Classic Post: TRIP PLANNING 101 - Part 2

I'm planning our next big vacation.  Last time, we decided where we'll go, today I need to figure when we'll fly, what order we'll do the trip in, and start figuring the cost. 

The next step is to figure out what days we would fly and how much that would cost. I decided that we would do it starting in Cincinnati and ending up in Kansas City. The trip would tentatively start on May 7, flying from Ontario, CA to Louisvillle, KY, via Southwest. The return would be from Kansas City to Ontario. The game dates would be May 8 for the Reds, May 11 for the Cardinals, and May 14 for the Royals. We would fly home on May 16.

A quick check with Southwest airlines gives us an approximate airfare of $225 per person.

Next, I’ll need to check hotel availability in those cities for those times, and figure out how we will travel from city to city.

Stay tuned.
-Tim

CLASSIC TRIP: England, Ireland, Belgium 2005 - Part 3

Brugges

Just a quick word about the classic trip series of reports here, they are presented just as written on our old site, so the information...such as prices and such...may be dated.  They are accurate as of the date in the title.  This is the case in the story below...in 2005 Hoegaarden was a boutique and hard-to-get beer here in the states.  Since then, the company bought out Anheiser-Busch and is now the largest brewer in the world and you can find Hoegaarden in just about any supermarket now...

It took awhile, but we finally found the Ireland we came for.  Now, it was another trip across the sea, this time to Belgium.  Here's the final segment of our trip.

DAY EIGHT – The first half of this day is taken up with travel.. A 7:30am flight is schedule from Cork back to Heathrow. Again, it’s Aer Lingus time. It starts off well enough when a friendly worker is assigned to escort us to the gate. It soon becomes apparent that this was the only thing the airline had done. As this worker is frantically trying to find someone to help us board, the plane is loaded. The door is closed. The jet is ready to go. We’re still in the terminal – even though we arrived 2.5 hours early.

Finally, the food service truck is called back and commandeered to lift us up into the plane. The flight only leaves 1.5 hours after schedule.

We’re lucky in one sense, that’s just about how much our next flight at Heathrow has been delayed so we didn’t miss that flight.

I will not willingly fly Aer Lingus again.

The next flight is British Airways to Brussels. This is a short, uneventful flight with a professional and courteous staff.

It’s Tuesday and we’re in Belgium!

We pick up our rental car and head out. Our first stop is a mecca for beer drinkers, at least a number of American drinkers, the little village of Hoegaarden, about 40 minutes east of the airport.

Having a Cold One in Hoegaarden

This pretty and neat village of brick houses makes one of the best beers around, Hoegaarden Witbier. It’s a rare treat to find this delicately flavored brew back home and that treat will cost you big time ($9.00 on tap at the Yardhouse here in L.A.)

It takes us awhile to find the old brewery (a very large modern one sits at the edge of town) with it’s charming courtyard pub. The villages’s signage is very low key but we eventually make our way in and enjoy the best beer I can remember having. Along with the Witbier (which is as pervasive in Belgium as Budweiser is here), we enjoy the splendid dark Grand Cru that is not available in America.

I grab a pack of the Grand Cru to take to the hotel for later when we leave.
We have come here to Hoegaarden straight from the airport. It’s now time to head back to Brussel’s and find our hotel.

The arrival in Brussel’s puts us right on the street where the EU headquarters are located at the peak of rush hour. I have no idea where we are or how to get to our hotel. When I get a chance, I duck onto a side street where I can pull over and study our map.

I’m armed with several street maps of the city, none of which show the city as a whole. They all come in two parts. I seem to be on one side of the map and our hotel on the other. The big problem is that Brussels’ streets are a real labarynth. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to how the city is laid out.

St. Catherine's Cathedral and Plaza

With my wife navigating and several stops to pull over and study the map, we finally find our way to the hotel about an hour and a half later. The hotel is the Citadines St. Catherine’s, located on a time-worn but beautiful plaza dominated at one end by the St. Catherine’s cathedral and the other with a large fountain.

The Citadines is an apartment hotel, meaning a suite. We get a large suite on the third floor with a bedroom apart from the living room. It also includes a small kitchen and dining room. The bathroom has a bathtub only and is not accessible. It is separate from the toilet which is minimally accessible. The Citadines also has smaller studios which are accessible (I do not have details) but we wanted the larger suite and are willing to adapt.

Our room has three large windows, two in the living room and one in the bedroom, which offer spectacular views of the city. Parking is at an underground garage for an extra charge. There is a metro station in the plaza across the street but it is not accessible. According to the map in the station, I could only find four accessible stations on the metro system. Every bus I saw was accessible.

I go to the small market at the end of the block where 2 Euros gets me enough eggs, ham, coffee, and milk to make breakfast in our room for the next couple of days.

It’s still relatively early and the sun goes down very late this time of year, so we walk over to the Grand Place, Brussels’s old plaza. It’s about a six block walk from our hotel.

Brussels is a beautiful city with many old buildings, plazas, and cafes. It reminds me a lot of Paris with all the winding lanes and alleyways. It does have a kind of dingy glamour like a fading movie star. It’s kind of hard to describe. I really enjoyed this city, more than I did Paris, but you will be stepping around streetwalkers and junkies sleeping off their last fix. I guess this city just feels more real.

The late afternoon sun makes the Grand Place shine. This plaza is surrounded by intracately detailed buildings, each one created by crafts guilds hundreds of years ago. The guilds would be equivalent of our unions today. The ironworkers guild is in one building, the printers in another, and so on. Restaurants line the perimeter.

About two blocks beyond is Brussels most famous sight, the Mannekin Pis. Remember those cheesy fountains you see at your local garden center of the little boy relieving himself? Well, the original is here. Erected a few hundred years ago, the Mannekin Pis is just what the name says. A statue of a boy urinating into the pool.

The Famous Peeing Boy (no, not Tim)

Many stories abound as to its origins, my favorite is that the boy peed on a witch’s house that stood on the corner and robbed her of her powers. A museum stands nearby that houses the many costumes people have made for the statue over the years.

On the way back, we have dinner at one of the many restaurants lining the streets here. A pot of mussels cooked in a garlic broth, accompanied by steak, bread, and fries (which, of course, is a Belgian invention) is what is on our menu tonight. It is all very good. We wash it all down with Hoegaarden, which at 1.5 Euros is less than my son’s coke at 2 Euros. I don’t know if it’s this way everywhere in Belgium, but a glass of water on the side also costs a couple of Euros.

