Thank you, my friends, for all of your excellent advice.

We (Joe, our two children and I) were originally scheduled to stay at the Villa del Palmar, just north of town but discovered a few days before we left that this suite was short one bed. This trip was a free RCI bonus week, so we called RCI and were reassigned to a larger suite at Mayan Palace in Nuevo Vallarta, which necessitated that we did rent a car.

The first room we were assigned had an amazing view of lots of Caterpillar construction equipment and lots of rocks. Gentle persuasion conviced hotel management to move us across the hall where we viewed the Pacific, across palm trees and one of the most beautiful pools I have ever seen. This made me very happy as one of my favorite beach indulgences is sleeping with the windows open, listening to the pound of the surf. While the resort is a little to Disneyesque for my tastes, it is certainly clean, beautiful and enjoyable. They did have live music every night and a wonderful marble dance floor.

Festival:

Much to our great delight and surprise, the city was in the midst of its highest religious celebration, the Festival of Our Lady of Guadalupe which runs from December 1 through December 13. Every surrounding community, neighborhood, parish, business, hotel, restaurant and bar sends a processing through the town to the cathedral which is located at the south end of town, almost at the river. The processions consist of the most creative and original floats dedicated to the Virgin Mary, drum and bugle corps, Mayan dancers (my favorites sporting Westin logos on the back of their elaborate feathered head gear), gift bearers and lots and lots of people ranging from babes in arms all the way the the healthy grand parents who can still walk several miles to honor Our Lady. On Monday (12/11/00) these processions begin in the morning and continue all night long and throughout the next day until 8:00 p.m. We spent Monday night mixing with the crowds, and even joined a procession through the cathedral. This is a most memorable experience.

At 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday the 12th, the Torch Runners, who have run all 600 miles from Mexico City bearing torches, arrive at the Cathedral whereupon the highest Mass of the year commences. For this event, we had the tremendous good fortune of getting a second story, balcony table for dinner, right above the square in front of the Cathedral. Between 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. a few hundred people crowd into the cathedral, thousands and thousands enjoy one another's company and lots of good food and entertainment in the streets and village square. This is a truly unique and wonderful event which I would highly recommend for anyone who can get to Puerto Vallarta in early December. A hint: If you drive into town during festival, go through the tunnel (with your windows rolled up) above town and park in Old Town and walk over the bridge. Driving through Puerto Vallarta during this celebration can take several hours and should be avoided at all costs.

Condo Tour:

While many tourists dread Condo Tours, I personally think they are a kick. First, I love to look at resorts and penthouses; second, I truly enjoy watching a good sales pitch; and third, I love free stuff. We negotiated for 4 free sailboat day cruises in exchange for our 90 minute tour of Paradise Village, Neuvo Vallarta, which really is a beautiful resort. Andy, our salesman was quite good and bright enough to realize quite quickly that our travel patterns were sufficiently different from those of Ted and Judy MidAmerica, that there wasn't much point in pressing us too hard with exchange possibilities.

The Sailing Cruise:

We arrived marina to board the Bora Bora, a 60 foot trimaran, to find that the only other passengers (a party of 60) had been forced to cancel because their leader had become ill. Oh darn. We had to spend the whole day enjoying the Bay of Banderas all by ourselves. Our Captain, Pancho, gave us free reign go wheverever and do whatever we chose. We sailed along the coast, viewing Puerto Vallarta from the water while we ate our breakfast. We sailed through Los Arcos, which were amazingly beautiful, but decided not to drop anchor amongst the other cruise boats, but to sail on up to a lovely private beach where were delivered by launch to snorkel and play in the surf in complete privacy. What a fabulous experience. After we had played 'til our hearts content, we returned to the boat for lunch and our return trip back to the Marina. What a nice upgrade.

Shopping and Eating:

We particularly enjoyed shopping in the Flea Market, Mercado Municipal, on the island in the river between the El Centro and Old Town. We particularly enjoyed haggling, drinks the River Cafe and Dinner at the beach end of the island. We also visited the housewives market in Old Town, a unique and totally non-tourist experience. All of our interactions were greatly enhanced by the fact that our daughter is very fluent in Spanish and, having learned in Spain, charmed the locals with her accent. She traded e-mail addressed with several people she met and I am fairly certain that Paco, the most enterprising and entertaining condo pusher I have ever met, will someday show up in Seattle to spend a day sailing with us in Puget Sound.

I'd go back in a heartbeat.




[This message has been edited by Punki (edited 12-16-2000).]