One and all,

It has been a busy last week in Guadalajara and today is our LAST day. So as we bid adieu to GDL, I wanted to bring you up to date on our closing festivities.

Monday we just wandered around the town, stopping into the cemetary just down the street. It is quite wonderful, but had been allowed to deteriorate over the years. Happily they are in the process of restoring it,


but it did limit our access to graves dating back as far as the 18th century. The rest of the day was spent by the pool and just enjoying the ever warmer weather.

Tuesday we were set to go to the zoo, but at the last minute found it was closed Monday and Tuesday. So we quickly changed plans and headed out to the charming art community of Tlaquepaque. It is about 30 minutes from downtown depending on traffic, which is quite often horrible in GDL. We strolled about the shops; it is really a town for serious shoppers, but so much of the stuff is huge, it seems largely devoted to those who have homes in the area and are looking to furnish them in the Mexican style.

We strolled by the primary church.


And then stepped inside.



We stopped here and there for a drink and had a wonderful lunch at a place called El Adobe. I had a terrific shrimp dish in roquefort and Polley had a very nice sopa di champiñones.
While sitting there we enjoyed the music of an all female mariachi band.



More of the same and then came back home late in the afternoon for a swim and a light supper.

Wednesday was another relaxing day before we finally set out for the zoo on Thursday. The Guadalajara Zoological is perhaps the best zoo I have ever been to.

We entered and descended a dramatic set of steps with Polley leading a host of monkeys.



After catching the Zoo train we stopped at a unique Safari ride where you are loaded into a big truck and driven out among the animals as if on a safari. The highlight of the journey is the feeding of the giraffe.



We are given carrots and eucalyptus leaves and the gentle giraffe is very pleased.

Part of what I so enjoyed about this zoo was the variety



Look closely and you can see the feet of the baby poking out of the pouch of this kangeroo.



There is an aquarium, a wonderful collection of cats




I was taken with how at home and seemingly contented the animals were.





A very different atmosphere from that of the Portland Zoo, or perhaps we just caught them on a good day

It was a late afternoon return to the hotelito. It was a very special night as we were having a catered dinner for all of the guests of the hotel who basically had been together the whole month. It was wonderful. While this was not the vacation we had planned for GDL, it turned out to be a very specdial group of people who all got along swimmingly (in the pool as well). We ate and drank and toured together. We felt very luck. But Steve and Ursula Himel were leaving with their two daughters Friday morning, so we had to party our last time together.

Polley helped people look their best for the festivities



I caught Rebecca, Ursula and Gary snuggled on the sofa



One to join us was a worker at the place, Omar. A charming young man who was most helpful, having a good deal of English.



Following the cocktail hour, we adjourned to the cafe for our dinner of Mexican Rice and the best Mole I have ever had. Super Ricco!





There was, of course, more drinking following dinner. Polley and I got up early the next morning to bid the Himels good-bye. It is already too quiet with the two girls headed back to Toronto.

Last night, we returned to a true Mexican cantina, La Fuente and it was one of the wildest nights I have ever been blessed to be a part of. This huge concrete hall was packed with Mexicans, drinking and singing to the live music. Gary, Polley and I were the only gringos in the place. It was great fun.



It was one fellow's birthday and his friends had hired an additional small Mariachi band to celebrate. More singing, dancing and drinking



I did manage to catch Gary and Polley sharing an ear-splitting moment



We then went on to dinner at Recco, the Italian restaurant we had enjoyed earlier in our stay. Catching a cab back to the Plaza, we strolled back to the hotel, passing a dance demonstration program in the process



Feeling moved to dance, I then proceeded to talk my way into a Mexican swing dance ballroom for one turn with Polley



Again, the only Gringos in the place,but the Mexicans seem genuinely pleased that we were sharing the floor with them. Sorry we hadn't ventured in earlier in the month

This morning, our last, I did the requisite walk before returning to get Polley, along with Gary and Rebecca and go to brunch at San Miguel.



It has been a great month here, made even better by the dear friends with whom we became very close. While we are ready to get home for a month, this part of our Mexican experience will not be soon forgotten.

Our best to all the faithful followers. Hope to share more in person in March.

Ed and Polley

To all those who might still be following along,

Travel, another bout with my stomach, internet inconvenience and just plain laziness has led to this sustained delay in our blog. I apologize, but it has been an interesting, but also difficult week.

When last I was in contact, we had just celebrated #72 for Polley. The next 3 days we really took very easy. We lounged by the pool, strolled to the center of town and just let Mexican life sort of pass us by.