DAY NINE
It’s about an hour and a half drive to our next stop, Brugges. When coming into Brugges, you're directed to one of the many underground parking lots. Don't worry if you end up at an outlying lot, accessible shuttle buses will take you into town.

The old medieval port town of Brugges is a perfectly preserved masterpiece. The heart of the old city is spared much...but not all...of the vehicular traffice due to those underground garages. It's a strollers paradise with sidewalk cafes, chocolate shops, and museums galore.

The centerpiece is the main square where fishermen used to bring their catches via the canals that came in from the sea. The canals now stop about a block short of the square and the fish market has moved over by the city hall. Dominating the square is the tall clock tower with its hand operated carillon.

We start off with a hot cup of coffee at the first cafe we encounter upon exiting the garage and then start winding our way to the center of town.

A special note here for wheelchair users. Brugges is very bumpy. The roads, squares, and many walkways are, for the most part, cobblestones. In the Rick Steves book about accessible Europe, it is stated that there are smooth paths where cobblestones are that make for easy travel by wheelchair. We did not see any such paths, so be aware of this.

There are many chocolate shops along the way so we stop in at one and are offered many tastes of some of the best chocolate we've ever had. Of course, we have to by a few boxes to take home but it's very reasonable here and only sets us back about $20 for a pretty large assortment of sweets.

Market Day in Brugges

Emerging in the main square, it turns out today is market day. Vendors fill up the space with fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, cheese, and flowers. Being lunch time, we decide that our midday meal will consists of whatever we can come up with by walking through the market. Starting at the west end, a vendor is grilling delicious pinwheel sausages on skewers. Next, Tim and I share a bratwurst. Some good Belgian beer is purchased at one of the stands to help wash it down. To make it a little healthier, some plums, peaches, and grapes make a nice side dish. A large sampler buffet of cheeses makes for some great free snacks. Arriving at the other side, a cart is making the most delicious Belgian fries and we finish it off with a couple of orders and a couple of cans of Hoegaarden.

Wandering around the many alleyways, we emerge upon the gold plated magnificence of the city hall. We are looking for a restroom and find one that requires three steps up and then another three steps down. I spot a wheelchair lift at the entrance of city hall and a gentleman standing there says to come on up. It turns out that he is an artist who is having a show of his work in the lobby of the building. Good paintings and nice gentleman but we really need some facilities. He tells us that the bathroom we saw is accessible...and that the Flemish are a forward thinking socially aware people...but I cannot for the life of me see how they were accessible.

We finally had to make do at one of the restaurant bathrooms which at least was level if not fully accessible. I did not find any accessible restrooms in Brugges.

There are many beautiful canals here and many boats to tour on. All of them require the navigation of stairs so that option was out for us.

Later on, we found a restaurant on one of the back alleys that made waffles. I know that many U.S. restaurants serve Belgian waffles but I have never had one like the waffle we had this day. It was slightly crisp, very buttery in its flavors, light, and covered with melted chocolate and cream. Very sinful and delicious.

After Brugges we took a drive through the countryside. It's only a 30 minute drive to the Netherlands so we head north to add one more country to our list. The first thing we notice is when you get over the border, there are as many bicycles as cars...if not more. Every road has a corresponding bike path and many paths go beyond the roads. It's very beautiful and clean in this area.

Ijzendijke

We make a quick stop at a local pub in Ijzendijke, a pretty little town with friendly people, a windmill, and a small cannabis shop. A two hour drive across the Dutch countryside leads us back across the border at St-Niklauss, just west of Antwerp. From here, it's a short drive south back into the maze of streets that is Brussels.

One more night of rest overlooking St. Catherine's square and then we get back on the plane to go home.

Darryl
Copyright 2009 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

CLASSIC TRIP: England, Ireland, Belgium 2005 - Part 2

Blarney Castle

Previously, terrorists had bombed London and transportation was in a chaotic state..

On to Ireland. From our hotel, it’s a quick bus ride to Fullham-Broaday Underground station. The District Line takes us two stops to Earl’s Court station where we change to the Picadilly Line to Heathrow.

At the airport, we just change to the Heathrow Express train to get to Terminal 4, home of Aer Lingus. Everything at Heathrow involves a very long walk and this is no exception. On top of that, security barriers placed about 24 inches apart block entrance to the train platform. There is no signage for wheelchairs as to how to proceed.

We find an employee who uses a key to remove a security barrier allowing us to proceed to the train platform. A quick ride and we’re at Terminal 4.

Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports. This is made obvious when you enter the check in area and thousands of people are milling about. We find the Aer Lingus check-in counter and proceed through the process. After this, we head to security to go to the departure hall.

One thing I don’t like about Heathrow is that you are not told what gate you will be departing from. You must watch the departure monitors and about a hour before your flight, the gate number will be posted there. Until then, you wait in the departure hall.

At Heathrow, this is really just a very crowded shopping mall with very limited seating. If you want to shop, I guess it’s ok. If you just want to rest until your flight, you’re pretty much out of luck.

As our luck would have it, our flight was delayed. It wasn’t until two hours later that the departure gate was listed and then it was another very long walk to the gate (forty minutes). By the time we arrived, boarding was commencing and the helpers were no where to be found. Of course, this made us last to be boarded and the crew insisted that our son Tim have a window seat (in the back of the plane) which turned out to be just impossible to accomplish due to the very limited room between the seats and his weight (145 lbs.)

A stalemate developed between the crew and us. They wanted us to take another flight that wasn’t so full where the seating could be more properly arranged. We didn’t. This flight was already two hours late and counting. The captain had to come out and give his ok that Tim could have an aisle seat instead.

Once we pushed back and took off, it was about forty minutes to Cork in southern Ireland. Cork, at this point in time, has no jetways (construction is under way so this will change soon). Instead, we had to wait on board until the food service truck arrived. We were deplaned on the food service truck.

This was one of the worst flights, with matching service, that I’ve ever encountered. In addition to the previous, everything on board…from peanuts and soda to wine and beer…has to be purchased at high prices. Luckily, it’s a short flight.

Everybody has a bad day, and I’m hoping that’s the case this time, but this whole experience will be repeated almost exactly in three more days.

Finally, off of the plane. The airport personnel, including customs and immigration, are very competent and friendly. We quickly clear the passport control (Ireland uses a cool green ink for their stamp) and pick up our rental car from Hertz. It’s a nice SEAT wagon with room in the back for the chair, CD, radio, and A/C. It has a manual transmission which means that I will be doing all the driving (auto costs an extra $100)

For this portion of our trip, we’ll be staying in Limerick, about an hour’s drive north of Cork. More on that later.

