Guadalajara
Once again arriving at the bus terminal in the morning, we realized we had to buy a taxi ticket , price depending on the zone which it is in.
The prominent palacio greeted us with the Mexican flag waving in the air alongside it.
Being in the city, it was filled with historical buildings with amazing architecture.
And a huge plaza to rest and chill
For kids to run around
For lovers to kiss in broad daylight
And nearby the food stalls with drooolling nachos - How much I miss them - yummy yummy!
We then walked along some paths till we heard really loud music to realise its a march parade. And it surrounded the whole city with soldiers everywhere in lines, girl guides and boy scouts , policemen, firemen, nurses, first aid and batallions from every town around Guadalajara (walking, on bicycles, in cars etc etc) and with the numerous people in the city, it was majestic.
And soon, evening came and it was time for us to squeeze along with the crowd to the town centro for the celebration of the day of independence. It certainly did not disappoint despite the rain that came and go and came and go.
The performances was splendid. It made the atmosphere so alive and I guess it did bring back some memories for some people.
And the famous Mexican Mariachi bands :) They are so talented !Where else do you sing ladies in frocks holding a gun and doing the spinning of gun
People cheering for the president arrival
The president waving the flag with the trumpets blowing for his arrival and beside him in the balconies are his cousins, his family , his other ministers.
And the lots of fireworks came after. The night ended so nicely :)The next day, we left the big city for the famous town of Tequilla!
We first went for a cultural dance performance
While we were in Guadalajara previously we also saw a similar form of dance. It was filled with so much vibes and energy - something which seems to be lacking locally.Then we had an English tour guide bringing us around for the Jose Cuervos distillery. I think it was worth the money. We went through each single process of the making of Tequilla, drinking through each stage too -
- Firstly though, they gave us the dried pineapples after the processing to taste - eeekkk.
Guess the drinking was more important here.
-First stage: They steam the pineapples for around 36 hours and then mash it up then to seperate the pulp from the liquid where the latter is then fermented in steel containers and then distilled- which we drank- a cup with the liquid that was very sweet, I liked it somehow- however the 55% alcohol content made me a little giddy ;
- then through the second stage after it was distilled, it is rested in the white oaks for different barrel times depending- it tasted a little like plain water, not too sure why. Maybe it was because the first one was too strong.
- We ended the tour with a video playback of the history of jose cuervos and how he created Tequilla and lastly a rest area with two cups of blended lime magaritas - My great love. For someone who does not drink alcohol unless for occasion, it was fantastic. However, because of the lovely taste, I forgot all about the alcohol and was so dizzy after that. Felt so dizzy ;the world did not stop turning till around an hour later.
And then we went around buying our needed stock of Tequilla for our family and friends.
Next we took a transport to Talpapa for a rest as well as to enjoy the celebration they had for dia de independencia as we heard it is the most "in" place to be for young adults. And I loved it most there. It was pathed with cobblered roads and where houses were slanted and the air was so fresh and sweet-smelling!
The independencia mood
The food was good too
The night celebration turned out to be quite rowdy though - because of the cheap alcohol mixes and lots of young adults in the midst of all the enjoyment - we shrilled when a guy pulled his pants down in front of our eyes to take a pee at the sidewalks ( I guess he was really gone), and there was lots of making out going on anywhere and everywhere and some of the guys were fighting randomly. We quickly made our way back to our rooms after a while.
The following day we took a bus to Comala-colima where there was said to have a still erupting volcano.The pictures were amazing in our guidebooks. But alas when we reached there, it was raining so it was too dangerous to climb up the volcano.
This place was a small town so it was also such a nice place to just chill-lax - eating and just enjoying the wind and its architecture.
So we ate our lunch and left for a nearby town called lake Chapala.
where I spent my afternoon just chilling
taking picture of kids
Covered so many places within just a short span was really tiring. But it was worth it!
Guadalajara, Talpapa, Tequilla, Comala and Lake Chapala :)
