2023 Mexico – Guadalajara
7th January 2022
We checked out of our hotel and the receptionist told us to wait in reception until they had inspected our room. They wanted to make sure we hadn’t stolen or wrecked anything. In all our years of travel that had never happened to us before but we had a good laugh about it.
It was only a one-hour flight to Guadalajara where we were picked up by Lester the Taxi driver arranged by our hotel. Having lived a few years in Canada, his English was very good and as he also offered a tour service, so we booked him for a day trip to Tequila. Judging by the media you would have thought that the entire population of Mexico was trying to get into the USA so it was surprising to see Mexicans going happily about their business. Lester had returned to Mexico because he simply preferred it there.
Guadalajara was made up of many different towns that had been integrated into one big city. Federika had read that Tlaquepauqe (the area where we were staying) was regarded as being a cultural area rather than downtown which was more about business. We were staying in a beautiful boutique hotel called La Villa de Ensueño which was once a hospital. It must have been a weird hospital as it consisted of many separate buildings and most of the guest rooms were detached. It was decorated with traditional Mexican ceramics and beautifully done. It was perfect, except for the night Federika had a visit from patients past who never made it out of the hospital, but she soon got back to sleep.
We went into the centre of Tlaquepauqe which was buzzing and found the restaurant we were recommended called Casa Luna. It was an old Mexican villa with a courtyard in the middle where the tables were. It was beautiful but there were ten couples ahead of us waiting for a table so we went across the road to a place that looked equally nice. The inside was full but there were tables outside so they sat us next to a fountain which was very pleasant. Federika had heard about the sauce Mole which included chocolate, amongst its long list of ingredients so I ordered a steak Mole. Federika’s main course never turned up so we ended up sharing mine which was still more than enough. After finishing our main course the waiter brought out our starter, a duck spring roll which we also shared. Although the service was a little eccentric, the food was excellent and the portions were so big that despite sharing we struggled to finish.
It was lovely to see so many families around and far fewer tourists than in San Pancho. With the altitude in Guadalajara being 1566 metres, we were expecting it to be cold so had brought lots of warm clothes but it wasn’t much colder than San Pancho.
Next morning we were glad that we had brought warm clothes as there was a surprising drop in temperature and the breakfast area was large and not closed in. After breakfast we took an Uber to the centre of town for a general look around. At Cathedral Square we saw a group of youngsters doing a dance routine which was fun to watch. There must have been some kind of impending dance competition as there were little groups of dancers practising all over the place. 
One of the main events of the square was the hourly bell ringing.
We were surprised to see an ice rink in the middle of town.
Lunch was in a little restaurant overlooking the square and while the lunch was terrible, the view was lovely.
In the afternoon we took a ride around town in an old carriage. Ours was electric and as we pulled away we saw there were horse-drawn carriages so I was annoyed with myself for not taking a better look at what was on offer. It was just as well though because as we drove alongside the horses there was a terrible smell of horse shit that was collected inside a little bag between the horse’s arse and the carriage. If we had chosen one of those I assumed we would have had to endure the smell during the ride. It turned out to be a trip of a lifetime. By that, I mean having done it once I would never want to do it again. The carriage wheels were solid and the streets were mainly cobblestones so it was extremely uncomfortable. We had a running commentary during the trip but it was mainly “on the left you have a library; on the right, there is theatre,” so nothing too enthralling. But as always, we enjoyed it. [sg_popup id=”18047″ event=”inherit”]
[/sg_popup]
That evening we walked around Tlaquepauqe again trying to find somewhere to eat. Apart from fried peppers, we had not even seen a vegetable since we arrived in Mexico so we both felt the need for some, especially as my stomach was still delicate after the fried fish a few days before. We found a stand that was selling nothing but cooked vegetables so we bought some and sat down on a bench to eat them. I can’t say I enjoyed it but it was definitely what I needed.
My hip was gradually getting worse and there were times when I wondered if I would get through the holiday. It would be ok all day, even after a lot of walking and then for a few minutes I could hardly walk. It was beginning to look like I might need a hip replacement which was weird as I thought that mainly happened to old people.
2023 Mexico
