We are staying in a lovely beach front unit in Torremolinos, about 20 minutes from the Malaga airport, which has direct flights from Canada.  This helped minimize COVID related complications. Canadian side travel arrangements were all handled online, including uploading the Canadian government vaccination QR code, and also obtaining the Spanish health QR code which is mandatory.  We observed two un-fortunate couples who were refused entry at the boarding gate because they didn't have the proper Spanish health QR code.  This was a bit surprising, because the airport baggage check did ask to see our codes which we kept in our phone wallet, but they didn't actually scan it at that stage.  Biggest delay at the Montreal airport was not security, but was the surge of Air Transat customers checking in over the 3-4 hours prior to departure.

Slide Show with 50 photos: Arriving on a Sunday meant that the beaches and related restaurants were quite busy, since most businesses are closed on Sunday.  The mid day temperature was a very warm 26C, with light cooling breezes from the ocean.  Evening cooled to a more comfortable 22C for dining in the outdoor market squares.  The generally lower humidity than other tropical destinations make the temperature more enjoyable.

There are a lot of fish centric restaurants along the beach strip, as well as a multi cultural collection of others like German/Belgian, Italian, East Indian, and oriental.  My beer of choice is Guinness, which is harder to get here, but is available in some Irish pub type places which cater to the UK visitors.  I tried a possible local alternative which is a "dark beer" by Leffe (Belgian) called Bruin. Its a little sweet tasting, but ok. Corona seems like a popular choice here.  BBQ sardines are popular, with outdoor BBQ pit's arranged as show pieces in old boats near the beach front strip.

Aside from the many public access points to the beach, there are an abundance of daily rental beach palapa's with recliners at beach clubs.

The winding back streets remind me of Greek Mykonos, providing access from the beach strip up to the main business areas.  We enjoyed walking up San Miguel Street, to Costa del Sol street, to get to purchase a local mobile phone SIM card at the Vodaphone store.   A data plan here was C$20 for 50GB for the month!  WOW

Most store keepers have "some" English, but the google translate app became my friend, when I needed to clarify key details.  The photo translate feature was very handy for a chalk board menu at one side street restaurant, which had a E9.50 lunch special, with 2 courses, beverage, desert.  All were delicious. 

Many businesses and schools close in the hot mid day, from 2pm to 5pm.  This can be a little frustrating if you are trying to shop then, but if you are living here it really makes so much sense, because the mornings and evenings are a much more comfortable temperature.  Also bigger stores in the main street's that cater to tourists don't seem to take the Siesta break as much.

Slideshow:

(Click Photo to see more sculptures, and use the Slide Show to see largest sized photos)

RVN05332webThrone, Ice scultures, Dartmouth Ice Festival, Nova Scotia, Canada; Rob

In the mid 1970's, during my teen years, my interest in electronics resulted in my building of a totally "home brew" computer.  It was based around the RCA 1802 microprocessor.  I started with a basic circuit diagram as published in "Popular Electronics" magazine, who referred to it as the Cosmac Elf.  I wanted something "fancier" than the open breadboard type of circuit, so I designed mine based loosely around the IMSAI 8080 that I had seen in magazine advertisements.

Cosmac Elf 1802 home made computer, 1975

Cosmac Elf - Home made computer, 1975My FIRST computer - homemade "Cosmac Elf" from 70's. No keyboard, no screen. You flip the 8 switches (7-0) into a pattern that represents a number or letter, then press input. The display is the two squares which could display TWO numbers or letters at a time! Years of fun from this...1975

It featured eight on/off input switches (7-0) to set the binary data input of HEX digits.  Plus a 2 digit HEX display (0-9, A-F).  Also 4 special EF input switches that could be set to control other devices

1K MEMORY BOARD, home made

Home made memory board - 1024 bytes (i.e.1K)Home made etched circuit board Memory, in Cosmac Elf home brew computer.1975

The circuit board shown here was an evolution of the original 256 Byte design, adding 1024 more bytes (1K).  I used a kit from Radio Shack to etch the copper backed circuit boards, using my own designs, based on the schematic.

My interest in electronics was spawned at the age of 8 years old, when my dad showed me how to build a home brew "Crystal Radio", using a 50 foot long copper wire as an antenna, a toilet paper roll coil, cat whisker diode, and headphone set from his dad.

CrystalRadio1Cat wisker diode for Crystal Radio CrystalRadio2Coil and headset for Crystal Radio

I love driving "off the beaten path" and have come to appreciate the many hidden gems in the rural parts of Nova Scotia.  This article encompasses an interesting rural area which is fun and easy to drive through, but also has much more to see and enjoy than first glance if you take the time to look beyond the obvious.  My content is a mixture of what's there now, combined with insights to some past gems that have faded into history.