After leaving the airport and finding our route with only one minor misdirection, we head north on the motorway to our first stop, Blarney.

The motorway to Blarney is a modern superhighway but once we exit, we get our first taste of typical Irish roads. Wow! It must be a real adventure to be a passenger while driving on these roads. I wouldn’t know because for a driver used to American roads, it’s just terrifying.
Most of the roads here are very narrow, maybe one to one-and-a-half of a lane wide when compare to U.S. roads. About 90% of these roads have no shoulders, only tall hedges or stone walls block all view around turns. Oh yeah, they are two-way roads that have many large trucks, tourist buses, and farm equipment using them. When arriving in a town, the hedges and walls are replaced by vehicles parked on both sides. Usually, these vehicles are parked half on the sidewalk with the other half in the road. Some towns we encountered also had festivals or flea markets that also took place in these still open roads.

So, for the remainder of this report, we’ll just boil the above paragraph to the above code when encountering the Irish roads: Irish road…AAHHH!

Blarney is our first Irish village (Cork is a large and modern city). It’s a pretty as you’d expect. Once through the town, you drive down a small driveway to the car park for Blarney Castle. The castle is located in a large park, which has a nominal entry fee of 7 Euros. There are not a lot of facilities here for wheelchair users. Consequently, disabled and one care giver (carer) are free so we ended up only paying one admission.

From studying up on the castle’s web site, it seemed that the famous Blarney Stone was up on the second story. Just maybe, I thought, I could man-handle Tim up there so he could kiss it but reality is much different.

Actually, it’s about ten stories to the top of the castle…a long, arduous climb up worn, slippery, small, narrow, circular stone staircases with only a rope dropped down the center to steady yourself. There is no way to get someone who cannot walk up ot the top.

My wife and I took turns going up while the other kept Tim company at the bottom. If you can get to the top, what you’re rewarded with is a grand view of the park and countryside and, of course, the right to kiss the stone.

Darryl Kissing the Blarney Stone

Legend has it that this stone was the pillow that Jacob layed his head on when he had his dream of the ladder going to heaven. It is supposed to impart magical powers upon those who kiss it. Specifically, you’re granted the gift of eloquence, or the “gift of gab.”

You cannot just go up and kiss it. You must do it properly. This involves laying on your back, staring up to the sky, and bending your head back to kiss it upside down. There is about a one foot gap (protected by iron bars) to stretch across the void to the ground far below. A gentleman there will steady you. It is good form to leave him a Euro or two for a tip. A photographer will snap that instant of the kiss and you can buy a copy on your way out. You can also bring your own camera for free.

Almost as daunting as the climb up is the climb down, against traffic. I really felt for the dad whose son got to afraid to continue and had to carry him down.

We also noticed about this time that it was really warm here. No, not just warm, hot.

Accompanying this was heavy humidity. It really felt like Charleston in August. I have been assured that this is very rare for Ireland and we just happen to hit it during this heat wave.

Gingerly, I drive back toward the motorway to continue to Limerick. Maybe ten miles later, the motorway fades into a two lane road for the rest of the way.

Following the hotel’s directions, we end up on the west side of town driving along the River Shannon into the city. We eventually found our hotel but with difficulty. I think the directions could have basically said the hotel was in the heart of the city next to the bridge and it would have been easier.

We are at another Jury’s Inn. This room is not as big or luxurious as the one in London. The accessible room could only sleep two but, to their credit, the management gave us an adjoining room for no extra charge so it was like having a suite. The only amenity missing from this room as compared to London was air conditioning. I’m told this usually isn’t a problem here but there is that pesky matter of the hot and humid heat wave we’re currently experiencing.

Location is great, right in the middle of the city, across the street from the river. There’s a nice pub, Schooner’s, next to an excellent Italian restaurant right on the river, across from the hotel.

Having Drinks at Schooners

In the summer, the day ends after 10:00pm so sundown drinks at the pub last well into the night. We had dinner, drinks, and came back to bed. At 11:30pm on this Sunday night…right outside our open (due to no A/C) window…road workers commenced jack hammering in the street. Oy, what a racket. They finished around 2:00am. At 4:00am, a group of drunks started singing very loudly on the sidewalk.

DAY SIX
With but a few hours of sleep under our belt, we make our way north heading for the Cliffs of Moher along the coast south of Galway. Along the way, we get into a big traffic jam in the town of Ennis. The bad thing about traffic jams here is that there is usually no alternat route. There is one road through town. In it’s defense, it appears that Ennis is building a bypass that will alleviate this in the future.

The reason for the traffic today is because there is a big hurling match going on. What is hurling? Haven’t got a clue, but a bit more on that later.

After we edge through the jam, we make a stop at Knappogue Castle. According to my pre-trip research, this is the most accessible castle I could find in Ireland that allows visitors. We pass through the very pretty village of Quinn, home to some impressive church ruins, and pull into the castle’s grounds just beyond.

It’s a quiet day here, I think only two other groups of visitors are here. We pay the entrance fee and a groundskeeper deploys a ramp so we can get in the front door. Being over 500 years old, access wasn’t included in the original build out so only the first floor is accessible. On this floor, you get to see the main hall with it’s large fireplace, the large banquet room, and a view of the chapel. Upstairs, there is a personal chapel and another ballroom.

Knappogue Castle

It is dark and smoky smelling in the main entry hall. Eerily, my camera won’t work in flash mode and I can’t get a good picture. As soon as I’m out of the castle, it works. Take it back inside, no flash. I have no explanation as to why this is.

The groundskeeper takes us on a little tour of the first floor and then accompanies me up to the top of the castle to show me some of the features up there. There are picture-postcard perfect views from the top of the surrounding Irish countryside with emerald green rolling hills dotted with cows.

After spending an hour or two here, we hop back in our little rental car and continue on arriving at the seaside village of Lahinch.

Due to the unrelenting heat wave, it seems that everybody in Ireland does just what we’d do in America on a hot, humid day…head to the beach. There is jammed traffic with cars parked everywhere restricting the already narrow roads. Gingerly, we make our way through it and continue on the short drive to the Cliffs of Moher. Massive crowds, many tour buses and not a parking spot to be found greet us. We also note the long, unpaved trail up to the top of the cliffs and reluctantly come to the conclusion that this just won’t be possible to see. It takes another five miles until we can find a spot wide enough for us to turn around.

Not wanting to completely waste the trip, lunch is had at the village of Kilconnel, overlooking Liscannor Bay and Lahinch. The food, pasta mainly, is very good.

