The Seahorse Cucina Bar and Lounge, Italian Cuisine in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Has A wonderful Sunset View
Chef Raul Garcia De Alba Trained Many Chefs For The Il Fornaio Restaurant Group in California
Authentic Italian Cuisine in Puerto Vallarta in The Center of Town in Puerto Vallarta
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Hello fellow travelers, welcome this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel show. I am your host Barry Kessler, and I am just so happy to be introducing you to my favorite vacation destination, and maybe even yours, Puerto Vallarta Mexico.
That music you were just listening to is performed by Alberto Perez, the owner of the La Palapa Group of Restaurants. Those are La Palapa, Puerto Vallarta’s Oldest Restaurant on the famous Los Muertos Beach, and The El Dorado Restaurant and Beach Club right next door so you can enjoy that fantastic view of the Los Muertos Pier all lit up at night in beautiful colors, or during the day in its grand splendor for breakfast, lunch or dinner, seated with our toes in the sand right at the water’s edge. It’s so romantic, it’s so, Puerto Vallarta my friends.
This week in honor of Restaurant Week, which is really Restaurant Month in Puerto Vallarta, we are going to visit with Chef Raul Garcia De Alba, the owner of a lovely Italian
Contact Information For The Seahorse Cucina Bar & Restaurant in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Address: Calle Zaragoza 160 B Cuarto Piso Centro de Vallarta
- Telephone: +52 322 276 4650
- Email: theseahorserestaurantepv@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theseahorsepv
Restaurant with an incredible view, The Seahorse Cucina Bar and Lounge, right on the Plaza de Armas with a front row view of the Inglesia de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe on
one side, and the Malecon and the Bahia de Banderas on the other. We will also be visiting with our friends Lisa and Billy from RISE, Refugeo Infantil Santa Esperanza, one of our favorite homes for children at risk, an orphanage if you may right here in Puerto Vallarta. They have a big fundraiser, a real event planned that they want to share with us. But before we get to Raul and Lisa and Billy, let’s see what’s happening this week in Puerto Vallarta, the 28th of September, 2021.
Hurricane Nora Recovery in Vallarta
Vallarta is recovering slowly but the rain continues to hamper the rebuilding efforts.
Plans for the new bridge have been submitted and it was announced last week that they were going to begin construction of the new Insurgentes Bridge this week. Actually, yesterday was the day they were to begin construction. They are thinking this will take from 2-3 months to build. Let’s see what happens.
Speaking about the bridge, last week I mentioned all the tires that were on piled on the bridge and littered the river banks all the way to the sea. If you heard that episode I talked about a discussion I had with Marcia who was talking with an old guy who told her he worked on the bridge when they built it in 1959, and explained that the tires were used in the construction of the bridge.
Well, I got a message from JR calling BS on the story. He said, like I did, there were tires upstream from the bridge.
Than yesterday JR sent me this article from Vallartaenlina.com…
BUILDING next to CUALE used tires and TUNNEL debris as foundations. Rivera threat
ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2021
Vallarta Online Reporters / Vallarta News
Vallarta Port
The 9-story Riviera del Cuale building has unleashed a huge controversy after the river of the same name overflowed and part of the foundation was taken away, leaving a good part of the structure floating on the bed. This is on Calle Invierno and the El Caloso neighborhood.
However, a rubber-dark secret came to light as the river went down. Tons of tires were scattered on all banks of the Cuale River, its mouth and under the vehicular bridge that broke.
It was until recently a mystery where they had come from. However, the mystery came to an end, as the answer has been made known by the residents of this development, against whose abuses they have been fighting for more than 10 years.
It turns out that when they built the building during the administration of Javier Bravo Carbajal, the architects of the project understood that they needed to isolate the foundations from humidity and river seepage.
But far from resorting to state-of-the-art construction techniques, they came up with a “mexican”, in the opinion of the neighbors, who attested how they not only took away a part of the land that used to be cleared to build the building.
Rather, thousands of old tires were placed in an earthen sandwich as an underground wall to protect the huge structure against the river.
This was witnessed by 4 anonymous neighbors interviewed by Vallarta en Línea / Noticias Vallarta, who, upon seeing the tires watered by the river after the passage of Hurricane Nora, immediately knew where they came from.
It is very important to mention that not only with the rising of the east river it took away the thousands of tires that went to contaminate the ocean and the body of water itself, since they have not yet finished being removed.
But this set of tires could also be responsible for the fall of the Cuale river bridge and even the hotel in which a child died, since the rubber is waterproof and all of these formed a plug that prevented the passage of a lot of water and it made her jump, under the most damaged part of the riverbed, where the market was damaged, the building and the bridge itself collapsed.
