I just got back from Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. I go there almost every year, to my friend Sam’s -- short for Sandra. Sam runs a B&B/art retreat called Hacienda Mosaico, and it’s a little bit of heaven. She hosts week-long classes in assorted arts and crafts, from painting to journal making to mosaic sculpture. Sometimes I go down and take a workshop, sometimes I just go as a guest. Either way, it’s a slice of bliss.

Sam’s Hacienda, as its name suggests, is covered with mosaics, most of them executed by Sam herself, some with the help of guests and students. The Hacienda is in a residential district called Versalles. What you see from the street are white walls with a tumble of mosaic letters reading HACIENDA MOSAICO. The door is all mosaics. Sam answers the door accompanies by Stella, her adorable Maltese. (Stella is brilliant: if you’re in your room, and everyone else is sipping margaritas by the pool, Stella will come and fetch you, and I’m not kidding. She’ll scratch at your door until you open it. She’ll bark and walk towards the pool until you follow her. Now tell me that’s not a brilliant dog.)

There’s an outdoor bar and kitchen by the pool. Hacienda Mosaico provides abundant Mexican breakfasts of fresh tropical fruit, pastries, eggs and bacon, tortillas and quesadillas and the like. 

And the margaritas do flow.... I’m a paying guests, but as a personal friend I get some extra benefits. I sit by the pool and Sam makes me margaritas. What could be bad?

There are good restaurants right in the neighborhood, so if you’re feeling lazy you don’t need to head to the bustling town - you can just go down the block or around the corner. 

I happen to love Vallarta. It’s funky and sophisticated and lively, with really excellent food and lots of interesting shops and galleries. It’s not just the standard tourist items -- 
(I remember one trip to Playa del Carmen and when we walked through town, every shop had the exact same assortment of trinkets. Sort of like airport shopping. Well, P.V. isn’t like that.) It’s my humble contention that Mexicans make art out of everything -- bottle caps, gum wrappers, plastic bags. You have to love a country where the hand-crafted chairs are painted and decorated with bottle caps. 

Vallarta is lively, it has a pulse, but it’s also filled with secret oases of serenity. The town itself is an old fishing village -- think NIGHT OF THE IGUANA, which was filmed here and first brought attention to P.V -- and the streets are all cobblstones. Tough on the feet but picturesque. The village is a landmark -- I think there’s a law that the cobblestones must be maintained. Vallarta’s setting is dramatic: the mountains tumble down to the ocean, so if you look directly west you see ocean (and in the evening, sunset); and if you turn around you see mountains studded with jungle. (That’s what the locals call it, but don’t think African jungle.) The Malecon, the main drag of the town, curves along the Bay of Banderas. At night people stroll along the pedestrian walk of the Malecon, the sunset blazing through the tall palm trees. You can have a drink at any of dozens of cafes and terrazzas while watching the sun set over the Pacific. You start to feel the sun is setting just for you.

Wednesday nights is Gallery Night -- all the art galleries play host and stay open late. The gringos and locals head from gallery to gallery, sipping wine. And here’s the best part -- the art is terrific. I’ve done plenty of gallery hopping in NYC, and most of what I see is highly conceptual art that doesn’t move me much. Vallarta’s galleries are filled with exuberant canvases and sculptures, in the hot and vivid colors that belong to this climate.

Speaking of climate -- November through May is perfection. I’ve hardly ever seen a cloudy sky in Vallarta. Unlike the Caribbean, with its daily rains, Mexico’s west coast has a dry season and a rainy season. Our frozen winters just happen to coincide with Vallarta’s dry season. How convenient!

Check out Hacienda Mosaico at www.haciendamosaico.com.