Downtown Puerto Vallarta

On Friday, we took a cab into downtown Puerto Vallarta (we were staying Nuevo Vallarta, and with traffic it took about 30 minutes to get down there). It was fun to see the sights and walk around for a bit.

One of the plazas -

We picked up some Mexican vanilla -

Observed what you can pick up over the counter at the local Mexican farmacia -

Walked around the flea market -

Walked on the boardwalk along the ocean -

Had a pretty view of the jungle-filled mountains nearby -

But my least favorite was being around the beaches close to the shops. This picture doesn’t very accurately depict it, but I felt like these beaches were crowded, dirty, and full of people approaching you to buy their stuff. It was hot and sunny and I was ready to go back to our peaceful hotel.

So that’s what we did :) Ahhhhhhh.

So serene – the only people in the pool were over by the poolside bar. But otherwise it was pretty quiet.

Ben was so happy to totally unwind on this vacation. Each morning he got up early and took a jog on the beach (while I slept in). One other thing that contributed to this was that his boss from work called the hotel while we were there and hooked us up with a gift certificate for a couples massage at the spa – such a generous and thoughtful gift for our anniversary!

It was heaven. Before the massage, we each had a 50-minute hydrotherapy session, which included:

1. 6-second cold shower

2. 10 minutes in the sauna with eucalyptus scent

3. Another 6-second cold shower

4. 10 minutes in a hot steam room with a glowing rock in the middle with more eucalyptus.

5. Another 6-second cold shower.

6. Ten minutes in a jacuzzi with jets

7. Five minutes in the leg therapy jacuzzi

8. Cold pool dip

9. Warm pool for five minutes.

10. Then change from swimsuit to big comfy robe, relax on a lounge chair with cucumbers on the eyes, as well as a warm, heavy, sand-filled neck wrap.

After all of that, we were then brought together (hydrotherapy keeps men/women separated) in the massage room, where they washed our feet and dropped flower petals over our feet in the water basins. The actual massage included heated smooth stones, scents… After the 50-minute massage, we had time alone to sit at a candle-lit table and eat chocolate-covered strawberries and sip pina coladas.

Seriously, best massage ever. The result?

A really relaxed, happy husband.