Downtown Puerto Vallarta

We made many journeys to downtown Puerto Vallarta by way of the public bus, what an experience that was. It cost 50 pesos or 50 cents to ride each way. Many times we had to stand and that could be dangerous at times. The roads are made out of brick or stone so it was very bumpy. During the first part of our trip we spent the morning wondering the boardwalk and seeing the sights. Along the boardwalk there are sculptures depicting the Spanish heritage. A man even had done sand scupltures, they were pretty spectacular. We noticed that even after he had finished he always had to keep them moist so he would take his mister and continually water his sand. There were many vendors trying to persuade you to buy anything. There favorite lines were "Almost free" and "Cheaper than K-Mart." Jake is pretty proud of his bargaining skills. He found himself a Denver Broncos poncho and the man starting at $35 but by the time Jake was done he had him down to $23 and a free plastic bag. After a couple hours of this we decided to find a place for lunch. We found a restaurant and checked out the menu and the prices for food were pretty cheap so we decided to give it a try. Little did we know we were in for the suprise of our life. We each had about 2 sodas during our lunch and when the bill came it was over US$100. It turned out that there were no free refills and each soda cost $6. We learned a very important lesson that day and made sure to always ask if refills were free. It is definitely a different lifestyle there and we feel blessed for the things we enjoy in our lives.