Huzzah! Back from Guadalajara with a full-on report.

Guadalajara Map: http://www.mexicoect…
We were there from April 11 to 18 and the weather was heaven. 75-85 and sunny during the days; 60-70 at night. We were pretty much the only gringas in town but were treated only to polite interested looks.

We stayed at the Hostel Guadalajara Centro (http://www.hostelgua…). It was cheap, 120 pesos (11 USD). We had a dorm to ourselves, which was cool. It’s an historic building so it makes for a beautiful photo, but the floors were dusty and breakfast was yucky (hard bread and jam, herb tea, and brown oranges). Weird aside: You’re expected to throw your toilet paper into a wastebasket next to the toilet. Apparently this is fairly common, but I could not bring myself to do this. The showers had lots of hot water but were made for taller people? I could NOT get the shower head to adjust downward. Apparently I should not have been monkeying with it the day before because the next day, the shower end flew off in mid-stream and smacked me in the eye. How?s that for justice. When I was 20 the whole place would have been fine but it was a little grungy for me. (We went to Café Madrid on Juarez for breakfasts because my friend was British and needed her black tea. It’s sort of like fuel for the British body. I had a Cappuccino Helado there each morning that would put Starbucks to shame.) The staff at the hostel were profoundly mellow and hippy dippy. People smoked in the common areas but you couldn’t smoke in the dorms. (Hey—did I mention we came home late one night to find the desk guy and some very uncomfortable-looking Norwegian watching gay porn {or perhaps just a man-on-man sex-scene in a regular everyday movie} in the communal TV room? It was great—but the Norwegian got so embarrassed he made the other guy turn it off. I told him it was OK, that I found it interesting, but he wasn’t going for it.)

You can buy a lock for your locker for 10 pesos a day and you can only be buzzed in to the main door, so it’s really safe. No curfew. You can buy bottles of Ciel water or Coke there from their fridge which was convenient. You can use the internet for free for 10-minute stints. The best thing about this place is its location. It’s on the same street as 2 great clubs and 1 excellent restaurant. Then 3 blocks up in the other direction is the Catedral, Teatro Degallodo, and one of the major museums. Once I knew these landmarks I never used my map—it was easy to get around and get back to our hostel.

We had several dinners at El Mexican on the pedestrian mall off of Hidalgo. I’ve never had so much guacamole presented to me that I couldn’t finish. God it was amazing. A huge plate of garlic prawns the first night for about $6. They even had hamburgers (really good ones) for 25 pesos—that’s less than $3. I was putting guacamole on my fries, there was that much guacamole going around. They also had a fun drink called the El Pucharro which was vodka and all sorts of fruit juices in a huge glass with ice (can you say drunk?). It cost twice as much as the hamburger and was worth it. Now if I was cheezier than I am, I would have gotten the commemorative glass for only $20 pesos. But I am not that cheezy and so, alas, there will be no photo of a commemorative El Pucharro glass.

Just down the street from our hostel was La Maestranza—what a total BLAST! It has a bullfighting theme but isn’t some nouveau chain crap. It’s old; really old. High ceilings, chandeliers, posters from back in the heyday with famous matadors. The crowd was all late 20 to 30-somethings who looked like local professionals coming in after work, with a couple of younger club-types thrown in for spice. Great drinks, free appetizers, and more good guacamole. The music was loud and fun and very danceable. Every once in a while a couple would just stand up and start dancing—it was awesome. On the 2nd night there, I ended up being part of one of those couples. What you do to show your approval across a crowded room is to hold up your glass (this was done to me then I did it to someone else, so I adopted it as my new Mexican custom—I could be on crack though, I have no idea if that’s normal there). But let me tell you, Mexican guys are shy when it comes to actually meeting a stranger in a bar. I flirted for over an hour at a distance with this guy—he even bought flowers and had them sent to my table, but I ended up making the first move. We got to chat, drink and dance with a bunch of Mexican engineers who were really fun and friendly and spoke great English having worked with U.S. companies, so we were lucky not to have to keep going for our guidebook all night. Yo amo the nightlife in Guadalajara!

Tlaquepaque (pron: tla-keh-pah-keh) Map:http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/guadalajara/talaque.html (catch blue Tur bus on 16 de Septiembre, 7 pesos) Lovely little town with a Historic Refugio District that has gorgeous shops selling glassware, wood, ceramics, papier mache, jewelry, and silver. There were also some shops that offered really good deals so it was a nice mix depending on what you were in the market for. Lovely B&Bs and restaurants with genuinely friendly people. We were lucky enough to visit the week after Easter and the celebrations were still ongoing. We stayed Saturday night the week after Easter in Tlaquepaque. After dinner we sat for an hour in the main square where families sat and children played and couples walked together. It was so peaceful and everyone looked happy. It felt like the vision some Americans have of idealized life in a beautiful southern town like Savannah. A warm summer night sitting amongst huge flowering trees, laughing kids, and content people. There were 2 weddings at churches on the square that night and the brides wore colorful, full-skirted gowns and tiaras. The groomsmen wore long black coats. Food stalls lined the outer square like a carnival—so many yummy-smelling things. We had ice cream and bought a bouncy ball with shiny streamers for 5 pesos. All the kids had them and bounced them gleefully high above their heads. I think the grown-ups thought we were silly for buying one.

The B&B we chose was about 3 blocks from this square and was called Quinta Don Jose (http://www.quintadon…). From the façade you would never guess how beautiful it could be inside. An artfully decorated courtyard with fountains, a sweet Corgie/Terrier mix named Chiquita (follow link and see their photos to hear Chiquita’s story), beautiful birds and gardens, and an outdoor pool. 2 beds and a private bath with a private courtyard was $75 USD. The desk staff was from California and spoke both English and Spanish. I cannot recommend this place enough. Thrown in with your rate are welcome cocktails at the bar near the pool, free 24-hour internet, and a breakfast of gorgeous fruit, cereal, and tea. We even had fruit delivered to our room while we were in the pool. We also ordered up some tea and drank it in our courtyard. Just heaven.

Tonala Map:http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/guadalajara/tonala.html (catch blue Tur bus on 16 de Septiembre, 10 pesos) Go on a Thursday or Sunday for the street market that stretches on forever. Good prices on factory ceramics and pottery abound.

Helpful Links:

Tourism Mexico: http://www.spanish-m…

AllAboutGuadalajara.com: http://www.allaboutg…

Calculate Exchange Rates: http://www.eurotrip….

Arts & Crafts of the Region: http://www.mexicodes…

Mexico Desconocido: http://www.mexicodes…