Guadalajara:
Guadalajara is the second largest city in Mexico, with 1.4-million people, capital of Jalisco state, and is 350-miles west of Mexico City. City has a light rail system, constructed in 1989, with three lines connecting 50 stations; construction of fourth line began last year; daily ridership 250,000 people. City is at 5,000 feet elevation; current weather, daytime high of 85-degrees; nighttime low of 50-degrees.
Budget:
Living in Mexico nine weeks; trip cost $1,453 ($23 per day); annualized cost $8,400. Currency denominations include: 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 peso notes. Coin denominations include: 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 pesos; 20 peso coin isn’t common; only seen a single coin; use coins for subway, coletivo, and open market. Next budget update at end of March, thirteen weeks.
- Lodging: $977 total | $15 day (AirBnB)
- Transport: $277 total | $4 day (United | train | colectivo & subway)
- Food: $107 total | $2 day (market | groceries | street food | water)
- Other: $92 total | $1 day (foreign exchange | tour | health & beauty)
THU Feb 17th:
Travel day from Morelia to Guadalajara. While Mexico is civil, and Mexicans are helpful, travel involves certain amount of uncertainty and stress. Woke up 4:00am with a headache; not a migraine, just garden-variety headache. Drank some coffee; departed AirBnB 4:30am.
Walked three miles to bus station, arrived 5:30am. Familiar with route, didn’t have to consult Apple map; found 20 peso note on walk. Concerned with safety; sky was dark; not many people on the streets; backpack is likely 35-pounds; not nimble, if had to “run away.”
Primera Plus bus departed 7:45am, arrived 11:30am ($27 USD). Bus had movies; sound, but no dialog. Bus also had WiFi, but that too, didn’t work; dozed off for about two hours.
Many taxi drivers on Guadalajara bus platform, wanted to drive me the 7-miles into centro for $10 USD. New bus terminal is large, with seven different buildings. Difficult to find local bus. Knew that I could take light rail, however, station stops weren’t appearing on Apple maps. Could see light rail platform in the distance, hiding behind a derelict building; took a chance and walked over; found station entrance, studied the map to identify “best” stop to reach AirBnB. Light rail carried me into centro ($0.50 USD), short 1-mile walk to AirBnB, checked-in before 2:00pm.
When I was a kid, my twin brother and neighbor used to play a game called “swamp hopping.” There was a swamp in the backyard. Trees grew in the swamp, and small islands of moss would grow around the gnarled tree roots. We would “hop” our way through the swamp from island to island, wondering if, and hoping that, the islands of moss wouldn’t sink under our body weight. If the island sank, you might land up to your knees in muddy water, making a mess of your sneakers, socks, and pants. Often feared that we would get lost, which in hindsight, wasn’t really possible. However, Mom was often angry when we returned home wet and muddy. Share this story because traveling involves similar level of discomfort.
Stopped for dinner at infamous street vendor, Los Dogos Chinos. Serves grilled hot dogs wrapped in bacon, with chopped tomatoes, sautéed onions and jalapeno peppers, panela cheese, mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard, for 25 pesos ($1.25 USD). Open 6:00pm – 4:00am; understand that it is popular after midnight with bar and dance club patrons.
Sights:
AirBnB is in the Col Americana neighborhood of Guadalajara; mostly upscale; American consulate is located nearby. There is a restaurant on the other side of the AirBnB. One evening, restaurant had a mariachi band during dinner service. Singer and trumpet player were fantastic. Wondered if, perhaps, they were taking shots between sets; as the evening un-folded, singing and trumpet playing became more entertaining and colorful. Nice thing about the music, is that it ended before midnight, nice respite, given the noise coming from nightclubs during the past two months.
