The historic part of Puerto Vallarta and the new boardwalk area along the beach were several miles away from the port. After haggling with a couple of taxi drivers, we found one who would take us to where we wanted. On the way, he made a hard pitch to extend the drive into a two-hour guided tour. We ignored him, preferring to bumble through the adventure on our own.
We walked along the boardwalk -- the Malecón -- looking at sand castles, artwork, and stopping at a few shops. When we reached the Plaza Principal and the landmark of the old town, Our Lady of Guadalupe church, we noticed a Starbucks on the corner and took the opportunity to use the wifi.
I stood in line for coffee while Lisa filtered through dozens of emails. Most were junk (No Groupon, I don't need lipo-laser treatments or a chimney inspection -- well maybe I do, but I don't WANT them right now...) but a few were worth checking.
There was a message for Lisa that she hadn't been accepted into a program she'd applied for on campus. That was a big disappointment and had me wishing we hadn't checked email after all. To make matters worse, I bought Lisa an iced latte and didn't realize until afterwards that ice=water and you don't drink the water in Mexico. Would she spend the rest of the trip dealing with the consequences of my bad decision?
Minor meltdown moment.
We left Starbucks, did a cursory look at the cathedral and then walked some of the adjacent city streets. We knew we had to get back to the ship soon, but didn't want to deal with a pushy cab driver. And there had to be some way to redeem this outing.
We found a souvenir shop and made a few purchases, then asked the saleslady if there was a city bus to get to the Wal-Mart which was across from the port? I'm not sure why but on previous trips with Lisa, the public transit angle has given us more than a few crazy adventures to remember.
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After getting instructions on how and where to catch the right line and counting up 13 pesos, the fare we needed to ride, we headed up the hill a few blocks to the bus stop.
The bus was crowded and it was hot. We had to stand up in the aisle, carrying our purchases and trying to keep our balance as we bumped over backroads and took sharp turns around the corners that nearly knocked me over. A man was playing his guitar for tips, which no one else seemed to find unusual. But it was the unexpected adventure that we needed.
And for the record, Lisa didn't get sick from the latte.
