Day 6 in Puerto Vallarta - We're climbing up that hill. No, we're not.

Today was the day that we we're going to take the million or so steps (approximate) to the top of a lookout to see the view. The instructions on how to find the route to the top were vague until we came upon a local's notes about starting from the "3 figures sculpture on the malecon and just start walking up from there". 

We figured this had to be the one since the only other sculpture of three figures was of three dolphins:

We decided that the cool of the morning was the best time to climb a hill so we got up around 7, ate a light breakfast, packed water bottles in a back pack and set out.

Okay. First, it's about a mile to get to the "3 figures". Further than I remembered. But we kept going and then turned inland and started walking. It wasn't long before we came to stairs:

Lots of stairs. We seemed to be on the right path. And then, about a third of the way up, the path came to a dead end. 

It's still a nice view. 

You see the structure at the top of the picture that looks kind of like a water slide? I think that's where we were supposed to end up. I could see people up there.

After we took this picture it seemed like every dog in the neighborhood was barking. Giving up we started down again, but taking a different route so we could at least see more of the neighborhood:

This restaurant looked nice and swanky and like a place that only the locals know about.

We stopped at a coffee cafe for refreshments and then since we were right next to the Rio Cuale we walked around in the serene park.

 There were cats everywhere and a building where someone was leaving food for them.

 John Houston the director.

 Art and/or graffiti on the walls.

An iguana and cats, playing instruments, on a boat. Why not.

Bridge from the island on the Rio Cuale back to the streets.

 A "tree" of green bottles with a flowering plant that had grown among the branches.

We had lunch at the apartment (grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches) and worked on the blog, then set out for the Choco Museum.

 A sculpture we had somehow missed on the malecon. A bass player.

 And another one. A mermaid, with wings, playing the violin.

Don didn't take any pictures in the Choco Museum because there weren't any worth posting. You can skip the "museum" part of the Choco Museum which is on the 2nd floor (a coffee and chocolate cafe is on the 3rd floor). It is just a small room, without A/C, with a series of pictures and drawings about the discovery and history of chocolate. Look it up on Wikipedia in the comfort of your own home if you want to know about the cacao bean and chocolate making. The only reason to go to the Choco Museum is, you guessed it, to buy chocolate. We sampled many different kinds of chocolate, also had shots of chocolate liquors (!), and even sampled some fantastic sauces that are made with chocolate nibs and other spices and don't taste sweet but are savory instead. We bought some chocolate and a really tasty and unique green sauce that we're going to use as salad dressing and for food topping.

We were going to try 116 Pulpito, the tapas place, for dinner but they're closed on Sunday. So is Kaiser Maximilian. We wandered around for a bit and settled on an Italian place on the Basilio Badilla and had the best roast beef with lamb sauce (a gravy with rosemary I think), tuna tartar, bruschetta, and a pizza. The pizza was so inexpensive that we thought it must be a personal size pizza. Nope. So we took the pizza, and my leftover roast beef, in a to-go container to eat another time.

Next up: 28 hours in Talpa de Allende!