San Sebastian del Oeste

This past weekend Lucy, Sam and I took a short trip up to San Sebastian, a little town up in the Sierra Madre to the west of Puerto Vallarta. Lucy is a young British girl who is house sitting close by. Her brother Sam has been visiting this month. Larry stayed at home to supervise roof repairs. I can't wait to share San Sebastian with him sometime in the next few weeks!

It was wonderful getting out of the hot muggies and into the crisp, dry mountain sunshine. Just after sunset, the mist started pouring down the mountain side. Sleeping overnight in those big thick walls of the Hotel Pabellon, I was looking for an extra blankie in the early morning.
The courtyard of the hotel is in the photo to the left. A family from Guadalajara just bought it and they're really spiffing it up. It's an attitude and activity I saw all over the town.

We had the best Italian meal ever at a place called Minas Real. It's run by Coco -- who was born in the house where the restaurant is located, and her husband Walter, an authentic Italian who makes his own pasta, bakes his own bread and serves it all with wonderful sauces. I had mushroom ravioli with pesto sauce. The pizza, ordered by Sam, was superb, as well. Thin, crispy, baked in a wood-fired oven. And there was tira misu for dessert!

I posted an album under Susan's Photo Albums. It should give you a taste of the completely different landscape and atmosphere that lie just under two hours away from us. I did leave out quite a bit, including a whole series taken at a brand new tiny little tequila distillery near that phenomenal bridge at the front of the album. The couple who run it are so sweet -- and very generous sharing their extremely clean public restrooms.

I took a lot of shots of the Hacienda Jalisco, a bed and breakfast/museum just outside of San Sebastian. And Lucy and Sam and I were intrigued by La Galerita, but weren't able to find anybody home.

The new road has only been open just under two years. You can see remnants of the old one that snaked to the bottom of a canyon and then back up again. That beautiful bridge has shaved about two or three hours off the trip! That's if you could make it at all. The road was often closed in the rainy season. San Sebastian may have another boom time ahead of it! But, shush! Don't let anybody know.