We woke up at 6:30 and loaded that car and headed to the airport to catch our 8:50 flight. It was 20 degrees outside We were to leave Indy and fly to Dallas, have an hour layover and then switch planes and fly to PV. We got to the airport, checked in quickly (this year we decided to go First Class…..Much shorter lines). Chris got stopped at security, but it turns out his metal belt buckle in combination with the 5 buttons on his 501 jeans was considered too much metal, so he stripped off the belt and walked through again and no alarms went off. We boarded the plane, got settled and then the pilot came on to inform us that the underground fuel pump was not working properly and we did not have enough fuel to make it to Dallas, but, there was another pump that they would hook the hose up to and we should be on our way shortly. Everyone on the plane watched as they switched the hose from one hole in the ground to another and shortly thereafter, the pilot came on and said that this pump was not working either. He assured us that he had called an old fashion fuel truck and that we should be off the ground shortly. The fuel truck finally showed up and within minutes, we were full and pulling away from the gate…….30 minutes late. The pilot came on and said we should be able to make up the time in the air. We took off, had some breakfast, had a nice quiet flight to Dallas. Then we landed and realized that we had very little time to get to our connecting flight. Actually we had about 12 minutes and we needed to catch a train and switch terminals. We hauled it to the other gate and made it with just minutes to spare. We asked the attendant at the gate if our luggage would make it and she assured us that if we were there, it was already there. We got our seats, sat back and in just a little over 2 hours, were touching down in Puerto Vallarta. It was 89 degrees and sunny :)
When you land in PV, you get off the plane outside and walk into the building to go through immigration and customs. Last year it was a pretty quick experience. This year, not so much. There were hoardes of people in the lines and it took us a good 45 minutes to get through the immigration line. You then head to Customs to play bag search roulette. They scan your carry on bags and then you have to walk up and press this button. If the light turns red, they take you over and hand search your bags. If it turns green, you walk on through. Both of us got green. So off we went on this loooooong walk to get our luggage. When we got to the baggage claim for our flight, all of the bags had been lined up on the floor (remember this is an hour after we had landed, so other flights had come in and needed the carousel). We did not see our bags, so went up the guy at the podium and he checked some sheet and sure enough, our bags had not made the connection. They said they would be in on one of the 2 later flights and that they would deliver them to the Villa as soon as they arrived. We gave him our info and he gave us a copy of the form he filled out and headed out to get a taxi. It is a very uncomfortable feeling leaving the airport in a foreign country with only the clothes on your back, not knowing if or when you will see your clothes again. I had packed a pair of shorts in my carry-on and had changed on the plane, but Chris was in jeans and a t-shirt and sweatshirt.
We grabbed a taxi, got to the Villa and rang the bell. As soon as the door opened, we saw David (from Seattle), a nice guy that we had met last year, sitting by the pool with 3 other guys. We got our room keys, went up and dropped our bags on the bed and headed down to join them. The other guys were David and Grant (from Milwaukee) and Max (from Glasgow, Scotland, but now living in London) We spent the next couple of hours just sitting by the pool, drinking Coronas and catching up with David and getting to know the other guys.
As it was approaching 6:00 PM, we pulled out the form that the guy at the airport had given us to see if we could find a phone number to call and check on our luggage. Our hearts suddenly sank as we realized that the guy had written down the wrong number for the address. Chris quickly grabbed his laptop and logged on to the American Airlines site to see if he could find a number to call. It was at that same moment that the doorbell of the Villa rang and lo and behold, there was the guy with our luggage. RELIEF!!!
We ran up and unpacked, showered and changed and walked down to the grocery store to buy some Vodka, sodas and snacks for the room. We got back, dropped off our stuff and decided to head out for some dinner. As we were getting ready to leave, David (Seattle) asked us if we would like to join him. It was his last night there and we thought it would be perfect to spend some time with him. We headed down the hill a block or so to one of his favorite restaurants, Chez Elena. There was no one else there, so we got great personalized service. We were seated on the balcony and could look out at the ocean while we ate. Chris had a bowl of Cheese and beer soup to start with and then pork in a sweet onion and red anchiote chile sauce as his entrée. I had the Mexican plate with a chile relleno, a chicken enchilada with mole sauce and the very tender chunks of beef. David had a seafood alfredo pasta. All of it was very good. For dessert, Chris had the Flan and David had this flaming Mexican coffee with 4 different liquors and a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it. I just sampled both of theirs. YUM!
