I had prearranged my room at a hotel that I found on the internet, Gran Hotel Los Reyes as I wanted someplace not too expensive and near the center of the action. It turned out to be across the street from Plaza los Mariachis and the indoor market San Juan de Dios. http://www.granhotellosreyes.com/
After checkin, a quick visit to the infamous Plaza los Mariachis for lunch was in order. This is very interesting place where Mariachis (originally founded in this area in the state of Jalisco) "hang" out and try to find gigs to play for people either right there at the plaza or maybe somewhere else in town that night. So they tend to approach people all the time, as well as stand on the street corners to catch potential gigs from cars driving by. If you need a Mariachi band this is the place you go to find one.
Our next task as to do the walking tour of the area, so we head up the plaza street and begin to see the sights and sounds of historical GDL. There are many plazas along the way with fountains, stores, churches, state buildings (GDL is the capital of Jalisco), and restaurants. This is the main shopping area for Guadalajarans with a lot of chain stores. We stroll along taking pictures, reading plaques of tributes, and just take in the sights of a first time visitor to GDL. In our travels we notice a double decker bus tour that is available and we decide that tomorrow morning we will make the tour of the city that way to get the best overall overview of GDL.
My friend was originally from GDL, so he kind of new some of the areas and we decided to find a restaurant for dinner. So just walking around we discovered a very interesting restaurant called Birrieria las Nueve Esquinas www.las9esquinas.com/ingles/index.html with their special recipes of Goat and Lamb. Homemade corn tortillas, homemade salsas, homemade beans, etc. it has won many awards for providing authentic traditional Mexican recipes and preparation methods. Located at a plaza that has 9 street corners because many streets come together here......hence the origin of their name. It was an excellent meal! After dinner we explored some of the night clubs in that area.
The next morning we venture back out near the main cathedral where the tour buses depart and board our tour of the city. The tour last several hours and takes you all around the city including as far away as the Convention Center complex, Tlaquepaque, and it was a great way to get an overview of the city. The perfect clear skies made the whole ride from the upper level just better. The stop in Tlaquepaque allows you as much time as wish to walk around, sightsee, and shop. All you have to do is pick up the next tour bus which run about every hour! So we did just that for a few hours and shopped in the local shops that provide an great array of household decor items including furniture, paintings, sculptures, nicknacks, etc. etc. A quick lunch of Torta de Ahogada a GDL specialty was my request because I had see the advertisements all over the city! It is a french roll topped with pulled pork and then topped with a spicy tomato sauce......delicioso!
Upon our return to the starting point of the tour, we did some more walking towards San Juan de Dios flea market and more exploring of the plazas around that area. Of course we ended up shopping there and make some great purchases for prices at least 50% less than in Puerto Vallarta. Another evening back at Plaza Los Mariachis just made the day complete!
Our plan the next day was to drive down south past the airport to Lake Chapala area where so many Americans and Candians have retired and call this area home. Lake Chapala is the largest fresh water lake in Mexico. There were many homes in the area with some limited shopping, so we decided to stop at the main plaza for some lunch. We were treated to a great lunch of breaded fish filet stuffed with shrimp....just fantastic and reasonably priced! Our time was running short and we wanted to be back in PV before dark, so we left the beautiful city of GDL in the early afternoon for 4-5 hour drive back to PV.
