Sights to see in PV

Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The construction started on this church in the early 1900s and was completed around 1940. It's just a few blocks from the plaza downtown and we toured the inside, along with others. It's free, but they appreciate donations, however small. We took a few pictures and moved on.

Kids running around in the church

There is a Starbucks in the Plaza. I take advantage of a Starbucks anywhere. I'm not a purist when it comes to coffee and will march right in to a Starbucks anywhere and order my usual Skinny Vanilla Latte. I really enjoyed drinking it in the "El Jardin Principal" and watching the people. There's some big trees in the square with a gazebo and lots of benches. We enjoyed watching the "pigeon chasers" as we like to call them.

Pigeon Chasers

Around The Town

Walk the steep steps up to the entrance

After arriving at our condo the previous night, the first thing we needed to do is eat. We always bring a little food along and that would get us to lunch.  We headed down to a little vegetarian restaurant called, Planeta Vegetariano. It's a few blocks from the Cathedral and was "OK." It's "buffet style" and husband went back a few times. Very colorfully designed and busy while we were there. Friendly service and clean. And, really affordable at about $5 each. I have read reviews elsewhere around the internet and I think we may have hit the place on an off day...a Thursday noon experience which seems to come in behind a weekend dinner experience. At any rate, the dessert was the best part. A yummy cake, brought to our table and the dessert changes daily.

Inside Planeta Vegetariano

Wake up!

After lunch, we headed to a local neighborhood grocery store. There is a Costco in town and a Sam's Club, if you need large quantities of food.  And there is a Walmart. Walmart pretty much monopolizes the grocery market in Mexico. Everything you would normally buy at a Supermarket, you'll find at Walmart, along with clothing, household goods, hardware, etc. Even souvineers. But, we just wanted a few things today like bread and milk so off we went to the little local  mercado. Here's a shot of some cereal boxes. Everything is brighter and louder in Mexico!

Puerto Vallarta

Day One in Puerto Vallarta or "PV" as it's called. We left LAX yesterday around 10am on U.S. Airways, stopping briefly in Phoenix, arriving in PV around  5pm. Airfare was $330 apiece, including taxes and fees. Please note that neither of us speaks Spanish and although this didn't pose any problems in town, it would be helpful to know the language in Mexico. We had no problems getting through Customs and Immigration, which took about an hour. We walked out front, grabbed a taxi and off we went to our rented Condo. We found the place through VRBO.com and paid about $43 a night. I won't recommend this particular condo. You can do better for about the same price, on VRBO. Go for "newly remodeled."

SAM & The Space Needle

Inopportune: Stage One by Cai Guo-Qiang

Thursday is our last day in Seattle and it rained. How fitting! That makes it a perfect day for the Seattle Art Museum or SAM, as it's called here. We hopped on Bus 15, paid our $2 fares and headed into Downtown. The entrance fee is $15. We brought our cameras, hoping to get a shot or two of something beautiful to take with us. About 15 minutes into the tour, a young man came over and asked us to not take photos of the painting we were viewing. We were confused since we both had read downstairs that photography was allowed, without flash and we were careful to turn off the flash. We decided to go back down and check and sure enough, we were right. Apparently, the rules had recently changed and the young man had not been told. We shrugged this off and continued our viewing. A short time laster, we were asked to put away the pen we were using to take notes. The gentleman said "We're terrified of pens here" and he handed us a pencil. We apparently missed that rule. There seemed to be a lot of rules in this museum...and guards. All in all, our trip to SAM was enjoyable. There's not much here but they do have some great pieces. Go on the first Thursday of the month and avoid the entryfee.

After spending about 5 hours at SAM, we hopped back on the bus and headed for the Space Needle. Although it had stopped raining earlier, it had started again. We had contemplated spending the $17 for a ticket to the top, all week. We finally went for it. The rain meant fewer people but also cut down the view. But it was still pretty breathtaking.

Bainbridge Island

I had read that Bainbridge Island was accessible by ferry and would make a good day trip. We decided to give it a go. We walked a few blocks down First Ave to catch the bus in the Free Zone and took it down to Marion to catch the ferry at Pier 52. We paid $6.90 for each ticket and found out on the return trip that we needn't pay to come back.

