Little Lolly's Small Adventures: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Excursion: Top 10 best of Puerto Vallarta.

San Miguel Archangel Church

As usual it was good to see land again. Once the ship was cleared by port authorities guests were soon heading out to explore the surrounding areas or going on tours.

The tour group I was assigned to day was a lovely group of happy people which set the scene for the day. Our tour guide, Victor, had a great sense of humour and throughout the tour was a good historian.

Our first stop was at San Miguel Archangel Church and the neighbouring marketplace. The road outside the church was quite busy so our bus driver dropped us off and drove around town for a bit until Victor called him to let him know we were ready to be picked up. The church was beautiful inside and there was a huge impressive wood carving of Jesus hanging behind the alter table.

Back on the bus we were taken toward Vallarta's town centre where we got dropped off once again so that we could have a stroll along the Malecón (waterfront promenade), over to Cuala Island Market; a brief stop at the town hall and then visited Our Lady of Guadalupe Church which was also quite nice inside.

Statue on the promenade

We met up with our bus again and were taken to the Old Town with its cobbled narrow streets. We were taken to Aviles Jewellery, a silver jewellery shop but it also had other items made of silver by craftsmen. Whilst there, if guests wanted to buy anything but it needed altering - they would re-size or do make the alteration there and then; their craftsmen being on site to do so.

Not far away was Taxco Exporta which we visited and guests could pick up Mexican gifts or souvenirs, tequila and silver products.

Back on the bus we headed out of the Old Town and made our way along the coastline to El Set Restaurant for lunch. Victor made a few suggestions as to what to have from the menu - if guests wanted a traditional Mexican meal. Whatever it was that I had - it was a traditional dish, simple but very tasty. The views from the restaurant over the bay were lovely.

Tequila Mamá - note the blue agave plants

We re-boarded the bus and continued along the narrow winding road to Mezcales to Tequila Mamá - a family run tequila distillery. This was the place that everyone on the tour bus had been waiting for! A gentleman who had married into the family of those that own the distillery explained the process of making tequila from the Agave Leica plant, also known at the blue agave or tequila agave. The plant is grey/blue with long leaves with spikes on either side. Other agave plants are greener, depending on the species of plant. The process of crushing the plant leaves to distilling is all done by hand rather than machinery as they do in factories. The result is a better quality tequila with good flavour. The worst quality is almost like paint stripper or vinegar. How many times the distilling process takes place for a batch will determine the quality as well.

After the talk it was time to taste some tequilas, starting with the best. From there we were able to taste blended tequilas, flavoured tequilas (with vanilla or almond added), a cream liquor and a fruity liquor. I don't like tequila (I've tried!) but I didn't say no to the tasting - I've got to give it another go! Well, my face screwed up.... the almond flavoured tequila was actually quite nice as was the cream liquor and another one that was blended with coffee, vanilla and chocolate. Yum.

Route to Huatulco.

When it was time to head to back to the ship guests were smiling even more and in a fantastic mood 😉.

Time for the Maasdam to head to Huatulco, further down the Mexican coastline; arriving there the day after tomorrow.

PHOTOGRAPHS

San Miguel Archangel Church