Three phone calls later: Singapore is Rome

Regular readers and those who know us well won’t be surprised to learn that we’ve changed travel directions again.

The winter’s “Big” cruise from Singapore is now the autumn cruise  from Rome.

All it took was a couple of phone calls.  Really, it was that simple. Proving, once again, that planning travel really isn’t that difficult.


The original plan: Frequent flier airline seats to and from Asia. A Celebrity cruise from Singapore to Sydney, a few days there (using Marriott points), then off to Bali, returning home a week later . Yikes – that put us traveling two days before Christmas! (Read that: the dreaded holiday travel.)

We were looking forward to the Asian Adventure, but. . .

While in Mexico we had plenty of daydreaming time and started discussing other destinations that we want to visit in the next couple years. . .

Then, back in Kirkland this week Joel happened upon the ‘perfect’ Celebrity cruise – beginning in Rome, ending in Venice, with stops in Montenegro, Croatia, Greece, Malta and Slovenia along the way. If only we weren’t headed to Singapore. . .
 

After a 24-hour ‘ponder-the-idea-period', Joel checked on availability of frequent flier seats, which was key to any changes, with airline prices being what they are this year. Two calls to Alaska Airlines in as many days and we had seats and a good routing to Europe.  He nabbed them after cancelling the Cathay Pacific business class seats to Singapore. We’ll  fly business class on KLM to Rome and back.

The third phone call was to CruCon Cruise Outlet (the travel agency we use for booking cruises because they’ve had the best prices and on-board goodies). They moved our $200 deposit from one cruise to the other, we’ve now got a balcony room on the Silhouette; incurring no penalties and getting the same on-board credits and other goodies as we had on the other cruise.

Then he cancelled our Marriott ‘loyalty points’ reservation in Sydney and used them to book a five night stay in a Marriott “Autograph” Hotel in Venice. (Use of those hotel points in Venice saved us approximately $1,700!)

We were excited about the Sydney experience; but we are plain crazy about this new adventure. Joel’s dug out the Lonely Planet guidebook to Slovenia to get the research started. . .I ordered a new Baggallini roller tote from a discount on-line shop.  Let the fun begin. . .

Where Paul Theroux Goes. . .so do we!

Paul Theroux, the prolific writer of travelogues and novels, is a favorite of ours. Through his books, we’ve followed him around the Mediterranean, India, England and Africa  . . . as he has travled on trains, ferries, and even on foot.

He inspires us to stretch ourselves until our comfort zones tingle . . .

It was after she strapped the mask over her mouth and eased on a pair of rubber gloves, that I started to feel nervous; about the time the reclining chair began elevating my feet higher than my head. 

“Paul Theroux did it, so can I,” I told myself.  But when she had me open my mouth and the instrument she held  began whirring, I thought, “Do I really need to do what Paul Theroux does?”

Our first stop in  Bucerias, Mexico was to have our teeth cleaned thanks to an article of his published in many U.S. newspapers that told of his walking into Nogales, Mexico. While its focus was on border crossings, among his experiences was returning with cleaner, whiter teeth.

Each of our cleanings took about an hour and included an exam by the dentist.  The total cost for both was $91US.  When compared to the cost of having it done at home, the savings had nearly paid the cost of one of our airline tickets.

We are not advocating an exodus to Mexico for dental work. We tried it and were so comfortable with our experience that a future cleaning might prompt our next visit south of the border.

While the article sparked the idea, we went to this dentist because he came recommended by gringo friends who’ve gone to him for years.  His web site explains his qualifications, has photos of his office that we reviewed prior to our trip.  (The waiting room was never empty and every patient was an American on the afternoon of our visit.)

There are hundreds of web sites citing both pros and cons of having dental work done in Mexico.  We didn’t research any of them prior to our trip simply because if Paul Theroux could do it, so could we.

What travel experiences have made your comfort zone stretch until it tingled?

TPThursday: Getting Stoned in Mascota, Mexico

Our trip down Mexico’s Memory Lane took us last Saturday to the small town of Mascota, Mexico, nestled high in the Sierra Madre’s behind Puerto Vallarta.

We were delighted to see that little had changed since our last visit nearly a decade ago. The pasteleria (bakery), the iglesia (church), the zocalo (town square), the archeological museum; all were as we remembered them. 

As we toured our favorites, Joel recalled ‘that house made of stone' and we set off to stand on the sidewalk and admire its construction as we’d done on previous visits.



What made it so amazing was that the stones used in the border on this two-story home’s façade were so small they could  easily fit in one’s hand. It obviously had been meticulous, painstakingly detailed work.



However, we were no longer  forced to admire the home from the sidewalk because seven years ago it had become a museum; El Pedregal Museo, The Stone Museum. Paying the 10 peso per person admission fee (less than $1US) gave us entry to one of those quirky, unexpected experiences that make this life of travel so wonderful.