Neighbors demand that the developer be investigated for this possible reckless crime, which will cost Vallartans millions of pesos to repair after the damage.
Rubble foundations and area theft
But there is more. Neighbors point out that formerly, this riverine area of El Caloso was an embankment at river level, and was enclosed by another delta of water that came down from the mountains, in a kind of island.
Only a few houses stood, but everyone knew about the lake nature of the area. They also used that field to play soccer, the field was enchanting.
Until they began to build the Bypass and the large tunnel in 1990, whose rubble and fill extracted from the mountain was dumped precisely on this terrain. As a consequence, the level of the area rose a bit.
And the material carried solidified, but it is not natural from this area and therefore does not resist the river bed as it should. For several years the restaurant “Cantarranas” eventually operated on the land.
Until between 2009 and 2011, the current 9-story building, with its underground wall made of tires, was built on this land made up of the mountain fill.
Additionally, the developer seeks to build another 2 equal buildings in what is left of the land in the direction of the island.
And on the other side, a 3-story development that Mayor Arturo Dávalos Peña himself acknowledged in an interview to have authorized, heading to the vehicular bridge, with the argument that the company verified that the area is private property and not federal land. Whose first works, by the way, destroyed the Cuale river itself now that it grew
According to the neighbors interviewed by this means, the company showed them a model where this development was going to be 4 floors and have parking spaces until reaching the vehicular bridge.
Taking away the green area that was next to the river and had originally promised it would be a park for the residents of the neighborhood.
Now a protest has been organized to respect the green areas of Puerto Vallarta precisely at this point, with emphasis on this issue.
One of the demands of the neighbors is that the construction company takes responsibility and I left the green area next to the river free. Another is that if you are going to continue with the project, build a real concrete retaining wall from the bridge, diverting the water before the cave you make.
Otherwise, they warn, no matter how many works they continue to do (because they have already started putting machinery on the bed), the next flood will again take the foundations of their building and could cause a real tragedy.
I have a link to that article from Vallartaenlina.com in the shownotes.
The president of Mexico was in Puerto Vallarta Last Week
The president of Mexico was in Puerto Vallarta last week…here’s an article from Reporte Diario on Line…
Very Strong And Important Projects Are Coming For Puerto Vallarta
22 – September – 2021
The President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador met with Profe Michel, elected municipal president of Puerto Vallarta, who accompanied him to the Mexico 2021 Aerospace Fair, which was held at the Santa Lucía air base.
In this event, López Obrador reaffirmed his commitment to work hand in hand with Profe Michel for the benefit of the Vallarta residents. He also assured him that there are important projects on the way for tourism in the Municipality; Other topics they spoke about were safety, roads, the environment, and infrastructure.
After his speech, Andrés Manuel, introduced the United States ambassador to Prof. Michel. In this emotional act, Ken Salazar told Luis Alberto Michel Rodríguez that “Puerto Vallarta is my favorite tourist destination.”
As Luis Alberto Michel Rodríguez is well known, he has a close relationship with President López Obrador, who has always shown great trust and appreciation towards the Profe and Puerto Vallarta.
This event was organized by the Mexican Air Force and great personalities from Mexican politics attended.
I have a link to that article in The shownotes.
So, money is on the way from the feds. Looks like maybe some US money is on the way as well. Interesting.
Act 2 Having a Toy Drive
Danny Mininni from Act 2 Is having a Toy Drive and has a message for anyone coming before Christmas…it reads…
Friends from the north. As you plan your return please save a small space in your bags and pick up a toy for a child. This year will be the most difficult Christmas for so many. I have a goal of collecting 500 toys. Drop them off at ACT2pV. Christmas will be here before you know it.
So, if you have room in your bag, pack a toy and drop it off at ACT2, on Basilio Badillo 330. Check their hours before you schlepp your toy up there. Just saying…
RISE Puerto Vallarta is Having a Fundraiser
And speaking of doing cool things for the kids in Puerto Vallarta…I had an opportunity to talk with our friends Lisa and Billy at RISE, Refujio Infantil Santa Esperanza in Colonia
Buenos Aires, the orphanage for the really tittle ones. Lisa and Billy are a wonderful, caring couple from the United States who volunteer their time at RISE, and organize the volunteers at this home for children at risk. Well it seems they do a lot over there. They
asked if I could help them out and get out the word about their major fundraiser for the year called So You Think You Can RISE, and it’s a talent show…So I said let’s get you on a microphone and you can tell everyone about it. So we met up at Restaurant San Lucas, on the corner of Consitiution and Lazaro Cardenas, across from the taco stands and the Farmacia Guadalajara. One of my favorite places to relax and take in the town, and to record interviews. So let’s go there right now and see what Lisa and Billy have in store for us….
