Day Ten, Shopping and Souvenirs

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It's been a while since I had time to sit down and write about my last couple of days in Mexico. The last week has really been a whirlwind, a lot of time behind the wheel.

The last day of activity in Mexico I spent in a little suburb of Guadalajara called Tlaquepeque. After you say it a couple of times, it isn't as hard as it looks. It's a neat little town with a lot of good shopping. I hadn't really picked up many souvenirs so far in the trip so I had to come here rather than tag along with Dave and his son Jake enjoying the sights in Guadalajara.
I picked up some of the talavera that I missed down in Puebla (they sell it here too) and also some of the blown glass that this place is known for. There is a type of pottery that is made here that in my opinion is better than the talavera of Puebla but it isn't on my list so I skip it. There is also a shop that sells pottery from Guanajuato (not far outside of Guanajuato City which we were in a few days ago) which I consider to be by far the best I've seen. A full dinner set for 8 with all the serving accessories costs about $3000USD to give you an idea. It's better than the Lenox china that you can get as a wedding gift I think. Maybe when I retire and not moving around so much any more I'll come back and get a set.

Any of our friends and family who come to visit and wind up drinking from a glass thatb is hand blown, now you know where it came from.

The main square is nice, there is a band playing music. A lot of people out shopping on this Sunday. The stores are all upscale. I haven't ever been there, but I imagine it to be like what shopping in Beverly Hills or some posh LA suburb to be like.
There are some nice Bed & Breakfasts I'd checked out here but heard it was too inconvenient to Guadalajara itself--mostly for golfing and Tequila Express purposes the past couple of days. But the 30 minutes it takes to get here from the Centro isn't really all that bad. Would really be nice to come back to Guadalajara--I think it's worth a return--and stay here. Matter of fact, while on the Tequila Express, we met a couple traveling with a friend--the husband was retired Air Force and they lived outside Tuscon, Arizona and the friend lived in Denver, Colorado--they were staying at one of the B&B's and had only good things to say.

I have some nice pictures of Tlaquepeque but haven't downloaded them yet from the camera so will have to post them later.

Didn't really get to see much of the city of Guadalajara itself other than driving around after returning from Tlaquepeque to find the major liquor store to buy some good tequila at the local price to bring back. I now have a full bottle of Don Julio ready for the cabinet when I move in. For comparison: the top of the line bottle of Don Julio costs about $300USD--I'm not that big a tequila drinker; the $30USD bottle is fine for me, and whatever guests want to try.

Like Guanajuato, I think Guadalajara is worth coming back to for another day or so. It's almost like this trip is turning into a recon for another trip down the road in which the itinerary planning is better because you already know what is worth going to and for how long and what isn't worth the time.

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