Remembering the intense traffic in Ennis for the hurling match, I opt to take the coastal route instead. Lazily, we wind around the western Irish coast until we make it to the River Shannon. It’s not long until we reach the ferry crossing at Killimer. A twenty-minute cruise across this beautiful waterway and we alight in Tarbert, just a short drive along the river’s south bank back to Limerick.

DAY SEVEN
Adare proclaims itself the “prettiest village in Ireland.” That’s quite a claim considering the many charms of every Irish village we’ve been to. We have to take a look and it’s only about an hour’s drive from Limerick.

It’s an early start today and we decide we’ll get breakfast when we get there. Just after the massive Adare Manor hotel (looks like an awesome place to stay), we cross the river next to the castle ruins, and – just like that – we’re in the heart of Adare.

It is indeed beautiful with its block of preserved thatch-roofed houses and pretty park with the creek running through it. It seems we’re about half-an-hour early for anything to be open though.

The only place we find for breakfast is a little counter inside the visitor’s center that serves good food but not with the smiles we’ve so far encountered on our visit.

After eating, we walk through the town shopping and snapping pictures. That’s about the gist of it. Once the place opened up, it was pretty much taken over by the tour buses and the hoards they dispensed. We were now two for three with major Irish sites we wanted to see; loved Castle Blarney, disappointed in Cliffs of Moher and Adare.

We continued on to drive through the nearby countryside with a minor goal or reaching Tipperary. It’s not so much we wanted to see the small city of Tipperary, just that on the map it seemed like there was much Irish countryside to go through along the way. Indeed, in this case it was not the destination that mattered but the journey.

This was the best decision of the Irish leg of our trip. As soon as we let go of the recommendations of friends, guidebooks, and travel web sites, Ireland opened up to us as it had so far eluded us.

Village upon beautiful village greeted us as we went along. Castles, ruins of castles, ruins of abbeys, and little Irish rivers greeted us around every turn devoid of other tourists. A stop in a random pub was an invitation to make a new Irish friend. Finally, we’d found the Ireland we’d come to see.

Bruree, Ireland

Not long before we’d reach Tipperary, we crested a hill and had to pull over at the absolutely breathtaking vista that greeted us. Thankfully, the townsfolk here had built a small parking area and picnic tables at this very spot.

Words cannot describe this but I’ll give it a try. Black draft horses with shiny coats grazed on the grassy hillside in front of a sparkling river full of rapids and a tiny little canyon (maybe fifty feet long) full of little waterfalls. On the far bank, small houses painted in many colors faced us. At the east end of this village was the remains of an ancient castle, a turret covered in vines. At the other end was an old stone millhouse, its large water wheel long since retired but resting peacefully on the side of the building. The river makes a lazy, horseshoe turn around the old mill, cascading over the rocks as a local boy dips a line in to see if he can catch a fish.  This is the village of Bruree.

Idyllic Scene at Bruree

I just wanted to stop and stay here the rest of the day. As we were sitting in our little grassy spot, a local stopped by and invited us to the town’s little museum. We didn’t make it there but whiled away the time talking to the local gentleman before moving along.

In Tipperary, a pretty large city by Irish standards, lunch is gathered up at a collection of stands surrounding a parkling lot just off of the main street. Our plan is to head generally back toward the direction of Limerick and find a lonely castle to picnic at. It’s not long before we find it along the side of the road sitting in a small, grassy field net to a cow pasture.

Our Picnic Spot

This is the Ireland we’ve come to find. Picture postcard villages and ruined castles to lazily snack in front of. Friendly locals and lively pubs. All devoid of tour buses and hordes of people.

Back in Limerick, we visit St. John’s castle, an imposing fortress over the River Shannon. About half of the castle, really more of a fort, is accessible for wheelers but a major obstacle is the large courtyard which is covered in loose gravel. A lift takes you to the museum on the second floor and docents bring inaccessible exhibits out to disabled patrons. In our case, a docent brought out the exhibit on minting coins which is located in the basement of one of the turrets.
The evening is spent again having drinks at schooners while a local band entertains the pub crowd. This was our perfect day in Ireland, and also our last

It's not over yet, come back and have a beer with us as we travel to Belgium for part 3.

-Darryl
Copyright 2009 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

CLASSIC TRIP: England, Ireland, Belgium 2005 - Part 1

Aftermath of Bombing

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Francis Tyers under CC BY-SA 3.0 license

Just about 16 years ago...on July 6, 2005...the IOC met in Singapore to award the 2012 Olympics to the chosen city. We were in London that day and there were a lot of celebrations...then the next day, the world turned on its head.   Read on to see what happened when we were in London, July 2005...

It was to be a memorable time to be in the city.

Our airline for the LAX to Heathrow portion this time was American Airlines. The service was good and the seats were wider and more comfortable than the last trip we took on Virgin Atlantic. For us, comfort and adequate service beat out Virgin’s amenities which include better service, better food, and vastly better entertainment enroute.

Our hotel for this first leg of the trip was Jury’s Inn in Chelsea…just a couple of miles west of the heart of London. Jury’s Inn is part of the Jurys Doyle chain, an Irish company that has hotels throughout the British Isles. It is in a very quiet area that is being built up on top of the old gas works. It’s a quick bus ride to the shops and pubs of Chelsea and the accessible Fullham-Broadway Underground station which provides quick links to the rest of the city.

The room featured a double bed with a fold out sofabed that would sleep three adults in comfort. Air conditioning, cable TV, radio rounded out the standard amenities. The room was large by European standards (about the size of an average budget U.S. motel room), well laid out, and featured a very large bathroom with a roll-in shower. Our cost was £59 per night (about $80 US)

DAY ONE
A bus ride to the Fulham-Broadway tube station. A ride on the district line to Westminster station. A ride on the Jubilee line to the Kilburn station. Finally, another bus ride to Abbey Road.

Londoner’s may be sad that the old Roadmaster double-deckers are being retired, but wheelchair users aren’t. The new replacements…double-decker, articulated, or smaller regular buses…are wonderfully accessible. A ramp deploys from the back door and a space is reserved.

This round-a-bout journey is what it takes to get a wheelchair from our hotel in Chelsea (Jury’s Inn) to the Beatles studio located at 3 Abbey Road, a ways north of Hyde Park.

Our first stop on this trip is to recreate the picture in the crosswalk that graces the cover of the Beatles Abbey Road album. We take notice of the studio in the smallish, neat white building just to the north of the crosswalk and read the grafitti on the wall in front and the road sign across the street.

Mainly a spot to take pictures, there is not a whole lot more to do here so we walk towards Lord’s Cricket Ground nearby. Tours are being given but at this time the sky opens up and a heavy, cold rain begins to fall.

