31/12

Puerto Vallarta. Since 1572 this place has been a port, majoring in mining salt.

The entire town lies in the thin strip between the sea and the foot of a mountain so it's long and thin. It's about four miles into the main area of town from the cruise terminal so we head off in the near thirties heat with 100% humidity - mad dogs and Englishmen as ever?

Walking in we pass lots of resort hotels, some mega-chains, others more local. We see much evidence of renovation, and are pleased to see the warnings about not upsetting the local wildlife - iguana, crocs/gators and other large lizards seem the most in danger.

The town allegedly sports the most impressive boardwalk in Mexico, but this turns out to be a concrete walkway, I guess it got lost in translation. So actually it's just a large pedestrianised area with hundreds of bars, beach shops and the like, and some eccentric sculpture, most of which people seemed obliged to climb. As we walk further into town the bars move directly on to the beach and the holiday spirit is very evident all round. Thousands of Americans enjoying their time off in anticipation of New Years. Mexico is to the US what Spain is to the UK, not just a language connection, but a short flight, and no significant time-zone issues.

We eventually end up at the end of the tourist track as the roads head dizzyingly up the mountainside. These last few blocks turn out to be the gay area, it seems that there's a very established pink economy here, with dozens of hotels, bars, restaurants and nightclubs in evidence. No sense of discomfort from the locals or tourists, just a well integrated populace.

There are two churches of interest, the Guadalupe named after one of the early settlers. Curiously mass was being said via either recording or radio, never seen/heard that before!

After another Mexican gut-buster lunch of nachos and burritos plus mojitos we headed back through the town towards the ship, once again twelve miles in total, but in the humidity it felt more than yesterday. As we walked back we saw a huge humming bird (by humming bird standards anyway) obviously (s)he has had a few too many burritos too!

Last night we experienced an interesting lack of decorum - the head sommelier spoke to us for the first time, inviting us to join the VIP area in the New Year's Eve celebrations. All we had to do was order a bottle of Crystal at $350 - err no thanks, we've already ordered $100 Moët. What he should have said was, "I've checked your bar spend so far this cruise and would be delighted for you to join the VIP area." Naturally tonight he gave us his usual wide berth. Fortunately our regular sommelier Raymond is delightful and respectful.

Tonight was Le Cirque dinner in the Pinnacle. This is a celebration of an iconic restaurant in New York with which HAL has a long-standing relationship. Over the years we've enjoyed many such dinners, and while some things never change, other dishes evolve over the years with subtle differences showing to us old faithfuls. Tonight the Caesar was a quite different style, as was the fabulous lamb (loin and shoulder) - but the creme brûlée was unchanged and exceptional.

As we post this its just past midnight here and 07:00 UK time so Happy New Year to everyone back home, sorry for the delay!

 

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