Pedestrian Crossing Flags

We walked down the main street toward the downtown area. This is a quaint, small town street that is lined with shops and restaurants. We walked down to the end and had lunch at Emmy's Vege House. This will be the only restaurant that I will recommend for this trip. Great food here. Vegetarian-no meat. But if you weren't told, you'd swear you had chicken in that bowl. We had the Ginger Chicken Bowl with brown rice. Sauteed vegetables in a delicious ginger sauce for around $7. Others recommend the #10.

After lunch, we walked back toward the harbor and stopped into the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum. This is a small museum in an old schoolhouse and it's packed with the history of this island. They have done a fabulous job and this turned out to be one of our most memorable experiences of the trip. Find out what happened to the Japanese-American population at the time of WWII. Find out about the Filipino Americans and how they grew on the island. The Strawberry Festival history is interesting also. There is just a lot to take in here for $2.50.

After lunch, we walked across the main street and found the trail to the waterfront. The temperature reached 68 degrees today. Record breaking! It was very warm!

The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks

This morning we woke up to some pretty fair weather, 56 degrees and no rain. We decided to take a trip up to Chittenden Locks, a FREE sight. We hopped on a bus going North for $2.75 each, got a couple of transfers and that got us back at no additional charge. We had just visited the Locks in Panama last August so were familiar with their workings and were very excited to see locks in the U.S.


The locks here do 3 things:
1. maintain the water level of the fresh water Lake Washington and Lake Union at 20–22 feet above sea level.
2. prevent the mixing of sea water from Puget Sound with the fresh water of the lakes.
3. move boats from the water level of the lakes to the water level of Puget Sound, and vice versa.

We saw the locks in operation so that several ships could move through one way or another.

We also viewed the Fish Ladder. Unfortunately, it was still a bit too early for the salmon - "peak" viewing time is during spawning season, from about the beginning of July through mid-August.

The grounds also features a visitors center, which is closed on Tuesdays, as well as the Carl S. English, Jr., Botanical Gardens.

Pioneer Square & The Underground Tour

The Underground Tour takes place in Pioneer Square. The tour is $15 and this is really a bargain as you will learn the history of Seattle as you are led down under the city back into the late 1800s. Do this at the beginning of your trip so you get an understanding of this city.

On the Tour, looking up through the sidewalk

The city square, listed on the National Register of Historic Places,  is dominated by the Victorian pergola, a bust of Chief Seattle and a Tlingit totem pole. According to our tour guide, there once was a very large, public restroom built under the pergola in 1909. However, that restroom is no longer in existence. Too bad as there does seem to be a lack of public restrooms in Seattle.




A couple of blocks away from the Pioneer Building is the Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park. Here you will learn a little more of the Seattle area history, it's FREE and it's a rather small building so it won't take much time to get through it.

Olympic Sculpture Park, Pike Place Market, Starbucks

The Olympic Sculpture Park was about an 8 block walk from our Hotel. What used to be a Union Oil Co. site was transformed into a nine acre green space for art. It's FREE. We then walked about another half mile down the coast and spent some time at the Public Market on Pike Street. FREE also except for the $2 you'll spend for hot fresh donuts made on the spot and another $3 for your Starbucks coffee you can pick up at the original Starbucks on Pike Place.

                                                         

The Marketplace is a great place to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables, flowers and arts and crafts. 

But it is famous for the Fish Market. Watch this video of salmon throwing.

