Time to pack up and say adios...no hasta la vista...

Thursday, November 11, 2004

Now, wait minute...no one told me that this visit had to end. Unfair! Sue, sue, sue. I cannot leave, I have waaaaay tooooo much more that must be done.

Please send cash and new airline ticket, por favor. Alms for the sad one? No, I guess not. Stop, I have done extremely well, especially in the face of limited ability to walk for a few days. Content, satisfied and thrilled. Now, I want to read and hear from all of you as to your experiences, OK not as long and detailed as mine, but muchas gracias for bearing with me! It was an enormously eventful unforgetable sojourn, far from a vacation, lots of work but tons of fun and laughter and gaping in awe at the beauty of some casas and villas and the ever-amazing vistas all around the Bahia de Banderas, north, center and south!

Do not be content to sit and stare on la playa. This area has so much to offer. Rent a vehicle and drive, visit the small local villages where time remains slow and life is simple yet rich. I learned so much from experiencing a wide range of taco stands, delving into the way of life for so many people around me, smelling, tasting, listening to day to day conversations.

No time nor will to sleep, so I arose before 7:30am and planned what all I wished to do during my last hours here in this beautiful land. Used up nearly all my last membership card at the cyber cafe and bid adios until next time and decided it best eat a little something since airline food fails us inevitably and the fridge in San Francisco is devoid of everything but some crisp apples. I had spotted earlier a taco stand I ate at years ago and thought had disappeared for a while and now it was back, with the same name and in the same location. Was it me or déjà vu? So, I felt it had my name on it...Peter and Carmen's Tacos, Manuel Dieguez at Olas Altas near the beach OT/SS. 322-289-3941, 9am-11pm Closed Sunday.
Peter is deceased, Carmen has moved, but sons Alex and Juan run this 20+ year old stand which offers many local favorites at great prices, all served with four fine salsas. Adobada, carne asada, chorizo, pollo, birria, tortas of ham, cheese, pork, chicken or beef 20p, hamburger 25p and hot dog 10p, Only four chairs. Had a fine torta since the hamburgers were not ready yet [?]. Back to pack some more, squeeze, push, must be all those bags of hibiscus flowers and the kilo of coffee and that book on old Vallarta, but not the piles of magazines and brochures...no! Sigh, zipped up, like after a splurge and trying to get the zipper up the jeans. Now was my time to myself, to sit and gaze and ponder and meditate and space out on the balcony, watching wave after wave crash onto the beach, kids screaming and playing, vendors trying to make some pesos and sun rays glittering on the water. Sounds like my first day here.

Words from "Love Affair" come to my mind: "What is it about this place? Makes you want to whisper...so peaceful...like another world. Never seen such vivid colors. Even the green seems greener." And off the jet headed north to another land, another people, but part of me, my soul, my spirit will always reside in my beloved Puerto Vallarta forever.

garyrbeck

San Francisco, CA.

garyrbeck1@yahoo.com 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Puerto_Vallarta _OldTown_SouthSide" title="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Puerto_Vallarta _OldTown_SouthSide" target="_blank"http://groups.yahoo.com/group...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Puerto_Vallarta _Gay_Travel" title="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Puerto_Vallarta _Gay_Travel" target="_blank"http://groups.yahoo.com/group...

http://hometown.aol.com/garyrbeck/myhomepage/ " title="http://hometown.aol.com/garyrbeck/myhomepage/ " target="_blank"http://hometown.aol.com/garyr...