What To Do in Guadalajara

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Parent Category: Travel Info

Category: Travel Feature

Published on Sunday, 14 March 2010 18:03

Written by Laura Blum

Like the rest of Mexico, Guadalajara tourism is still recuperating from swine flu. This means lots of healthy bargains for those looking to slip late winter blahs and catch the Guadalajara International Film Festival in mid-March — or just hit its home town anytime.

Plus, you can make up for your Vitamin D deficiency under Guadalajara's generally sunny skies. Perched at an altitude of 5,000 feet, the capital of the state of Jalisco claims to have the best climate in North America, with the mercury hovering around 70 degrees year-round.

The first time I visited, to attend the Guadalajara Film Festival, sunshine wasn't the only thing bursting. The previous year, five gas explosions had torn through the city's sewers, mincing five miles of streets and killing more than 200 people. And in May 1993, two months after I left, an archbishop and six people were felled in a shootout, allegedly between rival cocaine cartels.

But this sort of excitement is the rare exception in a place where the biggest frictions usually involve soccer teams or mariachi guitar chords. Should you be so lucky as to find yourself in "La Perla del Occidente" ('Pearl of the West'), as Guadalajara is affectionately known, here's a quick roundup of what to see:

Catedral de Guadalajara (Guadalajara Cathedral)
Smack dab in the heart of the Centro Histórico rises the Metropolitan Cathedral of Guadalajara, framed by four colonial plazas. Its original towers were smashed in the 1818 earthquake, and the current spires sport yellow and blue tile. Built over the course of 50 years beginning in the 1560s, Guadalajara's refrigerator-magnet staple is an impressive mishmash of Neo-Gothic, Baroque and neoclassical styles (architectural terms whose formal spellings are equally diverse). This being Mexico, there's bound to be a mural inside: Here it's "The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin," by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.
15 de Septiembre 16
Guadalajara, Jalisco
+525 33 3616 2491‎
 
El Instituto Cultural Cabañas (Cabañas Cultural Institute)
From the unassuming exterior of this cultural center, you'd never guess that inside lurk some of Mexico's "Wow!"-est murals. José Clemente Orozco painted them in the late 1930s to spiff up this former shelter for orphans, widows, the poor and the elderly. "The Man of Fire" is a standout among the muralist's 57 works on display alongside his smaller paintings, drawings and cartoons adoring the Institute's 106 rooms and 20 odd patios.
Calle Cabañas 8, Centro Histórico
Guadalajara, Jalisco, 44100
+525 33 3668-1647

Mercado Libertad (Liberty Market)
Pigs feet, bootlegged DVDs, unidentified fish — you'll find pretty much everything in the this maze of a covered central market at Plaza Tapatia's East end. Nicknamed San Juan de Dios after the nearby church, it's where you'll score herbal remedies for bronchitis, a broken heart and whatever else ails you.
Javier Mina y Calzada Independencia
44100 Guadalajara
Jalisco

Plaza de los Mariachis (Mariachi Square)
Around the corner from the market is the birthplace of mariachi music. For about $10 a song, you can get serenaded by an eight-piece orchestra. Ask someone to translate the corridos (ballads), which typically dish gossip about misbehaving neighbors, politicians and other folks who make oral history come alive.
Av. Lopez Mateos Sur No 2375
at Ave Mariano Otero
45050 Guadalajara, Mexico

Museo del Premio Nacional de la Cerámica Pantaleón Panduro (Pantaleón Panduro Museum of the National Pottery Prize)
Who was this Pantaleón Panduro that got one of Mexico's fabbest museums named after him? The father of modern ceramics in Jalisco, which is to say, in a country of pottery aficionados, a big chingón deal. Among the stunning pieces you'll encounter here, including talavera from Puebla, arboles de vida from Metepec and bruñido from Tonalá, are prizewinners from the Museum's national ceramics competition, held every June. After you've depleted your Spanish synonyms for "beautiful," stroll around the surrounding complex, now called Centro Cultural El Refugio, which in colonial times served a religious community. Keep strolling and you'll hit Tlaquepaque's craft market, where ceramic knockoffs are available for pesos you can afford. Guadalajara's Tlaquepaque suburb is well worth the schlep, with its cobbled streets and converted 19th-century abodes that now house restaurants and boutiques.
Calle Priciliano Sánchez, 191, at Calle Flórida
San Pedro Tlaquepaque
Guadalajara, Jalisco
+525 33 3562-7036

El Pantéon de Belén (Belen Cemetery)
"…when the tree destroys the tomb completely, the vampire will be free to once again attack those who stay up too late.” So goes the last line of a famous vampire tale about this historical cemetery dating to 1786. Intrepid souls may want to take a guided night tour of the grounds. The rest of us wimps can catch the crumbling tombstones in daylight, and check out the museum. Or hear more legends of haunted souls, from "The Pirate, The Lovers and The Monk" to "The Child Afraid of the Dark" and "The Story of José Cuervo."
Belén No. 684
Belén, El Retiro
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
+535 33 3613 7786
 
El Tequila Express
If you have a free Saturday, hop the first-class train to nearby Tequila and the factory where the Sauza brand of the municipality's namesake spirit is produce. There, some nine hours of mariachi music, tequila and beer will keep you properly hydrated. The Hacienda de San Josel Refugio, where Tequila Herradura is concocted, offers a tour elucidating everything you didn't know you didn't know about the Tequila-making process. Eat, drink, make merry — and drink some more.
Avenida Washington at Calzada Independencia
Fracc Guadalajara
Jalisco  44100

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