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Thank you Lisa and Billy. I will be following up with them and filling you in on the progress and goings on with Vallarta’s Version of You’ve Got Talent…So you think You Can RISE. Sounds catchy.
New Rules for Unvaccinated To Travel From and to The US
Now if you are coming from the United States to Mexico, and you haven’t had your vaccines topped off, travel is about to get harder for you…Here’s an article from Lonely Planet…
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/covid-tests-for-unvaccinated-americans-traveling-to-us
US Reentry Gets Tougher for Unvaccinated Travelers Under New Policy
IMPACTING TRAVEL LAURIE BARATTI SEPTEMBER 23, 2021
Unvaccinated Americans will find themselves subject to stricter entry requirements upon returning home from abroad when the U.S. enacts its new system for international travelers at some point in November.
The White House announced earlier this week that, under the new rules, all adult international arrivals will be able to enter the U.S. with proof that they’re fully vaccinated and a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 72 hours prior to their flight.
Foreign nationals who aren’t fully vaccinated won’t be allowed to travel to the U.S. at all, regardless of their country of origin, with the exception of children who are ineligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines.
The new entry regulations will also apply to immunized returning U.S. citizens and permanent residents, a Department of State spokesperson confirmed to Lonely Planet.
While being unvaccinated won’t bar homebound Americans from re-entering the States, the uninoculated will face tighter testing parameters than they currently do. These individuals will be required to present negative results from a COVID-19 test performed within just 24 hours of boarding their flight, rather than 72, and will also need to prove that they’ve purchased a viral test to take after their arrival in the U.S.
If you haven’t received the jab, the nation’s public health authorities don’t think you should be traveling abroad right now, anyway. “The Centers for Disease Control will continue to strongly recommend against air travel by U.S. citizens and [permanent residents] who are not fully vaccinated,” the State Department spokesperson explained.
During Monday’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that part of the U.S.’ new strategy will involve robust contact tracing efforts. Psaki said that the CDC, “will require airlines to collect comprehensive contact information for every passenger coming to the United States and to provide that information promptly to the CDC, upon request,” so that the agency can follow up with those whom it has found to have been exposed to COVID-19.
The CDC, however, has yet to issue an official contact tracing order, or divulge the details about how the new policy will actually work and the date on which it will go into effect.
In the meantime, all potential US-bound passengers, including visa applicants, can check for travel updates on the Department of State’s website.
And I have a link to that Lonely Planet article in the shownotes at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com.
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/covid-tests-for-unvaccinated-americans-traveling-to-us
Mexico Gets a New 20 Peso Bill
Look for a new bill when you get your change, Mexico has a new 20 peso bill
From Mexico News Daily…
New 20-peso bill commemorates Mexico’s independence
Birds, soldiers and a crocodile adorn the new note
Published on Monday, September 27, 2021
The Bank of México has released a new 20-peso bill (about US $1) to honor the 200th anniversary of independence, recalling the moment exactly two centuries ago when the rebel army entered Mexico City. On the following day, September 28 1821, Mexico was declared independent.
The reverse side of the note pays tribute to the country’s natural wealth with an image of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve in Quintana Roo, a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site. It features a crocodile and a garza chocolatera, a type of crane also known as roseate spoonbill.
The celebrated former president Benito Juárez has dropped off the 20-peso note, which went into circulation on Friday.
The primarily green and red bill depicts a painting which hangs in Chapultepec Castle called “The Solemn and peaceful entry of the Army of the Three Guarantees into Mexico City on September 27 from the memorable year of 1821” by an anonymous artist. It glorifies the moment the army arrived at Mexico City’s central square, led by Agustín de Iturbide.
The image displays the flag of the army and the Mexican flag side-by-side, and local people celebrating the military arrival.
Another of the Bank of México’s eye-catching designs was internationally applauded earlier this year: a 100-peso bill (about $5) depicting the self-educated nun and intellectual Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was named banknote of the year 2020 by the International Bank Note Society (IBNS).
A series of events are planned for 2021 to recall two centuries since independence, 500 years since the fall of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán, and — rather more dubiously — 700 years since the ancient city’s foundation.
In addition to the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, there are five UNESCO Natural World Heritage Sites in Mexico. Those are: the El Vizcaino Whale Sanctuary in Baja California and Baja California Sur; the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Michoacán; the Revillagigedo Archipelago in the Pacific Ocean; The El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve, Sonora; and the Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California spanning Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Nayarit.
I have a picture of the new bill as well as the link to that article from Mexico News Daily, in the shownotes.
