First off my Las Brisas review is now showing in the hotel section:

tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g150787-d152…

And now on with my Adventures in Acapulco:

Tuesday 5/30

Arturo calls, he will be in lobby at 10:30am to start our City Tour. We have our Magic Box breakfast and head down to the lobby. As always Arturo is prompt and we start our tour.

First stop: A vista point overlooking Puerto Marques, Arturo points out all the hotels in the area and explains that this is area were ACA is moving into and building up.

Second stop: We drive up through upper Las Brisas (there are beautiful homes here) and to Capilla de la Paz. This is a beautiful chapel on the hill with the BIG cross. It contains the bodies of the family that built the first 25 casitas in LB hotel and a lot of other properties in the LB area. The 2 sons died in a plane crash, both were in their 20’s and then both of the parents passed within 3 years, a very sad story. It is so beautiful and peaceful here that I’ve decided I wouldn’t mind having my ashes put here for eternity.

Next, we drive through “New” ACA, this Arturo explains is the area with all the high rise hotels, etc. In the “Old” ACA you won’t see any of these tall buildings, it is zoned that way. He also shows us the convention center, nice design. I see many of the hotels and restaurants mentioned on TA. We pass a golf course that Arturo says costs over $200 a round. Tacos & Beer isn’t open yet, too bad, I wanted lunch. Guess it’s only open later in the day (and this was confirmed later in the week). I also see all the VW taxis, these drivers are loco! The buses look HOT (not in the Paris Hilton way, but in the temperature way) and everyone is honking! I feel like I am home in LA…LOL. Once again, glad I’m not driving.

Third stop: Fuerte de San Diego, Arturo gives us the history of the fort. He is very knowledgeable; he has been a federal tour guide since 1982.

We now drive into the “Old” ACA and through some of the neighborhoods.

Fourth stop: Shopping at Bonita Margarita Jewelry Store. First off they give us free Coronitas and margaritas! Free alcohol is always conducive to me spending money. I love amethysts and pick out 2 necklaces, 1 ring and a silver cat for my Mom. Now the bargaining begins. Starting price $1,000USD, final price $450USD. I feel quite good about this. The ring needs to be sized and one of the necklaces lengthened a bit, so we go off to the cliff divers 12:45 show and agree to return shortly to pick everything up.

Fifth stop: Cliff divers, we arrive at 12:45 on the dot, I guess they work on “Mexico time”, as show doesn’t start until a little after 1. It is amazing, I have no idea how these guys do this, but it is great to watch.

Sixth stop: Casablanca Hotel, which is a dive, but has the best view in ACA, according to Arturo, and I tend to agree with him. It is very HOT here. Coincidentally, while Arturo is showing us where Zzaa lives, his phone rings and it is her. ESP or… She (and her mother who lives above her) has a magnificent view. As we drive down the hill we stop for a look at Diego Rivera’s mosaics. They were completed in 1956 and he died in 1957, so it is some of his last work. Still beautiful to this day.

Seventh stop: Back to the jewelry store, the ring is still too small, so they work on it some more. In the meantime they bring us free margaritas and try to sell Grant something. As he is a gold lover, this is impossible. However, the salesman gets extra credit for his perseverance.

Next, we go for an uphill drive through the downtown area of ACA. It seems dirty to me, but Arturo says the storefronts in this area are very expensive. We keep going uphill, past the IMSS (biggest hospital in ACA), around a bunch of windy streets to “Arturo’s point”. He states that this is the second best view in ACA. We drive back down the hill and Arturo asks if we want to do some more shopping. Of course, my answer is yes, but G says, “No, she’s done”. Back to the LB we go $40 each for city tour, 5 hours and great information, once again well worth the money.

We take a quick swim to cool down. There is a great breeze up here in the hills, much better than down in ACA. I make sandwiches with my WalMart purchases and the bread from the Magic Box breakfast. We swim and relax for the rest of the afternoon.

6:30pm-We get cleaned up, as we must leave our casita at 7:30 for 1 hour, as they set up our romantic dinner.

7:30pm-We head down to the BellaVista bar, four drinks $32 (this is why I went to WalMart).

8:30pm-Back up to the room. As we walk down the path to the casita, there are candles lining the walkway. They are also around the pool and on the dinner and coffee tables. All are beautifully set with the dinner table placed by the pool and flower petals scattered everywhere. We start with a pitcher of margaritas and some chips and guacamole, set up in the living area. Then onto the dining table for the 1st (of 4) courses, Las Brisas salad (lettuce, lobster, quail, asparagus and hearts of palm), this is very good. The waiter asks how long we would like before the next course, 20 minutes; he leaves and returns promptly with the 2nd course. It is ravioli, the menu said stuffed with goat cheese and eggplant, however, I taste some type of meat, sausage perhaps? The 3rd, main course arrives, G is already full. It is filet of sole wrapped in bacon with a chive cream sauce. It is delicious. Desert is tiramisu and a carafe of coffee. Once the waiter has served this, he leaves for the night. Total for romantic dinner is $150 and TOTALLY worth it!