Seattle

Off we go, Burbank to Seattle for $179 RT, each. Alaska Air, so we end up paying $15 to check one bag, each way. We arrived today, March 20 and will stay 7 days. Temps are in the mid 50s with scattered showers on a couple of days. Flying in to Sea-Tac, one is struck with the beauty of the area below. Mount St. Helens and Ranier, peaking out from the clouds. Huge amounts of water, the tall buildings along the shore and then the budding greenery as the plane flies closer to the ground.
We are staying at the Inn at Queen Anne in the Queen Anne area of Seattle. There's a Starbucks around the corner and a Dick's Restaurant, several nicer dinner restaurants and a nice grocery store within walking distance. Built in 1928, the Inn at Queen Anne is older but quaint. Although the room could use a little TLC  (ceiling by the window has water damage, carpet's worn, etc.,) it's very clean and close to public transportation. Room has a kitchenette so we'll be making our own meals a lot. At $71 a night, you can't go wrong in a city where the cost of living seems to be a little higher.
*Travel Tip: When staying in Seattle, don't bother renting a car. Take the Light Rail for $2.50 from Sea-Tac to Downtown and stay in any Hotel. It's an easy walk. We got off at the last stop and then to get a little further, we hopped on the Monorail for $2 to the Space Center. We walked to our hotel in just a few minutes.

Going Home After The Christmas Bomber

All in all, this was a great trip and the price was right. $489.94 for airfare for 2 adults round trip from LAX to YVR. The hotel we stayed in the first night and the last night was a sad $70 per night. Complete and total rip off. (See first post of this trip.) The cost of staying 6 days in Nanaimo was $200. We mostly cooked our own breakfasts and dinners. We picnicked most lunches. We ate out a couple of times. Now for the worst part of the trip, which could have been worse than it was. On Christmas Day, while we were flying out of LAX, the Christmas Bomber was attempting to do his thing in Detroit. Although this had no effect on our flight out of the country, it had plenty of effect on the flight home. We waited in lines for what seemed like forever to get on the plane. We were patted down. We had to give up nearly all of our possessions. Pretty much nothing could be carried on. This was the only trip that my husband ever brought his laptop. And this was the first time you had to carry your laptop on but you had to check the case. And once we got on the plane, we were told they had "misplaced" some luggage and the plane was delayed on the tarmac until the luggage was located. But I was able to carry on my purse...we heard some flights were worse.

The Ferry

Waiting For The Ferry To Arrive

There are a couple of ways to get from the airport to Vancouver Island. We chose the most frugal method which was to travel via bus from the airport to the Ferry and then take the Ferry over to the Island. The bus fare was $2.50 and the ferry was another $13.50. I don't recommend this if you have more than one easy to pull piece of luggage. You could also take a taxi from airport to Ferry or you could rent a car at the airport and drive ONTO the ferry and then drive OFF once you reach the Island. But these get progressively more expensive. Another option instead of the Ferry is to hop on a seaplane. YVR to Nanaimo tickets are $69. The seaplane would've been faster (20 min) and a lot of fun but the ferry was pretty cool. The Ferry ride is a 90 minute trip. There are many things to do onboard including eating at a Buffet or on board restaurant, a coffee shop, gift shop and plenty of time to catch up on your reading or walk around the deck for the view.

Ladysmith, Chemainus and a Word About Food

Lunch today at The Royal Dar, an Indian Restaurant in Ladysmith. Remember, husband is a Vegetarian. "Vegetarian" means many things to many people. On one end of the spectrum are those who claim to be Vegetarian, but they eat chicken and fish. And then there are those on the other end who not only don't eat meat, they won't wear it either (shoes, belts, etc.) The DH doesn't eat meat (chicken, pork, beef, fish, etc.) and also won't eat jello, most cheese, milk, and usually eggs. Cheese is made with animal rennet...rennet is made with cow stomach enzymes... OK, enough said about that. So, Indian fare is good. They keep the meat stuff out of the veggie stuff. A cultural thing. So we had Paneer Palak, Vegetable Khardi and Garlic Naan. For less than $35. Go there. http://www.royaldar.ca/ and you won't be sorry.

The next thing we did was to drive on to Chemainus to see the murals. This is a small town where they tell their history by painting it on their buildings. And they pull in a lot of tourists. This is FREE. Here's a sample of one of their murals. http://www.chemainus.com/


The end of the day ended up being quite fitting. I came across the Utopia Bakery Cafe! I ended up buying a Tiramisu confection, a Chocolate Eclair and a Latte! Score!!! I spent $10 on this. Worth every penny.

