- The hotel where we stayed in Pto. Vallarta was on a public beach. There were hotel-employed security guards standing at the steps down to the beach so that the beach vendors couldn't come up to the pool area. We went down to the beach a few times, but I didn't spend any significant amount of time there, sadly. Bob went swimming in the ocean a couple of times, and the guys rented boogie boards; Bob wore sandals the first time and tore his feet up a bit. The second time, he wore water shoes, and the tide ripped one of them right off his foot. He never found it.
- Our room was on the street side, and I don't think we passed one whole night without hearing a car alarm go off. One night I didn't think it would ever go off. That was the night that I jumped out of bed with a cramp in my calf and had to walk it off. I had just gotten back to sleep when the alarm went off.
- There were a couple of small convenience stores across the street from the hotel. We visited them several times during the week, to buy postcards, and ice cream bars after dinner, and cigarettes. One night, walking back to the hotel, the guys were stopped by a man who offered them, "young, clean, fresh girls." When they declined, he said, "How about some weed?"
- Breakfast for me every morning was juice, yogurt, granola, and fruit, with a sweet roll on the side. One morning they had what looked like thick slices of bread with a layer of white icing on top. I tried one, and it was simple and wonderful. I looked for them the rest of the week, but they only served it that one day.
- I spent the entire day, every day, in a swimsuit. I really did pretty well with the packing. I wore one swimsuit pretty much all week--a white, pink and green one-piece. I wore a really pretty blue one one day, but the tags in it drove me nuts. I also took a two piece, but didn't wear it until after I got the sunburn, so I kept pretty covered up that day. I was actually grateful that I hadn't worn it earlier in the week, or the sunburn would probably have been worse!
- "Mexican Night" at the buffet was the best meal we had. I guess it's nice to have different things during the week, but I definitely would have been happy to have the same thing every night if it was that good. "Oriental Night" was kind of weird; "Italian Night" wasn't bad. I think we skipped International and Caribbean--those nights, we ate at the barbeque around the pool.
- Bob wants us to learn Spanish before we go back next year. I think that's an excellent idea. It feels strange not being able to speak the language. I've found quite a few resources online (this BBC site looks like an excellent one). I'll look and see if there are any classes going on nearby, but I imagine we'll end up working on it by ourselves. We already know a few Spanish phrases--how to ask how much something costs, and how to find the bathroom, and, of course, how to buy a beer. But it would be nice to know more.
Bob made lobster in champagne sauce for us for dinner tonight. While he was cooking, I went upstairs to take a hot bath--it's become a ritual over the past few days when it's been so cold; I just can't get warm any other way. After I'd run the bath and been up there a little while, he came up with a glass of champagne for me. I said, "this is so decadent!" and he said, "Oh, wait a minute," and lefft, and came back with two chocolate kisses.
I made some desktop wallpaper out of my favorite photos of the bronzes. If you would like them, just click on the thumbnails to get the full-size version, and then right-click (or control-click on a Mac) to download the large images to your desktop.
