Thursday, January 26, 2006

Mexico Cruise Diary Pt. 1

I'm back! Had a wonderful time on the cruise, and was thoroughly spoiled. I haven't been that pampered in...well....ever!

We flew out of Atlanta via Minneapolis and arrived in Los Angeles where our daughter and son-in-law picked us up. We hooked up with my sister and her husband at a nearby fast food place and from there, we began our tour of Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Hollywood. You'd think living in Southern California for most of my life I'd have seen those places at least once, but I never did.

Outside of Graumann's Chinese Theater I discovered my hand is the same size as Marilyn's (whose isn't?) but for some reason, her feet were approximately the same size as Malibu Barbie's. It's got to be an optical illusion brought on by those ridiculously high heels they wore back then.

At the Kodak Theater I was told very impolitely that I was not allowed to loiter on the marble staircase because someone by the name of Mary J. Blige would be coming down that same staircase shortly. Never did see her, or if I did, couldn't have identified her to save my life.

We had dinner at a really nice Japanese restaurant at the top of the Kodak building, then headed back to Valencia for sleep.

Our ship, the Sapphire Princess, set sail from San Pedro, California, at sunset on January 14, which also happens to be our wedding anniversary.

Just before sunset on our first full day at sea, we spotted dolphins riding the bow wave of the ship. What a treat!

We arrived in Puerto Vallarta early Tuesday morning. After having our picture taken on the gangway, we headed into town and met up with my sister and her husband to do some shopping.

Instead of the usual tourist traps, we went to the Mercado Municipale, or public market which is situated on the banks of the Rio Cuale.

After not having been to PV in 30 years, I'd forgotten how lush and tropical this place is. I fell in love all over again. I was eyeing some Talavera pottery and heard a rustling in the tree above my head. I looked up and found myself staring at an iguana that had to be at least 6 feet long. He didn't hang around, instead, he leapt from one tree limb to another and was quickly lost from view.

After a lunch of fish tostadas and Pacifico beer we headed for the beach so I could rebaptize myself. Since in real life I'm land-locked, I have to put my feet in salt water at every opportunity or I become--uh...not very pleasant to live with.

Our shopping done, we rested ourselves for a while on the Malecon, or seawall and my sister did a quick watercolor while I people-watched. All too soon, it was time to head back to the ship.

At sunset we bid goodbye to Puerto Vallarta and set a northerly course for our next port of call, Mazatlan.

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