After dinner, we headed back to the Villa and just relaxed by the pool. David (seattle) had to go up and pack and get to bed, so we sat and got to know David and Grant who were also leaving the next morning, and Max who was there until Friday. I think we finally got to bed at about 2:00 AM. A great first night!
When you land in PV, you get off the plane outside and walk into the building to go through immigration and customs. Last year it was a pretty quick experience. This year, not so much. There were hoardes of people in the lines and it took us a good 45 minutes to get through the immigration line. You then head to Customs to play bag search roulette. They scan your carry on bags and then you have to walk up and press this button. If the light turns red, they take you over and hand search your bags. If it turns green, you walk on through. Both of us got green. So off we went on this loooooong walk to get our luggage. When we got to the baggage claim for our flight, all of the bags had been lined up on the floor (remember this is an hour after we had landed, so other flights had come in and needed the carousel). We did not see our bags, so went up the guy at the podium and he checked some sheet and sure enough, our bags had not made the connection. They said they would be in on one of the 2 later flights and that they would deliver them to the Villa as soon as they arrived. We gave him our info and he gave us a copy of the form he filled out and headed out to get a taxi. It is a very uncomfortable feeling leaving the airport in a foreign country with only the clothes on your back, not knowing if or when you will see your clothes again. I had packed a pair of shorts in my carry-on and had changed on the plane, but Chris was in jeans and a t-shirt and sweatshirt.
We grabbed a taxi, got to the Villa and rang the bell. As soon as the door opened, we saw David (from Seattle), a nice guy that we had met last year, sitting by the pool with 3 other guys. We got our room keys, went up and dropped our bags on the bed and headed down to join them. The other guys were David and Grant (from Milwaukee) and Max (from Glasgow, Scotland, but now living in London) We spent the next couple of hours just sitting by the pool, drinking Coronas and catching up with David and getting to know the other guys.
As it was approaching 6:00 PM, we pulled out the form that the guy at the airport had given us to see if we could find a phone number to call and check on our luggage. Our hearts suddenly sank as we realized that the guy had written down the wrong number for the address. Chris quickly grabbed his laptop and logged on to the American Airlines site to see if he could find a number to call. It was at that same moment that the doorbell of the Villa rang and lo and behold, there was the guy with our luggage. RELIEF!!!
We ran up and unpacked, showered and changed and walked down to the grocery store to buy some Vodka, sodas and snacks for the room. We got back, dropped off our stuff and decided to head out for some dinner. As we were getting ready to leave, David (Seattle) asked us if we would like to join him. It was his last night there and we thought it would be perfect to spend some time with him. We headed down the hill a block or so to one of his favorite restaurants, Chez Elena. There was no one else there, so we got great personalized service. We were seated on the balcony and could look out at the ocean while we ate. Chris had a bowl of Cheese and beer soup to start with and then pork in a sweet onion and red anchiote chile sauce as his entrée. I had the Mexican plate with a chile relleno, a chicken enchilada with mole sauce and the very tender chunks of beef. David had a seafood alfredo pasta. All of it was very good. For dessert, Chris had the Flan and David had this flaming Mexican coffee with 4 different liquors and a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it. I just sampled both of theirs. YUM!
After dinner, we headed back to the Villa and just relaxed by the pool. David (seattle) had to go up and pack and get to bed, so we sat and got to know David and Grant who were also leaving the next morning, and Max who was there until Friday. I think we finally got to bed at about 2:00 AM. A great first night!
1 comment:
Wow how neat for you that your first day there you see someone you knew from last year. I am off to day two.
mom
Post a Comment