Guanajautu

We finally took a flight within Mexico—from Cabo to Guadalahara. A quick 1 1/2 hour flight then a cab ride to the bus terminal where we got on a “luxury” bus and headed to Guanajautu. The only bad thing that happened on this trip was the food at the bus terminal—-guess that means it was a pretty darn good trip!

It was about a 4 hour bus ride but with legs propped up and my head phones on watching a movie in Spanish the time flew by. One more cab ride and a somewhat difficult but quick walk down a few flights of stairs to the Casa Zuniga. Wonderful to open the doors to our deck and look out over the lights of the city! (Thanks for the rec. Tricia.)

While zipping along in our luxury bus we were able to set up a private tour with a guide on the next afternoon. The morning was spent roaming around the city. Truly wish I were a better writer so that I could better describe it. It was kind of a combination of San Francisco and Cusco. It was hard to stop taking photos. The buildings seemed to glow at sunrise and sunset and the rest of the time it looked like giant box of crayons.

We were very fortunate to have a guide who had been born and raised in the area (as well as several generations of her family), but who also had an undergrad degree in history. She was just the right mix of history and great stories about the city. And of course took us to some great stops for baked goods (formerly her grandfather’s shop), spices and cafe olla (slightly sweet coffee with lots of cinnamon). She was clearly proud of her city but was also able to give us a more accurate history than many of the more “polished” stories we heard.

The food was excellent and very reasonably priced. Veracruzan style tamales and pulque for lunch–just 3 or 4 dollars for both. (Pulque is a drink made from the Maguey plant–tastes just like kombucha). We went to a nice restaurant downtown with a Canadian chef sourcing all his foods locally. I had duck quesadillas. I wish we had more time to sample the street food. A woman made us gorditas from scratch while we watched. She had all sorts of questions about the toppings which I did not understand so I just asked her to “usa tus favoritas, por favor”. Despite how full we were, we managed to go to an ice cream cafe. So many flavors, so little time! We climbed a “ladder” to their rooftop eating area (as recommended by the guide)–fortunately the waitress climbed up the ladder with our food).

Of course with all that eating one must find drink. Fortunately the guide mentioned a tiny unique bar that had some music and botanas (free snacks like tapas). When my phone lost its charge I went to the bar where I managed plug in behind the bar (in a mass of wires) while they let me try a couple mescals. Interesting how everyone has their own twist on mescal–spices, limes added. I was drinking tiny amounts but the guy strumming the guitar was drinking a water glass full of mescal that I saw him refill himself at the bar!

The next night we found another bar with unique drinks on the rooftop. Turns out it is a university student spot. Our waiter was studying classical ballet and showed us some of his strategies for doing classes on zoom.

At the end of day filled with beautiful scenery, very friendly people, and excellent food (23,000 steps worth), it was nice to head back on the funnicular.

After a very nice breakfast at Casa Zuniga (an especially nice treat for our vegetarian friends), the owner was kind enough to take us on a driving tour of the city and a hike through the silver mines. Truly a biography should be written about this man and his wife—and how they built this b and b on the side of the hill in the rubble of a garbage dump. He was an endless resource of information about the history of the city. He was particularly interested in the silver mining history, and he even walked with us into the depths of the silver mine. Between listening to Rick’s history of the city and our guides, I kept wondering why they didn’t just move the city to another less troubled spot? Sure glad they didn’t.

Flooding was the biggest issue. The river going through the center of town used to flood every few years and pretty much destroy the city. So they finally built a large tunnel for the river to flow though UNDER the city. In addition many of the roads are under the city and the streets are left to the pedestrians in some areas. It is a very bizarre network of tunnels with many twists and turns—so glad we did not have a car (thanks for that advice).

The city also played a role in the quest for Mexico’s independence. It is a very complex history, but clearly a place where people were fiercely passionate about becoming independent. The people of the city, very rightfully so, are clearly proud of this amazing place and their role in the history of Mexico. Next trip….Patscauro (sp?)

This is what I can not figure out: this city is filled with beautiful architecture, excellent restaurants, interesting history, cool museums and did I mention rooftop bars?—-and yet there were very very few tourists. This was like going a to a cool place in Italy for half the price with friendlier people—without the crowds! I should keep my mouth shut so we can continue to go back and enjoy but the city needs tourism to maintain the area.

Perhaps it’s the dogs. There are lots of them and they love to bark. Yup, that’s it —the only criticism of the city.

I took vast quantities of photos showing the massive painted doors, tiny balconies, tree lined plazas, etc etc—-far too many to post here. Hopefully I can turn some of those photos into paintings.