Tofino Via Ucluelet and Port Alberni

Today's adventure was a day trip to Tofino. There's one way to get there by car and that is to take Hwy 4 thru Port Albernini. It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Nanaimo. This was a day of FREE activities, aside from parking you might pay for. In the summer, you would swim, surf and hang out in town at Galleries and gift shops and hike on the many trails. In the winter, hard-core surfers are out but the rest us are bundled up. We stopped in Ucluelet, first and drove around till we saw a sign for Browns Beach. We got out and decided to go for a little hike. Beautiful views of the coast. Rocks and surf. But, we stumbled upon lot after lot after empty lot. All along the coast of this part of the Island, land was being developed to be sold and built upon.


On the way, in between Port Abierni and Ucluelet, there was snow. This was a beautiful thing, everything was dusted in white. On the way back however, it was a bit treacherous. The windshield wipers just stopped working. What a rental car. We did get a deal...I think. $220 for 5 days. A 1997 Ford Contour that we rented from a guy near the Ferry. http://www.sidneycars.com/CMS/Last trip, we rented from Avis in Panama and the guy combed the car for nicks and dents for 20 minutes. But this guy waved and said "Don't worry about it" and "I upgraded you to a better car." Good grief! What was the original? Did he know about the wipers? But, we saved $150 and the guy did pick us up at the ferry-no charge.The next morning, we took it to a place near our B&B where they fixed the problem.

Courtenay and Comox

Courtenay (hometown of Kim Cattrall of Sex and the City Fame) was recommended by the gal at the Visitor's Center. I was interested in the Christmas Craft Fair at the Comox Valley Art Gallery. Looking for inexpensive but unique souvineers, I was not disappointed but tempted greatly by some of the most beautiful handmade paintings and crafts that were out of my price range. The gallery is next door with a $15 entrance fee. The downtown area will make you think you've traveled back in time when you walk the streets. There's much more going on as their website will tell you.

We then moved down the road to Comox. We lunched on picnic foods brought from our 'home' and found some great photo opportunities at the Marina. You can get some great buys on fresh fish here!

Lastly, we took a hike that led us down to a beach through a forest. There are hiking trails throughout BC. Many are free, some require a parking fee. They range from easy to difficult. This one was pretty easy.

Around Nanaimo

Nanaimo. It's name comes from the Aboriginal people who first lived here. About 78,000 people live here. Not a large town but neat stuff: Spirit Square, the
Marina where the sailplanes land, the Nanaimo Bastion built by the Hudson Bay Company and many other hsitorical points of interest. There are several walking tours that can be found on the city's website. The walking tours are free. Admission to the Bastion is $1. When you walk along the Waterfront Promenade, there are shops to look in and restaurants. Or bring your own picnic lunch and stop in the coffee shop facing the Marina and order a Latte to go!

Our B&B in Nanaimo!

Wow! Husband really scored with this one. $40 per night. We have the house to ourselves, minus 2 bedrooms. The Master is off limits and an extra room that contains the cat. We have the guest room, office, living room, dining area and kitchen, as well as a great balcony with a view and the backyard, if we wanted. Nice place. Just one drawback...grandma comes up from the basement to feed the cat twice a day. We never hear a cat, never see grandma with catfood going in and never see grandma with cat poo coming out. Hmmmmm...It's just a little weird. But look at that view...I can deal.

Arrival In Vancouver: First Night

Got in to YVC Christmas Night and we were picked up by the shuttle to the hotel. This was the Airport Inn Vancouver or Quality Inn Airport Hotel on Marine Drive. DO NOT EVER stay here. Nasty, Nasty, Nasty! Smelled like a dirty, smokey room. The toilet ran all night. And it was cold. It never warmed up. $70 for the night. Good grief. This was not a bargain. And we already paid for the last night in advance! The next morning, we took the bus to the Ferry.