We are very full; we go for a night swim and jacuzzi and off to bed around midnight.

Wednesday 5/31

Sleep bad again, awake from 2-4am, then again at 6:15, I drift off for awhile and it is a little after 9am when I wake up for good. G brings me Magic Box breakfast in the bedroom; there is another table with 2 chairs in here. Then I have a morning swim and jacuzzi, this is the life!!!

Today was going to be a relaxing day with dinner at Linda Vista. However, due to bad weather earlier in the week and plan changes, we decide today is Pie de la Cuesta. We call Rosie (she is back from Mexico City) and she will pick us up at 1pm. We head to the lobby at 12:40. I exchange $100USD for pesos, as I am out of small bills for tipping. The hotel exchange rate is 10.65, not bad for a hotel?

Rosie is prompt as ever. She has brought me a beautiful large, pink artificial rose; it smells just like a real rose and is currently in my bedroom at home, still smelling great. Also, she brings us some mangos from her home. They have 15 different kinds of mangos, I didn’t even know there was more than one. She is very thoughtful; we head out for our daytrip.

She takes us on a drive through different neighborhoods in ACA on the way out to PDLC. We go through areas:

-The hospital and school zone.

-The area that in 1997 was washed away by mudslides caused by Hurricane Paulina. It rained from 10pm-7am and washed homes and people down the hills.

-The body shop and car service zone. I find it strange that a lot of the businesses are in “zones”.

-Past the bus terminal.

-Rosie shows us homes made of trunks of palm trees. Some aren’t permanent, as the people living in them are squatters. However, some are permanent and have electricity, water, etc. I see TVs and things in these and inquire about theft. Rosie says either someone is always home or a neighbor watches while you are out. Guess burglary isn’t a problem, as it is here in LA.

-Zzaa calls to see what we are doing today. I have her cancel Linda Vista reservation. Once again, such a nice person!!!

-Arrive PDLC.

This is a very interesting, laid back, and relaxing area. I see the cemetery that I had seen in pictures, it is oddly beautiful. I tell Rosie we want to go to Vayma, but she suggests Tres Marias, I trust her recommendation and we go. We start on the lagoon side (this restaurant has 2 locations, 1 on the lagoon side and 1 on the beach side). We start with cervezas, chips and guacamole. The chips (actually a small tortilla that you break into chips), guacamole and salsa verde are the best I’ve tasted in ACA. We each order Huachinango al Moja de Ajo, red snapper with garlic. I have mine grilled and G has his fried. The fish arrives, each one is whole (240 pesos each) and HUGE! I have never tasted fish this good and I love fish. The true test is that G says it’s the best fish he has ever had and he doesn’t like fish much. Just writing this is making my mouth water; I am craving fish right now! We both finish, stuffed again.

I am hot and take a dip in the pool. I order some fresh squeezed tangerine juice (on Rosie’s recommendation) and I’ve never tasted anything like this before. We look up and there’s Arturo and his & Rosie two children.

We rent a jet ski for 1 hour (500 pesos). G drives first and then he lets me have a try. His conclusion is that I’m only a good driver if we are going straight. We decide to go look at the beach side, Arturo, Rosie and family go water-skiing while we are gone.

We sit in the beach chairs and order a cerveza each. There are many beach vendors; I can usually tolerate them, however this bunch doesn’t get the meaning of NO. I take a dip in the pool on this side, then we decide to head back to the lagoon side until closer to the sunset. We order some margaritas, change out of our bathing suits and relax until sunset.

G and I head back to the beach side for sunset. We snag 2 hammocks and relax. It is getting a little cloudy and the clouds are blocking the sunset but it is still beautiful, shades of pastel pinks and blues. I finally give into one beach vendor:

1 silver bangle bracelet, $20, NO

1 silver bangle bracelet, $10, NO

4 silver bangle bracelets, $20, SOLD

Will use these as gifts.

We head back to the lagoon and ask for the bill, $1280 pesos TOTAL (after 500 for the jet ski and 240 times 2 for the fish, that means 300 for drinks all day, cheapest I’ve found in ACA), this also includes use of both pools and towels for the day. It is a WONDERFUL day!! I would highly recommend spending a day at PDLC and also the Tres Marias restaurant. Rosie takes us back to LB, $60 for 1-9pm, this is well worth the price.

We’re not very hungry; we order the Mexican appetizers from room service again. We have a little nosh, some WalMart drinks and I have my nightly swim and jacuzzi and watch the lightening storm (no thunder).

11pm-We go to bed, there is a chameleon on the bedroom wall and I can’t sleep. I keep turning the light on to make sure he hasn’t come near the bed. I finally drift off after midnight; I wake up briefly at 6am and then sleep through until 9:45 (the latest sleep of our trip).

Trip to be continued….

(Sorry this was so long!)