We decide it’s time to take this journey indoors.

I hail a taxi and we head over to Harrod’s.

The famous department store is huge – get a map at the information counter near the northeastern entrance. Five floors of expensive clothes, appliances, furniture and more. The food hall is impressively expansive, drool inducing, and expensive. The seating, along counters, is unfortunately not friendly to the wheelchair user. It is a little telling that the most crowded counter was the Krispy Kreme stall.

The rest of the store’s departments are housed in smaller rooms. They were having a big sale that day. I remember as we passed through the women’s clothing department a rack of blouses that were 50% off. I checked the price of a random blouse. It had indeed been priced at half off. The original price of 800 pounds ($1,416) was now 400 ($708).

Luckily, there is not a charge to go in and look.

DAY TWO
It’s Wednesday, July 6th. We’re at Covent Garden passing time until the matinee performance of the Producer’s starts up the street.

A limbo dancer is entertaining the crowds for tips when a group of fighter jets roar low overhead. It is at his precise moment, thousands of miles away in Singapore, that the International Olympic Committee announces that London has been awarded the summer Olympic games for 2012. The jets, streaming red, white, and blue smoke are part of the celebration taking place a few blocks away at Trafalgar Square.

It is a joyous moment.

We go on to see our play. The wheelchair seating is excellent, twelve rows back from the stage. The staff at the theatre is also excellent and one usher is assigned to us to take care of all our needs such as getting to the restroom and even bringing drinks in. The play itself is quite good and funny. Ticket prices, as they always are in London, are a bargain compared to Broadway. Less than $100 for all three tickets.

We have found that for matinees, you really don’t need to plan that far in advance except for the most popular shows, early in their runs. I called upon arrival in London and easily reserved three tickets to this show which I picked up at Will Call. Previous trips I have used e-mail from the states, which turned out not to be really necessary. You may want to call direct a couple of weeks ahead of time if you want to go on a traditionally busy time such as Friday or Saturday night.

After the play, we start hitting pubs and celebrate the culmination of the years long struggle to get the Olympics with London’s locals. We end the evening at the Bar Room Bar on King’s Road having pizza and shooting pool with the regulars.

DAY THREE
This is the day we are to go see the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. While getting ready, Tim notes that the BBC is reporting an explosion in the Liverpool Street Underground station. BBC is reporting that it was caused by an eletrical surge.

All cleaned up, we catch a bus to Fulham-Broadway to start our day. Not having had any breakfast and noticing that there is a Starbuck’s in the station, we strong-coffee starved Americans decide to have some coffee and muffins to start our day.

At the counter, the server asks if I want it for here or to take away. Not really thinking about it, I say it’s for here and our coffee comes in ceramic mugs. My wife, not too pleased with this, asks why I didn’t take it to go so we could just take it with us on the train. I don’t really have an answer and we take a few minutes to drink our coffee before leaving.

After we finish, we head over to the station nearby down the hall. The worker there is closing the gate over the front of the station and putting a sign up outside that says “Entire Underground closed due to security alert.”

The crowds gather outside and I keep hearing more talk about the electrical surge. We go out front and try to catch a bus into London but no driver will let us on. Frankly, I’m starting to get a little PO’d at this but calmer heads prevail and we head back to the hotel where maybe we can catch a water taxi.

Since we’re there, we decide to stop at our room and go to the bathroom before continuing on. Tim turns on the TV and there is the bright red banner on the BBC with a large and frightening caption: “TERRORISTS BOMB THE UNDERGROUND”

Much like US crisis reporting, many rumors abound while facts are being gathered. First, it’s an explosion near King’s Cross. Then it’s six explosions throughout London. Soon it’s up to seven. There is a rumor that a bus has just been blown apart. At least two people are “reported” dead with many injured. Now it’s up to four dead.

Within the hour, London’s police chief is on the air saying that everybody needs to just stay where they are…do not travel at all. All Underground and bus service has been halted.
Of course, now we know that four bombs went off that day. Three in the Underground and one in a bus killing 56 and injuring hundreds more.

While it was probably planned to coincide with the G8 summit taking place at the same time, it was sheer coincidence that Rudy Guilani just happened to be eating breakfast about a block away from one of the explosion sites.

For us, most of the day is spent in the hotel bar where a big screen is set up on the BBC and the stranded guests watch the horrible news. Later that evening, local bus service in Chelsea is running again so we’re able to go about a half-mile into town to have a pub dinner.

Trapped on the Underground

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Adam Stacey under CC BY 2.5 license

Although stuck at the hotel and the surrounding are for the day and having our trip to Greenwich cancelled, we are very thankful that we took a few extra minutes before boarding the train. I would hate to think of trying to evacuate the Underground at non-accessible station or, even worse, through a tunnel.

It was a sad day but the locals put up a good front, were still friendly (although understandably miffed at the perpatrators), and the hotel staff very understanding. Besides the direct victims, those who got the worst of it were the thousands of London workers who had to walk many miles home that night.

DAY FOUR
The rallying cry throughout the city today is get back to what your’re doing. Don’t let them shut us down. London is open, come and enjoy. This is what you can do to support us.

Back on the Tube at Fulham Broadway

With that in mind, we took to the streets and underground and continued on. Today, we take the tube from Fulham Broadway to Wimbledon. This is actually one station beyond the famous tennis club but the closest accessible station. We are able to catch an accessible bus from the station wich drops us off immediately in front of the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

There is a museum here with many tennis artifacts such as the Wimbledon trophy, shoes, rackets, clothes (all worn and autographed by such stars as Venus Williams and Boris Becker), plus representations of Wimbledon over the years. There is a well-stocked gift shop but the highlight is actually going downstairs to visit Centre Court, home to the Wimbledon tennis tournament finals.

Centre Court, Wimbledon

Wheelchair users are escorted by a security guard and are able to get right up to the edge of the grass. The Royal Box is pointed out. We were there just about a week or so after the tournament ended and noticed the worn spots of grass that were reminders of what had taken place here recently.

Back on the tube, we navigated back to Fulham Broadway where we catch another train to Kew Gardens. It’s an accessible station here but on arrival, wheelchair users must take a two-block detour, cross a traffic bridge, and then continue on about three blocks to the gardens entrance. Upon departing, you do not have to make the two-block detour to the station.

Kew Gardens is a fantastic and large botanic park. It is a royal palace and the grounds seemingly go on forever. There are many highlights here and there is no way we can see them all.

