April 14, 2022 – Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco
From Mazatlan, we traveled south to Puerto Vallarta overnight. We had a early start planned for today and were up by 6am. This allowed us to catch the sunrise as we sailed into the port of Puerto Vallarta.
We booked a shore excursion for Puerto Vallarta – “Tequila, Tiles and Shopping”. They got us at tequila 🤣! But really, it seemed like a good full day excursion – with shopping, sightseeing on the Malecón, lunch and a tequila tasting.
“Begin with a scenic drive through downtown Puerto Vallarta, to a local tile factory for an introduction to the tile manufacturing process. Witness the forming, painting and firing of the ceramic, one of the many colorful items for which Mexico is famous for. You’ll have ample time to see the displays and purchase all the ceramics you can carry. Then, continue to the downtown area for some sightseeing and shopping.
A short stop will be made on your way out to visit Hacienda Dona Engracia, one of the finest tequila factories in the area. Here you’ll have an opportunity to see a working ranch, learn about the tequila manufacturing process and enjoy a delicious homemade Mexican lunch. Visitors over the age of 21 will be invited to indulge in free samples of tequila.“
The tour was scheduled to depart at 7:15am. So we grabbed a quick bite at the buffet, breathed in the sunrise and headed down to the pier.
As we waited for the rest of the group to arrive, we enjoyed the early morning sun and breeze, with a nice view of the ship.
Our first stop was for shopping – as in “Tequila, Tiles and Shopping“. We stopped at a strip mall where we had some time to do some shopping. Similar to our time in the Golden Zone in Mazatlan, we were dropped off at a jewelry store and invited to shop. There were some souvenir and craft shops, and a leather goods shop. We wandered around a bit but saved our money for the tiles and tequila portion of the tour. Honestly, I would have preferred to skip this stop to have more time on the malecón or at Hacienda Dona Engracia.
Our next stop was the tile factory – Mundo de Azulejos. I didn’t know tiles was such a big deal! But I can see why. They also had more than just tiles – they had tiles of various sizes, shapes and designs, house numbers, welcome plaques, murals, sinks, bowls, soap dishes, platters and more – all decorated in vibrant colours. (No photography was allowed, so you’ll have to trust me again that these were beautiful pieces of art.)
They also offer customized pieces and we saw several people from our group order these pieces with house numbers and last names or the classic “Casa de ___”. The artists painted them right away and they were packed carefully for transport. I’d be nervous about bringing these back home for fear of dropping or breaking these on the way! We did grab a couple of tiles as our souvenirs and as a reminder of the time we spent in Puerto Vallarta.
Next up was a visit to the Malecón of Puerto Vallarta. Our guide hoped our bus would be allowed into the downtown area so we could have a drive around. But we were actually really glad the tourist police did not allow our bus in! This meant we got to step off the bus and actually take a stroll along the malecón, which we didn’t get to do in Mazatlan.
The bus dropped us off at the outskirts of the town centre or “Centro” and those of us who wanted to continue on foot, went along with our guide. Those who wished to remain on the bus were able to do so, and we would meet up with them later on.
The malecón was busy today! There were other tour groups, families and friends out for a stroll and people biking and jogging. Our guide led us along, sharing with us stories about the various highlights here.
Check out these intricate sand structures!
And this section of the beach which was filled with stones balancing delicately on each other.
All along the malecón are sculptures – some touching, some thought-provoking, some interesting and some fantastical! It was helpful to have our guide share the background and stories behind them.
Here are some of the ones that captured our particular attention!
This one is called “Nostalgia” by José Ramiz Barquet. Our guide shared that some people call this “Lovers”. But the artist named it Nostalgia because of his story. Our guide shared that the artist had a sweetheart in his youth. However they ended up marrying other people and each had their own families. Many years later, they ended up reuniting, got married and spent the rest of their lives together. It was here in Puerto Vallarta looking out at the ocean with his love, that José was inspired to create this sculpture and place it here. It represents the nostalgia these lovers shared in the lives they led separately, the love that lasted through their years apart and in their dream for a future together.
This next sculpture is a beautiful unicorn – “Unicornio de la Buena Fortuna” or Unicorn of Good Fortune. The unicorn is abstract, fantastical, majestic…. and lucky of course!
This is “La Rotonda del Mar” or The Rotunda of the Sea. These fantastical creatures are so interesting and out of this world. I wonder about the inspiration behind each of these creatures.
