Marisela and I

jumped shipped on Tuesday and hopped on an eclectic mix of busses—some with a/c, some without, some big, some small—and ventured forth to Puerta Vallarta.

What fun!

First, we walked along the boardwalk looking for a restaurant that Marisela remembered being good, i.e. “authentic” and not too, too touristy and expensive. We didn’t find the one she was thinking of, but we did get a good walking workout! Just what these two amigas needed.

When our mouths were beginning to get so parched that the spittle didn’t spit but stayed, we stopped at a farmacia for some agua. “Know of any good authentic Mexican restaurants that are a good price?” Marisela asked in her flawless Spanish. No was the sales clerks reply. “Nada. Todos son turistico.”

Okay den. On we went. Higher and higher away from the ocean and deeper and deeper into residential land. Just about when we hit a road dead-end (but not for pedestrians, we could have meandered further along the coastline), we saw a good looking local couple with a bambino of about 3-years. Ditto. Same question from Marisela. But this time we got a, “Si!” The nice looking young Mexican man recommended one back by the Cathedral.

Se acepta comúnmente que Puerto Vallarta fue fundado en 1851 por don Guadalupe Sánchez quien llegó a este lugar con su familia el 12 de diciembre, procedente de Cihuatlán, Jalisco.
Got it?

We said Gracias and headed on our way back down hill and back into turisto land. Perfecto, we both thought. We needed some more exercise.

Again, our mouths dried up. But this time we stopped for paletas. Strawberry fruit bar for me (REAL juice and fruit, delicioso!!!) and lime for Marisela. Yum! We had to quickly lick them, bite them, ingest them in whatever way was possible before the dripped onto the sidewalk or our hand. Again, yum! Just enough liquid and fructose to carry us on our way to Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Cathedral.

Hmm, we didn’t see a restaurant fitting this guy’s description. Onward. But before Marisela left me in the dust with her professional sailor walk which magically appears once she hits shore, I eyed some quaint buildings up the hill. Hola, amiga! Let’s try going UP! Good idea, girlfriend, she replied. So up we went . . . until we found Gaby’s. : ))))) That was da spot!