LOCATION: Tlaquepaque, near Guadalajara, Mexico

WEATHER: Hot – high 87 and sunny

We awoke to the chimes of church bells and exotic birds singing, then had a nice breakfast in the Mexican restaurant in our hotel. It is quite small – 6 beds. Obviously, it used to be a private home. We have a set of stairs in our room going to nowhere. There is a nice courtyard…

Off we went to explore the town.

We strolled around the church square and then the pedestrian streets. Tlaquepaque is the home of Mexican pottery, and there are stores galore. There are also beautiful antique shops and art galleries.

Many of the storefronts are very colorful.

There is a lot of artwork everywhere, especially sculptures.

And beautiful trees and flowers everywhere.

Needing a break (and a bathroom break for George), we stopped in a bar. I had a michelada (beer with tomato juice with a rim of salt and chile pepper).

We visited the Ceramics Museum. It was free, and a lady escorted us around. Very well-done. It, too, used to be a private mansion.

Then, lunch. I had read that Guadalajara’s signature dish is the torta ahogado (drowned sandwich), so we went in search of one. We found them at a little hole-in-the-wall. It is a hard roll filled with pork and onions, then doused in a thin tomato sauce. We shared this huge one for about $1.75.

Back to the room for a little siesta. Back to another stroll of the town…George’s 6th sense found a microbrewery.
Their beers were pretty good.

Then, it was time to go to the main square for the daily mariachi band show. Called El Parian, it is purportedly “Mexico’s largest cantina”. It is a huge building with 16 different restaurants/bars surrounding a stage where mariachi bands play each afternoon and night. We watched the afternoon show. This lady invited me to sit next to her to listen to the musica. Really well-done.

We found another cute restaurant for dinner. We tried to get something small, but we failed. We shared a goblet of cold, creamy avocado soup (like gazpacho) and a meal of a dried beef specialty. Unusual, but really tasty. The waiter said the restaurant had been a private home, built about 200 years ago.