How do you live with such an ever changing ocean environment? Discover more about the people, places and things of the southern shore area of the Cobequid Bay, located between Maitland, and Summerville. It includes many rural communities who embrace the coastal rural lifestyle there.  Noel, Walton, Kennetcook, etc.

2014062564Noel, Nova Scotia

A classic 1980's Widgeon sailboat was a delightful beginner boat for me at my cottage in the Cobequid Bay (Bay of Fundy) of Nova Scotia, Canada. My sailing was mostly in the Noel Bay area, sailing across to the "notch" point, or up along the coast to the Burntcoat Lighthouse museum. The keel that folds up into a trunk is well suited to the 50 foot tide swings and mud flats at low tide.

Click the image to see the slide show:

English / Español 

Following the coastline south of Puerto Vallarta, you can find a flourishing rural lifestyle, picturesque waterfalls as you head inland into the lush jungles.  Each of the coastal fishing communities seem to have beautiful sandy beaches.  About an hour away the Botanical Gardens provide an amazing collection of local plants and trees, centered around a well equipped visitor center with a great restaurant, museum and Tequila bar.

Click on the image to see 88 more photos  Use the Slide show button to view full screen size.

Click photo to see 88 more images.Mismaloya Beach, Rural jungle, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in the movie Predator which was filmed on location at El Eden, which has a great waterfall and restaurant as well as zip line.

These photos were taken on the eve of our current Covid-19 corona virus pandemic, while in Mexico in early March 2020.

MexicoFlag

Siguiendo la costa al sur de Puerto Vallarta, puedes encontrar un floreciente estilo de vida rural, pintorescas cascadas mientras te diriges tierra adentro a las exuberantes selvas. Cada una de las comunidades pesqueras costeras parece tener hermosas playas de arena. Aproximadamente a una hora de distancia, el Jardín Botánico ofrece una increíble colección de plantas y árboles locales, centrada en un centro de visitantes bien equipado con un gran restaurante, museo y bar de tequila.

88 imágenes más al hacer clic.
(Haga clic para ver 88 fotos) Cascada de la selvaLush Jungle Park, El Eden, Rural jungle, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, México; tirolinas, set de película Predator
Playa Mismaloya, selva rural, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, México
Haga clic en la imagen para ver 88 fotos más. Use el botón Presentación con diapositivas para ver el tamaño de pantalla completa.

Arnold Schwarzenegger protagonizó la película Predator, que se filmó en el lugar en El Eden, que tiene una gran cascada y un restaurante, así como una tirolina.

Estas fotos fueron tomadas en la víspera de nuestra actual pandemia del virus corona Covid-19, mientras que en México a principios de marzo de 2020.

(Esta traducción fue realizada por Google)

Click photo to see 33 more images. The famous bridge across the streetThis famous bridge crosses the street between the two homes of Liz and Richard. Liz Taylor / Richard Burton, Gringo Gulch, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico; Night of the Iguana movie.

In the popular bohemian style Babel Restaurant, which overlooks the Rio Cuale, we enjoyed some regional folk music with our lunch.  The group Tajin had an interesting collection of musical instruments.  Harp, pan flute, box drum plus a VERY UNIQUE horse head bone set, with guitars and violin.

Our adventures this day started out at our AirBNB, when we watched the locals in bare feet, climb a coconut tree with rope in hand, to harvest the coconuts, by gently lowering them using the rope.

We had an opportunity to view a lovely home for rent, located in the romantic zone.  It had one very unique ingenious feature, whereby you could open the entry door from the top of the long flight of stairs, by simply pulling on a loop wire!

While stopping for a refreshing drink later in the afternoon, it was interesting to observe the "cigar smokers group" gathering in a large open area at the back of a nice jungle atmosphere restaurant.  The restaurant was even equipped with water mist sprayers, and a mermaid!   Horse head bones instrumentHorse bones,Tajin band music, Babel restaurant, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico; Harp, pan flute, horse bones, violin, box drum

In order to bolster our Covid-19 defenses, we took a trip in our neighborhood to the BIG grocery store where we were able to purchase some Lysol disinfecting wipes!!  We ended up sharing this treasure with our fellow B&B friends when we left town.

Click here to see full gallery of 33 photos (use the slide show button to see the full screen sized images)

Layla's server demonstrating his skills

They provided us with some excellent unique appetizers even though we didn't order them.  We were a bit lucky that we had a very good server to ourselves because our section had very few others.  The "skirt beef" was a new experience for me, but was very flavorful and tender the way they prepared it.  For dessert there was a very lemony creation, maybe a bit like baked ice cream.  For our finale, our server performed an awesome preparation of a "flaming coffee", sort of like Irish Coffee on steroids.
 

