Mariachi, Mariachi, Marichi in Tlaquepaque

Jodie tucking in to some Enchiladas.
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Oooooooooooooh, we love it here!  The bus from Mazatlan took us in to the bus station just south of Guadalajara in Tlaquepaque, so we decided to check this wee suburb out and I'm glad we did!  Ooh, and we met the first people so far who also don't speak Spanish, but they're headed to San Blas which we decided to miss in favour of this place.

Anyhoo, got a taxi to the hostel which was much more expensive than we thought it would be ($450 rather than $300) but it's still cheap and you get a slap up breakfast too.  The room's lovely, the shower's good, no beasties and all the rooms look out on to a wee courtyard so 'tis very pleasant.

Saw some clouds today...first time in two weeks

A bunch of Mariachis. Can you spot the odd one out?
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3rd June

Had the best night's sleep so far and woke up really late!  Tlaquepaque is centred around it's own wee Centro Historico which has a big church/cathedral type place, and El Parian which is a big courtyard with restaurants round the outside and Mariachi Men wandering round the inside offering songs to folk.  We didn't pay for songs, we just listened to everyone elses harhar!  Decided to be brave and jump on a Collectivo (local bus) to Guadalajara Centro, and found it surprisingly easy and incredibly cheap ($10 for both of us on a 20 minute journey in to town).  Guadalajara is hugehugehugehugehuge so we decided to follow the book and check out the nearest historical sites; saw the Cathedral and the Palacio De Gobierno which has the most amazing, huge mural of Hidalgo!  People stare at us much more openly, and we actually left a restaurant because even the staff were staring at us.  I was tempted to flick the finger at them, but I just gave them a wave instead...don't want to be dicks too!  For the most part, when people stare at us it seems to be out of curiosity so we don't mind, but those folk were pretty rude!  I really don't mind people staring if it's harmless (and not directed at me boobs!).

Mural of Hidalgo in Palacio De Gobierno, Guadalajara
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4th June

Moved hotels and we're now staying in Donde El Indio Duerme which is directly across from the El Parian...decided to take a room overlooking the courtyard so we could hear the music and watch everything going on outside!  We get free of charge cockroaches in the bathroom too...great!  Haha!  I don't actually mind them but Jodie's not into them at all!  Think I got more practise with creepy crawlies feeding Lobo than Jodie did! Had a good breakfast of Huevas Y Refried Beans in Posada de media la Luna, then packed up and moved to the new hotel.  Had a lazy day wandering around Tlaquepaque (Tla-keh-pah-keh) and even checked out the local mercado where I bought a hilarious apron top (it's amazing) and Jodie bough a vest top for about 3 quid!  Nice!  Also had some fresh juice and azzuro from some of the wee stalls.  Around the main courtyard there are loads of wee stalls selling raspados, yoghurt, papas francescas, king coconuts, etc.  There's such a great vibe here...everything and everyone seem really relaxed.  Lots of artists have galleries and studios here too... 5th June ...which we checked out today.  The coolest one was Rodo Padella's...really nice stuff...happy Mexican Mariachi men with GIANT backsides!  Quite funny really. Had a slap up breakfast/lunch/dinner buffet at a vegetarian place.  I almost bit into a pepper stuffed with cheese, but luckily I had a quick look before I took a bite, so avoided the 'vomit all over the table' scenario phew.  Jodie ate so much I think he might die.  Or he might kill me with his vegetable backside once we get back! Saw some clouds today...first time in two weeks and was actually quite a welcome sight as it provided us with some much needed shade (did I mention it's hot here).  The shower in our room leaked all over the place...I'm a bit scared to use it as it looks like you could catch a disease from it (not really, but it's all mouldy and a bit manky). We've been kept awake the past two nights with Mariachi men sitting in the plaza playing 'til the wee small hours.  It's amazing...they all have hilariously big, powerful, operatic voices and it sounds so good!  And we've been getting woken up by buskers directly below our window...a guy with a xylophone and his friend with a guiro...they play the same songs over and over again, and I can't get them out of my head!  We also heard them play classic hits byt Abba such as Chiquichita(?), and they played Caravan which we both love (Exotica...yes).