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Twenty-four years ago, fresh off a visit to a Sandals resort, my husband and I were lured by the call of the all-inclusive resorts of Puerto Vallarta. Looking to enjoy another comprehensive vacation, we set off from our home to Los Angeles and then on to Puerto Vallarta.
A lengthy cab ride deposited us at our resort and we quickly changed into our swimsuits, eager to enjoy the amenities.
“Oh, you would like to book the dive trip for tomorrow, senora? We are sorry, the boat is broken.”
“Oh, you would like to go to the disco tonight, senor? We are sorry, the disco is being renovated and is closed…indefinitely.”
And the list went on. Nothing worked. Nothing was nice. And the food? Don’t get me started. This was definitely not anything that could compare to Sandals.
A phone call was made to our booking agency that afternoon and we were promised a refund after we informed them that we were leaving the next day.
Three months and the threat of a lawsuit finally got our money back. So, whenever someone mentioned going to Puerto Vallarta…it kind of turned my stomach. Nothing against the city itself. That dreadful resort had just ruined it for me. I had the mentality of “been there, did that” and I never really wanted to go back.
Trying to figure out plans for spring break is always tricky for airline employees as we fly on a stand-by basis and my son has limited time-off due to his baseball schedule. I watch flights for days-on-end, trying to decipher which will end up with seats both to and from tropical destinations. And, though we prefer a tropical destinations, I only told my boys that I would get them somewhere…even if it wasn’t their top choice.
Mother nature, however, had another plan. No one would could have prepared for the weather problems encountered that week, causing massive disruptions to flight schedules. Knowing that we would never get out of our hometown to one of my airlines’ hubs, we jumped in a rental car and made the eight hour drive to Atlanta, where I knew there were many flight originations and many customer’s flights that would not make it the next day due to the continuing cancellations.
My hunch was correct. As I watched three destinations the next morning, all with multiple flights and all with availability at hotels that we had earmarked, seats on those flights slowly began to open up. Quickly, we had to make a decision. We would try one of the earliest, leaving us with other options later in the day. My vote was for Punta Cana, but my boys wanted to try…Puerto Vallarta.
Waiting to reserve the hotel, my husband hit the “Book” button only when we had been given our seat assignments and the door to the aircraft was closed. Whew! We had made it onto a flight! But…what was it going to be like?
Four hours later, I was admiring the blue water and surrounding lush mountainsides as we were touching down at Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport.
A swift cab ride from the airport had us arriving at the Hilton’s Puerto Vallarta All-Inclusive Resort, not long after our arrival and we were lounging on the beach, cocktails in hand, by two-thirty. Sunny skies and blue water! What more could you ask for?
Needless to say, we absolutely LOVED this resort…everything worked, our room was upgraded, the service was amazing and the food and drinks, divine!
Happy to have a resort that met our expectations, there was one other thing…I wanted to see this place that I never really got to see.
The next morning, I decided that I would head into town. Gathering advice and instruction from the concierge, I hailed a cab with my boys and headed to the center of Puerto Vallarta and its Malecón, the twelve-block boardwalk along the waterfront.
The Malecón was renovated in 2011, making it more pedestrian friendly. The waterfront area is filled with beautiful sculpture, restaurants, bars, museums, free shows, duty-free shopping and souvenir shops. As we made our way south, we took lots of pictures, shopped, made friends and visited Our Lady of Guadaloupe cathedral, the city’s endearing landmark with its wrought-iron crown tower.
The area felt extremely safe and was exceptionally clean. The local people were very friendly and helpful…just beware, they might spot your wristband and tell you that they met you the night before at your resort, just to lure you in. I was stupid enough to fall for that one!
Though we only spent about three hours enjoying this area, we agreed to come back and bring my husband so that he could also see what he had missed.
Counting out twenty-one pesos, we decided to take the city bus back to the hotel. I love traveling the way locals do…my children…not so much. Still, it was a cheap way to travel and was surprising easy.
There was more fun to experience later in Puerto Vallerta, but this was a great beginning! So happy that we gave it another chance!
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Puerto Vallarta
- http://visitpuertovallarta.com/
- http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/jalisco/hilton-puerto-vallarta-resort-PVRPVHF/index.html
- Getting There/Airport-Hotel: Cabs are regulated and can be arranged prior to exiting the airport. Approximate taxi fare to our hotel, in a van for four people, was approximately $30. Return fare from hotel, was $10.
- Getting There/Malecón: From the Hilton (near marina) a cab cost about $5.00 US. The cabdriver will give you an amount in pesos and will also give an amount in US dollars. The bus is about 7 pesos (about $.40 US) and though a bit of a rough ride, very safe and easy to ride.
A long way from the Pope’s Italian abode, the Dublin Castle, originally built in the 13th century, on a site previously settled by Vikings, has served many functions…military fortress, prison, treasury, courts of law and the seat of English Administration in Ireland for 700 years.
In 1938, it was decided that the inauguration of the first President of Ireland, Douglas Hyde would take place in the castle. Since this time, the complex has hosted this ceremony ever since as well as official State visits, State dinners, informal foreign affairs engagements, state banquets and government policy launches. The castle also acts as the central base for Ireland’s hosting of the European Presidency approximately every ten years.
My next destination was the State Portrait Gallery and the State Dining Room. The room, filled with a collection of portraits of Irish Viceroys gracing the walls since 1849, has acted as the area where State dinners were held and continue to be held today. The dining table is set with Waterford crystal and the Irish State dinner service, featuring the national emblem, the gold harp, so that tourists can get an idea of what a dignitaries might enjoy.
