Hasta la vista, amigos!

Originally uploaded by st_gleam.

I'm sitting here on my bed in Chicago, wondering where the last four days went. Caro and I had an absolute ball sunning ourselves in Puerto Vallarta, even though the presence of Hurricane John just further up the coast from us was never out of our minds for long.

When I started thinking about what I was going to blog about this vacation, I was going to take a day-by-day approach. But on reflection, that would read rather boring. Given that we were on an all-inclusive vacation, we didn't pay for the tequila and beer that we started drinking at 11am. And as a result, sleeping became a regular feature on the day's agenda. Falling asleep on a beach chair under the hot Mexican sun is not something I'd immediately recommend. Tequila has some sort of sedative property I'm sure.

But Caro and I did get ourselves organised and left the resort for one of the days. We put ourselves in the capable hands of Vallarta Adventures, and took off in one of these open-sided vehicles to go smashing and crashing into the heart of Mexico on a Sierra Madre adventure. I actually went hiking in a forest! And no one carried me! The day ended with a late lunch on the beach and, true to form, I slept a little on the beach chair (post margaritas of course). Then on the vehicle back to our resort, the tour guide encouraged us all to have two shots of really good quality tequila. Arriba! Then it was back to our room for yet another sleep.

Are you getting the (restful) picture here?

I didn't take as many photos of Mexico as I'd intended. Partly this was due to my narcolepsy, but also there was just so much relaxation to be had at our wonderful hotel, I didn't want to interrupt the serenity. Honest. So just take my word for it when I say that I am healthy, happy, tanned, and rested. And I'm not entirely ready to see another bottle of tequila just yet.

Don't think, just do

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. 2.
Originally uploaded by mutbka.

My phone rings today and it's Mel, my Aussie travel agent friend here in Chicago who is - quite by fluke actually - travelling back to Adelaide with me at Christmas with her American fiance.

Mel excitedly mentions an unbeatable offer for a 3-day, all-inclusive trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for only $349 and asked me if I wanted to go. Did I want to go?! So I called Caro straight away, hurriedly explained the deal and without even thinking twice, we booked in and paid up. After all, it's not often that such great ideas present themselves.

And the only catch as far as we can tell has to do with the strictness of the travel dates - leaving 31 August, back on 3 September. No worries for us, because Monday 4 September is the Labor Day long weekend, so it all fit in perfectly. SOLD.

I am so excited about this upcoming trip. Mexico wasn't exactly up there on my must-see destination list, but now I can't stop reading about it online and looking at photo after photo of smiley children, withered old grannies, and old men in enormous sombreros. I'm hooked.

And while Puerto Vallarta may be a touristy town, I'm certain that in the 3 days we'll spend there, Caro and I can mix old-town charm like this Church, with reclining on a deck chair, sipping authentic margaritas. And how!

Un Feliz Cinco de Mayo

mexicanos, originally uploaded by chavezonico.


Yesterday was my second Cinco de Mayo celebration in New York.  Admittedly I have turned it into quite a thing for myself, even though I have no Mexican heritage or connection (save for having spent three glorious days laying very still on a pool chair in Puerto Vallarta a number of years ago).


When I celebrated Cinco de Mayo last year, K's mum was staying with us and we did a bit of a neighbourhood crawl until we found barstools we liked (ironically, we found them at the awesome Mexican place right next door to my apartment).


This year I had less of the drunken 2007 celebration and more of the home-style 2008 one.  And I had two friends from work over to make sure the fiesta stayed on the straight and narrow.  Plus I didn't invite Patron or Jose Cuervo to the party, so we did very well.


Admittedly I cheated a bit with the menu, opting to assemble many of the dishes from pre-prepared ingredients rather than starting from scratch myself.  A shout-out to the good people at Fresh Direct for their help on that front.  The groceries got delivered early yesterday morning, so I had the whole day to relax and psych myself up slowly to the evening ahead


On arrival, the girls and I enjoyed some spicy guacamole, with carrot stick & celery dippers, as well as those devilish and SUPREMELY addictive Doritos corn chips with lime.  You know the ones.  The French champagne we enjoyed with it was hardly Mexican, but it was amazing.  Hey, perhaps we had the bubbles in memory of Napoleon and his French troops, who (as you surely know) got their ass kicked on May 5th at the Battle of Puebla, which gave rise to the whole Cinco de Mayo celebration in the first place?  Yes, let's go with that rationale.


Next up was entree (or "main course", if you're playing along at home).  I had bought some thick and firm tilapia fillets and wanted to roast them in some spicy salsa verde.  But the jalapenos in the salsa verde were SO intense that the sauce was just too hot.  This is clearly one of the downsides of buying pre-packaged food.  So I improvised and mixed it with some tomato puree instead.  I roasted the fillets for 25 minutes and they came out of the oven perfectly cooked, flaking beautifully, and not at all spicy.  I served the fish with some creamed corn (2.5 minutes in the microwave, thank you Jesus) and some home-made Mexican rice (the only home-made element of the menu!).  The plates were colourful, healthy and the meal all came together so quickly.  The French white wine complemented the meal beautifully and gave us another reason to think of Napoleon.


Dessert was neither Mexican nor French.  Instead one of the girls took us to Italy by bringing along delicious Talenti gelato in three flavours - chocolate; coconut; and raspberry.  The combination was amazing and even though none of us were all that hungry, we managed to find enough belly room for several spoonfuls each.


By the time the meal was through and our conversations had solved all the problems of the world, it was after midnight.  The evening had gone so fast, but I had a really great time and I hope the other girls did too.  I reckon we all had a happy Cinco de Mayo and on reflection, I don't think any of us minded the absence of margaritas, tequila shots, or mariachi bands much at all.

What's that, Skip? She's posted photos?

Hotel Riu Jalisco, Puerto Vallarta
Originally uploaded by Miss Gab.

Finally I got my act together and marched off to Walgreens to get a CD made of many, many photos.

If you click on this photo you'll be able to see a (small) collection of shots taken in Mexico.

But perhaps a better idea would be to click on the link to MY PHOTO ALBUM down the right hand side of this web page and you'll see all the pics I've recently added, regardless of what photo set I've filed them in.

A reminder to please suspend judgement about the Oktoberfest pics. I maintain that when those photos were taken, the only things we were capable of doing were chicken dances, hugging each other, and drinking more beer. In that order.

Enjoy!

Are you there, Agatha?

Louisiana Day of Prayer
Originally uploaded by -Angela.

I head off tomorrow for three days in Mexico, where Hurricane John is currently vacationing, in all of his Category 4 glory. How dare a hurricane show up at Puerta Vallarta, right when I'm going there?! And still the airlines are flying there and no one is telling me NOT to travel, so tonight I shall pack for the trip.

As if on cue today at work, as the stories of the hurricane reached me, an Aussie Catholic priest who is new to Chicago called up to find out how to join some of the Aussie expat organisations we have here. After chatting a bit about that, I mentioned my holiday and proffered that my chances for a sunny vacation were less than likely - but remedying that was probably HIS area, not mine. Perhaps he could have a word to someone upstairs?

And Padre's suggestion in response? I should pray to Saint Agatha, the patron saint of natural disasters. And given how hungover I felt all day today, I figured I was probably faring just slightly better than Mexico - and having a quiet word to Agatha wouldn't be too bad.