Life in the fast lane ....

Home sweet home .... after 3 full days and nights in the big city of Puerto Vallarta ! WoW !
Still a lot of people around, and especially on the weekends, at the beach , it is packed with
locals and Mexican tourists , and they know how to have a good time.

Food everywhere.  Restaurant tables loaded up with Lobster, Shrimp, Ceviche, Tortilla Soup.
Beach Vendors selling BBQ Shrimp on a stick, Papaya and Mango on a stick, or in a bag with lime and chile, coconuts sliced open at the top with a straw to drink the water, and then chopped up to get at the sweet white meat.  It's endless and the Mexicans are in for the long haul.  Many families with their own coolers full of food, under umbrellas, laughing, eating,
singing, but always laughing.  Musicians walk the beach and play songs for tips.  In the full
sun, all dressed up in their finery, white and starched to perfection.

It can get tiresome with so much action, and then the children selling Chiclets, and the adults selling their wares, hats, sunglasses, blankets, tattoos, hair braiding, wood carvings, jewelry, you name it.  It's impossible to buy from everyone, but my visitors did do a good job distributing their pesos, and bought some lovely things.

I did my part by having a foot and leg massage !! Talk about decadent ! 
My calves can get so sore and so tight from all the up and down in Yelapa, I knew i needed a good rub down, and Rosie did an amazing job, though she did leave a little bruise.  She made sure to watch me insert her cell number into my cell phone, so I can keep in touch !

Everyone is so nice, so friendly and happy to see you.  Some are a little too pushy, but the season is winding down and there must be some anxiety about the long, slow summer months ahead.  We did unfortunately run into a couple of rotten apples !

A young show off taxi driver who couldn't find the Gallery we were going to.  Yelapa friends were having an art exhibition and Friday was the opening night.  When I finally told the driver to stop and let us out ( he just kept going around in circles) he wanted $ 200.00 pesos ! When I told him no way, and that it was less than that to get to the airport, he said
he was going to call the police.  Go ahead, I said, and I'll tell them you are not a real taxi driver.  We were drawing some attention, so i did give him $ 50.00 pesos, and we quickly turned on our heels and walked the opposite direction.

Then, needing a drink to calm our nerves, we went into a Cafe I know of close by.  The owner, a Canadian, spoke at Dear RH's funeral, where I had also been asked to read some emails, so we met there. Well, he turned out to be the nasty host you could imagine. 

We got our beers, no problem, but when the food arrived and I explained to the waiter we
didn't order an extra side of onion rings, he told me that I did, and when we were discussing this, poor Brian's Chicken Burger was the worst thing you've ever seen, so he asked for some mustard, tomatoes and lettuce, and then owner came over and began shaking his finger in my face.  We were stunned.

He said he knew we were trouble from the start, how dare I call his waiter a liar, ( which i did not do ) and for us to leave right away, or .... he would call the police !!

Innocent us, " almost arrested twice " in less than one hour !! 

Such scare tactics are certainly not good for business. Two macho men preying on tourists.
Brian told him we would tell our friends not to come here, and he said, " People like you don't have any friends " .  What a great personality for a proprietor !

I'm more than happy to share the name of the Cafe with anyone who wants to know, so they can avoid the place. 

We eventually made our way to Las Margaritas, and had a lovely time, with great service, great food, and great music.  We returned the next night for dinner, and everything was perfect, with one exception.  One of the customers fell for my girlfriend, and the waiters had
to gently, take him away, but it took a few attempts before they could pry him away. 
No hard feelings, no angry words, no calling the police.

Of course it's a running joke with us now.  Don't touch my Burrito or I'll call the police !

I expect them both to arrive in Yelapa on Thursday and stay for 2 or 3 nights.  There is a
Quincenera on Saturday night that would be fun for them to see.  I'll be going since I know the family well and they live in my Neighbourhood.  I'll be sure to tell you all about it next week. 


Until then ... be good and stay out of trouble !!