Home Sweet Home...

I am back in Vancouver just in time for Valentine's Day. I am wondering if the B & B still has rooms for the big weekend.

Arriving at the airport at midnight, o-so-relaxed from a month in the Mexican sun, I meet the slap in the face culture shock of returning home. Canada Customs puts their most surly(I hate my job) agent out to welcome me back. She never meets my eye, no smile, but she is full of mumbly irrelevant questions like "Did I travel to Puerto Vallarta to meet anyone?" This girl has just too much imagination and too little sense to be wearing a badge.

Waiting at the luggage carousel, I look up at TV carrying the late night local sports. This is strange because the local TV Sports Guy was actually on the flight from Phoenix with me. Of course, the big-screen is filled with a slam-bang hockey fist-fight, where nobody can land a punch as they grip each other's sweaters and swing around in circles on the ice. A real Canadian Waltz.

Someone just hardly bumps me with their luggage cart and I hear my first Canadian "Sorry!" Regrettably, we seem to use this word as much as Mexicans say "Hola!" Minus the smiles and eye contact.

I make it out to the Airport's Meet & Greet area. I told my husband to go to bed as he had work early the next day. Just warm up the sheets for me, please. I glance around not really expecting to see my Valentine. And no, he is not there. Instead, I meet the eye of BC.'s Premier Gordon Campbell, standing alone, very much by himself in the busy crowd. Like most locals, when he sees me looking, he suddenly has to check his Blackberry. Most of the world doesn't even know Blackberry is Canadian.

I am home.

Back to the beach...

Day after tomorrow, it's an early morning flight to Puerto Vallarta. I know from experience that a good book, walks on the beach and tequilas by the pool will take precedence over my fiddly notebook computer and a WIFI signal that seems to waft on the breeze.

I will leave you with something to entertain you for many hours. It's the latest year-end List of Lists , compiled by Rex Sorgatz on fimoculous.com. Sorry no sound of the waves and warning: may not be hangover-free.

Talk to you from Mexico :)

Vancouver in 3D !!!

Well I am back from 2 & a half weeks of Mexican bliss. Yes, I did practice responsible home ownership in Vallarta and painted the entire condo, etc, etc. Somehow, under the tropic sun and with the sound of the waves as background music, the home fix-it projects were easier than usual. Now, it's back to the northern beauty.

Vancouver sure is looking good. I would not want to knock anyone else's hometown but as I listened to the airport announcements for flights leaving Puerto Vallarta, there was not a single destination that could compare to Vancouver. A few sounded downright freezing, boring and depressing places to have to fly home to. I count my blessings. As I tiptoed into the Bed & Breakfast well past midnight to pick up Ozzie, our sweetheart Cairn Terrier, it was apparent that beloved dog and business had been very well cared for in my absence.

It's one of the great fears of parents, pet owners and us self-employed folk that things will go wrong the minute we absent ourselves. Little by little, I am learning that it ain't necessarily so. If you can surround yourself with the right people, responsible & intelligent, and exercise the right planning & preparation, it appears that both the dog and the B & B business have lives of their own! Thank you Team Nelson House! Thank you Matthew and Briana!

Vancouver sure has a lot of a life in it these days. Spring is already budding beautifully. Recession or not, the B & B is busy and people obviously want to come see what all the buzz is about. Vancouver has Olympic facilities to finish and mega projects underway - a harbourside convention centre with the world's largest green, living roof, a new LRT transit line from downtown to the airport & beyond, and a vastly improved mountain highway to Whistler. This year's Cultural Oympiad program, leading up to the Feb. 2010 Games, offers a stunning 122 first-calibre arts events and hundreds of performances. If you want to see one city in North America, that is actively bettering itself, this is the place to be.

Even Google Earth is paying attention. Last week, Vancouver joined New York City as one of world's first cities to be mapped in 3D! Over 1400 buildings have been rendered in three-dimensional colour and detail and set against the spectacular ocean and mountain backdrop of downtown Vancouver. Even Nelson House B & B, our 3-story heritage home at 977 Broughton St., is accurately imaged with light blue walls and silver roof. We are in the extreme left hand lower corner of the downtown image below. If you have Google Earth installed, zoom down and check us out. If not, it's a free download. Fly like a bird over and between the buildings! Vancouver in 3D! It's remarkable computer imaging but nothing compared to the real thing.

Time keeps on slippin...

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico sometimes seems like one golden sunset after another. The sound of the waves is hypnotic and soothing. The tequila is fine and the flowers pack a fluorescent punch against a turquoise pool. In this state of Jalisco, folk commonly meet your gaze and surprise with a "Hola" to a stranger.

Visiting only once or twice a year, I notice the differences and the dissonances. Worldwide recession has slowed the luxury real estate flipping but has perhaps created an opportunity for regular buyers. 2008 seems to have been the year in PV when OXXO declared that "This year, we take Vallarta!" Suddenly the 7-11 lookalikes are on every corner. Also, there are more open offers of drugs and commercial sex - sometimes ALL on the same corner. Our little sleepy village is growing up.

Still, as I live-blog the sunset(pale apricot deepening rapidly towards fuschia), I forgive Vallarta it's little flaws. WOW - a sexy red cat's eye wink from the sun as it gleams over Yelapa and under a heavy-lidded cloud. Where else can I enjoy such a cool, retro 80's radio sound as NOVENTA PUNTA TRES with my "sundowner"? And then head out to dine on Imperial Prawns that can live up to the name. Maybe dance until dawn at Manana. A little shallow? I think not. It is Deep Vacation.

Puerto Vallarta - beauty, fun & sensuality

Sorry to be away from the keyboard so long but if there is anything more addictive than blogging, then it is vacation. We are staying in Alondra, our Puerto Vallarta getaway home. It is a one bedroom, ocean-view condo, overlooking Los Muertos Beach. And it IS for rent, when we are not in residence!

The last few days have been oddly split between taking care of business(renewing Mexican immigration documents, meeting the accountant, shopping) and partying like there is no tomorrow. Friends and other owners in this small building dined, danced and drank until past 4 AM the other night. We called it a meeting of the condo executive.

Having recovered from the meeting, we took in our very favourite drag queens in the whole world at The Dirty Bitches Show last night. I think that City Hall should give these girls a medal for representing PV. As an ensemble, the Bitches are a force to be reckoned with. Their whole is far greater than the sum of their parts(and they do have some very nice parts!). The fun of Diva, the beauty of Jacqueline and the sensuality of Angelica are just like this wonderful town. Long Live the Dirty Bitches!

Off to Vallarta!

Adiós a mis amigos. Vamos a nuestro lugar en Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Próximo - de la playa....