Mexico January, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
YEAH, the blog of Juan Marcos is back!!!!! Enjoy.

Day 1 Arrival into Puerto Vallarta, First day in Bucerias, Nayarit
After a very short night, heavily blamed on my Backyard friends, I left Fond du Lac at 4am heading to Chicago. (David, one of my roommates, drove me)
I was pleasantly surprised to be assigned a window seat in the exit row. Plenty of room to stretch. The flight was on schedule and I arrived in Puerto Vallarta along with 7 other planes. Customs and immigration was a mad house. But this was my 6th trip, so I knew the secret was calm and patience. (not usually my middle names) What seemed like hours, was probably only 30 minutes. After gathering some pesos from the machine and changing into proper attire, since it was 82 degrees when I landed, I headed towards the bus stop across the street.
Mi hermano, Pedro, suprized me at the airport and snuck up on me. A great way to begin my primero dias. (1st day) After a couple welcoming beverages, we hopped on a bus and for 12 pesos ($1.00) we were bounced Northward heading towards Bucerias.
After a short 15-20 minute ride, we arrived at Mega, one of the larger grocery-type stores in Mexico. A few staples were purchased, tequila y cerveza y café y leche. (the latter two being coffee and milk) Then we jumped in a taxi (the Spanish word for taxi is taxi) My directions slightly confused our driver, but after he made a phone call, we found the owners’ house and met Paul and George. They drove us over to 102 Sauce in Terralta One. (yes, that really is my address for the next 2 months)
The house/casa is located in a sub-division on the North side of Bucerias. It was built about 3 years ago, but the some of the exterior paint suggests they were built many years ago, or the paint/cement is bad. (the latter is true)
Mi casa has 3 bedrooms and a full bath upstairs, and a half bath, kitchen, dinning/living room downstairs. I was pleased to see how clean it was.

After some financial matters, Paul and George took off, leaving Pedro and myself to a bottle of tequila. (not a good thing, or maybe it is a good thing)

A much needed trip to the banos was the start of several discoveries: not only was there no hot water, there wasn’t even water. Worse yet, there wasn’t even enough toilet paper for a constipated juvenile. After being assured that the casa had a coffee maker, we found no such animal. No coffee cups, no coffee, no filters. The owner had also failed to leave a promised cell phone with me so that I could contact him when just such emergencies arose. So what do you do? Hey, I’m in Mexico……..who cares, we will sort it out mania….so after a couple ounces of the country’s universal liquid, it was time to explore. Remember now that we don’t have a car.
After a 12 block walk to ‘north downtown’ Bucerias, Pedro and I began the evening explorations with a stop at an Irish pub. (yes, you read that correctly) The Shamrock Irish Pub and Lounge just seemed to draw us in and dos muy fria cervezas con limons were soon in front of us. (two very cold beers with limes) We met two lovely ladies, Natalie from Dublin, Katie from Bucerias, and Jess with a manly voice(not sure of his/her gender) Most of the places charge 20 pesos for Corona. ($1.65) and 50 - 60 pesos for a nice margarita, but during happy hour they often have 2 for 1. Or (2 x 1) as they would write it. Others have cinco cervezas por 80 pesos. (5 beers for $6.60) So not exactly cheap for retired folks.

All the places listed this evening are within a block of each other, so if you were concerned about our health, don’t be. Place #2 was called the Twisted Rose(now) and is billed at Bucerias’ largest Bar. It was a huge place with a muy bonita (very beautiful) garden bar and outdoor dance floor. Later in the evening they had a Salsa band playing, but we only stopped for one beverage.

Place #3 was called Tapas del Mundo y The Bar Above and as we climbed 3 sets of stairs, we just knew that the view would be fabulous. It was! It has sunset written all over it. We tried their margaritas, which were served in fabulous glasses. (vasos) The Bar Above is known for its wonderful deserts, so this will be a place to keep in mind. Tapas del Mundo, the restaurant below, also has cooking classes. Their ad reads, “Cost $35 USD (or 3 chickens, 2 ducks & 18 eggs) Libations additional.” You just know I will be signing up for that one.

Place #4 was called Bucerias Gardens and was also a large garden setting. Heather was our bartender and we enjoyed a couple cervezas before heading across the street to find food.

Place #5 is called YoYo Mos and it was time for food, and the pizzas looked inviting. Pedro chose a Philly Cheese Steak pizza and it was pretty good. The grande size easily could feed 4 people. The place was a sports bar and hockey seemed to be favorite that night with two Canadian teams brawling. As the saying goes, “I went to fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out!” I also learned that they have a nice happy hour and wifi.....cerveza and internet......a slice of heaven?

Buenos Noches! We managed to survive the 12 block uphill climb back to 102 Sauce. The end of the primero dias!

Tomorrow, The Rest of the Story and How it all worked out!