Day 4

Had a relaxing morning on our bacony with coffee before heading to Cafe de Olla for breakfast, the waiter greeted us with "where is all of your family" Love it here! Have no idea how they remember us every year! We had a nice conversation with him about all the construction of condos in Old Town, wasn't sure what the locals think of it but he says they  are happy, brings tourism dollars. Said 5 condos going up in Old Town. I asked if the restaurant is open year round, Cafe de Olla is closed for 1 month, middle of Sept to middle of Oct and the employees get to choose another month off during the slow season so everyone gets two months off a year. He chooses to do some construction work during his time off.

We went to the Saturday farmers market, wow has it grown, bought a handmade glass light catcher and some artwork and a couple of mini fruit pies :) then headed to the beach and was given a front row space at Fedencios, score! We took turns going back to our hotel to change, get towels and books for a beach day. Enjoyed visiting with the gal next to us on the beach, she had Dave watch Paco her dog while she left for a bit, she adopted him down here a few years ago, went back to Massachusetts and they both decided they couldn't tolerate winters there anymore, now full time residents, last summer was her first in PV said it was tough in September, but better than Massachusetts winters.  I saw a couple of whales breach thanks to being alerted from all the excitement on the beach, first sighting for me this year! 

After a few hours went back to our hotel to change and headed to the malecon to see if the artist is there who we bought a painting from last year and want to purchase more, he was not, we will check another day. Walked to Chez Elena to buy hand painted cards from a lady who winters there, then went to the rooftop to enjoy the view and a margarita. 

Went to Cafe Bohemia for dinner, owner Sol put on a bit of a show for dinner guests which was a hoot, he performs cabaret around town. We didn't linger as huge winds came up and tree crap blew all over our food, yuck. Back to room for pie and ice cream for dessert, the British pie man makes great pie :)

  







      

  

Day 3

Went for a morning run, enjoyed the run along the malecon and ocean and the temp was perfect. Had usual breakfast on our balcony. Lots is construction going on in PV, and a big project right in front of us, wonder what the view will be next year :(  wonder how the area will handle added rooms/people, the beach and sidewalks are so crowded this time of year already. I know February is the peak time, glad we are here in January next year. So far not seeing any impact from our recent presidential pick here!

We wandered around and went to a t-shirt store Dave had his eye on for a Seahawks in PV shirt, which he bought :)

Walked along the beach to La Playita for lunch, beautiful views as always! Walked back and we went for a swim at our pool, I stayed and swam and read, Dave went for his second and he reported last masssge! He had to call uncle to the gal today, guess she was a brut!  

After an hour of pool time I headed out to our favorite produce stand only to find them closed today. The sidewalks felt so busy with people today. PV does feel small though, on my run saw a couple people from our hotel, on my walk about this afternoon saw a family from our beach time yesterday at Las Animas and saw a guy who was at the table next to us at lunch today, these were both areas many miles away!

This thought reminded me of a man I met this morning as I was returning from my run, he was on his walk which he does 3 days a week, he walks all the way to Mismoloya! It takes him almost 2 hours, goes along the highway then takes the bus back. I asked about the danger of walking along the highway, it is narrow. He said he only goes solo due to the danger of the narrow road. Now I'm not sure why he would do this, there are much prettier walks around here in my opinion!

We walked to Bravos hoping to get in for dinner, wanted to try them last year but didn't happen, we had no reservations but they said if we got in and out in an hour or so they could accommodate us. We had an amazing dinner with equally amazing service, we will be back! Dave picked up a decadent brownie at the French bakery while he was out this afternoon and we picked up ice cream on our way home, perfect way to end our day, dessert on our balcony :) we are tired and ready for bed, Dave reported 12 miles on his watch for today, no wonder!

      

 

Day 2

Remembered that we went to The Wednesday night Art Walk last night, meaning a couple nights ago now, I need to catch up on posts so I can remember everything!

