theater to see the Lorax in Spanish.  I was pretty impressed that I could actually understand it pretty well.  I went to the farmers market to get some tasty snacks.  I went to a play at the Puerto Vallarta Theater, Blanca Nieves (Snow White) of course in Spanish.  And finally, I went to the Marine Museum.  I'm doing pretty well on my list, but I still have lots more things to do!!

Maya was Missing!!

I have had family here visiting for the majority of the past two and a half weeks, which has been so much fun (although not very good for my spanish)!!  With the exception of Joe and Kellie who braved a weekend in downtown PV (and I think they enjoyed it!), the rest of my family stayed in an all-inclusive hotel in Nueva Vallarta, about 20 kilometers north of Puerto Vallarta.  It took me about 90 minutes on the bus to get to the hotel from my house, so for the weekend of Easter when I didn't have classes, I wanted to stay in Nueva Vallarta, closer to the hotel.  Of course, the Rui Palace did not allow dogs, but one of my Mexican friends here lives in an apartment in Nueva Vallarta and invited Maya and I to stay at his house for the weekend.  This was perfect, as the apartment was only a 15 minute bus ride to the hotel, and I could still spend the nights with Maya to give her her medicine. 

Little did I know that there was going to be about 8 other people staying in the apartment as well, mostly visiting Puerto Vallarta from Guadalajara for the Easter holiday.  Maya and I did have the bedroom (with the only bed) to ourselves, which actually worked out fine for everyone since it seemed like I was the only one who actually wanted to sleep at night!!  Even Maya wanted to be out partying in the livingroom on Friday night, but her mean mother wouldn't let her!

On Saturday night, everyone (except Maya and I, of course) went out somewhere, and didn't get home until 6 am!!  I am definitely too old for that kind of partying these days!  When I left for the hotel at 8 am, there were literally 7 or 8 people passed out on the livingroom TILE floor!  I woke up my friend to let him know that I was leaving, and that my family and I would be by around 5 in the afternoon to pick up Maya, since my family was actually going to leaving their all-inclusive hotel for a few hours to check out my apartment and have dinner downtown.

When we arrived at my friends apartment on Sunday afternoon and walked in, it seemed like everyone was acting a little weird...and I didn't see Maya.  I finally asked my friend's roommate where my dog was, and he just shrugged his shoulders and said that he didn't know!!  Apparently when he woke up (at about 1pm) she was already gone!! 

My family and I immediately headed out into the neighborhood to look for her, but I have to admit that I was not feeling very hopeful since it was already after 5 pm and she had been missing for at least 4 hours, probably more.  As we cruised around the neighborhood, it seemed as though everyone had seen her at some point during the day.  She really must have been making the rounds!  My mom and sister talked to a police officer that said he had seen a dog earlier that afternoon, but when he tried to pick her up, she bit him!  Well, we knew we were on the right track then.  After enlisting the help of 4 little neighborhood boys and almost 2 hours of searching, we finally found her outside one of the neighbors houses.  The neighbor had put out food and water for her during the day. 

I was beyond relieved, and Maya also seemed very happy to be found, although she was definitely no worse for the wear and it seems like she had a really fun adventure!!  It was an Easter miracle!!! :)

Maya...happy to be back in her own bed!