On Wednesday, February 18th, we took off by bus for Lake Chapala. This is a huge lake about an hour outside of Guadalajara. One of our goals as a result of our brief visit last year was to do some day trips. Chapala and a town about 5 kilometers from there, Ajiic (ah-HEE-eek) were on our list. I had booked a reservation on-line with the only hotel that seemed to have a web address; it was called the Lake Chapala Inn. With no idea what to expect, we arrived around 11 am, caught a cab and he took us directly to the hotel. We were amazed.

Lake Chapala Inn is this wonderful old Mexican home of the 1920s or 30s that was turned into a B & B about 11 years ago. It is run by a very nice Mexican woman. It sits right on the Lake.


And our room was second story center with a balacony that looked right out on the Lake.


The rooms were huge and very nicely furnished. We actually had a balcony off the bedroom, the bathroom and then out side doors in our room, a huge open air terrace.



Amazing.

We quickly discovered that we had left the city. Polley and I went out for a beer before noon and hardly anything was open. Most places seem to skip the morning altogether and open about 1 in the afternoon.



They close early as well. There is a very nice restaurant on the Lake.



I went to make a reservation for 8 p.m that evening and was informed that they close at 8! At 8 that evening it was completely dark, but I did capture this sunset from our balcony.



We did find a beer in a sweet little place called El Patio that, in fact, had a lovely tree-covered patio. We then wandered down to a Lake-side restaurant for lunch.



It was not very good. Polley tried to estimate the date the fish soup had actually been made, but was not successful. I had some very greasy shrimp and cheese chile rellenos. Not our best meal of the trip. Chapala is a very Mexican town and seems not to cater to many tourists. It may not be wholly true, but in comparison to Ajiic, it seem much less prepared to deal with Americans and Canadians.

We did stop into the Cathedral, a quite impressive building, both in the day and night.




We had a good little dinner at The Beer Garden just down from our hotel. They stay open until 10 p.m., but after that you are on your own. We did stroll about a bit as the weather was lovely,


but finally decided to adjourn to our room and the open terrace for a glass of wine.

Thursday morning began with a full breakfast in the hotel – and I mean full! There was several different kinds of fruit, oatmeal (which we passed on) and a full plate of bacon and eggs, with toast. Of course, there was also cup after cup of coffee. As we are not breakfast people, this was a bit of a chore, but very good. We had breakfast with the only other couple in the hotel. They were from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Nice conversation and, of course, they ate all the offerings and a little bit extra!

We then caught the bus to Ajiic (for 7 ½ pesos each),



arriving there about 10:30 a.m. It is a charming little town. A kind of small version of San Miguel. It has a significant population of Americans and Canadians. What we have come to learn is that this influx leads to better restaurants and more gastronomical variety. Central Guadalajara and downtown Chapala are mostly limited to traditional Mexican fare. That was not true in Ajiic. After passing a small church that sort of reminded us of the Alamo,



we stopped immediately at a lovely café on the main plaza



and then wandered about the town, up one street and down another. We stopped into the main church




and also stumbled upon a local garden society gathering that we joined for a brief period.




Had cup of coffee in a place owned by a former music producer who had given that all up 7 years ago and moved to Ajiic to open a breakfast place – only serves till noon and takes the rest of the day off – says he is the happiest he has been in his life and never plans to cross the border again!

Later in the afternoon, we had lunch a place recommended to us by several people; it was called Tango. It was, as you might guess, Argentinean. It was very good and I had an excellent steak for very little money. Despite the influence of Americans and Canadians, Ajiic is very reasonable. Also while there, about 25 children from an orphanage came in. The restaurant, once a month, treats them to a real lunch. Very nice!

A little more time and we had pretty much done Ajiic. We caught the bus back and caught a little nap time and enjoyed our spacious room!

It was the week of Canivale in Chapala, so Polley and I listened to some pretty good street music from the beer garden.


Also caught a very nice sunset behind a statue of a famed Lake Capala guitarist, Mike Laure.



We then wandered over to the Midway!




We didn’t ride anything, but just watched the Mexican families have fun as they usually do – as families.

A nice stroll home, catching the lights of the Cathedral and the harbor.



We also bought a greasy quesadilla to take home and I think, health wise, that was the beginning of the end. The next morning I was not well. As we waited for the bus back to Guadalajara, I did memorialize this strange shrine.



By the time we got back to Guadalajara I was in poor condition. We did, however, get some magical Cipro again and I am now on the mend and, in fact, had an excellent dinner last night. Hopefully our last week will be smoother. Home next Sunday!