Since it was to be a cooler day, Thursday, we decided to skip the run and do the hike to Las Animas. We had our usual breakfast here, fresh papayas, banana and peanut butter toast. Dave had the PV version of kefir, made by Damon, flavor was pineapple, celery and nopal (cactus)  I did try it and it was tasty.

Caught the bus to Boca for 8 pesos. At Boca crossed the bridge and did the 3 mile hike, feels much longer due to difficulty of hike. It is a beautiful hike and the trail is so much better than it was the first year we did it, Thanks to the addition of Ocean Grill at the halfway point. After 1:38 minutes, thanks to Daves GPS watch we arrived! Took less photos do less time to get there today. Had lunch st a beachfront restaurant, cheese quesadillas to be safe! The places are rustic here. It was a very windy day so we didn't swim, visited with a cute gal that n her late 20's who moved to PV 9 months ago, her mother was there with her and has been staying with her for a few months to escape the cold. Wish I would have taken a picture of her dog Angelina Jolie! Said the guys in the beach gave her dog that name :)

Took the water taxi back to Boca then bus back to PV, followed by a swim in our pool. Dave went for a masssge while I swam and read by the pool. 

Went to Cass Isabel for Happy Hour and guacamole, said hi to Arturo. Decided to grill burgers and fry up potatoes for dinner st our place. It was a wonderful day in paradise! 

 

  

   

 

First Full Day 😃

Perk of staying at Hotel Suites is the close proximity to the track, after a good nights sleep we headed to the track to run laps. Love seeing all the activities going on around and on the  track, from boxing class to step class and every thing in between and seeing the same people running/walking the track I did several years ago.

Had a lovely breakfast at the hotel with Roman, he is a treasure that we still remember from our last stay 4 years ago!

We took advantage of the close proximity of Leys and bought our groceries for the week, checked out, took a taxi to Villa Olivia. Hugs all around from Denise at check in, feels like we are home! We are early, Denise stores our luggage, we talk to fellow guests who all report bring sick with a respiratory virus, ugh! We head to beach and can't get into Fedencios! It is busy season and we are at the beach late, noon. Surprise of all surprises we get into La Palapa on the beach!!!!! What a treat, great waiter, beautiful place, great food and drink, we are happy! We see Jose who we have seen perform with another Jose at Casa Isabel, he plays a few tunes for us at the beach, tells us he no longer plays at Cass Isabel because he can't climb the stairs :( after a few hours of beach time we head back to Villa Olivia. We are happy with our room in the old original part of the Villa. Our luggage and groceries are all in our room when we arrive, service is so great here :)

We unpack, catch up with Chris and Jenny (couple from previous years) head out to dinner, pizza at Los Meurtos Brewing. We go for an after dinner walk and call it a night. Love it here in PV :)

 Breakfast with Roman

La Palapa lunch

Jose playing beautiful music for us.

 
View from our room

Our balcony 

Bedroom

Los Muertos Pizza

Arrived

We took a later than usual flight for us to PV, 8:10 AM through Portland. Easy and uneventful, always a good thing! Landed in PV around 4:30, an hour later than ourusual arrival   time, had the shortest customs lines ever and got a green light for luggage inspection :) although the customs dog was very excited to see me, greeted me with tail wagging and sniffing, customs asked if we had food, why yes cookies, gronola bar almonds. As long as no meat or produce we are fine, think the lab could smell the chocolate chip cookie we had left from the airport! The airport has changed since last year, more user friendly, taxi kiosk right as you exit customs, makes navigating much easier and felt like a lot less time share sharks. Landed at 4:39 and we were at Hotel Suites Nadia an hour later. We were surprised to get one of the better rooms there since we were just staying for one night, corner balcony room.  Dave did a little work from our room while I checked out the views, a little windy and colder than usual. We walked a few blocks to El Baracuda for Valentines Day dinner. I broke tradition and had their Beach Sangria rather than my usual first night margarita! They are just so good here. Had a yummy dinner of coconut shrimp and garlic shrimp, then walked to the romantic zone, stopped at Cuetses Cuetses to listen to  some very fun live music before heading back and calling it a night.  We will definitely go back on Sunday to listen to these guys when they play again!
Our view from balcony at Hotel Suites Nadia

