Our Wednesday was spent at the beach. At first we went around the pool but a smoker sat beside us so we thought let's head back to the beach where there is a good breeze and good shade.
Really smokers have not been a big issue here. You can not smoke in the hotel or outdoor venues like dining areas or theater. You can smoke at the pool, beach and outside garden. So most smokers congregate at the stairs and smoke there. They have been very courteous and have followed the rules.
We get two lounge chairs ato beach and get an umbrella (100 pesos) to give us full shade when needed. I should add we have gone thru 2 and a half containers of sunscreen already. The sun is strong and I don't want to ruin my holiday with a burn. Trust me there are a few lobsters walking around.
We really did not do much except read (we are both almost finished our second book), swim, drink, and chat with others.
We met a few couples from Britain. We immediately thought of Roy and Sandra Bennett and how much they would like this place. Thompson comes here from England.
For our evening we decided to stay here as it is Mexican Night and they have Mexican themed entertainment.
It starts with a tequilla station set up in the lobby. Pick a flavoured Margarita or a shot of flavoured tequilla. I try the pear tequilla, Bernie gets strawberry. Wow strong, I can not drink it all. Remember I am not 25 anymore.
We have a great dinner. The buffet here is very nice. A little higher end than the Riu Jallisco with more expensive offerings. The biggest difference is it is not crazy packed where you have to watch everywhere so you don't bump into others.
Also the wait staff have smaller sections and can tend to all your needs quickly. There is no wait for drinks or clearing plates.
Tonight's show is the Mariachi band for one hour and then the Mexican Folklore. It is lovely cause it is shown in their theater and it is enclosed and air conditioned and it is like a bar. Nice tables and chairs and great bar service.
We both get martinis but boy are they sweet here, more like a desser. They don't skimp on the booze either. But I prefer the bars on ships where I can get a full array of drinks that are better made. But here they are included in the price.
Oh I should add they often have a featured drink at the buffet too. In the mornings it is Bloody Mary's tonight it is Mexican Coffee and they have a pretty station with the fixing and a bottle of booze!
It was a great day and wonderful night.
Thursday was a day away from the beach. We need to do a few errands. First thing is wash. We brought only clothes for one week and with the high heat we are going thru clothes fast. The hotel has cleaning service and it is reasonable for a few items but we have a big load or two small ones. At the hotel they charge 20 pesos for a pair of underwear. Well we have 10 so that alone wold be 200 pesos.
After breakfast we gather our clothes and head to the laundry mat at Paradise Village Mall that is about 8 miles away. We hop a cab there for 100 pesos as the bus does not go in that direction, but we can take it back.
We drop off the laundry at Rositta's laundry. For 110 pesos per load she will do it for us. So for 220 total it is done in 2.5 hours. Now that is a deal.
We do wander around the area of Nuevo Vallarta at Paradise Village but you really can't go far except along the road. You can't walk along the Marina, or hotels as it is all private. A lot of North Americas are here and they cater to them. But I don't really care for it.
Plus there are a lot of time share people. Funny they say oh we are not time share we are vacation clubs. Really! Same thing and we don't want anything to do with them, they are not for us. And they just don't give up and you can't seem to walk 100 feet without someone approaching you.
Once we have our laundry we go out to the bus stop and wait for the Riu bus heading to Flamingos area. It costs 8 pesos each to ride. But after a few minutes a taxi shows up and says he will take us for 50 pesos. I think he dropped a fare off here and doesn't want to go back emptyard as taxis have their designated areas that they must work. Technically he should not be picking up fares here. We take him up on the offer.
Back at the resort we put away our clothes and head down for lunch but just as we are about to sit down I feel a shining on the inside of my arm. I flicked away something and see there is a stinger in my arm. It must of been a bee. Ouch! I have only been stung twice now in my life and both times while on vacation.
The waiters gets me some ice to put on it. I see it swelled and redness spreads. I do have a reaction to it but not life threatening. In the end it grows the length of my arm, aches like a bruise but thankfully I have antihistamines and that helps a lot.
After lunch we head out to catch the bus to the port area across from the shopping mall. We have a few things we need to pick up.
The bus stop is to the left of the hotel. But while we wait a guy comes up and starts talking he is from the resort beside us. At first it is friendly chit chat then the real purpose comes out. Time share oh sorry vacation club.... come check out our resort, we will give you a free excursion, want to see Rhythms of the Night? We will give it to you for free. Check our place out. We are polite and say no thanks, not interested. But they don't give up.
I am losing patience and finally just cross the street to the meridian to stand I. The shade. After a few minutes his buddy comes over and tries too. He says "OH miss why are you mad at us?" Bernie can tell I am at my watts end. He steps in and says "we said no thank you many times, what part of no do you not understand". Thankfully the bus arrives. But I find timeshare sales people to be the worst in Mexico and one of the downsides of coming here. Usually we just say no and walk away but this guy had a captive audience. Next time we will catch the bus away from that resort.
We get off the bus near the cruise port and head into Sorianas for sunscreen, my favorite Mexican soap to bring home and we are looking for a new cheap watch for Bernie to wear at the beach aso he dropped his Citizen on the tile floor and broke the crystal watch face.
We end up going to the mall too and still no watch. Hard to find a cheap watch all we find are nice higher education do watches.
We catch the bus to the Mega store on the main highway and check there and find a watch!
We walk in from the highway to the resort. It is only a 20-25 min walk and it was faster than catching the Nuevo Vallarta bus which goes the slow route.
Back at the hotel we head to the sports bar, which is really nice here. Place is getting busy with people watching the soccer matches. We sit and enjoy two cold drinks. We earned them we logged over 20,000 steps today. I look at my feet in my sandals and wonder is that dirt or a tan? Ended up being more dirt than tan.
Back in the room we both are exhausted and crash for an hour.
We shower and head down for dinner around 830. I meet up with Bernie in the sports bar where he is watching hockey. The place is packed! Lots of games on. Numerous TV show show various sports.
Dinner was great again. But we both find we haven't been eating that much here as we fill up after just a few bites.
The show tonight is Vegas themed show but we are not really interested so instead we walk around the pool and sit in a lounge chair and enjoy the views.
We do get bitten by mosquitoes argh... something we don't get when walking the open decks on ships while at sea.
Back in the room we watch some youtube --- so nice to have free wifi.
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