Ed and Polley

A Sizeble Hiatus

To all those who think we disappeared,

I know, I know, I know! It has been a week and no news from down south. I do apologize sincerely. This report will most likely read as more an excuse than a report.

When last we spoke we were on our way to San Miguel de Allende to visit our friends, Mirl and Carolyn Gratton as guests in their lovely home there. We did this trip a year ago, although it was a 10 hour ride from Puerto Vallarta. This was only 5.

We had dined the previous night with friends from our “hotelito,” Rebecca and Gary. We took a cab to Recco, a very nice Italian restaurant about 15 minutes west of downtown. It sits in a very nice old residential section of town. It had a lovely wrap-around porch and we sat at the very front. Dinner was excellent traditional Italian fare. We wanted a change from our nightly fare of Mexican food. I once said that I thought I could eat Mexican food every night. That is no longer true. Anyway, Polley and I each had a Caesar salad and a Roquefort salad and split an entrée, that neither of us can remember. I mention the food because as I boarded the bus the next morning, I was not feeling to well, although I don't attribute this directly to Recco..

We left a 9 am and arrived in San Miguel at 2 pm. Mirl and Carolyn were there to meet us and invited us to lunch. San Miguel is a charming town with a very impressive cathedral



Carolyn and Mirl have a wonderful home in San Miguel.





Very unlike me, I ask them to take me to their house immediately as I was not feeling very well. They did drop me off and went off to lunch with Polley. For the next 17 hours, I did not get out of bed accept to visit what became a very close friend, the toilet. I was very ill and did not make my way to the kitchen to join the others until 8 am the next day. The illness, a kind of food poisoning continued to keep me in bed for the next 9 hours. As we had tickets to a dinner theatre production that night, I ventured out for the first time and we saw a very funny production of Wood Allen’s Central Park West. The dinner, thank God, was all comfort food that I managed to keep down. However, my internal system was still a mess and I was up and down all night. The next morning, Thursday, our final day of visiting, I had a little strength back and Polley and I headed downtown around noon. We went immediately to a farmacía and got some “Cipro.” While many believe this to be an antibiotic, it is a compound and it worked nearly immediately. Mirl diagnosed what I had as Salmonella. Not pretty! Polley and I went and had a delicious lunch in the gardens of the art school



and took a cab back up to the Gratton house. I was cured!

That evening we went to dinner with Carolyn and Mirl and their two friends, Don and Federico. We went to Vivoli, another Italian restaurant and then to a scaled-down production of Mame. It was dreadful! I am not sure I will ever be able to set step on stage again. I wish I could tell you something good about the production (the drummer!), but there was little real talent, terrible costuming and mediocre to poor singing. I would criticize the choreography, but I am not sure there was any. We left at intermission and smugly discussed the production for the next hour.

Up by 6 am for an 8:45 bus back to Guadalajara. Still taking the Cipro, once in the morning and once in the evening for 5 days, the ride home was smooth and Polley and I read all the way. We were feeling great and set out for an Argentinean restaurant called La Matera. It has been recommended by Francisco and Alejandra, our friends and the owners of Candela.

La Matera is the coolest place we have been in Guadalajara. All brick, it appears as catacombs in the bar downstairs



and then has a huge dining room upstairs, with a lovely wrap-around porch. Having no reservation, we wait in the bar for nearly an hour, drinking one of the smoothest Malbec wine I have ever tasted: Luna, from Chile.

After an hour, we are called to our table and have a lovely dinner. While is is Argentinean, the steak I had was less than satisfying; I may have ordered it too rare. However, we had a starter of Sweetbreads Verdeo, sweetbreads with chiles and onions: fabulous! Polley had a Niçoise salad that was also very good. An excellent night out!

Saturday was Polley’s 72nd birthday. Wow! We had a little morning cocktail and the two Himel children, Althea and Adelaide, presented Polley with a birthday card


Then Polley and I just spent the day wandering about the town. However, at 5 p.m., the Himels, Steve, Ursulla and their two children hosted a birthday party for Polley in the private garden behind their room. It was great fun and all the guests from our “hotelito” were a prt of the festivities.



Of course, the little girls were the liveliest! Great fun.



About 7:30, we all wandered over a few blocks for an art opening in this very primitive space shared by a group of starving Mexican artists. Omar, who works in the kitchen, had a piece in the show, along with about 25 other works from members of this community. Omar’s piece was excellent and we were surprised by the quality of most of the work. Polley and I then bugged out and caught a cab to Zopapan for a birthday meal at Candela.


Were sorry that Francisco and Alajandra were not there and, in fact, were were so full from the birthday party that we had appetizers and wine and came back home. It had been a lovely day.

Ed and Polley