Puerto Vallarta-based MEXLend is thrilled to unveil two new websites to better offer access to the multiple loan options available in Mexico. Now, www.mexlend.com (for US Dollar Loans) and www.mexlend.com.mx (for Mexican peso loans), are your online tools that give you access to more than 75 different loan options available throughout Mexico. Each website offers extensive FAQ’s with step-by-step instructions and advice on how to make your dream of owning property in Mexico a reality. Each site also features an easy-to-use mortgage calculator allowing the user to preview what loans may be best for them and calculate monthly payments, preview interest rates and terms.

“We are your doorway to all of the loans available through all major lenders in Mexico. We do your paperwork, we do the legwork and we find the right loan for you, making it much easier for our clients to secure a loan,” exclaimed MEXLend’s CEO, Terence Reilly.

As recently as just a few years ago, your options to purchase a home in Mexico were limited to paying cash or to mortgages with extremely high interest rates. Within the past year, many lending options have opened up to foreigners seeking a mortgage.

For more information about MEXLend go online towww.mexlend.com

orwww.mexlend.com.mx

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Real estate agents gathered at the Holiday Inn for July´s continuing education course on Contracts and Condo Regime given by attorney Manuel Martínez. A session on questions and answers brought great interest and much time was devoted to homeowners associations and how the law applies. Attorney Martinez carefully went over the essential aspects of a purchase contract and detailed depiction of the document was performed. Accompanying Attorney Martinez was Silvia Elias of PV Realty which has more than 20 years experience in the Vallarta market, and she also gave very important recommendations to all of the realtors attending when preparing purchase contracts.

Approximately 60 area realtors from the three A.M.P.I. chapters, Puerto Vallarta, Riviera-Nayarita  and Compostela attended this seminar. We remind everyone realtors and non realtors that AMPI has on-going series of seminars/ courses offered every last Friday of each month. The commitment is to keep agents abreast of current laws and procedures in real estate in our area. For more information on A.M.P.I  Riviera-Nayarita, contact Elena Andrade at elena@ampirivieranayarita.com or Vanessa Lopez with A.M.P.I. Vallarta, at ampivallarta@gmail.com.

TV Azteca's Mexican soap opera "Entre el Amor y el Deseo" (Between Love and Desire) began production in Riviera Nayarit on August 30 with the presence of Nayarit's Governor Ney González. This soap opera features Lorena Rojas and Victor Gonzáles on the lead, along with stellar performances by Margarita Gralia, Fernando Luján and Héctor Bonilla, all well known Mexican actors.

Nayarit's government will funnel support for these productions through the state’s Tourism Office and Riviera Nayarit's Visitors Bureau. The beautiful natural areas of Riviera Nayarit will appear in 165 episodes, scheduled for primetime broadcast, at a yet-to-be-announced date.

Café des Artistes' Thierry Blouet gave a press conference to celebrate the awards four of his chefs have recently won in several competitions. "This is a historic event for Puerto Vallarta’s culinary industry, we’ve never before seen so many chefs acknowledged and belonging to the same group," he said proudly.

Café des Artistes' executive chef Gerardo Sandoval won third place in the Chef of the Year competition in Mexico City, this past June. Assisted by chef Raul Angulo, Sandoval passed the test and won the semifinal rounds to compete in the final of this competition.

Café des Artistes sub-chef José Guadalupe Vidrio and Café des Artistes del Mar sub-chef Jesús Vázquez won the pork category in the Eight U.S. Meat American Beef Culinary Contest, organized by the U.S. Meat Export Federation, a non-profit association responsible for developing international markets for U.S. red meat.

Additionally, Café des Artistes executive chef Hugo Ahumada will participate in ABASTUR, a Latin American Contest taking place September 21 to 23 in Mexico City. Also, Thierry Blouet Cocina de Autor sub-chef Andrés García will participate in the 2010 Trophee Passion of France's Academie Culinaire on October 11, in Paris, France.

One of the two bridges over the Ameca river that connect Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit collapsed during the early hours of August 31. A taxi cab with two passengers was crossing the bridge during the collapse, and fell on the river. The local protection unit (Protección Civil) managed to rescue the driver and one of the two passengers. A search for the other passenger continues.