Exploring the "romantic zone" of Puerto Vallarta, we enjoyed some ice cream at Lix which we saw featured on the man washing laundry in Cuale RiverWashing clothes in the Cuale river, Romantic Zone, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico
TV show "Mexico Life" or similar.  The owners were from the US, and wanted to change their lifestyle by moving to Mexico.  The Rio Cuale (River Cuale) 
has been a thread of life for the local Mexicans for many years.  Twenty years ago when i visited here, there were numerous "Laundry Services" that would wash your clothes in the river (with soap) and dry them on the rocks.  That practice is not common any more, but we happened to see a young, possibly homeless, man washing his clothes that were carried in his suit case.

The romantic zone is vibrant with various fresh food producers.  We visited a tortilla factory (La Gloria - a tortilleria), and found a fresh fish on ice place, then fresh fruit and vegetables stand.  The local art gallery was fun to see statues and painted art including some VERY large pieces, and some humorous ones.  We stopped to taste some fresh chocolate dipped coffee beans next door - yummy. Fresh fish on iceFresh fish, Romantic Zone, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

We were slightly confused when we could not follow our map, because the 2nd bridge that crosses the Rio Cuale had been washed away in the last rainy season.

I wanted to find the hotel that I had stayed in 20 years ago, when I traveled to PV with my teen aged son.  The Las Palmas has changed quite a bit, like everything else in PV since then, but still had many recognizable features still in place.

Gallery of 30 photos. (Use slide show option for full screen view)
 

Click on the photo below to open the full gallery of this "out of PV" day trip.  Use the SLIDESHOW option if you want to see the full screen view of the images.

Surfer beach, from restaurant perspectiveThe beach has beginner and expert sections. Don pedros restaurant, Sayulita Nayarit, Mexico. Near Puerto Vallarta (PV).

Click on the image to see 20 more images from the day trip.  I recommend you use the Slide Show option to see the full screen view of the images.

Sailing out of the Bay.Day sailing, Ada Sailing, Brewer 78 Ketch, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, MexicoPuerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

• Encompassing the Malecon tourist strip
• Traditional Mexican back streets
• Nearby Jungle area including the Botanical Gardens and film set site for Predator
• Sailing and Whale watching
• Side trip to surfer town Sayulita, Nayarit

Overview Gallery (27 photos)

Use the Slide Show option there to see the biggest versions of the photos.

(OR you can see the whole gallery here: Whole Gallery )
Click image for 27 more photos.Colourful Mexican celebration banner flags. Hotel Posada de Roger, Romantic zone, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, spring 2020

RVN00996webAshdale famous, American Chestnut Tree, An Endangered Species, Nova Scotia, Canada; Castanea dentata; 1905 oldest Canadian tree

The lava flow and volcanic rubble create fascinating abstract photos through the well maintained Spanish trail system.

The green pine tree forests are rare in Tenerife, until you climb up into the mountain area away from the beach resorts.

TIP: Use the SLIDESHOW button in the top right hand side to see the biggest version of the photos.

Mount Teide road tripDriving through the volcanic rubble in the caldera of Mount Teide, Tenerife, Spain

• Beaches: Golden Sahara desert sand and black volcanic sand

• Clean modern / classic buildings plus old Spanish

• Staircase style Architecture

• Mini Las Vegas if you want it

• Many natural attractions, and other attractions

• Small cars and narrow streets - plus major highways

• Underground building construction

• 12,000 foot mountain climb

(Click photos below to see Gallery of more related photos of that subject - use the SLIDE SHOW option to see biggest photos with captions)

30 photo SUMMARY:
IMG_8460wPlaya de Las Teresitas, Tenerife. Golden Sand beach IMPORTED from the Sahara Desert, nearby!

The touristy part of the island is the south, which is very hot, with dry savannah / bad lands like African safari:

IMG_7561wStaircase architecture, Los Cristianos, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

The Northern part of the island is greener:

IMG_8191wSteep downhill mountain switchbacks, enroute to Garachico, North shore, Tenerife Island, Canary Islands, Spain 2019

Rural roads through base of mountain:

IMG_7693wStone arch bridge, Barren mountain desert, Rural drive, South side, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain; 2019

Mt. Teide National park, takes you to 12,000 feet by cable car:

IMG_8116wMount Teide

Pico del Teide, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain 2019

I hope all continues to run smoothy.

You may notice a few "broken links" from google searches, that are trying to find the old page.

Thanks, Rob