Built in the last century by architect Ricardo de Jaxa Malachowski, it stands on the site of an older church, San Miguel de Miraflores. Though the beauty of its grand colonial exterior clearly outshines the interior, the interesting stained glass detailing the scenes of life and miracles of Jesus and the image of the Miraculous Virgin, from which its name is derived, on the altar are worth stopping in to pay a visit.
As the tour guide assembled our group at the entrance, we all stared up at the great adobe and clay monolith to our left. A massive structure, it is truly amazing that it has not succumbed to the development of the city which surrounds it on all sides.
Guided around the plaza that surrounds the pyramid, we were briefed on the history of the pyramid and the Lima people who resided in this area and gazed upon the displays designed to give tourists a representation of life when the pyramid was built. Separated by a large structured wall dividing it into two separate sections, one side was an area of offering and for religious ceremonies and another served as an administrative area.
Our guide enlightened us with much information detailing the changes that Huaca Pucllana endured around the year 700. By the year, 800, the highest parts of the site became an elite cemetery of the Wari culture. Many tombs and burial bundles have been unearthed on this apogee, the most recent being in 2010, when the remains of an affluent woman were discovered along with four children, who were believed to be sacrificed to accompany her to the after-world. Open tombs can be inspected which contain various elements such as clothing, household items and ritual objects.
Finally, we made our way down the pyramid and back to our entry point, which was also our exit.
Soon on our way, after an early departure, rain threatened our journey on and off until we arrived at our first stop, Skogafoss Waterfall. Though there wasn’t sufficient time to climb the long winding stairway to admire the largest waterfall in the country from the top (82 feet and a 200 foot drop), I was able to photograph the cascading waters very near its base, only getting slightly wet from the massive amounts of spray that the waterfall produces. As the rain temporarily cleared and the sun peeked out around the clouds, a beautiful rainbow was visible near the base of the waterfall.
Signs line the pathway to the beach warning of danger from the rogue waves that roll in with full force from the Atlantic, but when you arrive at the beach, there is no shortage of people daring the tide…laying on the beach, trying to get their best photgraphic shots of the rolling waves and getting as close to these monsters as possible. Spying a few soaked tourists, I stayed as far away as possible.
The adjacent, small village of Vík í Mýrdal, with 450 inhabitants, lies directly under the Myrdalsjokull glacier, which sits atop the volcano Katla. Speculation is that since there has not been an eruption since 1918, another may be brewing causing glacier melt and flash flooding which could decimate the village. Regular drills are held in the village directing residents to the local church which sits atop a hill hopefully protecting it from the floodwaters. If you are driving the ring road around the island, it is important to keep this village in mind as it is the only service center between Skógar and the west edge of the Mýrdalssandur glacial outwash.
Leaving Vík í Mýrdal, we were finally on our way to Sólheimajökull glacier, driving past beautiful countryside views. Donning my ski pants, hat and gloves while enroute, I readied myself for what we would encounter.
Soon, we were making our way up the trail, heading toward the glacier. Carrying our crampons on our axes, we walked along the edge of the glacial lake to our staging area. A beautiful rainbow stretched like a bridge across the lake and we could not wait to make the climb up to the glacier. After a quick lesson in strapping on our crampons, we were ready.
Entering through the main Famedio, a Neo Medieval style memorial chapel made of marble and stone, I first stopped to gaze upon the beautiful blue ceiling and the tomb of novelist, Alessandro Manzoni before making my way through each of the hallways. I particularly loved walking along the outer edges of the open-aired corridors so that I could admire the building’s architecture, the courtyard and the ornate tombs that line the area.
Before making my way into the cemetery’s immaculately groomed grounds, I then walked the full length of the building’s lower level, exiting at the center, where I could examine the map and the locations of the cemetery’s famous occupants. In this area is also a structure comprised of metal tubes and black and white stones centered with a small clay bowl placed inside the main formation. Surrounded by memorial plaques, I was informed by a fellow bystander that it is a monument to the 800 Italians who perished in Nazi concentration camps and the bowl was filled with soil from the Mauthausen concentration camp.
Wandering the grounds, through the avenues of trees, should be reserved for an unhurried pace as to absorb entire beauty of the surroundings and that’s just what I did. It was impossible not to want to stop and inspect each monument, so detailed and individualized were they. Many of the tombs and funerary monuments are of such an extravagant size, it is almost as through you are walking through a neighborhood of homes.
Opened in 1952, the park is named for George Maduro, a Jewish law student from Curaçao. After fighting the Nazi occupations forces as a member of the Dutch resistance, he died at Dachau concentration camp and was the only person of Antillean descent to be awarded the Knight 4th-class of the Military Order of William. After World War II, his parents donated the necessary capital to build the park in honor of their only son and a replica of his birthplace in Curaçao was added to the park in his honor.
Having traveled throughout the Netherlands, I have seen much of its beauty and many of its municipalities. As I moved to the rear of the property with reproductions of many of the Netherlands’ cities, I developed a game to check out each city exhibit before reading the accompanying signs and identify it by its buildings and landmarks. As an avid photographer, I especially enjoyed positioning my camera to get the best shots of these tiny cities…with the results, in some cases, you have no idea that you are looking at a photo of a model, so detailed are the displays.
Another attraction, explains the beginning of the Netherlands in 1572. Hof van Nederland (Dutch Court) is located at the rear of the property and unlike the small-scale displays, is life sized. The best part of the entire park, however, is that the entirety of the net proceeds from the park go towards various charities in the Netherlands!
As a flight attendant and avid traveler, my most valued possession is my passport. I love looking through my stamps and visas and remembering all of the places and experiences I have had over the years.