The southbound bridge remained closed until 2:00 pm as construction specialists from Mexico City inspected it for possible damage. Both bridges have been subject to the Ameca river’s unusually high water levels due to excessive rains. To assist people who needed to get from one state to the other, Vallarta Adventures established a free shuttle service from Paradise Village Marina in Nuevo Vallarta to Puerto Vallarta’s Maritime Terminal and vice-versa.

Presently, the southbound bridge over the Ameca river is open for light vehicular traffic, private vehicles and taxis, and will remain so until inspectors are confident that it did not suffer any further damage from heavy rain or debris from its collapsed counterpart.

Diego Cadena, Adan Hernandez and Dylan Southworth, surfers living in Sayulita, participate in the independently-produced documentary film about this popular sport. The Alistair Calderon and Mark Kronemeyer co-production is titled "Rumors," and it is based on a trip along the shores of Mexico in search of the perfect wave, during which producers follow the most talented surfers in the country, camera in hand.

"Rumors" is a documentary that seeks to promote surfing and Mexico in a positive way. Production began during 2009 in Puerto Escondido. Other participating surfers include Oscar Moncada and David Rutherford. Although not confirmed, a local screening of the film will be scheduled during the coming months. Please check our Upcoming Events for more information.

Cafe des Artistes' chef Thierry Blouet has been especially invited to Mex Madrid-Fusion, an international culinary event that will take place at Guanajuato’s Convention Center on August 30-31. Madrid-Fusion aims to promote harmonious relations between the showcased world cuisines, along with stimulating discussion and reflection on gastronomy as it relates to the wine industry.

Considered one the most important summits of the world, Madrid-Fusión will feature some of the finest chefs from Mexico and Spain. The ticket price is $1,750 pesos per person, which includes a certificate of participation. For more information about the event, visit www.vamosaguanajuato.com.

Puerto Vallarta will receive the First World Athletics Championships for People with Down Syndrome this September 7 to 12, back to back with  the National Championship for Special Athletes on September 6 to 10, bringing together over 800 competitors.

The World Athletics Championships for People with Down Syndrome includes participation of 21 countries on different categories. These competitions will take place at the Alfonso Diaz Santos and Agustin Flores Contreras facilities. The National Championship for Special Athletes will feature 500 competitors from 25 delegations in athletics, swimming, cycling, football and sport dancing.

In a special event, Puerto Vallarta Mayor, Salvador Gonzalez Resendiz stated that our destination features an olympic pool, a track field and all the infrastructure required to host high quality events.

Puerto Vallarta’s Tourism Bureau (FIDETUR) began a series of seminars taking place in Vancouver this past Tuesday, August 24, with over 100 travel agents and other media outlets. Ten local companies, from hotels (Friendly Vallarta, Villa del Palmar, Crown Paradise Hotels, Canto del Sol, Velas Vallarta, Buenaventura Grand, Playa Los Arcos and Villa del Mar) to activity providers (Canopy El Edén and Vallarta Adventures) are present, along with important wholesalers such as Canada Vacations, Westjet Vacation, México Unlimited, Sunwing, Transat and Mexicana de Aviación.

The goal of these seminars is to showcase our destination to important markets, as well as nurturing partnerships with airlines such as Westjest. In addition, these events allow the training of travel agents about Puerto Vallarta’s many attractions. The seminars will be repeated in Edmonton and Calgary, where over than 100 agents have already confirmed their participation.

The prestigious Mediterranean restaurant Trio is presently celebrating 13 years of successfully tantalizing the taste buds of locals and visitors. The successful restaurant originally opened its doors to the public on August 14, 1997, offering the innovative ideas of chef Bernhard Guth’s experience in fine European and American restaurants. In 2001, chef Ulf Henriksson joined the project as partner.

Puerto Vallarta is recognized as a gastronomic destination and Trio has risen to the challenge one of Puerto Vallarta’s favorite restaurants by using the finest local ingredient, cooked in a Mediterranean style, combined with Mexican influences and ideas from around the world, thus creating a very personal cuisine. Its consistent quality has earned the restaurant many awards, most recently VirtualVallarta.com Readers’ Choice in the Best Overall category.

Learn more about Trio by clicking here.

