Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Cinco de Mayo

To commemorate Cinco de Mayo, I thought I'd share our Mexican Riviera cruise trip. This was back in 2004, in honor of our 25th wedding anniversary. We sailed on the Carnival Pride ship. The first port-of-call was Puerto Vallarta. We swam with seals, snorkeled, and basked in the sun at Mismaloya Beach. This is where the Hollywood director John Huston filmed Night of the Iguanas back in 1963 starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The beach was a seaside paradise with pristine sand, palm trees, tropical climate, and natural beauty. That evening we shopped in open-air stores and ate dinner in town. We experienced an afternoon "pour down" rain. They offer an u nique form of transportation, open-air cabs called Pulmonia, vehicles for taxis. Out next stop was Mazatlan, an historic seaside town along the Gold Coast. We stopped at an old fashion brick making spot, then we went to a furniture and pottery making district to shop. I bought a hand carved wooden horse and a large plate. We took a tour to visit Copala, which is a charming foothill Mexican village with cobbled stone which makes you feel you stepped back in time. The green foliage was lush, mangos were growing wild. There we entered an impressive church built in 1740 and other crumbling structures. We saw little children bare footed, riding donkeys, and selling their wares. Then we came upon a Concordia, an old style town square built in front of a 350 year old church. It was there that I purchased a necklace of amber and silver shaped like the sun. Downtown Mazatlan was filled with beautiful cultural art galleries and boutiques. Our last port-of-call: Cabo San Lucas, located on the tip of Baja Peninsula where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific. It was once a remote fishing and canning village, now a resort area. Dale jet skied in the ocean right next to El Archo(rock formation). It was a bit of heaven to sit on the beach, relaxing and listening to music with our beverages. In between excursions we lived a life of luxury on the ship.

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