Market shopping has been an experience; pretty good selection at Mercado de Abastos, southwest of the city; it wasn’t an enjoyable walk; 2.5-miles through industrial and high-traffic areas; at one point, crossed a highway, and felt a bit like the video game “Frogger.” Other market is Mercado Santa Tere, located northwest of AirBnB; it’s not as far, and the walk is mostly civil. There is less selection; higher prices. Movie director, Guillermo del Toro, was born and raised in Guadalajara; understand that he returns to this market when in town.
Avenida Juarez bisects Guadalajara centro, east-west. On Sundays, 8:00am – 2:00pm, four-lane street is closed to vehicular traffic, and open to people on bicycles, skateboards, and rollerblades. It’s interesting to see this commitment in Mexico; wonder why this is less prevalent in the United States.
Visited Museo de las Artes (MUSA) at Universidad de Guadalajara, which features the murals of Jose Clemente Orozco, paintings of Hector Navarro, Samuel Melendrez Bayardo, and Christian Bendayan. Appreciated the Navarro galleries; experience made me feel human; restoreth my soul; given close proximity to AirBnB, visited the gallery five times.
Also visited Convento de Carmen, Plaza Guadalajara, Catedral de la Guadalajara, Plaza de la Liberacion, Plaza de Armas, Teatro Degollado, and Rotunda de los Jaliscenses Ilustres, which features statues of Jalisco citizens who transcended history.
Met my friend, Paul, for coffee on Saturday, at a local coffee shop, Black Coffee Gallery. We first met at Puebla AirBnB. He is a fearless world traveler from Chicago, just a year older. It was nice to meet up; talk; compare travel notes. It was nice to have a “real” cup of coffee, with flavor and caffeine kick; first cup of “real” coffee since arriving in Mexico. Paul and I also met up on Sunday; visited Museo de las Artes, to see the Navarro galleries, visited Museo Regional de Guadalajara (history), mariachi square (Guadalajara is renowned for its mariachis, and they often perform in this public square), and Mercado de San Juan.
Tequila:
Saturday, February 19th, visited nearby town of Tequila, in Jalisco state. Took local bus from Guadalajara, for 50-mile drive, 2-hour ride, with frequent stops ($11 USD, round-trip).
Arrived in Tequila 8:30am, stopped in central square for breakfast taco, and explored local market and museum. Arrived 11:00am at Fortaleza distillery. Contacted Fortaleza via website, and scheduled tour via email. Fortaleza is one of the better “sipping” tequilas. No salt, no lime, no ice; sipped neat, like a fine, single-malt scotch. Contacted El Tesoro for distillery tour, but, understand that the distillery is closed to the public during the pandemic.
Fortaleza is an artisan distillery, tequila is hand-made, there is no automation; it is 100% blue agave spirit, and helps to understand why 750ml bottle sells for $60 USD. Distillery ships 2,000 bottles per week, and struggles to keep up with market demand; in contrast, larger distilleries ship this many bottles per day.
Blue agave is harvested in the field by the jimador, who removes the sharp spines; spines are often burned in the field, as a form of compost, returning nutrients to the soil. Agaves split in half, and stacked in walk-in oven, where the agaves are steamed 24-hours to concentrate the sugars. Agave hearts are removed from the furnace, and shredded, and the material is placed into a concrete basin, and crushed with a stone wheel; stone wheel used to be turned by a mule; later by a tractor; today, essentially, an electric fork lift, without the lift. Sugar-filled liquid is transferred into wooden fermentation tanks. After adding yeast, it takes three to four days (influenced by ambient temperature and humidity) to achieve appropriate sugar concentration, and the liquid is transferred to copper tanks for distillation.
Blanco tequila is aged two months in stainless steel tanks; respado tequila is rested 6-months in oak barrels; anejo tequila is aged 18-months in oak barrels. Fortaleza procures its barrels from Jack Daniels; barrels are fire treated before use, and are used more than once.