We were greeted by the owner, curator, artist and our personal guide, all rolled into one Don Francisco Rodriguez, who told me I could photograph anything in the place with the exception of the dozens of historic photos that line the walls (each in a stone frame, of course).



Perhaps because we were the only visitors at the time or because we were genuinely interested in his work, we toured the upstairs living area as well as the downstairs gallery. (Note the coffee table and the television surfaces as well as the walls are stone.)



The dark diamond shape designs around the bed’s headboard and base are created by hundreds of black stones set into hundreds of gray stones that make up the background. “This is Fred Flintstone’s bed,” Don Rodriguez joked, as he provided a running commentary in Spanish.


Everything and every surface in the gallery was covered with stone, including the guitars, and vases displayed at a stone planter.

Tables and chairs, whimsical and practical, you couldn’t help but be ‘stoned’ by the displays.

 

Even the public restrooms in the gallery were stone, from the toilet to the sink and waste basket (yes, this really is the ladies room).

“Pero, por que piedra? (But, why stone?), Joel asked of our 76-year-old artist as he explained how he goes to the river and searches for rocks, loads them into a wheelbarrow and hauls them back to his work table in the museum.

“Porque es mi pasion, (Because it is my passion),” he answered simply with a shrug and a grin. 

We spent far more time in the little museum than we had planned; his photos and the stories he told about them provided a fascinating history of this town in which he has lived his life.

I told him I planned to write about him and his museum for this blog. It was only then that he told me he was also a writer,  he’s authored four books on various historical aspects of the town and its culture.  (We later saw them displayed all over town). 

Writing is another of his passions and to that one I could relate!

Note:  If you find yourself in Mascota, (a 2.5 hour drive from Puerto Vallarta) the Stone Museum is two blocks beyond the town square and church. It is open ‘all the time’ according to Don Rodriguez (and if it isn’t, it would be worth going back to when it was). 

Today is Travel Photo Thursday so rock on over to Budget Travelers Sandbox to take a photo tour of other great places in the world.

Adios Riviera Nayarit ~ Hola Sierra Madres

We are spending our last day in Riviera Nayarit at this week’s ‘home away from home’ - our beach front, Villa del Palmar Flamingos.

Our deluxe studio (the smaller lock-off side of this timeshare resort two-bedroom unit) has provided us a huge ‘home’ and a beautiful view out over the grounds and to the Bahia de Banderas (Banderas Bay).  It’s North America’s second largest bay.


We nabbed this ‘home’ on an Interval World Getaway package that brought the cost to $60US a night (regular rate is $200US).  Again, we are reminded of why we are loving the timeshare world. We are sold on our membership benefits in this exchange company and recommend it to all of you who also have fractional ownership properties.





We are back in the zona turistica, the tourist zone, between Puerto Vallarta and Bucerias, so there’s been a lot more resort-like feel to this location than our digs further out towards Punta Mita last week.  We would be hard pressed to choose between them, so we have decided a good solution would be a two-week stay again, split between them.


We are an easy walk back into our old stomping grounds of Bucerias, and less than a 10 minute drive from it.  So although we’ve eaten at home a couple evenings, our social life with old friends has picked up and prompted a number of dinners out.  I’ll tell you about our old haunts in a future post.

For the golf enthusiasts out there, we are surrounded by three golf courses. 


But all good things come to an end, so tomorrow we are leaving the beach area and heading up into the Sierra Madres for a step back in time and a bit more Mexican adventure.  We found some small town treasures up yonder in those hills a few years back. . .we want to see if they still exist.  We’ll let you know next week.
Happy Cinco De Mayo!

TPThursday: Mexico Magic ~ Un Fiesta Grande

Travel Photo Thursday finds us continuing our travels in Mexico ~ land of song and dance ~ living la vida buena  (the good life).  And nothing says good life  better than a fiesta. . .so let the party begin!



We’d been talked into buying tickets, about $40US each, to this fiesta by one of our waiters at the place we are staying this week, Villa del Palmar Flamingos.  Would it be too touristy, we wondered, after our purchase.  Would it be worth what we had paid?

Toes begin tapping in the audience – made up of both Mexican and foreign visitors - with the first notes of the rousing songs performed by Mariachis, those iconic singing, strumming minstrels of Mexico. . .



And then they added some most-talented dancers in colorful dress. . .



And while we watched  these talented folks we danced our way between tables laden with ensaladas (salads), sopas (soups) and tortillas con salsa and tamales, and chicken en mole salsa, and frijoles (beans) and thankfully didn’t have room for the postres (deserts). . .but then what’s a  fiesta without food and drink!?

 
One of my favorite dances is the Dance of the Viejos (the old ones) which brings dance steps and slapstick comedy to the show.

Masked young men, tapping those canes, do a riveting job of jumping, falling and bringing on rounds of laughter during this routine.












Somehow the early evening twilight had become nighttime darkness.  Those thoughts of ‘touristy’ were long gone; they were lost to the Mexico Magic of their songs and dances. 

