Jocotepec on the way to Tonala

Glen's GPS wanted us to take the along the Lake Chapala route rather than heading straight into Guadalajara on Lopez Mateos. We obediently obeyed without questioning why and will never know. Glen hadn't seen the new Jocotepec Malecon and I hadn't seen the newer work done there. It gave us a chance to stretch our legs and grab a beer.

The first thing we noticed was the lake level was way down. That tour boat that is usually tied up to the Malecon was a couple hundred yards away and the other little pier off to the left had a new extension.

They've added some nice touches to the park with much more grass, raised the level behind the walkway that used to flood, added a beach front walk, a kids playground to the far left and replaced all the water sculptures they removed for the Folklorico Festival they had a few years ago. Very nice job.

Tour boat

Pier extension

New fountain and bridge

Replaced water sculptures

Chapala lake level

This foto was taken from the end of the Chapala pier by Steve that runs the Lake Chapala Weather site. He says they are digging a channel for tour boats to get in and out. The lake is down 10 feet from 2008 levels.

Lake Chapala Weather

Street Band Guadalajara

We saw these kids playing downtown Guadalajara on one of the plazas and they really had a crowd.   All the instruments were home made except for a cow bell and a cymbal.  Paint buckets for drums and a PVC tuba.   The smaller wind instruments I'm not sure.   Bass drum was a carboard tube.

Cofradia distillery tour - Tequila

A distillery tour in Tequila was a first for both of us so early afternoon we stopped at the little bar "Arte en Juego" to ask for a suggested tour and to have a beer. That bar happened to be owned by Cofradia and the very cute bartender sold us two tickets (150 pesos) and called a van to pick us up.

The Cofradia distillery is on the edge of town where most of the larger ones are in town or on the highway. Cofradia is a boutique brand that is not mass marketed like the others. That generally means more  expensive products but their tour is first class and very personal.

We arrived about two miles out into the country and there were about 10 Mexicans waiting to start the tour. Our guide spoke both languages so took time for us gringos after she explained in Spanish. We saw the process from the raw "pinas" (peen-yas) (pineapple), cooking them, tasting how sweet after cooked and had the distilling process explained. Freshly distilled Tequila is illegal to sell because it's 100 proof and has to be deluded with water before it is aged. We did taste it and it was quite good.

Their aging room is also their store for some more tasting. They built the place around trees that protrude thru the roof to provide shade. There is also a large underground cavern that has been converted to a restaurant but must have originally been for aging. We ate there and about 2 1/2 hours total the van took us back to town.

Bar Arte en Juego

Cofradia van

Cofradia entrance bar

Raw pinas ready for the oven

Cooked pinas in the oven

Fermentation vats

Getting some 100 proof for us to try

Our guide

Beautiful grounds

Cofradia logo on the hill

Tonala for a few days

A little disappointed with the quality of the artenesia but glad we went. We had two choices for hotels and we went with the less expensive Hacienda del Sol which turned out well. The other option was the Casa de las Palomas for about 100 pesos more. Hacienda del Sol was 450 pesos for 2 people, had a nice restaurant in the lobby and large indoor parking. Both are close to downtown and the Art Tianguis.

We had planned on staying 3 days and seeing more of Guadalajara but we found Tonala not very interesting and lacking decent restaurants and a taxi to Guad Centro was 150 pesos. Didn't want to deal with buses or park downtown. Walked a lot Saturday and did the Artisania Tianguis on Sunday morning. The tianguis goes on for blocks and blocks but I found very little was special. The shops that are there every day are not real easy to find. I'm sure we missed a few good stores but maybe another time

Sunday afternoon we took a taxi to downtown Guad, walked alot more and took one of the Tapatio tour buses around the city center. More on downtown and the tour on another post.

Casa de las Palomas

Hacienda del Sol

Hacienda del Sol restaurant

First church on the Tonala plaza

Opposing church across the plaza

Upscale artesenia shop

The endless tianguis (market)