Today, we concentrate on the large, glass hothouses which contain tropical plants from around the world. The day we were there came in the middle of an exhibit of original works by glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. His works were extraordinary and were scattered around the grounds and mixed in with the plants in the greenhouses. Of particular interest were the large chandeliers hung in each of the greenhouses.

There is a nice cafeteria here where you can dine on pastas, sandwiches, fruit and wash them down with a glass of wine or a bottle of ale.

This is our last full day in London, tomorrow we move on. We have a dinner at the Rose, a local Chelsea pub, and call it a day.

...Stay tuned for Part 2 and the Emerald Isle.
 
-Darryl
Copyright 2009 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

CLASSIC TRIP - Puerto Vallarta, October 1998

Here is an old report on one of our favorite beach destinations, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  Yes, the report's been here before but we've added a whole bunch of new pictures.  Plus something else...

Our first trip to Puerto Vallarta was in 1991. We liked it so much, we pretty much came every year during the 90's, back when Tim was little enough to carry and get over all those stairs.

On our second trip in 1992, I borrowed my dad's VHS camcorder. Recently, I dug out the old VHS tape, digitized it, and edited down 90 minutes worth of video down to 10 minutes.

23 years ago, when Tim was but a wee lad of 5, we took this video down in Puerto Vallarta. I apologize for the poor audio, but it makes a neat time capsule of a time we'd go down to this beautiful destination.

Watch the Video!

Enjoy, and then you can read the old report, below, from 1998.

Darryl

Sunset from El Set

11 years ago, we spent a week in Puerto Vallarta.  We used to go there quite reguarly before Tim go too big to pick up...the access in Mexico is not up to U.S. standards at all.  One trip even necessitated carrying him...and his wheelchair...down 125 steps so this is a trip you do very carefully although there is now a service that caters to guests in wheelchairs in Puerto Vallarta.  Here is our report for you to enjoy from the old site until we get back from our current travels:

If you looked very closely, you could see the bats clinging to the roof of the cave. The swells of the sea heaving under the boat causes a little concern as we are thrust up toward the roof of the cave, even though we've done this many times before. At just the right point in time, the skipper guns the motor and shoots the skiff, and us with it, into the emerald green waters just beyond...

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is one of the world's busiest airports. Usually we try to avoid flying here but since we are crossing international boundaries today, our options are severely limited. One good benefit of flying LAX is that parking is not as expensive as other nearby airports.

We have been using Wally Park for several years now and have never been dissapointed. This is a private, nearby parking facility that is well guarded, indoors, and offers good rate. With our AAA discount, it was less than $7 per day. Car washing, detailing, valet parking, and padded (really!) parking stalls are also available at extra cost. Free airport shuttles get you to your gate in minutes.

The Tom Bradley International terminal at LAX is a massive place that usually is very crowded with travelers coming & going. However our airline, AeroMexico, had recently moved over to Terminal 5 where the crowding is much less severe. We check in with a minimum of problems and head over to our gate to wait.

We were to wait quite awhile as first the arriving flight was about 20 minutes late. In turn, this caused our flight to lose it's spot in the airport que and we were further delayed. Finally, after a 1.5 hour delay we were leaping off of the runway and headed to Mexico.

The pilot, trying to make up for lost time, put the pedal to the metal and we made up 1/2 hour in the air. After a 2.5 hour flight, we arrive in PV just after 6:00pm local time. Gustavo Diaz International Airport, Puerto Vallarta's airport, has been updated since our last visit. In the past, we would have to deplane via stairs onto the tarmac. This is when it would hit you...the intense, steamy heat. I would be soaked by the time I hit the bottom of the stairs.

This trip is different because there are now 4 new jetways into the terminal. We leave the plane straight into the air conditioned comfort of the terminal. Jr.'s wheelchair is waiting for us in the jetway.

Going through customs in Mexico is unique. There is signal, just like a traffic signal, with a button on it. You press the button and the light randomly lights up either green or red. Get a green light and you're through customs and on your way. A red light means your bags will be searched first. We're in luck today...we get a green light and instantly clear customs. Total time to clear immigration, customs, and claim our bags...10 minutes.

Once we're done with the formalities of entering another country, we make our way out to the front of the terminal and secure transportation to our lodging from the taxi stand. There, you are sold a ticket good for a one way trip in the taxi of their choice. Since there is a monopoly of sorts at the airport (normal roving taxis are not allowed to pick up passengers here), there is a bit of sticker shock on the cost....$27.00 US. In a week the return trip from our condo would be less than $7.00 US.

The taxi ride to the condo is about 15 minutes. We stayed on the south side of town which is the complete opposite side of town from the airport. This would be a good spot to present a few notes on lodging in Puerto Vallarta.

PV proper can be broken down into 3 distinct zones: The north end of town (the Marina or airport area), central part of town, and south of town. The north end of town is where all the really big tourist hotels such as the Krystal and the Sheraton Bouganvillas are in the Marina development. The hotels here are nice enough, but this area is really geared strictly for tourists and leaves you outside of the good parts of town and away from the best beaches.

The central part of town, downtown, is really where PV charm sparkles with the classic red tile roofs, flowering vines everywhere, and cobblestone streets. It's where the Rio Cuale meets the ocean and beauty abounds. Hotels here tend to be much more budget oriented. Our favorite here is the Molino de Agua, a beautifully landscaped paradise set on the point where the river meets the sea. Other hotels in this area are, such as the Hotel Rosita, are perfectly adequate and cheap...but by no means luxurious. The beach here, Los Muertos, is PV's most popular but the water is not clear. Rather it's kind of murky like you would find on most Southern California beaches.

The south end of town has a distinct riviera feel to it as many fine homes cling to the jungle shrouded hills over the ocean. Accomodations here tend to be small and luxurious although there are a few big properties such as the Camino Real and La Jolla de Mismaloya here too. Prices tend to be a bit more expensive here but are still a bargain compared to American prices. The beaches here are among PV's best with crystal clear, warm water and great snorkeling.

It is along this south coast that we prefer to stay, with downtown being our second choice and we generally stay away from the north end.

We are lucky enough to have a friend who owns a couple of time shares at the Lindomar Adventure Club and were able to rent a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom oceanfront condo for $500 per week. Now we realize very few people will get a deal like this but a quick research of the web reveals plenty of equally nice condos in the area renting for $400 $1000 per week. Particularly intriguing is the Punta Negra resort and the Hotel Playa Conchas Chinas.


We arrive at our destination just as the sun is going down. We're not very hungry, so we just head down to the beachside bar for some appetizers and drinks. Our first big discovery is made here...the best chicken wings in town are made right here at our condo at Lindomar. Truly delicious, we enjoy them before retiring for the night.