This next sculpture is called “In Search of Reason“. It’s a really thought-provoking sculpture. I think this is something we all think about at some point in our lives. But to have it in a physical and somewhat playful form, really prompts you to think.
This next one is a sand sculpture. Our guide told us that it used to be a Christmas tree and was transformed into this work of art after the holiday season.
As I love Greek mythology (and Greece), I had to take a closer look. This sculpture is titled “Triton and Siren” and with a very appropriate backdrop of the open water. I really admired the motion in the sculpture – the shapes of the sculpture, the details in the scales on their tails, and the hair trailing behind Triton and the siren.
This next famous sculpture is called “The Boy on the Seahorse”. It has since become one of the many symbols of Puerto Vallarta. They added the letters of “Puerto Vallarta” afterwards and it is a very popular place to get your souvenir Puerto Vallarta photograph taken. It was very difficult to get a clean photograph with no one else in it, as there were lots of people out enjoying a beautiful day on the malecón just before the Easter holiday. I actually had to edit someone out of this photo… see if you can spot where!
Next, we came to an open area near Los Arcos. Our guide gathered us together and told us about the famed “Our Lady of Guadalupe Church“. This is another famous symbol of Puerto Vallarta. The church is crowned by a beautiful…. crown, which we could see from where we were standing. Our guide gave us instructions to get to the church (cross the street, cross the town square, cross another small street and head up the steps to the church) and gave us some free time to explore the area.
The intricate and beautiful crown was added some years after this current building was constructed.
After some time admiring the church, we headed back down to check out Los Arcos del Malecón – another symbol of Puerto Vallarta. If you look through the arches from this angle, you can see there is actually an amphitheater right behind. We are told that they have open-air performances here. What a beautiful backdrop the audience members are treated to – Los Arcos, the palm trees and the water. Wow!
It was lovely to be able to stroll along the Malecón – to take in the ocean, the sights and sounds, the sunshine and the palm trees.
Once we were all accounted for, we continued on our way to the southern end of the Malecón, or as some call it – Malecón II.
Here, we stopped at the “Friendship Fountain” or “The Dancing Dolphins Fountain.” Our guide told us that Puerto Vallarta has a sister city in Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara has a similar statue, named the “Bicentennial Friendship Fountain.” So a similar sculpture was created here in Puerto Vallarta. The guide noted that although the dolphins are in slightly different placements here, these twin sculptures symbolized the friendship between the two cities.
Here is the “Vallarta Dancers.” I just love how this artist was able to capture the motion. I can almost feel the swish of her skirt! And I’m expecting the fabric to fall any minute. It’s amazing that this is a solid sculpture.
Our guide had an almost-believable story about this next sculpture. He started to tell us about the artist of this piece and told us that she had the remarkable ability to predict things that would happen in the future. He then gave us the punch line – the artist created sculptures of the SARS-CoV-2 virus almost 2 decades earlier. But really, this is titled “Eriza-dos” and features two sea urchins made of steel.
There are so many sculptures all around downtown Puerto Vallarta. Of course, we didn’t get the chance to see them all, but I loved that art is on public display and how art is placed in such prominent spots to be enjoyed by locals and tourists alike.
We then approached a bridge and two streams of a river. Our guide told us this is the Cuale River, which divides into 2 as it nears the delta here. This river is the divide between Centro (or downtown PV) and the Zona Romantica (or Old Town).
As we crossed into the Zona Romantica, we had reached the end of our malecón stroll. We walked up a side street and met up with our bus.
Our next stop was in the countryside – Hacienda Dona Engracia. This is where we would get our lunch and our lesson on tequila! We drove through downtown and headed north through the dry countryside for about an hour.
When we arrived, we saw that we were the last bus of the day to pull in. There were already several buses parked and people were already enjoying the lunch. As we walked onto the property, local craftspeople had set up shop in a little bazaar area with various crafts, hand-painted magnets and tiles, souvenirs and more. It was all very festive!
Our guide led us to the tasting room, but another group had just gone in. So he asked if we would like to wait or eat some lunch first. We opted to eat first.
This lunch meal was included with our tour. The meal included tacos, with fresh tortillas handmade in front of you; proteins; various toppings and a hot sauce that our guide warned us about. Because I don’t eat meat, I was guided over to another station where I got some rice and beans to put in my taco instead. Everything was fresh, tasty and homemade.
