Today’s post is 1300 words, 40 photos, a 6 minute read. Enjoy!

Hi everyone,

This week I’ll take you to a church a farmers, market, the Malecón, and another walk on the beach. Included will be a couple of nice sunset photos. If you missed the past couple of episodes, click here and here.

It was about 9 AM with we climbed into the taxi for a ride to downtown Puerto Vallarta. The fare was $100 pesos or about $5 USD for four people. This is more cost effective than renting a car (finding parking) or more comfortable than riding the crowded buses. The driver dropped us near the Plaza de Armas (the Main Plaza) for the short walk to the Church.

The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe

My Traveling Partner and I were interested in seeing the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the main church in Puerto Vallarta. It was touted in guidebooks as one of the main attractions. I expected the main plaza to be large, it wasn’t. Sure the narrow plaza had shops and restaurants on each side plus a gazebo that led to the church but to me it seemed crowded and small.

The church on the outside is rather simple, at the time of its building Puerto Vallarta was rural seaside town for a long time until it became a tourist destination in the 1960s. The most prominent architectural feature is  the crown on top of the church. The second photo describes its significance.

Here are a couple different views of the crown.

The interior of the Church was more ornate than the exterior. The high alter contained a well-lit Nativity Scene (the photo was taken on January 5, 2025) with flashing lights. The gold drapery added color and dignity to the interior.

In a future blog post, I’ll take you to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. This is the site where the Virgin Mary revealed herself to Juan Diego in 1531, an indigenous Mexican man. So stay tuned for learning more about the miracle of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The Saturday Farmers Market

After our time at the church, we walked to the Olas Altas Farmers Market that is held every Saturday from late October to early May in the Lazaro Cardenas Park. There are more than a 100 local producers, artists, and food vendors. The park is on the smallish side, the place is crowded, a lot of gringos (from the US and Canada) frequent this market. I talked to a couple of Green Bay Packer fans from Appleton, Wisconsin. They were wearing their green and gold team t-shirts. We chatted about the game the next day, they were playing the Chicago Bears (the Packers lost) and their chances in the playoffs. You never know who you’re going to meet thousands of miles from home.

We walked around the park checking out the vendors. I was intrigued by Bickles Pickles, they call themselves the haven for pickle lovers. Next year (there will be a next year), I’m going to give the beet pickles a try.

We bought some fresh strawberries and blueberries, they were delicious. We tried a sample of chocolate at the booth in the photo below, then purchased some artisan chocolate bars to take home for gifts. If they make it home!

There were several artists selling their wares, it was all really nice, interesting artwork, and reasonably priced.

I was especially intrigued by the lone vendor of photography, Samuel Resendiz. His current focus is on underwater photography, it’s beautiful. I had a nice conversation about his photography and he asked about mine. He was fun to talk to, friendly and engaging. I purchased one of his photos, a whale just below a boat filled with whale watchers. He told me how he took the photo, he was in the right place at the right time and had the skills and knowledge ready to take the photo. Click here if you want to see a copy of the photo I purchased for $350 pesos, about $17.50 USD. For me the highlight of the market.

As we walked around, some artisans working on their craft. We stopped for a few minutes to watch them work.

It was getting close to lunch and the smell of cooking food made our stomachs rumble. My Traveling Partner and I each has a fresh made sandwich. We scored a couple of chairs near one of the vendors. While eating we noticed this interesting way to cook meat by using a discarded metal shopping cart.

There was a band playing  on a stage with a few people dancing to the energetic music.

In the middle of all the people milling around, the smell of food, and a band playing loud music, this dog needed a nap. He, it was a he, didn’t seem concerned about getting rounded up and shipped off to a new home in Canada (see the second photo below)! There he wouldn’t be napping in the middle of the sidewalk in January. Or would he?

The Malecón

Near the farmers market, the Puerto Vallarta Malecón runs along the beach for about a mile. In most places it’s very wide with lots of souvenir vendors, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. It’s a lively, hopping place. In the top two photos, this view is north, the third photo looks south.

One of the notable features along the Malecón are the 18 sculptures that tell some of the stories about Puerto Vallarta. The most famous sculpture (and an icon of the city) is The Boy on the Seahorse. There is an interesting legend connected to this sculpture, click here to read more about it.

Here are a few more sculptures. This one is titled Vallarta Dancers.

The title of this one is Nostalgia. 

This sculpture is titled Tritón y Sirena. In Greek mythology, Triton is a merman and the messenger of the sea while the Sirens are dangerous, beautiful sea creatures that lure sailors to shipwreck on their island with their enchanting music and voices. 

During our walk along the Malecón, we needed to use the restroom facilities. This one was $15 pesos or about $0.75 USD. We found it to be a challenge to have some $5 and $10 peso coins with us. Some restrooms only charge $10 pesos ($0.50 USD) and a few were $7 or $8 pesos.

The city Nativity Scene was still on display on the Malecón as was the tall fake Christmas tree.

Our mid-afternoon taxi ride back to the condo was $120 pesos or about $6 USD. We spent the rest of the day reading by the pool and mused about the potato sculptures that were located around the property. From what I could find online, that’s what they are, potatoes. I guess the artist did his/her job by making me look and wonder.

We walked on the beach, the waves cleaned the beach allowing for fresh foot prints.

We had another visit with our friend the egret with a broken foot. Either he/she was curious about an old guy rinsing the sand off his feet or hungry. I’m betting on the latter.

On our walk, we saw this scene at a nearby all-inclusive resort. I think it was a beach-side wedding because that night we could hear loud music coming from this resort.

We needed a few items from the grocery store. It was about a five minute walk but the passage to the front of the store from our location was through this narrow corridor. The first time it was a little spooky but we got used to it. Not sure I would walk there at night.

Here are a couple of sunset photos from the balcony of the condo. They were beautiful every night. I have more, you’ll see them in future blogs.

Next week join me for visits to a traditional market, a cemetery, a walk around the Romantic Zone, more Malecón, and another sunset photo.

Until then, happy travels!

Tom

PS: Click here for a link to the post about my book “Farm Boy.” Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a copy. Thanks to all have plunked down your hard earned dollars and read the book. TM