Our room is actually a suite of rooms with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 patios adjoining the beachside pool, a kitchen, dining room and living room. Your money buys you so much more down here. It easily accomodates the six people in our party splendidly: myself; Mrs. Webmaster; Webmaster. Jr.; Mrs. Web's mom; and her brothers Ruben and Amaury. We take one bedroom, mom in law takes the second, and the guys bunk out on the twin beds that the couches in the living room convert into.

Sunday dawns and we're ready for the beach...Mismalyoa beach. Arguably Puerto Vallarta's most famous stretch of sand, this beach is actually 7 miles south of the town proper. It was here that John Huston brought Richard Burton and Ava Gardner to film the seminal "Night of the Iguana". Elizabeth Taylor accomanied Burton here, carried on a torrid affair that lit up the tabloids...and put Puerto Vallarta on the map!

Today, it is guarded by the twin towers of the ultra plush La Jolla de Mismaloya hotel. The ruins of the movie set...now a restaurant and bar...are still there. The hotel dominates the beach, it's visage covering a good 2/3 of the bay and a healthy stretch of sand is off limits to all but registered guests. The other third of the beach, across the mouth of the little Rio Mismaloya, is home to an odd collection of mom & pop restaurants that serve fresh food & drinks to beachgoers. The lagoon at the river's mouth is home to a fleet of skiffs and fishermen. Trouble is brewing between the two sides of the river, but more about that later...

We take the bus from our condo at Conchas Chinas beach to Mismaloya. The current fare is 2.5 pesos, about 35 cents. We head down the access road along the south wall of the hotel to find that the old wooden bridge over the Rio Mismaloya has been dismantled and a new one is being built. We portage Jr. and his chair over the river's mouth to the palapa (non hotel) side of the bay and stake out some good hammock chairs in front of Arturos's restaurant. Arturo opens up a tab for us (restaurant owners here will gladly let you use their chairs and hammocks in return for your business) and we order breakfast on the beach.

After a few flap jacks and eggs, we head out into the warm waters of the bay to test out the snorkeling. We see many colorful tropical fish along the rocky edges of the south side of the bay and quickly float out to the bay's edge. The water is bath water warm. At times, it even feels a little too warm. I head back to the beach. Jr. and me play in the waves and let them crash over us, filling our trunks with sand.


This is how the day goes, snorkel a little, swim a little, order a few more Coronas, splash in the waves, and then do it all over again. Other than a burn on my back (I forgot to put sunscreen on there) and some mosquito bites, the day is nothing but fun. We catch a bus back to Conchas Chinas and get ready to head into town.

We head into town and take a long walk along the Malecon, PV's version of a boardwalk, and then head over to Cenederia Ene...a small, family run eatery that serves delicious Mexican food at bargain prices. I had a platter of gorditas (about $2), my wife had a bowl of pozole and Jr. had a burger. All about the same price and delicious.

It's very spartan but clean and bright. Your entertainment consists of spanish movies on the TV.
After dinner, it's time to go grocery shopping at the Guitterez Rizo supermarket. Since we have a kitchen, we decide to stock up on groceries and make some of our meals and drinks in the condo. Prices here are about the same as in the states. Laden down with groceries, we decide to spring for a taxi back to the condo.

This is when we notice big discovery #2...all the big taxis are gone now, replaced with small Nissans that won't hold six people. We have to hire 2 taxis to get us back to the condo. Come to find out, this is planned. The driver tells us that PV is getting rid of all the big taxis in favor of the small ones in an effort to generate more fares. PV is growing up and developing ever more each day...I don't know that I like every development though.

Monday finds us sleeping in and spending the day at Conchas Chinas beach directly in front of the condo. After a home cooked breakfast of ham and eggs, we head out to the beach. Since our condo is on the beach, we're able to just leave the patio door open for quick forays to fill up on rum punches and beer.

The water this day is a little murky and the snorkeling just adequate. We turn instead to frequent swims in the warm water of the Pacific alternating with cool dips into the beachfront pool. The heat and drinks work their magic on us an after a few hours, we switch off into siesta mode for the afternoon.

After waking, we head over for one of the highlights of our trip.

One of the main reasons we like to stay at Lindomar is that it's right next door to our favorite restaurant, El Set. This is truly not just PV's best restaurant, but one of the world's great dining spots. A meal here is superb (click on the link above to go to their web site and check out the menu). My favorite here is the Selva Negra (Black Jungle in english). This is a truly superb and tender filet mignon covered in a champagne walnut sauce. It is mouth watering, melt in your mouth, truly delicious food. It's served with a baked potato along with fresh vegetables. Mrs. Web enjoys the Mocajete Tlaloc, a concoction of pork and chicken served in a melted cheese broth in a stone grinding bowl with shallots and peppers. This is also a very delicious dish.

This great food is also served in one of the world's most spectacularly scenic spots. The restaurant is outdoors set into terraces carved into the jungle hillside, overlooking the ocean, aimed square at the setting sun...our sunset Puerto Vallarta picture that graces this site was taken from our table at El Set.

We ended up eating here three times during the week and had three superb sunsets. Tonight's actually recieved applause.

The service here is PV's best. Extremely gracious and professional waiters tend to your needs. We come about every 3 years and they always remember us.

Strolling mariachis...not the loud, anxious for a tip kind that you see too often in L.A. but the more softly playing, romantic kind...come by each table. You don't want them, no problem...they take no offense. But you should really take advantage of this tableside entertainment to cap off a perfect meal (20 peso tip is appropriate for each song).


After dinner, we walk back over to the condo and watch "The Usual Suspects" in english with spanish subtitles on a local station. It's funny to see what they substitute in the titles for the sometimes X rated language (which is played uncut).

Tuesday is an in town day spent shopping and exploring. PV is one of the best places to just walk and take in the local street scenes. It's a very beautiful and interesting place. One interesting stop is at the small archeological museum on the Isla Rio Cuale in the center of town.
On display here are items dating back thousands of years dug up in the mountains surrounding Banderas Bay. This incense burner is one of the newer pieces...only about 1300 years old!

Wednesday is our big activity day of the week. This is the day we head down to Mismaloya to hire a boat. Here you can hire a boat and it's skipper. The skiff can easily hold 10 people, has a canopy, snorkel gear, fishing gear and and ice filled chest to do with as you please. The price for all this...$25 per hour or $100 per day. This has always been our big adventure when we come to PV and today is no exception.

