Doing Guadalajara

March 6

We woke up early around 6:00 and drifted briefly; then decided to get up and go to Guadalajara for the day. We showered, dressed and ate a quick breakfast and a half cup of coffee before heading out the door. We ran down the hill (a real trick so early in the morning and over cobblestones and narrow sidewalks) to the bus station. We got there ten minutes before the bus was due to arrive at 8:30. We were lucky to get a seat as many locals were headed to work. Some latecomers stood up for the 90-minute ride.

The Guadalajara bus station was crowded and seedy in a poor part of town. We grabbed a cab and went to the historic center of town. We spent a period of time trying to get oriented with where we were on our map and how to find our next stop.

There is a beautiful cathedral on Plaza de Armas that was started in 1558 and consecrated in 1618. It has a mix of styles; Gothic vaults and Tuscan style gold leaf pillows, with Baroque and Neoclassical influences. My tour book called it a hodge-podge of styles.

The stained glass over the main altar was a depiction of the Last Supper and there was a stream of light coming in from the side which shows up in Ron’s photo. It was rather spiritual.  

We walked through the 4 plazas that are around the Cathedral.  They were filled with public art and lots of people.

After visiting there for a while, we headed to the Museo Regional de Guadalajara. This museum had a unique display organized by regions; however,

each exhibit could include fossils, paintings, and ceramics all from the same region but totally disparate displays.

Afterward, we headed to Teatro Degallado, but it was not open until one, so we decided to have lunch and went right next door to a coffee bar that offered breakfast and lunch. We shared a plate of enchiladas and beans and for the first time since arriving, we were the only gringos eating in a restaurant. WOW!

We walked down a long pedestrian plaza to Instituto Cultural de Cabanas, an architectural gem. This museum houses modernist murals by Guadalajara’s own Jose Clemente Orozco. Orozco is one of the greatest artists of Mexico’s muralist movement. His murals are dark in content, depicting pre-Hispanic Jalisco and the conquest.

There was an exhibit of Jose Manuel Aldana, a civil engineer/architect who founded one of the top architectural firms in America. I Googled his name and found incredible examples of his architectural projects but none of his paintings and assemblages. We were wild about his work, large colorful pieces.

We took photos of some really fun sculptures out front, delightful, whimsical bronze figures. 

We walked back to the Teatro and went inside. It was begun in 1856 and completed 30 years later. It is the home of the Guadalajara Philharmonic.

We retraced our steps and stopped at Starbucks for water and cookies before heading to our last stop, Palacio de Gobierno, which houses state government offices were finished in 1774. Anyone is welcome to come inside to view the murals by Orozco.

We took a cab back to the bus station and I got anxious about the traffic, worried we would miss our bus back to Ajijic. We made it in time, bought our tickets and stood in line. This bus was full but we had reserved seats. The traffic getting out of town wasn’t bad but when we got close to home it was like a parking lot. Once we got near our street, we asked to deboard and our driver let us jump off since he wasn’t moving. We walked ahead and left the bus in ‘our rear-view mirror’ as it were.

I took some leftover soup, brown rice, and potato salad to Marianne and Peter for their dinner. I made a salad for us with greens, leftover shrimp and the rest of the potato salad. It was the end of a long but fun-filled day.