As we sat down with our plate of food, we were offered something wash it down with… margaritas – of course! Our guide had informed us earlier that if you order a margarita, they would serve it to you in a little “mug” (for a lack of better term) that you can take home as a souvenir. They also had beer and other drinks available for an additional charge – but you’re not obligated to order a drink.
Since we were here, we ordered margaritas – strawberry. (They had run out of mango already). It was the perfect drink to go with the tacos on a hot day! The margarita and souvenir mug cost 6USD. The mug was a nice and unique souvenir! (The colours did start rubbing off when we washed it, so be aware)
There was entertainment throughout the lunch, but unfortunately we were seated too far away to actually see any of it. There were traditional dancers, and a yelling contest? We weren’t too sure…
As we were finishing up our meal, our guide started gathering us for our tequila tasting. (No time for seconds on lunch 😔)
We gathered in the replica factory where we were welcomed by the tequila expert. He gave us an introduction to the tequila making process – including the agave azul plant, how they bake the piñas, extract the juice, ferment it, as well as the distillation process to make tequila.
Then it was on to the tasting room!
Here we are, excited to learn more about tequila – and to taste them of course!
Now, it wasn’t ALL about the tasting – we did learn about the different types of tequila. We learned that tequila can only be produced in the state of Jalisco and some neighbouring states. It is different from mezcal. We also learned to check the bottle and to look for “100% Agave”. Here, they make Blanco, Reposado and Añejo.
- Blanco – not aged
- Reposado – aged 9 months in white oak barrels
- Añejo – aged 2.5 years
He also taught us this key bit: that blanco is a good one to share with friends; reposado is a good one to share with your family; and Añejo is just for yourself! 😏 Blanco is great for mixed drinks and margaritas, whereas añejo is best as a sipping tequila.
He shared that good sipping tequila doesn’t require salt or lime or coke, and should be taken in straight – and in his words “all the way down, right into the stomach”. He then instructed us to breath in and out deeply to really draw in the flavours of the tequila.
All three types of tequila went down very smoothly, much different from the other tequila I’ve had before. It really didn’t need any lime, salt, or anything else. There was no “scrunching” of the face after – I think you might know that feeling!
After trying shots of blanco, reposado and añejo tequila, we also got to try their flavoured tequilas. They had 3 for us to try: peach, almond and coffee. I liked the coffee and almond ones the best! The peach one was a bit sweet for me.
After tasting 6 shots of tequila, we were invited to make our purchases. That was rather strategic and well-timed I might say. 😅 Besides tequila, they also had chocolate and hot sauce for sale. I ended up with a gift pack of blanco, reposado and añejo to take home.
After we made our purchases and headed out of the tasting room, we saw that all the other tour groups had departed already and everyone was packing up – from those serving lunch to those selling souvenirs.
Thoughts: We had 6 shots of tequila and a margarita – and didn’t feel any effects of the alcohol, which was…. interesting? All in all, we really enjoyed our time at Hacienda Dona Engracia. We learned a lot about tequila, enjoyed tasting the different types (I had no idea there was flavoured tequila), enjoyed the margarita and the tasty lunch. We did wish we had a bit more time for lunch and to catch the entertainment and traditional dancing.
Carrying our precious tequila, we settled back on to the bus for our trip back to the ship. Unlike this morning where we were picked up right by the ship, this afternoon we were dropped off just outside of the port area.
Although we could see our ship, we had to take a long way around as you had to pass through security to get to the secure port area. And to get to security, you had to walk through Puerto Magico – a new shopping mall that has been constructed. The mall has all the “classic” shops you would find at a cruise ship stop – shops selling diamonds, bamboo items, colour changing items, jewelry, crafts and souvenirs. It was pretty quiet and most of the shops were pretty empty. But! There was a bubble tea shop if anyone wanted to get their fix!
And just like that, our time in Mexico was over (for this trip anyways) as Puerto Vallarta was our last stop before heading back to LA. (which also meant our entire trip is halfway over 😔)
That evening, we headed to Taste for dinner. Check out our post here for a review of dinner. In the meantime, here’s a delicous sneak peek.
The theme party that night was “Ocean Music Fest”. We weren’t quite sure what that theme meant… but it was to be the last party of this trip on the pool deck, so we danced under the stars one more time!
We returned to our room to find this little friend waiting for us – so cute!
And… that’s a wrap on day 5. Day 6 would be a leisurely sea day as we sailed up the coast back to LA. Check back soon for how we soaked up the sun (read: got burnt) on day 6.
From Vancouver with Love,
💙 Natalie
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