Guadalajara Trip - Part 3

The last post about our trip to Guadalajara.

I forgot to mention the electricity in the room in the hotel. Electricity in Mexico is very expensive so it shouldn’t be used when it is not needed.  In the hotel room there is a small box right by the door. You put your hotel key card in it to turn on the electricity in the room. If the card is not in the box you have no electricity. When you leave your room you take the card out of the box and the lights go out. I’d seen this before in China but forgot about it. Took us a few minutes to figure it out after not being able to turn lights on in the bathroom.

We also forgot we were in a different time zone – Central time instead of Mountain time. Later on we were wondering why everything was closing so early – duh!
If you double click on the pictures they will enlarge.
After resting a bit we went out to walk around town a little. I hope this guy gets good pay. The street was uphill.

Between the hotel and the Centro Historico most of the streets were closed to vehicular traffic. Lots of people were out walking around and all the stores were open and busy. One shop was a place that sold Charro (Mexican cowboy) clothing. A couple suits and a dress that were in the window. Big sale 15% off.

Walking around the corner we saw the tailor working in the store's shop.

This area also had a lot of shops selling bridal, evening gowns and gowns for confirmation and 15^th birthdays.

These are for confirmation – for girls about 11 or 12 years old.

These are for special events – like flower girls or attendants at 15^th birthdays. They are for little girls about 7 or 8! It has got to be really expensive to have girls!

Continued walking down the street and happened to look up. These are manikins for a dress store on the ground level.

One of the beautiful old buildings in downtown Guadalajara

The Palacio de Gobierno on the Plaza de Armas. For more pictures and information about our visits to Guadalajara check out last years blog and our web pages.

From here on it was getting kind of dark – remember we were on the wrong time…..So the pictures are a little dark. The south side of Cathedral. The spires are yellow tile. Was surprised it was not illuminated at night. The French bandstand has concerts every Thursday and Sunday evenings. And it was Thursday evening!

A closer look at the bandstand with the band getting ready to start playing.

One of the lights in the plaza. Just thought it was pretty.

There were a lot of vendors selling things children like. This man was walking around and stopping every once in awhile to spread his bubbles. The kids loved chasing and popping the bubbles.

We stopped for awhile to listen to the music, squeezing in on one of the many crowded benches surrounding the bandstand. As we listened we noticed this guy in the jeans and light colored t-shirt. – performing to the music. I’m going to try and post a video of him. It was really neat to watch. And I didn’t see him ask for any money or molest any of the passers by. [I will give him his own post]

One of the busy pedestrian walkways. Stores selling everything from fresh food to clothes, kitchen utensils, yardage and electronics.

Then we turned a corner and found the “ladies who knit and/or crochet.” They sit in small groups along this walkway.

Usually one lady is the instructor the others are learning. They are crocheting slippers. The lady in the red is the maestra -teacher.

We stopped and talked to this group. They are knitting hats. The one lady told us that a lot of women who come to knit are women who have problems at home and this is therapy for them. They sell what they make.

After walking around checking out more stores we ended up back near one of the plazas and decided to have dinner at the outdoor café.

We both had chicken Caesar Salads. Very good. While eating we were entertained by a couple. He played the guitar and she sang. Her voice reminded me of Judy Collins – a pure lilting sound. Beautiful. After eating we headed back towards the hotel as it was getting pretty cool out. Again lack of planning on our part. It gets cold up at 5000 feet at night. Walked back through the Plaza de Armas.  The gazebo was all lit up but the band was gone and the crowds were thinning out. (We thought it was 7:30 but it was actually 8:30)

Passed this building with the interesting window design. Don’t know why the horse or what the building was for.

We walked back to the hotel as stores closed down and people headed home. And yes we felt completely safe at all times.

The next morning – Friday, we got up and ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Both of us had French toast. Very good. We debated staying another day, but considering we hadn’t planned on even one night we decided to head back to Aticama. After picking Willie up at the garage we drove back through the city heading home. Thought this was interesting – the young girls are looking at the older woman the same way I was.

The Autopista traveling through the cane fields. Remember I said it was a really nice road.

We stopped in Tepic and went to WalMart to restock up on some of the things we can’t find in Aticama. Had a good time but it is always nice to get home.

So now it is time to finish posting about our trip to Guadalajara. This is part three of our trip. The other two posts are below this one. Tomorrow I'll post the band music - I hope.