El Barracuda  Sangria

Music at Cuates Cuates

Back to PV for 9 Days! (not long enough)

We changed things up a bit this year, first a 2 week Caribbean cruise, home for 1 week, fly out in the morning to PV. for 9 days.  Life is good :)
In the Caribbean we enjoyed the ease of the cruise ship, our friends, the clear warm blue water and soft sandy beaches.  In PV we will enjoy the laid back lifestyle, people, culture, food, hiking and more rugged coastline and hoping to catch up with the friends we have made there. It is all good, just different. I am ever so thankful I get to have these two completely different experiences all in one winter!
We are packed into a fraction of the suitcase space we needed for the cruise, even with taking coffee, peanut butter, paper towels, kleenex, salt and pepper, shampoo, love it! Actually may repack into a smaller suitcase but I may be bringing a couple of large paintings back that I am still thinking about 1year later, so if I can find them they will be coming back!
I am really looking forward to having a "toes in the sand margarita in hand" dinner tomorrow followed by a morning run on land without snow and ice! Sometimes the simple things in life are the best :)

Looking forward to this sunset tomorrow.

Sea Days

Felt good to get a run in today, although it was very hot and humid. I found a lounge chair on deck and enjoyed a couple hours out there, then Kitty and I went for a swim and to the bar for a drink. Since it was before noon I had a grapefruit mimosa :) meet up with Dave for lunch at the back of ship we love the upper back area for eating lunch and enjoying the views out the back of the ship. Today they had falafel and lots of variety of falafel it was so yummy. We have appreciated the lunch buffets they have had a a few different themes to add more interest to the regular daily fare. Spent time reading on our balcony and walking the decks outside. Tonight was the last formal night, have yo admit I am getting tired of all the food, ready to have my own lighter fare when we get home! We went the the show was very good vocalist who was on America can Idol season two, Lou Gazarra, don't remembers him but wow he sure can sing!

Last Sea Day and final thoughts: I am coming down with a cold so skipped the run. Saw a bunch of dolphins playing along side of the boat this morning, it is a bit cooler and some rain so we went to Trivia with Kitty and Jim.  I am now home finishing this several days later so really can't remember much about our last sea day! I do know we spent a lot of time on our balcony reading, and we did really enjoy getting some good books in during this trip.  Oh we did go to the buffet for lunch, was a huge mistake, on the last day they do a buffet extravaganza, hordes of people, so we took our drinks and food to our room and had a peaceful lunch on the balcony, it was shear craziness at the buffet.  I was also just getting tired of so many people and really noticed passengers today were getting crabby, maybe they too are tired of people or are mourning the fact they get off the ship tomorrow.  I do have to admit that the 5 sea days we had were too many for me, I know many people love them and love the cruise ship culture.  What I love are the islands and not so much the cruise ship culture.   This was a beautiful ship, we had great service throughout from everyone, our room including the bathroom and balcony was one of the best we've had,  enjoyed our travel companions, food at dinner was good, buffet at breakfast was the same everyday and breakfast in the dining room was no better, really enjoyed the drink package we had and Bacio Coffee Bar for Americano's and cookies!  Entertainment was lacking  a bit, not really many options for evening entertainment other than  the main show, could have been just my perspective though. We have decided as a couple we are done cruising for a while, maybe in 15- 20 years we may not feel comfortable being independent in how we travel and will prefer the comfort  and security of the cruise ship. I can see why they appeal to the older crowd, it does make travel easy, comfortable and predictable.

Following are a few pics from around this beautiful ship.