 
That’s a view of Mexico for this week’s contribution to Travel Photo Thursday.  To see what else is happening in the world, dance on over to Budget Travelers Sandbox.

Casa de la Playa: Asi es la Vida

‘Asi es la vida’, in Spanish means, “such is life.” 

We didn’t rush to the small beach road. It wasn’t until our third trip to Bucerias, a small beach town north of Puerto Vallarta, last week that Joel suggested we  go visit our ‘old place.’  Walking down the beach road as we had done so many hundreds of times before brought back a flood of memories – both good and bad.



Our Casa de la Playa, House of the Beach,  once reigned at the end of this road.  Now the road is blocked by a tall fence that encloses a condominium building called The Albatros. Our old Grand Dame was bulldozed within months of our sale to new owners from Mexico City. 

Somehow their assurances at the time of the sale that they loved the casa and would use it for years to come made saying ‘adios’ a bit easier.  They obviously hadn’t loved it as much as they claimed.

Ah, but, asi es la vida.

There’s a prison-like feel to the large solid metal fence enclosing the place these days.
 
The garden area once at the side of the casa is now a very snug parking lot. The Albatros is one of a half dozen such multi-storied condo buildings that line the Bucerias beachfront these days – each vying for buyers.

We smiled as we noted the many “For Sale’ signs plastered to the front of this five unit building. And continued smiling as we walked down the beach.

Yes, Asi, es la vida.

Rancho Banderas: At ‘home’ in Riviera Nayarit Mexico

From the time we booked it, we knew this trip was different from those of the past. But that was never more evident than as the plane was making its approach at the Puerto Vallarta airport:  We weren’t scribbling a ‘to do’ list of home improvement projects that had to be completed while we were here.

This trip, seven years after the sale of our last home in Bucerias, is strictly for pleasure. We have entered the timeshare world, where those ‘to do’ lists are someone else’s worry.

And while I may have said we like this new lifestyle in earlier posts –  let me tell you this trip has made us realize we are loving it!

We are spending two weeks on Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit, an area just north of Puerto Vallarta. Our time is split between two timeshare resorts, the first is Rancho Banderas on Playa Destiladeras about half way between the town of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and Punta de Mita.  (Our deck is to the left of the resort’s restaurant palapa, that conical thatched roof in the photo above and the infinity swimming pools cascade down the cliff side to the right of the restaurant.)

Our one-bedroom unit is located on the top floor of this small development (there are less than 50 units here) and provides us an incredible deck on which we do nothing. Yes, do nothing. We’ve not had time to do nothing before in Mexico and are finding it quite enjoyable.

  Each  day we have walked  the beach, often playing in the warm ocean waters in the late afternoon. We have daily maid service so there isn’t much housework to do. We’ve eaten most of our meals at home (but with a deck with a view  like we have, who needs to go elsewhere?)

Our kitchen and dining room are just the right size as is the living area and bedroom.

The cost of our week’s stay in this ocean-front condo was only the price of a $119 booking fee, or about $17 a day, as part of a promotion offered by our timeshare exchange company, Interval International. 

We will move to our new place at Nuevo Vallarta on Saturday. 

As we made our final stroll on this beach we speculated: Can it get better than this?

Stay tuned, we’ll let you know.

‘Basting Away’ in Margaritaville, Mexico

We are basting ourselves with suntan lotion on this Travel Photo Thursday as we play on the sand and in the sea  20  miles north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. 

We are in the midst of our first of two weeks on Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit; this week on Playa Destiladeras. So slide into that empty chair below, there’s a margarita just waiting for you as we celebrate another great day in paradise.



We drank the margarita pictured above at El Dorado, on Playa Anclote, near Punta de Mita, and a few miles north of where we are staying.  We’ve come to this restaurant for more than two decades to spend a few late afternoon hours and usher in sunset.
 
 

We’d begun our sunset celebration in this Mexican Margaritaville at another long-time hangout on this same beach,  El Anclote, which has been around since the mid-1980’s.  Our entertainment there was watching the beach vendors peddle their wares: jewelry, wood carvings, hammocks, rugs, and clothing  One of the most popular was the candy/nut vendor:



I wasn’t the only one pulled to his display like metal to a magnet:



Sunset and margaritas seem to go hand-in-hand in Mexico but this time of year the sun doesn’t set until after 8 p.m. – long after we’d sipped our margaritas. We toasted this day in tropical paradise with a glass of vino as we watched the sunset from our deck at the condo where we are staying.



Many of you know this trip is taking us down Memory Lane. It’s our first visit since we sold the last of our homes here seven years ago. It has been a blend of discovery and nostalgia. I’ll tell you more about our Memory Lane, the places we are staying and Bucerias in future posts.

For now it is Travel Photo Thursday so stop by Budget Travelers Sandbox for another great photo journey around the world.