3.08.2013

I'm back from Puerto Vallarta!

Oh what an awesome trip it was. 9 days of glorious sunshine and heat. A huge thank you to my parents for making the trip possible and for their hospitality.

My sister and I ended up getting to Puerto Vallarta about 3.5 hours later than expected. And all because of a toilet. We went from Ottawa to Chicago and then Chicago to PV. We were about 1.5 hours from landing in PV when it was announced that 2 out of the 3 bathrooms on the plane were not working. No one was overly concerned since we didn't have much time left. THEN the pilot came on and announced that we would have to stop in Houston because they couldn't land in PV with only one working toilet. Kim and I were pissed because she purposely picked these early flights so that we would get to PV in the early afternoon. We missed the afternoon there completely.

I ended up with a super blocked right ear. I wasn't terribly worried until the 5th day of not being able to hear whatsoever out of my right ear. Annoying as all hell. My mom and I walked to the American hospital where the doctor took one look in my ear and said 'Oh yes. Ear infection.' $128 for the visit and $40 in meds later, and we were out of there within 45 minutes. In Ottawa, that would have been an 8+ hour miserable experience at one of our hospitals. Needless to say, the meds/ear drops were useless and my ear unblocked itself on the plane ride back home.

We spent every day from around 8:30-2:30 by the pool at the resort where we were staying and then we'd head back to the apartment to shower and skype with family and then we'd bus it to downtown PV for dinner. We mainly ate Italian and Mexican and the majority of our meals were delicious. Shopping happened each evening also. So many interesting little stores with handmade stuff. I'll post my purchases as soon as I have time to take photos.

The flights home were...interesting, especially once we arrived in Houston. What a freaking gong show. We get off the plane and head to customs where hundreds and hundreds of people are herding like cattle. AND Kim and I only had a 1.5 hr layover. We started freaking when we saw the lines. We made it through customs in about 45 minutes. Shocking - I thought it would have taken longer. Next was a race to find our luggage and check them in AGAIN. THEN we had to go through security. AND THE LINE-UP. I just about died when I saw the line here. We were convinced we were never going to make our flight to Newark. We managed to get through security about 13 minutes before our flight was supposed to take off. But we still had to get from gate C1 to C43. So we started running and then I practically jumped in front of one of those golf carts that was heading in our direction and gasping for breath, I said that we had to get to C43 in the next couple minutes or we were going to miss our flight. Luckily the guy in the cart was heading to the same gate and we made it there just in time. PHEW because I did not want to be stranded in an airport overnight.

We arrived in Ottawa at midnight and we waited for our luggage. Kim's never showed up. She was pissed. Everything she had bought in PV was in there including the gifts for my kids, my niece and her husband. Her luggage ended up being found 3 days later in Quebec City (?????).

The kids were overjoyed to see me, as was Pablo. I missed them so very much. I've never been away for that long. Anyway, here are some pictures I took with my phone while I was there:

the view just before landing in PV
the Bayview Grand resort where we stayed
View from the balcony of the apartment of the only cruise ship we saw, heading to dock on our last day
a view of the pools and ocean from the balcony of our apartment. we went to sleep each night listening to the waves.
another view from the balcony
view of the mountains from where we hung out during the day
the view from my lounge chair
downtown PV
downtown PV
downtown PV - view from the balcony of a restaurant
rustic downtown PV

29 comments:

  1. Oh Wow.
    The pictures are nice.
    Yes, you deserved a break.

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  2. That was one interresting trip! Glad that you had some rest and came home safe after all that trouble :)
    Greetings from Denmark
    Kasia

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  3. It sounds like you had a wonderful time--except for the to/from part. ;-) I'm glad you got a break!

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  4. Thanks folks! It was wonderful despite the plane fiascos. I highly recommend Puerto Vallarta - it is so beautiful and a fun place to visit.

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