Friday, 17 November: Aguascaliente

We started our day with breakfast in our hotel before a bit more exploring in the town.  The jardin in Aguascalientes was fabulous and the historic center of town was quite interesting.  

The statuary in Jardin de San Marcos was of particularly note

Our drive to Guadalajara led us through more desert giving us the opportunity to notice subtle differences in the landscape and in the plants. We've also noticed that Justin's sinuses are getting drier and my hair looks great.  The only thing missing is water. Oh wait... that would mean humidity. Oh well...

Into Guadalajara with enough time to have a traditional margarita before heading to catch the Lapatio bus, Guadalajara 's version of a Hop On Hop Off bus. Ok, we thought 'just in time', but since the bus was about a hour late, we had plenty of time. Was the delay because Guadalajara has 4.3 million people and the corresponding traffic? Or was it because we were on Mexican time?  Either way, I would have called it at least twenty minutes earlier but Justin persevered. The tour was not overly polished but we were on the upper deck and the sights of the city at night were remarkable.

A quick stop back at our hotel to pick up Gemma and we headed out this time in foot. We'd seen an area of restaurants and markets when we were on the bus.  We wanted to go there again so we started walking... and walking and walking.  We finally got a cab. Initially I was confused when the cab driver said he'd take us to Chapultepec because I know that to be a park in Mexico City.  I knew we didn't want a cab to take us there!  Instead, he took us to the avenue in Guadalajara by the same name which was exactly where we wanted to go.  

After exploring, we ended up at a seafood restaurant, Puerto Clandestino.  Justin and I took advantage of the opportunity to taste a few different tequilas and we even tried mescal.  As we were chatting with the waiter we learned that a group of Packer fans meets in the restaurant for games.  Really!  Packers are everywhere!

Back at our hotel with bartender Abraham, Justin and I had a new drink.  The Bandarita, or Mexican Flag, is actually three separate shots -- tequila ( white), fresh lime juice (green), and sangrita (red).  The drink is designed to be sipped.  This could be trouble.

Rustic wooden wall at Puerto Clandestino