Friday, August 12, 2005

Back... with a vengeance!

Hola! I'm finally back from vacation. How've you been, chicos? I'm sure you're all just dying to know how I've been the past week. Oh my... where to begin? As far as the flights go... they sucked. There's nothing to be afraid of, but it just sucks. Totally bored out of my mind the whole time, on all four flights we had to take (going there and coming back). American Airlines is extremely cheap too. Since that's the worst part of the trip, that's all I'm saying about it. Now, the first day wasn't all too fun, 'cause when we got there, in Puerto Vallarta, it was so hot! It really didn't help that we were dressed inappropiately (long pants and long-sleeved shirts... not good); also, we got there at the heat of the day. Lucky us. But, as soon as we changed, it got better. See, the hotel we stayed at, Royal Decameron, gave us these little rubber bracelets (which we had to wear the whole time). And while wearing those, we could have almost anything we wanted, for free, in the hotel. Heheh, pretty sweet deal. All of the days after the first one were great (although they had their moments). The room my Aunt, sister and I stayed in was right by the adults only pool, so no little kids splashing all the time and peeing in there! YAY! And there's a bar right next to every pool. Fortunately, you could order a virgin drink of pretty much anything they had. And we did, plenty of times. There were so many different things to do, too. There were kayaks, jet skis, scuba diving, para-sailing, just plain sailing, and more (just can't think of them right now). Of course, most of the time we ended up swimming in the pool in the early morning, taking a nap in the midday when it was hottest, then maybe swim again in the evening before dinner. Even so, doing just that the whole time was plenty fun, very relaxing. Oh, the food! Here we go! Ahh, it was so good! There were three all-you-can-eat buffets, and five different reservation-only restaurants. I must say, breakfast became my favorite part of the eating experience. At home, I don't have much variety when it comes to breakfast, but there! Wow! Those cooks are really somethin'... Lunch was good too. Around the time they're serving lunch at the buffets, there's this little ice-cream cart by each one. With the hot weather, that ice cream was a very delicious treat indeed. Anyway, lunch itself was nice. Like breakfast, lots of variety, not enough time. One of my favorite lunch places was the burger joint. It's nice to have an American-type food in a foreign country. Of course, the burgers themselves were oh so good! As far as dinner goes, we didn't eat dinners too much at the buffets. Most of the time, we ate at the restaurants. Now, I liked most of them, except for the Caribbean. Twasn't to my liking. The food was well prepared and all, but... the taste wasn't for me. Other than that, they had steakhouse, japanese, thai, and italian restaurants. My personal favorite was the japanese one, although the name was quite silly, "Jap Jap." Then again, the italian place did have good desserts, like the tiramisu. The steakhouse was really great. The t-bone steaks were to die for, just too many flies in one part of the restaurant. Needless to say, the desserts were all equally mouth-watering. My favorite was this little fudge-ball with sprinkles on it. Ooh, I must've had at least 20 of those things. Well, that's the general over-view of the restaurant, I guess. I swear, I'm leaving something out! Oh well... now, I just want to mention a few highlights from the trip. One of the best parts was when we went kayaking. Well, it wasn't very fun having Ducky and mom along; they slowed the rest of us down, but... it's understandable. My mom is afraid of the water, can't swim. Anyway, what made it so cool was that I saw a manta ray in the water! Ooh, but I was the only one. I wish my dad could've at least seen it, we were in the same kayak after all. A couple of days, we went into the actual town of Puerto Vallarta. The first time was way too hot for me; I got so frustrated, I started crying, and that was a little embarassing. Or annoying, can't figure out which. After that, I was better though. It was just... well... that day, we didn't take a tour bus or anything, we walked into town on our own and took the local buses; and my mom kept making us get off too soon, and blah blah blah... Moving on, the town itself is gorgeous. Ahhhh, it reminds me so much of Santa Barbara. There are a bunch of shops everywhere. 92% of Puerto Vallarta's economy is from tourism, so... yeah, of course there are lots of shops. But man, as soon as you look a little interested in something, the seller is right there! It was somewhat overwhelming after so long. Heh, it was fun seeing my mom haggle with the vendors, though. She even got two wraps (or sarongs) for 200 pesos, $20. Very good deal. The second time we went into town was on a tour bus, with a guide, thank goodness! That time was a lot more enjoyable. We learned a lot about the city on that trip. One thing I thought hilarious was that they love Liz Taylor and Richard Harrison, and the movie Night of the Iguana, for putting them on the map. It's understandable I suppose, but still... silly. For now, I think I'm done with my vacation explanation. Unless I think of something else interesting to mention. All in all, it was fun. Near the end, I became very homesick, but... it's an experience I may never have again. So happy we were able to go. Now that I'm home, I have a bunch of stuff to do, meaning chores. But before I do that, I'll be catching up on what my friends have been up to. o.O That could take awhile... Ta! ~God Bless~

Comments (8)