The Urban Landscape…

Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

On October 4, 2009 I headed out to Puerto Vallarta.  Having never been there before, I did a lot of Google-ing and website searching as soon as I received my itinerary from Destination Ventures.  This was a travel agent familiarization trip as a Puerta Vallarta Pro Specialist.  There were six of us on this itinerary from all over the USA. 

Not knowing anyone, nor the language, the biggest  hurdle is getting through the airport intact.  There was supposed to be someone waiting for me with a name plaque so that I could escape the crush of taxi drivers who are aggressive and border-line abusive.  Once again, as in Los Cabos, I was not so fortunate. But I was soon taken under the wing of  a young woman who seemed somewhat “official” and also found a fellow travel agent traveler, Kathy.  We were shown to the “VIP” lounge.  There we found our hostess and were tucked safely into an appropriate taxi and taken to our hotel. 

Although suffering from unbelievebly hot and humid weather for the next few days, I fell in love with Puerto Vallarta as we rushed from hotel to hotel, activity to activity.  Notably, the people we talked to about the town were passionate and dedicated to it.  Many were transplants from all over the world.  They were of many ages, race and nationality.  Their love of Puerto Vallarta united them as one.  My only regret, as it so often is on one of these trips, is that I did not have enough time to go see the old town, to see as much of Puerto Vallarta as these people could tell me about.  It means I have to go back, of course, which is not a problem.  Though it will be a while before I can revisit Puerto Vallarta, and that I truly regret.

Not many of the pictures I took were of the urban landscape of Puerto Vallarta.  Most of them were of the hotels and activities that were in our itinerary.  Our itinerary was designed to keep us on the go and with minimal personal time.  As an example, on the first day we did site inspections of 8 hotels.  Truly exhausting in the heat and humidity.  I have started posting pictures on my Flickr photostream.  Because I took more than 1000 pictures, the editing and posting is going to take a while.  Only the first 50 or so are posted as of this date.  Stay tuned, check back.  As I upload more pictures, I will talk about the urban landscape of Puert Vallarta here.  And at TopDawg’s Travelogue I will talk about the hotels I saw and the activties I did.  On National Romance Travel Examiner  I will be writing reviews of the hotels I inspected and activities I participated in.  At Seattle Travel Industry Examiner I will be writing advice to the international traveler regarding luggage, airlines, airports, hotels and activities.  And at Associated Content I am going to surprise readers with a different kind of report on Puerto Vallarta, which you will just have to wait till you see it to know what I mean!  Enjoy a different urban landscape, go to Puerto Vallarta!

At the end of May I got to go to Los Cabos for 4 days.  It was a wonderful working vacation for me.  I saw some beautiful properties that I genuinely enjoyed.  I met many warm and genuine people and had some great food (though maybe too much red snapper).  I stayed in a lovely casita at the Marqus Los Cabos, which included a plunge pool and amenity breakfasts every morning while watching the sun come up and listening to the ocean roaring right outside my patio door. 

I sailed on the New Zealand version of the America’s Cup Yacht Race boat.  Had a wonderful swedish massage at the Esperanza Spa  from Ulma.  Looked a horse in the eye and declined the ride.  Walked along the beach and had a good “wetting down” from a stray wave.  Experienced a cooking class with a Michelin-starred chef.  Drank such a great margarita (Las Ventanas al Paraiso’s  “Welcoming Margarita”) that I was inspired to go to Bed Bath and Beyond when I returned to Seattle and purchase a soda siphon in order to make them myself.  And I might add, while not as perfect as Las Ventana’s Welcoming Margaritas, mine were plenty yummy. 

Without a doubt one of the best meals (and there were many delightful meals from many hotels and restaurants, but this one stood out in my memory) while there was at One and Only Parmilla.  We took a tour of the villa accommodations there at One andOnly Parmilla, then a golf cart ride to the restaurant, Agua Restaurant.  Our hosts included the One and OnlyParmilla, Cecilia Aragon-Bryant (Director of Public Relations),  the Los Cabos Visitor and Convention Bureau and Terramar Destinations, who provided our guide, Rico, for the evening.  The menu included a canape, 4 course dinner and dessert, provided by the Executive Chef, Larbi Dahrouch. 

The Thursday night Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo also stands out as a superb event to enjoy with the only cost being that of the delightful art one might feel inclined to purchase.  Our guide, Rico, led us up and down the hilly streets, and in and out of galleries too numerous to mention.  Wine, canapes, a delicious vanilla liqueur, margaritas all accompanied us on our rounds of the galleries.  See my Thursday Night Art Walk article at National Romance Travel Examiner for a more complete description.

I would go to Los Cabos again immediately if I could.  I fell in love with the place, the people, the food and the ambiance.  i really would like to stay at Las Ventanas al Paraiso or One and Only Parmilla each at least for a week!

I wrote several articles about this lovely trip in my National Romance Travel Examiner column  at Examiner.com.  Here are some of the links, I hope you read and enjoy them:

Sailing with the Cabo Adventures America’s Cup Yacht Race experience

Marquis Los Cabos – a resort for all senses

Marquis Los Cabos casita 704

An invitation to romance at Las Ventanas al Paraiso part 1

Las Ventanas – part 2 – more than a resort

There are more but that is for another posting……