My Weekend in Puerto Vallarta
The three of us stepped off the new bridge onto the Island into peace, quiet, and beautiful surroundings and walked a few steps to the commanding entrance of the recently restored Le Bistro.
We weren’t starving, just wanted something light to eat before our long walk to Arte Vallarta Theater at the top of Olas Altas. The menu is intriguing, with the French onion soup catching my eye. Patrice had ravioli, and Sharon the quesadillas. Portions were just what we wanted, and we all look forward to returning with more appetite.
We ambled up the busy streets, plunging into the Zona Romantica and the Gayborhood, making our way almost to the sea with a hard left up Olas Altas, past Daiquiri Dick’s, the (in)famous Andale’s, The Palm Cabaret and Bar, then The Swedes Bar & Bistro, then up and up to the top of Pilitas, left again to Arte Vallarta which is a combination of an art school with all the tools necessary for every art form, a well-stocked artist’s supply store, a Mexican pottery museum, a gift shop, hotel and an adorable, tiny 50-seat theater.
I have been to a handful of productions over the years and love the space – it is warm and inviting. You really can reach out and touch somebody.
The thing with improv is nothing remains static, and you can only script things so far, and then all hell breaks loose with laughter. It has been a long time since I have laughed that hard. My cheeks were sore for days and a remembered off-hand remark would make me smile again and again.
These two Canadian gals – Diana Frances and Karen Parker, are master comedians and will be leading an Improv Workshop, 1 – 4 pm, Sunday, December 15, at Arte Vallarta Theater. There are only two more shows, Friday, the 13th, and Saturday, the 14th, at 8 pm.
The First Saturday at the Arte Vallarta Museo is always an indication of how busy the city is. They were lined up outside the door, waiting to refresh annual memberships and to buy food and drink. The house – courtyard – was full to overflowing, with lots of people seeing one another for the first time this season after a long, hot summer. It was impossible even to greet so many of the people in the crowd I could see and didn’t get to. These first Saturdays always fondly remind me of shopping at the Old Rizo’s Supermarket, where it could take an hour to buy bread with all the greetings, hugs, and squeals of delight in seeing people return for the winter. The Museo is far more civilized with chairs, wine, and tacos!
We left there buoyed and happy and walked all the way down to the end of Lazaro Cardenas to Charlie Huynh’s Let’s Pho for some fabulous Vietnamese food. The portions at Let’s Pho (pronounced Fa) are enormous, and we did our level best to finish before ordering their famous carrot cake, which took our four forks earnestly struggling to get through this masterpiece dessert. It is the best carrot cake in the world and is baked daily in-house. We all left with remnants of dinner to enjoy later.
Come back tomorrow and hear about Sunday Brunch at Hacienda San Angel and the Annual Garden Party for the Girl’s School; it has been a week!