Hello again and bienvenidos (welcome) to OnVallartaTime! Sorry this post is a day later than usual but it’s a big post with lots of pictures and I had some technical difficulties in the middle of it. But now it’s done, and I’m glad you’re reading it!

 We have had an interesting week, with our time getting short here. We have been going out more, trying new parts of town, restaurants that we had on our list to go to this year, and going to old favorites to fix them in our minds to sustain us until we can get back. I managed to meet up with the Vinolentos again at Fidencio’s for a  ukulele jam session. We have been going to the beach for at least part of most days, and in between all of this we’ve been trying to catch some of the Olympics on TV. By the way, there’s more unseasonable weather to report: it’s hot in PV, in the high 80’s when it’s supposed to be ten degrees cooler. People are calling it “Febrero loco,” crazy February.

The activity that has taken the biggest chunk of my time has been apartment hunting for next year. It’s amazing, but because places just don’t rent during the summer low season, it’s about the same cost to rent for an entire year as to rent for six months. Since we have already begun accumulating stuff, it makes sense to rent for the whole year, and we would have a place to come back to that we know is ours, giving us flexibility and peace of mind.

So we have been focusing on long-term rentals. My legwork has been paying off; we have a couple of serious possibilities brewing and we keep hearing of new places all the time. You know, it just might actually happen! The commitment is scary when we don’t know what the future holds for us at home, with our needing to move and all, but our three months here have shown us that we really do like it here and we would like to have a home base in Mexico even if we don’t live here full time. Plus, it sure makes it easier to leave, knowing we will be back in a very concrete way.

But of course, even with all the other activity, the high point of the week was the trip to Guadalajara over the weekend, the subject of the rest of this post. We signed up with a highly regarded tour company here in Puerto Vallarta, Superior Tours, and we took the tour billed at least partially as a shopping tour because it went to more places in the area. Usually I’m not one for group activities, but it sure was convenient, and the price was right. We boarded a very comfortable bus at 6:45 AM (ugh!) from the tour office, and then we stopped along the way as we went through PV and picked up others. By the time we actually got on the highway to Guadalajara, there were 27 people. Only four of us were  Americans, the rest were Canadians. It’s only 200 km to Guadalajara but the road has a lot of curves and it’s uphill much of the way, so depending on traffic (you can get behind a slow truck) it takes five hours.

 The first stop on the itinerary was Tlaquepaque, a former town now swallowed up by Guadalajara, known for its high-end art and crafts. Then we checked into our hotel in Guadalajara and went for a walking tour of the historical part of the city before a free evening. The next day, Saturday, we went to Lake Chapala, an hour south of Guadalajara, to see the towns of Chapala and Ajijic. We then went back to the hotel for a free evening. Sunday morning we went to Tonalá, another former town now within the Guadalajara metropolitan area, known for the workshops where the crafts are actually produced, then back to Puerto Vallarta with a stop in the town of Tequila, known of course for the beverage of the same name. We got back to the place we caught the bus around 7 PM.  So there were six separate places: Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque, Chapala, Ajijic, Tonalá and Tequila. I’ll show you all of these separately in this post. Each of these could be a blog post on its own, but I don’t have many more to go, so that’s why this time it will be longer than usual.

Tequila is in the upper left corner, just off highway 15D to Puerto Vallarta. Tlaquepaque and Tonalá are just under of the word “Guadalajara.” Highway 23 leads south of the city to the town of Chapala on the lake, and Ajijic is just to the west along the lakeshore.

Guadalajara

Guadalajara, founded in 1542, is the second largest urban area in Mexico and the tenth largest in Latin America. The city itself has 1.5 million people, and the metropolitan area has a population of 4.33 million. At an altitude of 5,138 feet, the climate is much different from Puerto Vallarta. While daytime temperatures were high when we were there, in the mid-80’s, the nights were cool at 45 degrees and the air was dry. The economy is dependent on industry, especially information technology. The Guadalajara we saw was big, bustling, crowded, industrial, and somewhat gritty, quite a change from PV. It’s a big city, after all.

We know there are really nice parts of Guadalajara, and we saw glimpses of them from the bus on our way by.  But our hotel was centrally located in the downtown area, which is kind of depressed as in many cities. There weren’t any good restaurants within easy walking distance, and we were advised not to be out and about in the area too late at night.

On our way! Sunrise through the window of the bus, the first Puerto Vallarta sunrise we have seen this trip (and maybe the last!). 

I took lots of scenic pictures from the bus the first day as we made our way up into the mountains and across the high valleys to Guadalajara but when I looked at them that evening they all had a pink tinge from the tinted bus windows, darn it! This is an example (the last) of the pink-tinged pictures… We noticed that just about any vertical surface everywhere in Guadalajara had graffiti, most of it like the usual gang graffiti you see in the US, but around the university it was different — I wouldn’t call it graffiti as much as fantastic street art.

Our hotel room — clean, basic, comfortable, better hot water than our condo!

Shot of the city from our fifth (top) floor room

Another pic from the 5th floor hallway, looking the other way

The historic district, the main square, Plaza de Armas, surrounded as usual with the cathedral and government buildings, many of which are now museums.

The cathedral. Sorry I cut off the top of the steeple, but this shot gives you an idea of the parklike setting, with all the people around.

Another shot of the Plaza de Armas

A famous statue in downtown Guadalajara. When they widened the street, they had to move this huge bank building a few meters that way…

The Chapultepec Avenue area, nicknamed the Zona Rosa, a street they often close off for concerts and events, surrounded by many restaurants and bars. They are mostly pizza-and-beer places that cater to a young crowd, and there’s good youthful energy. We took a cab here for dinner.

