November 7, 2006

Day 1. We stayed in the Hotel Posada Regis, cheap and conveniently located near the historical city centre. We had just arrived in Guadalajara after a red eye flight and groggily went around to see a few nearby sights.
The Plaza de Armas is the main square in Guadalajara’s historical centre. This is the Belle Epoque bandstand in the Zócalo with the Cathedral in the background.
Also on the Plaza de Armas was the Palacio de Gobierno (no photos). Of particular note were the fiery Orozco murals in the Palacio, along with even more stunning murals of his at Las Cabañas, located a short walk to the east. Check out the surreal Alejandro Colunga sculptures in the plaza fronting Las Cabañas.
On the way back from Las Cabañas we stopped in the huge farmer’s market called Mercado de Libertad. I love markets and would normally have taken a ton of photos of any unusual fruits and vegetables, but this was pre-digital so this one photo is all we have. We also went out and took some night shots – this is the cathedral in the Plaza de Armas at night.In my journal I wrote: ‘now at square (some plaza or other) having Sopa Azteca with sides of rehydrated chiles, chopped onion, crema, guacamole and chunks of queso fresco. There is also some hot salsa and limes on the table and I put EVERYTHING into my soup. Yum!
Al had Chiles Rellenos which he raved about for a long time. It was so good we went back and had exactly the same thing the next night too. I wish I could remember where it was but this was 2006 and so the restaurant may not be there anymore.
I marked up this Google map with our hotel and some of some of the places we visited in the Centro Histórico. About.com has an interesting walking tour of Guadalajara’s historic centre.