Final Day for My Friends

It's the final day for my friends so I wanted to make sure we made it a good one.  After a nice breakfast at the resort, we got ready and headed into town.  We decided to take the water taxi to Playa Las Gatas for the afternoon.  However, before we did...we decided on a bit of an adventure.

To the right side of the resort, there is a staircase heading down.  We don't know where it leads, but from what we've heard, it heads to the home of the man who built our resort.  Once he sold it, he parsed off his property.  We suspect that it leads to the cobblestone road we've been traversing..without all the steps and we want to find out.  So off we go.

First there are steps leading downward, then the road splinters off..to the right is the private property, but to the left is the road, which is treelined, shady and beautiful, and that is the direction we turn.  There are some exquisite views from this road and there are some homes that are absolutely stunning.  Now we know why we're behind a gate.  As we head closer, it looks as though the gate is closed to us, but actually it's partially open where the Security guard is and he has just walked thru it to the other side.  So we brazenly follow him and when he talks to us...well, we don't understand a lot of Spanish, and he doesn't understand English, but he doesn't stop us...and off we go.

We walk down to the pier and get our tickets for the water taxi and we're off to the races. Once we land, we begin our walk past the first bar/lounge area and walk past two gentlemen and a woman that says we need to stop here for the best food and drink.  They're sitting at a table that is in the water, along with their chairs. This woman (my guess is late 60's early 70's) has the leathery skin of a woman who chases the sun year round, but a ready smile and a twinkle in her eye. She's got on a white cowboy hat that has a rainbow colored crown on it.  I tell her I love her crown and she tells me that she's the Princess, to which I reply "Damn Straight you are, Girlfriend!" We decide to walk all away around the crescent beach to the end of the path just to sight see, etc.  There's a house there at the end, secluded amongst the trees and it is impeccably groomed, with a pool, pool house, bar, etc.  We don't see anyone, but we don't trespass...this is a well loved home.  We head back the way we came and decide on "Pretty Princess's" Bar.

Witness Protection plan.

We finally get K's "buckets o beer", we kick back and we relax.  There is plenty to see around here and since it is a Saturday, everyone is here with their kids.  One sweet little girl (3 years of age?) keeps walking past us.  She lugs her little pail full of water or sand.  She just toils away for the fun of it and I just enjoy watching her determination.

Once it gets a little hot, we take a dip in the ocean to cool off.  The great thing about this part of the beach is that it is not rocky, so I don't have to wear anything on my feet to protect it. Sweet!!!  But the  water is crowded due to the weekend.  We finish off our beers and we decide to head home.  Time for a dip in our pool!  However, we do decide to try our luck and see if we can walk back the way we came.  We get to the Guard gate, but it's a new guard, and he is having NONE of our BS!!!  Darn it!  We have to walk up the steps of torture.  Ah well, in the grand scheme of things, I know it's giving me a butt lift so...

After our own siesta and some snacks, we get it together and head downtown for dinner.  This time a different Italian place.  La Vita e Bella.  Really good!  This one was on the cobblestone streets in mid-town.  R had the lasagne, K had the penne carbonara, and I had the fettuccini with Vodka sauce and bacon.  For the appetizer, we had fried squid.  And K and I each had a Mojito.  OMG, was that Mojito delicious.  We need a break from the whole Margarita thing, and this was perfect.  The squid came out and it was good.  I like the squiggly legs, so I got to enjoy most of those while K and R ate some rings.  Out came our pasta and it was so delicious!  Really nice sized portions (K and I didn't finish ours), the right amount of sauce. They sprinkle parmesan on top which makes everything awesome.  We left with our belly's round and another urge to walk it off.

We head toward the ocean where we know it's a little cooler and walk the distance of the Malecon. While on our walk, we came across a guitar player that had this little toddler standing in front of him.  He was absolutely enthralled with what he was hearing...just staring at the guitarist...I think he's a future Rocker in the making. After walking off the meal, and picking up a lighter for my candles, we head back home.  We watch a movie together and I head back to my room.

Wouldn't you know it?  Fireworks are going off in the distance.  What a way to cap off a great day, but with fireworks going off.  Are we lucky, or what?