10-29-08  Puerto Vallarta:

Here we did the ship sponsored town, country and tequila tour. I believe it was $39, too. We traveled by air conditioned bus to Puerto Vallarta’s centro, where we visited the main points of interest such as El Palacio Municipal (City Hall), the main plaza and other city landmarks, such as the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe), Gringo Gulch, and the boardwalk, or malecon. This malecon area was really pretty impressive. Would have liked to spend more time there.

 heading out to our city tour.

 looks like a shopping mall is close by, too.

 our ship

 and more American influence.

 narrow streets

 and a beautiful rock lined coastline!

 There's a Malecon along the waterfront in Old Town with lots of interesting sculptures.

 We got off here and were led through town for awhile.

 views across the bay from old town

 some of the neat condos

Then we boarded the bus again and headed on to the southside, or the "famous" Romantic Zone, for a 25-minute shopping & bathroom stop at a jewelry and tile store, where they offered us a free drink and salemen followed us around trying to sell us stuff. All I can say about this stop is, "Why?"

 some of the neat Malecon.

 and benches.

 Lots of vendors, with some pretty neat art.

 that's quite a hill

 heading inland from the Malecon

 our guide pointing out stuff

 like these----almonds

 I noticed all the pretty flowers, too.

 loved the beach here.

 even had an amphitheatre.

 and more neat art.

 and more sculptures.

 on our way to the church

 ornate steeple on the church

 bell tower

 love the Natilus design.   Looks like an info station.

 a guy feeding the pigeons. 

 continuing to the church.  Neat brickwork and stained glass window.

 and ironwork

 love the design!

 They sure have pretty churches in Mexico!

Leaving Vallarta, we continued south along the Bay and up to the residential zone of Conchas Chinas, overlooking Los Arcos and the town of Mismaloya, famous for the filming of “The Night of the Iguana” starring Richard Burton.

 another neat minimalist view.

 Soon we were in the state of Jalisco, the small volcano town called Tequila cultivates the precious blue agave plant from which their Tequila comes from. 

 Each hand picked plant takes 8-14 years to mature. 
The sweet nectar is extracted from the large heart of these pure agave plants.

  I don't know if I've ever had tequila straight before, but it isn't too bad---especially the orange flavored one. There were also a few little shops and a little restaurant by the factory. They also gave us free soda or water before starting our trip back.

 Heading back down to our ship.  More cool condos.

 I believe this was on the back of an ambulance!  Not what I'd want to see on an ambulance picking me up!

 This was another fun port.  I think I liked it better then Cabo or Mazatlan.