December 31 (Sunday)
Sunrise on the beach almost matched the sunset fro the night before. Fabulous!
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| Our faithful steed ready for another day. |
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| These two Osprey were looking for an early morning meal. |
Sunday
morning we headed into town on the bus. The first stop was the Julio Meza Art Studio. Julio is a world famous artist that has some of his works hanging in the
Smithsonian and The Vatican. Here are some pictures of his studio. We bought a
few small pieces as gifts.
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| Julio's work space |
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| Samples of his work |
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| This looks like a workbench I would have! Organized confusion! |
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| This was his artwork that hangs in The Vatican |
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| Julio's story |
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| Julio and our tour guide Betty |
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| Entrance to his home/studio |
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| Lots of projects |
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| Street behind his home |
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| Gate to his backyard |
Next
stop was in the shore-front market called the Malecon. Certainly a hub of
activity. Lots of vendors selling touristy stuff, fish vendors, and lots of
bars and restaurants.
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| City Hall |
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| Some big homes overlooking the Sea |
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| The main street of vendors |
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| The Sea was so calm. Not great for sailing. |
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| Looking back toward our hotel |
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| A famous justice minister that was killed by the drug lords |
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| This would have been so much fun. Two people in the harness. This boat was always taking someone up and down the beach. |
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| Lots of these second floor bars and restaurants |
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| The wall mural was made of individual ceramic tiles. Very nice. It advertised a restaurant. |
Cheryl
and I stopped at a second floor restaurant called the Blowfish for lunch.
Moses, our waiter had quite the life story to share. Not sure much if any of it
was true, but certainly entertaining!
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Moses, our waiter, laying in wait on the sidewalk to convince another patron to go up for lunch.
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| Pharmacies are everywhere. Top billing on every sign is Viagra and/or Cialis |
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| The view from our table. |
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| These buggies are everywhere |
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| The street was plugged with vehicles and people |
We
loaded up the bus about 2:30 and headed back to the hotel. Our bus driver was
masterful in handling that 45 foot bus down the tiny streets of town. Very
entertaining to watch it, happy I wasn't driving. Here are some views from the bus as we negotiated the small streets. At one point we got stuck and he paid some old guy to help him back up.
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| We caused this lineup of traffic. We are trying to turn right. We pulled ahead and backed up about a dozen time before we had the clearance to make the turn. |
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| Not all ventures are successful. I imagine this was a condo project that didn't get too far. |
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| The port with fishing boats. There were dozens. |
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| Lots of quads for rent. |
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| Home! |
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| Lots of activity on the beach. This was high tide. |
When we
got back to the hotel we were told that you either had to buy a New Year's Eve
ticket which included supper for $35/head, or you were on your own as the
restaurant would be closed. Great! Good thing we had a big lunch. Neither of us
felt much like spending the evening with the others. Our colds were still
affecting us and nobody would want us coughing and sniffling at dinner.
A walk on the beach, the tide was going out, late afternoon.........
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| Hippy Wagon on the unserviced RV park |
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| from Alberta! |
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| You could rent a horse to ride on the beach. |
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| It didn't seem they were too busy given all the beer cans at their feet! |
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| Entertainment! |
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| These guys could really sing. |
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| This lady and her kids lived in this plywood shack. |
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| Abandoned Porsche |
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| It hastened moved since before the last rain, whenever that was. |
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| Abandoned quad. |
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| This kite flew very low over the beach. |
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| Flying kite...... |
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| ......or parachute. Take your pick! |
This New Years Eve we
stayed in our room and watched the most incredible sunset from our balcony. It was a top-five for sure......and it was Our View From Here!
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| Using Sunset mode on my camera. Almost too red |
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| Using 'normal' mode on the camera. |