Okay…I finally cleaned out my email box and I think I answered all your questions out there. If for any reason you have sent me an email, and I haven’t answered, please try me again. With that said, I have a few emails I wanted to share with you but I think we should get to the interview don’t you?
Seahorse Cucina Bar & Lounge in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
As I mentioned earlier I thought we should go out for a meal this week, because it’s Restaurant Week in Vallarta is actually more like restaurant month because it goes from September 15th to October 10th. But this is a brand new restaurant in Vallarta, located right in the middle of town, and it’s called the Seahorse Cucina Bar and Lounge. It’s located right above the Starbucks on The Plaza de Armas.
Contact Information For The Seahorse Cucina Bar & Restaurant in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Address: Calle Zaragoza 160 B Cuarto Piso Centro de Vallarta
- Telephone: +52 322 276 4650
- Email: theseahorserestaurantepv@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theseahorsepv
Now a couple of weeks ago we went to Bucerias for Italian food with an ocean view, and this week, we are going to the Italian restaurant with the best view in Puerto Vallarta. Vistas of the Famous Crowned Church to one side, the Malecon stretched out on the other side with a sunset view that is unmatched.
The Seahorse is in the old Bistro Teresa location. It’s easy to get to. No steps, no stairs, no mountain to climb. No. You just walk to their lobby and take the elevator up to the restaurant.
The restaurant has a lovely bar area, open air, very modern chic. A great place for a cocktail or two. Maybe an appetizer as well. The inside of the restaurant is beautiful with
linen table cloths and napkins. Beautiful stemware and flatware. And windows all around with unobstructed views of the church, the Malecon and the Bahia de Banderas. It’s fancy looking but don’t let that stop you, even if you are dressed super casual from coming up and having a meal or drink for happy hour. The view is worth it and the food… well…this guy knows Italian food. It’s excellent.
Raul, the owner and chef has only been open since April, so this restaurant is brand new…and more people need to know that it’s open and that he is there…upstairs waiting for you.
So that’s what I want you to do…go see Raul.
So, let’s meet the chef, on the roof…in the spacious bar area and lounge, with a dramatic view of the Malecon and the Bahia de Banderas. Right on the Plaza de Armas, chef Raul Garcia De Alba, at the Seahorse Cucina Bar and Lounge, in the heart of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico…
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Thank you so much Raul. Hey…Listen…tell your friends but better still, go see Raul for a cocktail, and appetizer a meal….get over there and enjoy the greatest Italian food with the best view in Puerto Vallarta. Easy to access and like I said…no stairs.
I have pictures of the restaurant, the view, the food, the drinks, and links and a map as always in the shownotes at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com.
Okay that should do it for this week.
Next week, stay tuned for more on the ground reports from Puerto Vallarta Mexico, with travel tips, great restaurant and excursion ideas and more. Until then, remember, this is an interactive show where I depend on your questions and suggestions about all things Puerto Vallarta. If you think of something I should be talking about, please reach out to me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending us your message.
And remember, if you are considering booking any type of tour while you are in Puerto Vallarta, you must go to Vallartainfo.com, JR’s website and reserve your tour through
him, right from his website. Remember the value for value proposition. His experience and on the ground knowledge of everything Puerto Vallarta in exchange for your making a purchase of a tour that you would do anyway, you’re just doing it through him as a way
of saying thank you. It costs no more than if you were to use someone else so do it. Really. And when you do take one of these tours, email me about your experiences. Maybe you
can come on-board and share with others what you liked or didn’t like about the tour. Again, contact me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending off a message. Don’t forget his maps, his DIY tours and his revitalized Happy Hour Board. I have links to all of those in the show notes.
And once again, if you like this podcast, please take the time and subscribe and give me a good review on iTunes if you would. That way we can get the word out to more and more people about the magic of this place. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Remember I made it easy
for you to do just that with each episode I create. But if you haven’t been to my website, you really need to have a look there. I have the links to the places we talk about,
interesting pictures and the more all right there in my blog-posts and show-notes for each episode of the show so check them out for sure if you haven’t already all-right? All right.
Thanks to Lisa and Billy from RISE. We will be following your Talent Show over the coming months, and thank you to Raul Garcia De Alba from the Seahorse Cucina Bar and Lounge. Your restaurant is beautiful, your food and drinks are fabulous. Hey guys, get over and see Raul and support him. Wouldn’t you like to see him get a day off?
And thanks to all of you for listening all the way through this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel Show. This is Barry Kessler signing off with a wish for you all to slow down, be kind and live the Vallarta lifestyle. Nos Vemos amigos!
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