Saturday February 22 to Thursday February 27 Dubi and Esti, friends visit from Toronto

---

Saturday, February 22

We went to Superlake for a few groceries in the morning for both us and for Dubi and Esti who were to arrive later in the day. Jorge had a villa available and offered to let them rent it for just a week.

We left with Jorge for the drive to Guadalajara bus station where we were to pick up Dubi and Esti at 5 pm. Their bus was a little early so they were waiting for us when we arrived.

On the drive home Jorge took the route through Chapala so they could see the beautiful view of the lake from the highway.

Once Dubi and Esti had settled into their villa we had an easy meal of take out ribs, chicken and coleslaw that I had picked up earlier in the day.

Sunday, February 23

Dubi and Esti are not going to be with us a full week so we had a lot that we wanted them to see and do in a very short time.

Since it was Sunday, there would be another Zayacas and we wanted our friends to experience it. It is a small town experience where everyone from young to old has a lot of fun. I am pretty sure Dubi and Esti enjoyed it as well. We didn’t go to the bullring (lienzo charro) to watch the horsemen after the parade. There was too much to do.

We went to the Peacock Gardens for lunch. We enjoyed the birds and gardens while we ate a light lunch.

Afterward we strolled to the normally very quiet Ajijic Malecon. It was anything but quiet today. There were many people and children flying kites over the lake. There was a Ranchero band performing, people and horses were dancing. Tables and chairs were set up with tequila for the horsemen, those who were willing to get off their horses were making use of it.

We walked the Malecon a little; people watched for a while then watched the horses. Finally it was time to head off to our next planned event.

We had reservations at Piano Rojo for the Judy Show. The show starts at 5 pm but I like to get there early. We settled in comfortably in our normal front row centre seats. Having seen the show before, we knew that Michael Holmes (Judy) would pick on the guys sitting in this location. He did, Dubi and Rick both ended up on stage.

After the show we drove home and called it a night.

Monday, February 24

Still using one of Jorge’s cars, we drove to San Juan Cosala hot springs for the day. While Dubi and Rick relaxed in Termal Cosala, Esti and I went next door to Balneario next door. I have never done the hot tubs before and Esti and I both wanted to try them.

We just purchased the basic package. The first tub we entered was very hot with apple cider vinegar added to the mineral water. It seemed like a long time before we were informed that it was time to move to the next tub. There is a nice outdoor shower (cool) that you walk through prior to changing tubs. Our next tub was full of floating flowers. I forget what was in the third tub. We skipped the next two tubs because they were not included on our package. The last tub was a mud bath. After smearing with mud and letting it dry, you climb into another hot tub. During our soaking, relaxing and detoxifying time in each of the tubs, we are served herbal tea or water.

There are nice steam rooms and other pools in Balneario however when we finished our time in the hot tubs we returned next door and joined the guys at Termal Cosala.

There we enjoyed a nice lunch, relaxed in the loungers, sat in the steam rooms, swam in the pools and even slept for a while. Esti and I laughed when we showered before dressing; our bathing suits had an unlimited supply of flowers and mud to be rinsed.

It was about 4 pm when we left and drove past Ajijic on our way to Chapala. There we walked the Malecon which was free of venders, unlike Puerto Vallarta. In fact it was quiet and lovely with very few people around. This was true until we walked well past the skateboard park and found a party in progress in the shade of the trees. Well, the people were all about our age and although I didn’t see any tequila on the tables, they were having a wonderful time. It took them all of 30 seconds to insist that we join the party. Next thing, the band was playing and we were all dancing. It was a great party but we had to say adios and move on.

We came to the end of the Malecon and then walked back through the venders stalls where Dubi and Esti tried a few Mexican snacks. Including roasted garbanzo beans which we only sampled recently ourselves.

We made our way back to the beginning of the Malecon and the Beer Garden restaurant. It was time for dinner and I was anxious for Dubi and Esti to taste a Molcajete . (A mixed grill of carne asada, nopales, chicken, shrimp, jalapenos, and chorizo sausage is served in a heated molcajete with queso fresco, salsa, avocado and lime). Not one bit of sauce went to waste.

After dinner, we walked up the street a little way and found a place that sold popsicles (which Esti had been craving), we took a closer look at the beautiful church across the street then returned to the Malecon.

The sun was beginning to set so in between eating our popsicles we took some sunset pictures.



Tuesday, February 25

We had Dubi, Esti and Jorge up early this morning. Jorge drove us to our regular pick up spot for Charter Club tours at 7:15 am.

Rosy arrive and took us to Tequila for the same Tequila tour that we had taken previously with her. It is a great tour and I don’t think anyone should be this close to Tequila in Mexico and miss this experience.

We went to the Blue Agave fields and met Ismaal Gama, the head Jimador for Jose Cuervo. We all tried our hand at being a Jimador. Ismaal brought out his cream that he makes from the agave leaves and after trying it, everyone purchased some in small jars. Esti even purchased the bull horn off his belt used for carrying the cream with him at all times. In previous times, the bull horn would have been used for drinking tequila.

We left the field and went to the Jose Cuervo distillery where we toured and did some serious tequila tasting.

After the tour, we crossed the street and went for lunch. After ordering, Esti and I walked around the town of Tequila while the guys waited for the food. We had a nice lunch but there were different waiters this time and Rick and I had enjoyed the waiters much more last time. We didn’t even receive any “made at the table” salsa this time.

After lunch, we got back in the van and Rosy took us to the small distillery in a little town outside of Tequila. There we tasted the tequila liquors. We purchased some coffee flavoured liquor.

As usual, most people catnapped in the van on the way home.



Wednesday, February 26

Dubi and Esti’s visit has gone so quickly, today is their last day with us.

Rick and Dubi chose to go as the bobsy twins today both wearing their Rosedale Diner t-shirts. Dubi and Esti have owned the Rosedale Diner in Toronto for many years.

We began by walking through San Antonio, stopping at the wheel barrel lady’s place for breakfast. I love this place, it is so old Mexican and the food is extremely tasty and inexpensive. Watching the older lady knead and make the tortillas from scratch is wonderful. Then seeing how they puff up on the grill over the open flame in the wheel barrel is unique. Dubi asked for a taste of almost everything that was cooking so we followed suit. It was a wonderful, served with a drink of sweet lime juice. The juice was not sweetened lime juice it was just the juice of Mexican sweet limes mixed with water. It was wonderful and I never knew that a sweet lime existed.

Next we walked to the corner of the San Antonio Plaza where we jumped on a local bus and headed into Ajijic for the Wednesday Market.

It was a good move for the guys to wear their shirts today. Dubi had a few people stop him and let him know that they were Rosdale Diner customers and loved his restaurant.

Meanwhile Dubi and Esti were finding a few souvenirs in the market as well as having a good time.

It was a nice day, and didn’t end when we returned home. Dubi and Esti joined us and our neighbours for happy hour by the pool. Afterward Dubi prepared dinner quick and easy.



Thursday, February 27



We went with Jorge on the drive to Guadalajara to take Dubi and Esti to the Bus station. Their vacation was not over, just their visit with us. They were on their way back to the Pacific coast to visit friends in Bucerias for the rest of the week.

---