Join us on Saturday, September 4, from 7pm – 11pm at the beautiful Casa Carmelina in Conchas Chinas for the inaugural fundraiser to benefit La Clínica de Rehabilitacíon de Vallarta. Tickets for this special event are $500 Pesos per person and include appetizers, a full sit-down dinner, a glass of wine or cocktail and musical entertainment. Tickets are available at No Way José! Restaurant, located at 260 5 de Febrero, just over the Vallarta street bridge on your left heading south from the Malecon, by contacting La Clínica de Rehabilitacíon de Vallarta at 322-225-2754 or by e-mail at santabarbaradinner@gmail.com.

La Clínica de Rehabilitacíon de Vallarta serves all of Banderas Bay by providing help to those that suffer from physical or brain damage due to accidents or problems at birth and offers hope to those that have temporarily limited functions.  The clinic has been recognized by the Mexican Government and was awarded the prestigious Teleton Award for their work.

Guests will enjoy the food of No Way José!, recently named Vallarta’s “Best New Restaurant” for 2010. Appetizers, available from 7pm – 8pm, will include nopal stuffed with panela cheese and wrapped in bacon, prickly pear stuffed with goat cheese mousse and white sea bass ceviche among other tasty options. A four-course sit down dinner will be served from 8pm – 9pm and will feature the house specialty Chiles en Nogada. After dinner from 9pm until 11pm, guests can dance under the stars while listening to the music of Los Bambinos, named “Best Musical Group” in Vallarta by Lifestyles Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Awards.

This will be an inaugural fundraiser not to be missed: Saturday, September 4, from 7pm – 11pm at the beautiful Casa Carmelina in Conchas Chinas benefitting La Clínica de Rehabilitacíon de Vallarta.

A capacity audience packed into the beautiful Chapel at Hacienda San Angel on Saturday evening, August 7, and was delighted with the resonant tenor voice of Jorge Jiménez and skilled violinist Gerardo Ponce who performed favorite classical selections for over 2.5 hours.  Overlooking Vallarta and its cathedral as the backdrop, the evening started with a heartfelt tribute with the song “Ava Maria,” dedicated to the health and well-being of local resident Chickie Alter who was instrumental in bringing LOrpheus to Puerto Vallarta, and ended with countless encores and to the shouts of “bravo.”

“The evening could not have been more perfect,” gushed Debbi Egan, owner of Banana Cantina and Choco Banana Restaurants.  “I am so thrilled that Banderas Bay now offers such high-quality concerts featuring world-class musicians in intimate surroundings.”   

Inspired by Parisian nineteenth-century salons where select groups gathered to enjoy fine music in private residences, this concert is the first of many cultural evenings organized by Puerto Vallarta ProMusica, featuring extraordinary musicians from around the globe

To receive priority e-mails regarding future concerts and events, visit www.puertovallartapromusica.com and subscribe to the organization’s e-mail list.

A special thank you to Janice Chatterton for hosting this special event and to Quinta Maria Cortez on Playa Conchas Chinas (www.quinta-maria.com), for providing accommodations for the duo during their stay.  Also, special thanks to volunteers/usherettes, Dr. Lynn Rogers & Marsha Germain, videographer Miguel Perez, photographer Josef Kandoll, and Coco Villegas of Coco's Kitchen for hosting the musicians.

Thierry Blouet’s popular steak eatery in Plaza Peninsula has just announced a Hamburger Festival, allowing you to select from different types of meat (including tuna), grilling method and your own choice of complements, including unlimited fries, every day of the week, from 1 to 11 pm. Combined with other amenities, such as free wireless Wi-Fi and access and air conditioning, not to mention ample parking, the festival is ideal for the summer months. For more information on this and other ongoing promotions, visit the restaurant’s website at www.thierrysprime.com.

In order to help make a connection between those considering Puerto Vallarta as a travel destination, and the pages of Vallarta Lifestyles, our quarterly publication, the latest edition (Summer-Fall 2010) is now available for browsing in digital format. “We make all our articles available separately in our website, www.virtualvallarta.com, however, some people prefer browsing through the actual pages of the magazine,” commented managing editor, Paco Ojeda.

Click here to explore the latest issue of Vallarta Lifestyles magazine.