Puerto Vallarta Hot Points

March 07, 2003 - The people have spoken for the second time: Wonderfully warm-hearted people like the late journalist Jorge Ruiz Aguilar make it easy to understand why Puerto Vallarta was named the world’s friendliest city by “Condé Nast Traveler” magazine.

February 28, 2003 - Can we shame them into caring?: I love Vallarta for a multitude of reasons. But a reasonably safe public transportation system is not one of them.

February 21, 2003 - All we can do is follow our conscience.: Thanks to “Vallarta Voice,” local author Pat Henry called to tell me, she has been reunited with a long-lost friend.

February 14, 2003 - It’s not always easy!: Today, February 14, is the Day of Friendship and Love here in Mexico, known to us gringos as Valentine’s Day. Like most special occasions here, it’s a big deal. Every florist I passed on my morning commute has a plethora of displays – particularly red roses and balloons – spilling onto the sidewalk.

February 07, 2003 - Enough already!: Have you noticed the ubiquitous stylized hearts painted on facades around town? I’ve been trying to figure out why so many have recently opted for this particular decorative feature, figuring that perhaps both the stencil and rust-colored paint were on sale recently.

January 31, 2003 - Bad habits are hard to break: The ground beneath our feet has stabilized, but our local English-language print world got a shakeup January 24 when it was announced that the not yet two-year-old weekly, “The Times,” was sold to one of its Nayarit correspondents, Ronnie Barker.

January 27, 2003 - I don’t think this is what Carole King meant!: The lyrics from her popular ‘70s song, “I Feel the Earth Move,” reverberated in my mind after the earthquakes here January 21 and 22.

January 17, 2003 - Looks like it’s really going to happen!: I’ve heard people talk about having an international film festival here for as long as I can remember. And up until the past year that’s all it was: talk. But, thanks primarily to film promoter Robert Roessel’s perserverance and connect-the-dots approach, I think it’s actually going to happen!

January 10, 2003 - My face hurts from laughing!: Back-to-back evenings at a couple of my favorite South Side venues – The Palm Bar and Santa Barbara Restaurant and Playhouse – had me in stitches. Both spots offer lots of really good entertainment, changing frequently to keep things interesting for us locals.

January 06, 2003 - I can’t believe I got fooled again this year!: The Day of the Innocents on December 28, roughly equivalent to our April Fool’s Day but so much more fun because people of all ages really get into it, caught me off guard yet again this year.

December 27, 2002 - This is one promise the town has kept!: With New Year’s Eve just four days away, the targeted date for the reopening of our popular seawall promenade the Malecon, I checked it out to see how things were progressing. Until a few days ago it had been under blue and white wraps since Kenna did her storm-surge number on it.

December 20, 2002 - We’re dancing in the streets!: Spending several wonderful Christmases in Vallarta prior to moving here in ’91, what made the biggest impression on me during those visits were the neighborhood street parties in the evenings leading up the December 25

December 13, 2002 - Life is good on this gorgeous azure-skied day...: Life is good on this gorgeous azure-skied day with sweet-scented breezes, the hot, humid summer spent working in anticipation of days like this. It’s funny how one starts feeling “ownership” of Puerto Vallarta after living here awhile.

November 22, 2002 - Looks like the gang’s almost all here!: The dual book signings and Meg Munro art show on Basilio Badillo November 16 brought hundreds of old friends and familiar faces to one short, but very popular, block on Calle de los Cafes.