//1// Hammocks and wool rugs in the market along Rio Cuale //2// Beautiful lace in one of the many fabric stores on Calle Juarez //3// The cemetery //4// Wading along one of PV's local beaches //5// Dinner at Hacienda San Angel //6// A sunset stroll along the MaleconOver the years I've received many emails asking to share my favourite places to visit in Mexico. I recently posted a tour of Puerto Vallarta on the site Of a Kind and got such a huge response that I thought I would start a new series I'm calling, 'A Day In'. Over the next few months I'll go through the cities and towns I have visited in Mexico and share my favourite experiences - hopefully making your next trip all the more enjoyable.
While I just covered PV for Of a Kind I thought it was still the logical place to start as it's where we lived while we were down there and is the birth place of Scout & Catalogue.
A DAY IN : PUERTO VALLARTA
HISTORY
Until the 1950's Puerto Vallarta was nothing but a sleepy fishing town but when John Huston chose the nearby beach of Mismaloya to film Night of the Iguana PV boomed into a tourist haven. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton famously lived in the area known as Gringo Gulch and as the years passed and more people discovered it's hospitable climate, wealth of beaches and colonial charm the town blossomed into a city.
MORNING
Far to one side of the city and slightly off the beaten path lies the local cemetery. I am a HUGE fan of wandering through cemeteries when visiting cities and Mexico offers some of the most extravagant memorials to their dead. Morning offers nice light and cool temperatures for this unorthodox tourist activity.
Mornings, for me, mean coffee and Cafe Oro Verde has some of the best beans in the city. The proprietors, Wen and Patty, have been roasting coffee from the Sierra Madre mountain range for almost 20 years and, while their little shop is a bit rough around the edges, their coffee speaks for itself.
TIP : In general Mexicans LOVE weak coffee and, if you're like me and you love a strong cup, don't feel shy about requesting exactly how you would like your coffee brewed. Be warned - if you are in a restaurant and order coffee it will almost always be Nescafe instant and seasoned with cinnamon. As well, 'americano' is their word for drip coffee so it's not as strong as the equivalent elsewhere.
Fresh squeezed juice stands abound and are also an amazing way to start the day.
From my morning coffee I would head along Calle Jaurez to the amazing fabric and notion stores that line the street all the way to the Zocalo (Spanish for the town's main square). My favourite stores in the city are Tlaquepaque and Querubines both of which are filled with goods from different regions of Mexico.
TIP : Mexican supermarkets are often stocked with amazing kitchen goods. They have interesting hot sauces, enamel pots and pans, kitschy match books, beautiful tea towels and authentic catholic candles at the fraction of the cost of a market vendor.
AFTERNOON
Just behind the Parisina on Calle Juarez is the tiny vegetarian restaurant Planeta. If you don't eat meat in Mexico almost all of the delicious local cuisine is off limits and this hidden gem is a great place to grab lunch.
The church is just down the street and is almost always open to the public. You can climb up the streets behind the church and marvel at the cute homes and views of the water or continue to head south to shop the market along the Rio Cuale. From the market follow the wandering streets into the Zona Romantica where most of the boutique hotels in the city are located. This area is known for it's restaurants, beaches and gay bars and is extremely lively come evening.
Head down to the Blue Chairs beach and continue along the sand past a few rocky bluffs towards the community just south of the Zona Romantica, known as Conchas Chinas. Here the beach is slightly less populated and there are fewer disturbances for your much deserved R&R time.
EVENING
After an afternoon at the beach dinner at Hacienda San Angel is the perfect way to finish the day. Call ahead for reservations and enjoy a night on this boutique hotel's rooftop terrace with excellent food and a live Mariachi band serenading you. This is one of my all-time favourite experiences in Mexico.
Cap the night off with a stroll on the Malecon.
