Guadalajara home of Tequila, Sombreros and Mariachis

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Day 12
We took the ultimate class bus to Guadalajara. We booked into Hotel Frances which was the first hotel in Guadalajara. Built in 1610 the court yard which is currently a bar was originally stalls to hold the guest´s horses. We were thrilled to be in such a beautiful hotel and we thought we got it at a great price only to realize that late at night there is a disco in the adjoining building that pounds music out till 3 in the morning. This bar called Los Hipalco gave new meaning to the phrase hole in the wall, as while Neil was using the Hotel Frances lobby mens room he was able to peer into the bar thru a large hole in the wall. While we relaxed in our lobby bar listening to mariachis we watched as 2 older american gentlemen chatted up 2 MUCH younger mexican ladies. At the end of the evening they leave together and it becomes apparent to Neil that this is where he needs to retire, LOL. In the corner of the lobby stood what Neil at first thought was a confessional. On closer inspection we descovered it was the elevator car. Neils sins will have to wait.

Day 13
We walked to the old bus station and caught the bus to the town of Tequila. We knew we were getting close to the town when we saw the fields filled with the blue agave plant. If that wasn´t enough to convince you that you were in Tequila, the rows of Tequila shop after Tequila shop sure did. The blue agave is surprising a member of the lily family not the cactus as most believe. Tequila can be purchased in sizes ranging from spark plus size bottle to 1 gallon plastic jugs filled with Mexico´s finest. We visited the Tequila museum which was a bit of a dissappointment. Next we toured the Jose Cuervo Distillery. This $10.00 CDN, one hour tour was very interesting and well worth the money. We were fortunate enough to get an english speaking guide who took us through the process in detail and supplied us with a variety of samples at the different stages of fermentation. The first samples burned as they went down but as we progessed they went down alot smoother.

On our way back to the bus station from the distillery we pasted a BBQ chicken stand. Neil has been wanting to try the street chicken ever since we´ve been in Mexico and now was his chance. We ordered half a chicken with potatoes for $3.50 CDN, it was delious even though it was served to us in a plastic bag and without utensils. We came back to find the 2 older american gentlemen from the previous evening in the lobby bar looking for more action.

Day 14
We awoke and went to our favourite bakery for breakfast, we had strawberry empanadas, which are essentially pop tarts on steroids. We took our dirty laundry to a laundry mat in an adjacent neighbourhood only to find out afterward that it was the home of one of Guadalajara´s most dangerous drug cartels. An american ex-pat resident said that although they don´t necessarily target "white people", shoot outs with the police are not uncommon here and that he had recently almost been a victim of cross fire. For obvious reasons we were reluctant to retrieve our laundry, nevertheless we did but at a much quicker pace.

Next we did our own walking tour of the city, visiting some of the cathedrals as well as the subway. We stopped at a stand and had an awesome sandwich and a beer. Laura continues to be in charge of all the financial transactions which has shown to have improved her recognition of the numbers in spanish, unfortunately, however this has not improved her math skills.

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Photos

Neil in front of agave hearts.
It´s a hair net in case you were wondering.

Street sandwich stand.
How do you like the delivery bike?

Comments

[Donatillo Arteaga]

nice place
I stumbled on to this page of Guadalajara ! I been in some of these places long ago in the early 70's . I lived most of my life in Olivehurst,California. born in Colusa,Ca and ...Mexico is now just a dream for such a long ago time at this nice place.