Guadalajara, again!

Jeannie and I took the Primera Plus bus through the mountains to Guadalajara. The climate in Guadalajara is much more mild and dry than the beach towns and it was really nice to see the city life again. Guadalajara is such a beautiful and friendly city, with great markets.

We checked into the Hotel San Francisco Plaza, in an old colonial building with beautiful courtyards (see photo), and then hit the city center, grabbing a lunch of tortas ahogadas and flautas before checking out out the several downtown plazas. The downtown areas were beautiful with the gorgeous Jacaranda trees in full purple bloom. We spent at least an hour at the downtown market, which is about 3 stories tall and a few blocks wide, and didn't even make a dent. We did end up buying some great aguas frescas (de limon) from a cheerful group of young Mexicans selling several different fruits and aguas such as strawberry, watermelon, lime, horchata, jamaica, pina, and more. That night we treated ourselves to a hot drink in the hotel courtyard before going to bed.

The next morning we woke up and hit a cute cafe for breakfast called the Cafe Madrid, where waiters in white suits and black ties provide excellent service and good coffee. The plan for the day was to hit Tonala and Tlaquepaque, two shopping districts south of the center so I could buy souveneirs and gifts. Both Tonala and Tlaquepaque sell Mexican crafts from all regions of Mexico.

Finally after a full day of shopping, we were done! We headed back to the centro historico and dropped our stuff off at the hotel, then ended up walking around the city center that evening, enjoying the lit up buildings and people strolling the plazas. There was an interesting protest taking place on one of the plazas, government employees protesting the change of their pensions to 401Ks! Sound familiar?

This morning we got up early and grabbed some breakfast and a short walk before heading to the Nueva Central Camionera to catch our bus back to La Penita. The bus ride passes through some nice desert-like country, going from 5000 ft at Guadalajara to La Penita at sea level, passing through pine forests, desert cactus, volcanic craters, lush green jungle, and beach palm trees.