Puerto Vallarta

On Saturday, we took an excursion into Puerto Vallarta. 

We were actually staying in Nuevo Vallarta, which is basically just a town full of resorts.. 

so it was cool to go to the old town & learn about the history of the city.

I loved the cobblestone streets, and old buildings.. 

it was almost like we were walking in a different time. 

Less is definitely more here, and we felt VERY fortunate for the things that we have.. 

as many of the locals here have hardly anything. It was very sobering.  

Most Mexicans are Catholic and take their religion very seriously. 

We toured the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 

only after mass was completely over & the priests gave the okay! :)

Being raised Catholic, it was fun to see, and a very beautiful church.

Gold etched windows.. & NO pictures allowed inside!

On the next part of our city tour, we were let loose at the flea market district. 

Holy cow, there was every type of souvenir imaginable here! 

It was fun to haggle & learn more about pesos to dollars though! :)

After shopping, we were taken on a scenic ride in the mountains to our location for lunch..

 Las Cascadas,

a seafood restaurant with a waterfall view.. 

Tony was in heaven with the menu, I loved the scenery! :)

Tony's lunch.. red snapper, not very appetizing to me, but he loved it!

Here's our view.. 

 

 

I know, could this day trip get any better???

Why yes, it does! 

Last stop.. an old tequila factory! 

(Tony was SO excited about this!)

 

This factory has been in the area for many years, 

and all of the work is done manually. 

It was so interesting to see how tequila is made, 

and it tastes completely different from any "Americanized" tequila that we are used to! 

One of the owners was our guide, and he was great! 

Here he is explaining to us that the agave plant, 

where tequila comes from, 

 has to grow for many years before it is dug up for it's root, 

the source of the tequila. 

Now, you can't tour a tequila factory without tasting the tequila!!

I had never tasted such great tequila in my life.. there was flavored tequila (almond, orange.. coffee!!)  it had almost no "bite" to it like the tequila here does, 

we all had fun sampling together!

We also tried agave nectar, which I LOVED.. it is used like maple syrup, and is delicious! 

(Aidan likes it now too!)

We had a very fun filled day & were pooped by the time we got back to the resort. 

We also had a company dinner to go to that night & 

I think we were both fast asleep when we hit the bed that night! :)