Elizabeth's bathtub

In the flurry of stories about Elizabeth Taylor last week, I heard Richard Burton's favorite poem was read at her funeral service. The poem is called The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo by Gerard Manley Hopkins. He wrote wonderful but obscure, difficult poetry. This one is about the loss of youth, love and beauty:

"Nor can you long be, what you are now, called fair..."

Listen to this old recording of Richard Burton's great voice rushing through the poem. It's incredible, especially if you follow along with the text:



Burton made his share of Hollywood movies, but he was also an accomplished stage actor. His life was dissipated and short-- like the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Burton was buried with a copy of Dylan Thomas' poetry tucked under his arm. Fitting for a man who reportedly smoked a hundred cigarettes and drank three bottles of vodka a day.

In 1964, Puerto Vallarta was a rustic port town with about 10,000 inhabitants. Elizabeth Taylor tagged along while Burton was filming The Night of the Iguana. You can understand the attraction of this isolated place for a celebrity couple hounded by paparazzi. There was plenty of secluded partying:

Shortly after the movie was made they married, and Burton bought a large villa called Casa Kimberly in central Puerto Vallarta as a gift for Taylor's 34th birthday. She held on to it through their two marriages and even after his death in 1984, although they say she never visited again because of the painful memories. When she finally sold it in the early 90's she left everything behind-- magazines on tables, photographs, clothing in closets. It was turned into a bed and breakfast and sort of a living museum.
A few years ago we were on vacation in PV and walked around the convoluted, scorching streets looking for Casa Kimberly. We had a lousy map but eventually found the little pink bridge. Burton had also bought a house across the street from Kimberly which he called his "dog house." He probably spent frequent time there, since they fought like cats and dogs. The picture above is a view from the balcony of Casa Kimberley looking down on the bridge that connects his house with hers. You can just imagine him slinking over there with his tail between his legs.

At that time you could take a casual self-tour of the villa for a few pesos. When no one was looking, I jumped in Elizabeth Taylor's heart-shaped pink bath tub and John snapped a picture.


I recently read the museum and B&B is closed and the house has fallen into ruin. John's brother Dan winters near PV and can perhaps confirm this. The lover's little bridge is apparently still there but peeling and neglected in the damp, hot climate. A sad ending to one of the world's greatest love affairs. Modern condos are going up in the area so I'm glad we saw it when we did. How many people can say they once sat in Elizabeth Taylor's bathtub?