We find a skipper, Lino, who along with his assistant, Jose, will take us in the good ship "Night of the Iguana". We hire the pair and the boat for the day (you with calculating minds will work it out to $15 per person for the day on the boat). The area to the south of Banderas Bay is Mexico's second largest rainforest with no roads, only boats and very hardy hikers can access it's coast.

There are 3 villages along this coast that cater to tourists: Yelapa, Quimixto, and Las Animas. They're too touristy for us with too many peddlers. We prefer to head to one of the many unpopulated and deserted beaches along this coast. We head to our favorite deserted beach... Majahuitas!

Here we make big discovery #3...a kind of painful one...Majahuitas is not the unknown deserted beach it once was. For years, Majahuitas only shared it's sparkling white sand, coconut palms, jungle, and crystal waters with a cabin owned by an absent American owner who never visited her holdings here. Now there is a new resort on the beach, albeit small, the Majahuitas Resort...where you can pay big bucks to stay in one of the 6 cottages cut off from civilization.

Others have also found out about this beautiful little bay. On our arrival, a tour boat sits in the bay with about 40 german tourists sunning on the beach. We beach our little skiff and don our gear. Diving into the bay we find the water to be as crystal clear and warm as ever. The snorkeling in the bay is nothing short of excellent. Jr. and I head into the waters of the north end of the beach to be delighted by the antics of puffers, angel fish, and too many more I can't name.

Later we head to the south end to see an even more astonishing array of underwater delights including a swim through cave and coral. We crack open some ham sandwiches, beer and soda for a picnic on the beach.

Trouble is brewing back at Mismaloya. According to Lino, the developers of the hotel there and certain politicians are trying to force the local vendors and boats off of the south third of the beach to make way for more development. The most troubling aspect of this plan is that Mismaloya would become a totally private beach, shut off from the public.

This day, the boat owners are rallying at city hall to try to prevent this plan. Lino is here because he is taking care of the boat & business for his friend who is at the downtown rally. It would really be a shame if PV went this route, effectively killing one of it's golden egg laying geese.

Hopefully some saner heads will prevail.

Back on Majahuitas, Lino tells us he knows of an even better spot for snorkeling just up the coast. After lunch, we pack it up and head out. Lino takes us about a mile north of Majahuitas to an unnamed cove. We are completely alone.

The beach here is tiny, so we anchor offshore and dive in from the boat. Lino is not wrong.

Covering the ocean floor is a carpet of coral as far as we can see. The water is teaming with colorful tropical fish who eat bread crumbs out of our hands. I take Jr. for an extended swim across the bay with Amaury and Ruben. The activity never stops under the water here. Looking closely into the rocks and coral, we see eels, angel fish, trigger fish, puffers, and more. The snorkeling today is among the very best we've ever done, including Hawaii and Jamaica. Those who say there is no good snorkeling in PV need to get out of their hotel adn get down to the clear waters of the south shore.

Lino takes us to one more stop...the obigatory ride to Los Arcos. This quartet of offshore rocks is PV's most famous landmark. Wave worn caves carve through these huge rocks forming the famous arches. This is also PV's best known snorkeling spot with many boats anchoring nearby allowing divers access. Amaury and Ruben take the plunge and swim through one of the caves.

After the dive, Lino takes us on the final boat adventure for the day...a ride through the caves of Los Arcos. This is where we join the first paragraph as we wait for just the right moment in the cresting swells to gun the boat's engine and shoot through the cave. Around us we here the squeals of hundreds of tiny bats. Beneath us, the blues and greens of the clear water flicker in and out of the light. Then, it's back out into the sunlight to do it again.

Above us, clinging to the shear sides of the rocks, are dozens of pelican nests. Lino tells us that this is a protected breeding area for the birds. In April and May, the rocks explode with hundreds of pelicans roosting with their eggs.

After the adventure of Los Arcos, it's back to Mismaloya. We end the day around 4pm. Shaking hands with Lino and Jose, we hail a couple of taxis for a quick ride back to the condo.

Back at Lindomar we shower up and rest for dinner. Tonight, we make a repeat visit to El Set and are treated to another exceptional dinner, sunset, and music. We call it a night and head back to the condo to catch game 4 of the World Series before turning in.

Thursday dawns calm and we spend this day snorkeling around Conchas Chinas beach. The water is as clear as we've ever seen it here. We make several short dives plus one long one that ends up in our being washed ashore at the Camino Real hotel, about 1/4 mile down the road.

The security guards don't like the idea that we prefer to walk back from here (thus having to go through their lobby) but they eventually relent...we remind them that it's better that we're leaving rather than entering...and we walk back to Lindomar.

The evening finds us dining at Chavas restaurant downtown. The food here is delicious and cheap among some very pleasant surroundings. We are eating from a second floor balcony that looks out over the La Iguana nightclub across the street and the town beyond. Many mariachis come strolling through here, enough to be a minor bother, but we have a great dinner of frog legs and enchiladas.

Amaury and Ruben head off on their own for a night of clubbing while the rest of us head back home.

Friday, the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to grow in intensity. The ladies spend the day shopping in town while the rest of us spend another day snorkeling in the warm, clear waters of Conchas Chinas. One more day on the beach, one more dinner at El Set...one more night to go.

Saturday, our last day here. Our flight doesn't leave until 9:00pm. We pack up and leave our bags with Miguel at the front desk of Lindomar (we have to vacate the room by 11:00am) and get a rental car. What we get is a VW Safari (also called a Thing here is the US) without doors windows...or seatbelts!

We head south to Chico's Paradise, one of a number of jungle restaurants in town situated along the raging rivers. We spend a little time here eating a light lunch and head down to the river for a swim. Mrs. Web then notices a small iguana drowning in the river. Amaury jumps in and rescues the little guy who turns out to be quite tame friendly.

As much as the guys would like to take it home, we instead release it back into the jungle and head out. We spend some more time driving around the countryside until we decide that the car is just too uncomfortable to ride in any more. We drop it off and head back to Lindomar.

Lindomar has one great feature, if your flight is late...like ours...you can use the hospitality suite for the day. This is a suite set aside for guests use on check out day for naps, showers, etc. We make good use of it as we rest up for our flight home.


Well, now it's early Saturday evening and time to head home. Always the saddest part of the trip, we oblige but know we will return. The flight home leaves right on time, the service is excellent, and we land on time at LAX...only to be held up by ground controllers adding another 1/2 hour til we reach the gate.

Immigration, customs and baggage claim go very smoothly and we return back to our real world here in Southern California. Until next time, we say adios to Puerto Vallarta and ride off into one of those magnificent sunsets...

Darryl
Copyright 1998 - Darryl Musick