At the end of the tour, guests are taken into the distillery’s bar located in a natural cave, to sample each of its four tequilas; blanco (40% ABV), blanco “still strength” (46% ABV), respado, anejo. Bartender pours each guest five shots in to a long-stemmed glass; one shot of each tequila product, and the fifth shot, each guest’s “favorite.”
Fortaleza, is a privately-owned distillery, operated by the fifth generation of the Sauza family. In Mexico, the tequila is known as “Los Abuelos,” the grandfathers, in homage to the family history. Lawsuit in the United States, prevents use of this name, hence, Fortaleza. If you peel the label off the bottle, you will find the name Los Abuelos, etched onto the glass.
Tour duration 11:00am – 2:00pm, cost $25 USD; as a souvenir, guests are gifted hand-made cork bottle top, that resembles the blue agave pina heart.
Return bus was 2.5-hours back to Guadalajara; ambient temperate 85-degrees; there was no air-conditioning, few windows cracked open; full bus; hot ride. Walked three miles across town, from Antigua Central Camionera (old bus terminal) back to AirBnB.
Fortaleza isn’t available at Mexico City Benito Juarez International Airport duty free; look forward to returning to United States, buying a bottle of blanco or “still strength” and savoring with family and friends.
Other thoughts:
What if there is no meaning to life. What if there is no purpose to life. What if philosophy has been (artificially) created (by wo/man) to fill this vacuum. What if religion, including Zen Buddhism, has been (artificially) created (by wo/man) to fill this vacuum.
If there is no meaning to life, if there is no purpose to life, and I define meaning and purpose myself, to what extent am I at risk of deluding myself (by my own ignorance).
Is it possible that life is vapid and hollow. Is it possible that life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,” as suggested by Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan. Does wo/man turn to drugs, alcohol, sex, indulgent food, television, and consumption (consumerism) to blunt, disguise, and mute the (unavoidable) pain and suffering of existence.
Karl Marx suggested that “religion is the opium of the people” arguing that religion was constructed by people to calm uncertainty over their role in the universe and in society. Point the finger at myself – guilty as charged – having lived six-months in a monastery.
Is life simply absurd. Albert Camus, recognized the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life, and the inability to find any sense of certainty, from a mute universe.
Am I deluding myself. Is it possible that my world isn’t far different from the world portrayed in the movie, the Matrix (1999), where an artificial construct is made in order to make an unbearable life, more bearable.
In graduate school, instructed to challenge ideas, interrogate ideas, but to not attack people. In the United States, it often appears that people attack people. Hurt people, hurt people. People call other people names. As a child, used to recite, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names may never hurt me.” But in fairness, name-calling hurts people. Of course, when name-calling doesn’t work, some people pick up a weapon and harm others, and sometimes, kill others.
When my philosophy doesn’t agree with your philosophy; when my religion doesn’t agree with your religion; when my opinion doesn’t agree with your opinion; when my point of view doesn’t agree with your point of view, a person may pick up arms and go to war, kill his brother, kill his fellow man.
In contrast, F. Scott Fitzgerald suggested that “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”
Write each evening in a personal journal, pen and paper; for more than a decade. Several weeks ago, wrote that when reality doesn’t match expectations, result is suffering. To end suffering, don’t cling to expectations; easy enough.
If AirBnB doesn’t have water pressure; if AirBnB doesn’t have hot water; if nearby nightclub shakes the building until 3:00am. Yes, and this too. Would prefer something else, but, okay.
What if search for meaning, purpose, equanimity, and happiness; and never find it.
Zacatecas & San Luis Potosi: SAT March 5th – SAT March 19th 2022
Plan to take bus Guadalajara to Aguascalientes (4-hours), THU March 3rd.
Take bus from Aguascalientes to Zacatecas (2-hours), SAT March 5th.
Take bus from Zacatecas to San Luis Potosi (3-hours), SAT March 12th.
Aguascalientes breaks up a long travel day, staying two days.
Stay one week in Zacatecas, and one week in San Luis Potosi.
garthmonroe 