  An alternative form of transportation… That’s Sanborn’s, a venerable old restaurant in the background (there’s one in Mexico City, too). Now it’s on to the next stop!

Tlaquepaque 

Tlaquepaque (Tlah-kay-pah’-kay) is one of the counties surrounding Guadalajara, and the name of a former town that is now part of the metro area. It is known for its high-end shopping, art galleries, and traditional Mexican craft shops. Successful artists want to have a gallery here.

Most of the galleries and shops are concentrated on this one street.

 Another Tlaquepaque view — it was Valentine’s Day; note the mylar heart balloons. They were everywhere, along with vendors selling roses (also known as “forgive me flowers”), singly or by the bunch, on the streets, in traffic, wherever.

Sergio Bustamante, a famous Mexican sculptor, has a shop here, this is one of his sculptures. He also has a shop in Puerto Vallarta and did one of the major public sculptures on the Malecón in PV.

Another Bustamante sculpture

This man has canaries in a cage. For 10 Pesos, he lets one of them out and the bird picks a folded “astral fortune” out of a box. Mine was mostly good…

Music to stroll to. I love marimba…

 Moo…

The Tlaquepaque town square. 

Peggy boarding the bus in Tlaquepaque. That’s Roberto, our driver, on the left. Now it’s on to Lake Chapala, and the towns of Chapala and Ajijic…

 Chapala

 Lake Chapala is the largest lake in Mexico, and is about an hour south of Guadalajara. We went to two towns on the north side of the lake, and although they are both tourist destinations, they couldn’t have been more different. The town of Chapala (Chah-pah’-lah) caters to Mexican tourists. For attractions, it has small temporary shops, kind of like a flea market, selling souvenirs, with restaurants serving beer and basic meals. Chapala is noted for its ice cream and for Charales, small fish native to these warm Mexican lakes, served deep fried with lime. They are good, I bought some and tried to share them with the others in our tour group with mixed success…

First, the lake. It’s huge, but  it’s not for swimming… The water is low right now but even in the rainy season it’s no more than ten meters deep, and has been slowly shrinking for years. The city of Guadalajara is trying to get permission to use it for a water source, to a great outcry from the lake region residents and environmentalists, so it probably won’t happen.

An egret on the shore

Another shot along the shoreline. The town of Ajijic is around that point in the background.

The Chapala town pier

A restaurant near the shore

…And small shops. This is in the morning, mostly too early for the Mexican tourists who will flock here in the early afternoon.

The famous ice cream for sale. I like this cart because of the name… Goyo is the nickname for Gregorio.

Peggy and I taking a break

The actual town of Chapala, with the church. Now to Ajijic…

Ajijic

Ajijic (Ah-hee-heek’) caters almost exclusively to American and Canadian visitors and expats. It’s a retirement destination; the living is cheaper, and the year-round weather is perfect. It’s a beautiful place, with lots of nice shops and restaurants. Almost all the signs are in English. The town streets are cobblestone, and the buildings are well-maintained and decoratively painted in brilliant colors. A bit too perfect, if you ask me…

 Ajijic street scene

Another street scene

The entrance to a shop, unassuming on the outside…

But look how far back it goes! These shops and restaurants were originally houses, and some still function as houses as well.

The garden in the back

Look, a parrot!

 A mural on the street

 Peggy at the Ajijic town square

Detail of the bandstand railing

Church on the square

Our guide, Hector, addressing the group. He was great, a wealth of information, and patient.

We had lunch at the Tango restaurant in Ajijic, an Argentinian-themed restaurant (i.e., meat).

The grill at Tango, best steak ever

Tonalá

The next day,  our destination was Tonalá (Toe-nah-lah’), where many of the traditional Mexican arts and crafts are made.  On weekdays, you can go to the workshops and factories to see them being produced, but this was Sunday, and there was a HUGE flea market with everything all in one place. The space was vast, probably 5-6 square city blocks, with more shops lining the street facing the market space. A lot of what was displayed was kind of junky, but there was a lot of good stuff too. If we had had a house to furnish, this would have been the place to shop.

Inside the market

Traditional pottery for sale

Glassware sets

Large masks to hang on the wall

Barbeques

More stuff

Parrots!

Large clay pots for 50 Pesos, about $3.75 US

Cutting up watermelon

And yet more…

Now it’s on to our last stop (whew!), Tequila…

Tequila

Tequila (I don’t think I need to tell you how to pronounce this one…)  is a small traditional Mexican town on the highway on the way back to Puerto Vallarta. It is the center of the region where the beverage is produced. As I explained in the post that featured raicilla (El Tuito), only the beverage distilled from the agave plant from this region can be called tequila, like champagne in France. There are two large tequila factories in the town, Cuervo and Sauza, but we didn’t tour them. This was instead an opportunity to experience the town.

Tequila street scene

Here comes the tequila-mobile!

And there it goes…

Small shop selling tequila

Nearing the town square, looking at the church from the side. A few booths are set up here to sell to tourists, mostly tequila-related items like small souvenir barrels.

The bandstand in the square. A political candidate has set up a table in the shade.

The beautiful old colonial church

Church facade

Preparing salsa table-side at our lunch spot, the Cholula restaurant

Looking back at the church and the square as we leave Tequila

Loading up the bus for the last leg, back to Puerto Vallarta

Well, that was our trip to Guadalajara and surroundings… Far too long for a blog post, but I couldn’t very well split it up, with only one more post to go before we have to leave for home. I hope you didn’t get too bored, and that you liked it!

As a parting shot, did you know Peggy has yet another new job?