I recently flew from San Francisco to my boat in La Paz, Mexico. The best value flight connected through Guadalajara. Rather than hang out in the airport for six hours waiting for my connecting flight to La Paz, I decided to stay overnight in Guadalajara and check out Mexico’s fourth largest and most progressive city. I’m glad I did.
I only had a day to explore, so I focused on the historic Centro and trendy Chapultepec neighborhoods. The weather was beautiful, sunny and pleasantly warm. It was Sunday, the only day of the week most Mexicans don’t work and which they often spend out with friends and family. A great day for walking around.
It was dawn when I started roaming around, so I went to the cathedral which I knew would be open so early on a Sunday morning. I find most Mexican cathedrals to be darkly grand, a heavy architecture that feels very serious and somber. Guadalajara’s is no different. I don’t find these cathedrals to be particularly welcoming as buildings. However, I have always been impressed by the diversity and the sincerity of the people who worship in them. Old and young, some conservatively dressed, some in tight jeans, some seriously pious, others there enjoying family and tradition, straight and gay couples. Churchgoers reflect the country’s population and its refreshing to observe that Mexican churches have expanded beyond the conservative stereotypes of their history.
It was still early when I left the cathedral, so I walked around for a while then sat on a bench at the Plaza Tapatia to read in the morning sunshine while the city woke up. I noticed that Guadalajara is a very clean city with far less litter than other Mexican cities and its infrastructure is in good repair; no crazily uneven sidewalks with gaping holes to step around. Interestingly, I encountered more homeless people on the streets than I’m used to in Mexico. It reminded me of San Francisco, where the disparity of affluence and poverty couples with progressive social tolerance to create, for better and for worse, a more hospitable place for the homeless.
After awhile reading, basking in the sunshine and people watching, I felt hungry so I headed over to the Mercado Libertad, a huge three-story covered municipal market. The first floor is packed with stalls selling fresh meat, fish, vegetables and all sorts of other stuff. The second floor is a giant food court, with dozens of small counter seating restaurants competing to sell Guadalajara’s tasty food specialties – birria (a lamb or goat stew), torta ahogada (a pork sandwhich drowned in salsa), carne en su jugo (beef in its juice), tacos de barbacoa (lamb tacos). The counters were steadily filling up with people who were mostly sitting down to enjoy soup or menudo, the traditional Sunday morning hangover cure made with tripe. I’m not a big meat eater and didn’t want to fill up on a rich meal so early, so I opted for a healthy freshly squeezed juice cocktail instead. I’ll be back for the meaty stuff one day.
On Sundays the city closes its main thoroughfares to motorized traffic so that people can bike, run, walk and skateboard through the city. These avenues teemed all day with people of all ages and walks of life enjoying themselves. This, plus the city’s huge bike share program are two highly visible examples of the city’s progressive policies.
I had been sightseeing and lallygagging for four hours and it still only 10 o’clock in the morning, the opening time for the Instituto Cultural Cabañas, founded in 1791 as a hospital and now a UNESCO world heritage site and art museum. It features a series of huge frescos by José Orozco, one of Mexico’s most famous political muralists. I find Orozco’s work to be darkly interesting, not beautiful. His art draws me in to figure out what’s being depicted and why. His murals here are of Mexico’s social struggles from the Spanish conquest up to the early 20th century. Unlike other modern Mexican artists, Orozco presents these struggles with neutrality, not treating the cruel human sacrifices by indigenous people any differently than the brutality of the conquistadors, the hypocrisies of the Catholic church, or the oppression of fascism. They are all equal sources of suffering and struggle, all equal burdens on human potential. I studied his murals just long enough to begin feeling miserable, then visited the other galleries to look at brighter art and lighten my heart. It’s a nice museum to stroll through, an indoors-outdoors experience, the historic gallery buildings surrounding sundrenched courtyards with trees, flowers, singing birds and a few sculptures.
By the time I had enjoyed all the art the museum had to offer, I was tired and decided to head back to my hotel for a brief siesta. I stayed at the Real Maestranza Hotel in the heart of the historic center. It is a really nice hotel with friendly staff and spacious, clean modern rooms for about $55 a night. It was a perfect place for my visit.
I kept my siesta short so I would make it to the highly-rated restaurant Allium in the Chapultepec neighborhood before it closed at 5 pm. I übered over there in time for a great meal in the open-air patio, a crisp marinated nopales (cactus) salad followed by a perfectly cooked piece of sea bass with green and white asparagus. First class fusion cuisine cooking, first class service, very reasonable prices. Highly recommended.
I spent the rest of the evening roaming around the city, occasionally stopping for a glass of wine if a place interested me, loitering in plazas to watch people enjoying themselves, checking out the many street stands selling jewelry, handicrafts, artisan foods, handmade notebooks and more. I caught the tail end of a yoga festival being held in a garden complex. I met the owner who told me about his plans for the place which include opening a health food restaurant, providing shared co-working office space, and offering outdoor space for “glamping”, urban camping with luxury trappings. His plans captured the youthful, spirited, entrepreneurial, hip vibe I felt as I walked around the city, which was bustling on a Sunday evening with friendly camaraderie.
After a much-needed good night’s sleep, I had breakfast at La Chata, a cocina economica (economic kitchen). The evening before I had noticed a long line of people waiting to get into the restaurant and asked my Über driver about it. He said local people really like it because the food is good and the prices are low. My breakfast of Huevos Estilo Chata (eggs, Chata style) was delicious and filling, the service fast and polite, perfect cheap eats. I read in Lonely Planet that La Chata once held the Guinness book world record for fastest service, which is how I guess they keep the long lines outside moving.
After just one day, I list Guadalajara as one of my favorite cities in Mexico. It’s just big enough to offer all the trappings of a cosmopolitan metropolis, yet human in scale for walking, biking and making friends. I will definitely be back.