Previa Road Trip: Tlaquepaque, Tonala, Guadalajara, Ajijic

Friday, August 10

It was lovely to wake up and wander around our favorite hotel.

We took the taxi to Tonala to make purchases at the artesian shops. We have driven there before and it is hard to find parking, plus lots of traffic when trying to leave.

We looked for green rimmed, blown glass in "chico" size - found acceptable ones after much deliberation. I purchased several long teardrop, suncatcher type glass cylinders. I wanted to buy a Talavera trash can and tin hanging stars but decided against both.

There are an amazing amount of artisans selling either glass, cloth, metal, etc. There are lots of funky furnishings, too. We walked to the edge of the market to get views of Guadalajara.

We left with only a few purchases and walked part way to Walmart (Ken was looking for Tequilla), took a bus, shopped then took a taxi home.

In Mexico, this is a bus stop. Palapa optional.

At night Ken enjoyed a hotdog from a street vendor. I missed buying flowered and embroidered pillow covers for 120 pesos each - ugh!

Saturday, August 11

We took a taxi from the Quinta to the San Jose de Dias Mercado. The Market, well it was huge, three or four floors and two floors of parking. It was set up so if you wanted kitchenware all of it was in one area. The food area appeared very clean with sinks for each vendor and stainless steel countertops. Great prices, great food!

Ken wanted to buy a tortilla press big enough to make Oaxaca sized quesadillas. He found a whole street full of shops selling them, then hand picked ours. Plus he found the perfect lime squeezer - small enough for little limes, big enough for bigger limes. I tried to purchase a Mexican wool blanket. It was way too expensive- the vender lost a sale.

We discovered the market was near centro Guadalajara. We explored for an hour or so.

Donna looking angelic.

Guadalajara main shopping plaza.

I prefer the horse before the cart.

Before the final walk we went our separate ways and shopped Tlaquepaque. Ken shopped for tequila. During supper downtown it started raining. We were stuck at the restaurant for an hour. We wore clean garbage bags back to the hotel as taxi were not in sight.

Wow, they have a subway we discovered. With luck we were able to secure a transit map for Guadalajara.

Sunday, August 12

Ken got up knowing he had to pack up all our purchases with packing tape, which the hotel lent to us. They also got boxes for the packing that had to be done. While Ken finished up I went back downtown to finish a purchase but the vender was not yet open.

We decided not to pack everything in our room.

It took forty excited minutes to drive from Tlquepaque to Ajijic. I often cruise the Ajijic Realty web pages to look at or dream about potential homes in Mexico, so this was a rather surreal experience.

We met the Real Estate agent Raul at the Black Coffee Cafe then moved on to the Secret Garden ( a vegetarian restaurant). Great food, conversation and atmosphere to wild away a delightful, lengthy lunch. There was even a guitarist and harpist playing for a while.

Then off we went with Raul to the activity of looking at homes. First, Raul drove us to downtown Ajijic and we walked the main square.

We were driven to at least seven or eight homes, mostly in different areas. That way we could compare areas and prices. Plus, of course, Raul was trying to get a handle on our needs and tastes in a home. Believe me this was a wonderful world wind tour of beautiful homes with spectacular gardens. Not all were to our liking but some were dream homes. Prices are very reasonable.

First House, nice back yard.

This house was designed by an Architect.

Best deal ever on the new house.

Aquacuate tree in front yard. Ken and Raul on the left.

We looked and enjoyed our viewing until 9:00 pm, then booked into a hotel downtown, near the realtor's office.

Ken picking fresh limes

Monday, August 13

We went for a walk on Ajijic's malacon. Mostly we saw Gringo's (I mean this in the nicest way, as I count Ken and I as Gringos). We walked back towards the hotel to check out. Oh, and I saw a donkey and fishing boats. We strolled a used shop that was expensive.

We attended Ajijic Realty's Newcomer seminar. Valuable information for making the big move. Once Raul arrived at the office he took us to view the home of Pat and Ken so we could see a home in beautifully staged condition. The home was the showroom edition of a home we had seen the day before that was for sale. Their home had a pool and hot tub addition. Wooden millwork had been custom made - cupboards bordering the fireplace, cupboards and a wall of desks in the office, etc. Plus all existing millwork including doors and kitchen cupboards had been stained a darker colour - gorgeous, well maintained and tastefully decorated home.

Pat was a wealth of information on moving from Canada and moving to and living in Ajijic. We talked about that very subject for about three hours or more.