Diablos Rojos

We rented a car and drove ourselves around. We like having the freedom of coming and going as we please. The roads are crazy! Driving takes courage in Panama We got lost occasionally even with a GPS! In the city, there are very few stoplights or stop signs. Everyone just converges on the intersection and tries to inch through without running in to anyone. Like I said, there are 2 freeways. And during rush hour, it is literally dog-eat-dog as you near a city. A big challenge to inexperienced drivers are the city buses called "Diablos Rojos" or "Red Devils" They are crowded, decoratively painted school buses, often without air conditioning, with a flat rate of 25 cents to any location in Panama City. These buses used to transport American schoolchildren. They were then brought down to Panama and no longer look like the big yellow schoolbuses you might be used to. They race each other on the roads trying to get more passengers and make better time. Watch this video for an education.

Portobelo & San Lorenzo

Panama is a very small country. It doesn't take long to get from one end to the other. But there are not too many major roads. There are 2 "Freeways" in Panama: Corredor Norte and Corredor Sur. Portobelo is North so this is the way to go. It actually takes you to Colon but we will need to branch off on the way. It's about an hour and a half's drive and the last leg is along the Caribbean coast.

From Lonely Planet: "‘Puerto Bello, ’ the Beautiful Port, was named by Columbus in 1502, when he stopped here on his fourth New World voyage. Since it was common at the time to abbreviate Spanish names, the beautiful port quickly became known as simply ‘Portobelo.’" 

Fuerte Santiago

UNESCO says it is a "Magnificent example of 17th- and 18th-century military architecture...on the Caribbean coast forming part of the defence system built by the Spanish Crown to protect transatlantic trade."

The Black Christ

The city comes to life every October 21 for the Festival de Cristo Negro (Festival of the Black Christ)and the statue of the Black Christ housed in the Iglesia de San Félipe.

Visit the Portobelo Royal Customs House Museum to learn more. The entrance fee is nominal. This is the old headquarters of the Spanish customs offices when they were importing African slaves into the New World. It is now a museum - a dedication to the thousands of Black immigrants who are an important element of Panamanian culture and constitute the majority of the population of Portobelo and Colón.

To get to Fort San Lorenzo, you drive over on the old military base Ft. Sherman. There is a $5 fee required to access this World Heritage Site. This is a Spanish fort located where the Chagres River enters the Atlantic Ocean and was a critical defense point for the Spanish. You should read up on the place a little before heading out to see it. Fort San Lorenzo is located on the Atlantic side of Panama.

On the way, we saw some Coatis on the side of the road. 

Miraflores Locks, Balboa, Casco Viejo

There are 3 Locks on the Panama Canal but only Miraflores has a Visitor Center. There is a $12 fee to get in and it is worth it. There is a movie presentation on the bottom floor which gives you some good information about the building of the canal. Later, you continue upstairs for various museum displays. There are a couple of decks outside for viewing. One of them is on the floor with the Restaurant and tables outside. We proceeded to the 4th floor. There is a guide with a microphone who narrates the activity down below. We saw several ships moving one way or the other through the canal. This was very interesting and educational.We were there before noon and stayed for a couple of hours. As we left the Locks, we were able to drive by the housing that was built for the canal workers. 

We are watching the water on the left rising to meet the water on the right so the gate can be opened and the next ship can move through.

We then headed toward the old city of Balboa. The town of Balboa was founded by the US during the building of the canal and was home for families from 1904-1979. It's interesting walking through the town, identifying all the old buildings, imagining what the place must have looked like years ago. Below is the Teatro Balboa with it's very Art Deco style.

Next we were on our way to Casco Viejo. Casco Viejo is designated a World Heritage Site. It is an amazing place. There is construction going on everywhere. Some places have been completed and some are currently being worked on and yet other buildings just sit in ruin. We learned what we could through tour books but we saw a group of tourists being led around the city by a guide who was sharing what seemed to be some great information. This is probably a better option. Walking around the city is FREE and you can spend a couple of hours or the better part of a day. There are restaurants and shops.

Here's what UNESCO says about it, "Founded in 1519 by the conquistador Pedrarías Dávila, Panamá Viejo is the oldest European settlement on the Pacific coast of the Americas. It was laid out on a rectilinear grid and marks the transference from Europe of the idea of a planned town. Abandoned in the mid-17th century, it was replaced by a ‘new town’ (the ‘Historic District’), which has also preserved its original street plan, its architecture and an unusual mixture of Spanish, French and early American styles."