Two relaxing sea-days after which we were quite excited to arrive in Mexico at noon, Tuesday, 27 March, at Puerto Vallarta, established in 1851 with a population of 850,000.
The ship docked right near the shops which was great for the staff who had managed to get some time off. Most of them were heading to Walmart!
We decided on a tour to see the highlights of Puerto Vallarta and we weren’t disappointed. We were dropped off at the newly renovated Malecon, a boardwalk at Banderas Bay, lined with shops, restaurants and artists selling their wares. The weather was perfect as we strolled along admiring the ornate sculptures. Peaceful and pretty with outstanding views of the ocean and Sierra Madre mountains.
Our tour guide told us an interesting little story about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. She followed him to Puerto Vallarta, where they had their famous affair and he bought her a home in Gringo Gulch, the Beverly Hills of Puerto Vallarta next to his, joined with a bridge so they could meet at night. They were married at the time, just not to each other!
We visited the beautiful Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe with its ornate concrete dome, saw beautiful ocean views of Olas Altas, several shopping opportunities to buy silverware, leather, jewellery or pottery from local vendors, a snack and complimentary drink at a local restaurant.
We must not forget about the tequila – we found a little place next door to the restaurant to do some sampling of the many different flavours – out tour guide had to hustle us along, we could have stayed there for quite some time!
We thought this was a great introduction to Mexico and it’s a destination we’d love to explore in more detail sometime. We enjoyed our day here very much.
Quilts, Cats and Me 
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