La Ciudad de Puerto Vallarta Jalisco

     Puerto Vallarta was first built in 1851.  It is named after Ignacio Luiz Vallarta, whose statue stands proudly in the city square.  There were a great many other things made of what I think must be copper or bronze-statues and chairs that looked like statues.  Fantastical creatures, with faces twisted into smiles and grotesque scowls.  The day was overcast, yet the metal was warm to the touch.  

       Our tour guide in Puerto Vallarta was a man called Gabino.  When Señor Gabino spoke, his hands did half the talking.  He was a head shorter than me, deeply tanned, with a white mustache and bushy brows.  He spoke to us in Spanish and English, for there were Spanish-speakers on the tour with us.  
      I didn't buy anything in Cabo, or Mazatlan.  But in Puerto Vallarta my mother handed me two hundred pesos and a stern warning.  I can tell you, that I happily and wholeheartedly ignored the latter.  Bartering is the most fun a person can have, until her mother actually gives her money.  But I swear the vendors can smell the scent on money on you, and they redouble their efforts to trap you into overpaying.  
     I bought a few prints of Frieda Kahlo, a necklace with the Mayan zodiac carved on shark tooth, and two mugs made of sand! Don't ask me how they did it, or how on earth those things are dishwasher safe.  
     We stopped many times just for pictures.  My father fancies himself a photographer, and so his opinion Señor Gabino rose each time the bus screeched to a halt beside a beach, or a marketplace.  

    I took a picture with an Iguana! His name is Lucas, which I found bizarrerly entertaining.  For whatever reason.

    The place we stopped at for lunch was magnificent.  Señor Gabino told us that he chose the spot not for the food-although I can tell you that the food was prime-but for the view.  And what a view it was.  There was a river and several waterfalls and rapids and forests on both sides.  There were people ziplining and I regretted not having the time to join them.  I've never been ziplining before.

"It's a river, with the sound of falling water nearby.  There are many trees-so much green.  But it's not a bright, Irish sort of green.  It's kind of dusty, warmer somehow.  The rocks are warm, the ivy strong as it winds around the wooden bannisters"

"There is a loud commotion.  A couple of caged birds, upset at being imprisoned, are letting all of Mexico know of their outrage.  I don't know what kind of birds they are, but they're a lime-y, yellow-y green and quite large.
The waiter told me that they are Guacamallas, a kind of parrot.  Sorry, I have to guess at the spelling."

      After lunch we drove on for a while, until we reached a tequila distillery.  It's one of those comfortable family-owned places.  Come to find out, I'm good at drinking tequila! But my brother is only twelve and I thought it was funny when he handed me his little plastic shot glass and whispered: "Cindy, I don't want anymore." I have never seen him that red.  I wish I took a picture.

      There is a specific way to drink fine tequila.  You are to drink it down at once, and then breathe in through the nose and out the open mouth.  Slowly, without haste.  To my surprise, there was no burning sensation-only warmth.  Warmth that seemed to spread from my tongue and throat to my cheeks and fingers and belly.  Our English speaking guide smiled at the expression on my face and said that if you drink too fast, or too much, the feeling disappears.  Why, then, do people drink too fast or much? 
      We had to rush after that, and we were late getting back to the ship.  There were a lot of stragglers, though, and the crew didn't mind.  In fact, they seemed to expect it.