Home ยป Exploring Guadalajara & Puerto Vallarta

Exploring Guadalajara & Puerto Vallarta

by Our Editors
Los Arcos in Puerto Vallarta

"It's very easy to find out what is hot or new just by looking around."

by Joseph Pedro

I find a quiet bench in a small plaza. A cow sculpture clings sideways to the wall behind me with the words โ€œArt Killerโ€ written among other works of street art. Then, an alarm sounds from the University of Guadalajara and hundreds, upon hundreds of students and faculty descend upon the square causing pandemonium. Numbered signs stand tall against the gray skies. Professors shout orders. Students dash like Black Friday shoppers, and I dart through the crowds trying to make sense of the scene. Men in red ties stand on pedestals with news crews film- ing, and the crowd falls into a church-like hush as one man speaks into a megaphone and proclaims that the earthquake drill is a massive success.

My anxiety is alleviated, and the crowd takes on a structure. The signs mark each groupโ€™s floor from the building, a team leader carefully accounts for each person, and their once-chaotic movement is simply some schoolyard fire drill fun.

Itโ€™s this kind of organized disorder that attracts me to Mexico in the first place. Things in Mexico take context and take time to appreciate and understand. My experience during a whirlwind trip through Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta is revealed with each turn of a street corner, each person I meet, and each piece of food eaten. At the end, I watch as it all comes together, and I see it through a new lens.

Vendor in Tlaquepaque. Photo: Paul West

Vendor in Tlaquepaque. Photo: Paul West

The traffic comes to a complete halt in the center of Guadalajara, and we exit a cab leaving behind our frustrated driver whose days are filled competing with the cityโ€™s traffic. He touches the green, white, and red rosary hanging from his mirror and wishes us a good day. We cut through the centuries-old Plaza de Armas, dodging around uniformed boys and girls playing escondidas. They are climbing the intricate gazebo, bolting inside the cathedral walls, and hiding under a rubbed-for-luck statue commemorating a papal visit. The sun shines through the neogothic church spires and blasts bursts of colors from the French stained glass windows. We follow the exotic colors of tropical fruits being sold by the vendedores down a side street and bask in the cinnamon smell wafting from freshly made churros. We walk the cobblestone streets, nod- ding to a rotunda filled with Jaliscoโ€™s most famous son and carefully walk through a gaggle of elderly ladies who look dwarfed by the mighty colonial architecture as they wait for the crammed buses.

The cityโ€™s architecture gave it the nickname โ€œThe Pearl of the West,โ€ and you can see why. A hodgepodge of styles that donโ€™t always complement one another, but sure keep my eyes interested, with a faded color spectrum of corals and yellows with graffiti-covered walls slamming right up to 19th-century stone buildings. The people of Guadalajara, Tapatรญos, take pride in their past. The city played a critical role in Mexicoโ€™s War of Independence and monuments to the revolution can be seen throughout, particularly in the work of Josรฉ Clemente Orozco whose murals become a focal point of a quick city tour.

Our guide first leads us to the University of Guadalajara that houses Orozcoโ€™s murals โ€œEl Hombre Creador y Rebeldeโ€ and โ€œEl Pueblo y Sus Falsos Lideresโ€ (โ€œThe Creator and Rebelโ€ and โ€œThe People and Their False Leadersโ€), which adorn the dome and the walls of the universityโ€™s main lecture hall. Created in the mid-1930s, the painter, who had lost a hand as a child, created a haunting picture of educationโ€™s role on politics and ideologies set forth from the Mexican Revolution.

Attached are the galleries of MUSA Museo de las Artes that highlight contemporary artists in its high-ceilinged well-curated halls. We fall for the leather jackets and works of art by musician Sergio Arau who blends traditional Mexican folk art with modern-day culture and societal prob- lems. His series of half-dressed women with tattooed bodies all wearing lucha libre masks solidifies Arau as an artistic force in Mexico.

Diagonal from the Cathedral, the Palacio de Gobierno, which has been made public by the current government, demonstrates the grandeur of 19th-century architecture, but weโ€™re more keen on spend- ing time admiring the artwork inside. One of Josรฉ Clemente Orozcoโ€™s last murals can be found in the stairwell: a fire-and-brimstone warning to politicians about political ideologies, religion, and justice. Another in the stateโ€™s senate pays tribute to the great leaders of Mexico who ushered in democratic principles.

A cacophony of vendors and excitement fills the walk through the Old Cityโ€™s two pedestrian streets, Paseo Degollado and Paseo Hospicio. Fortune-telling birds tweet from small cages with their owners competing for your dollarโ€”the bird will select a piece of paper that will contain a message. Balloon animals, beaded necklaces, tacos, hot dogs, quinceaรฑera photo shoots done in the most exquisite colors, you name it, the streets are filled with life. A fountain of children playing is a curious spectacle next to the legendary Devilโ€™s Corner, a small street that for over a century has been the location of satanic sightings. โ€œThey put the children fountain there to make this corner a bit more cheerful,โ€ our guide says so nonchalantly youโ€™d think all cities contain devilโ€™s corners.

Sculpture by Sergio Bustamante, Photo: Paul West

Sculpture by Sergio Bustamante, Photo: Paul West

A visit to Orozcoโ€™s most famous work at the Hospicio Cabaรฑas is as important as visiting the Sistine Chapel. Inside the massive compound, which was originally built to house in-need residents of the city, is the chapel thats sheer size is enough reason to visit. Looking up though, youโ€™ll fall to the floor in sheer astonishment of the scale of Orozcoโ€™s work. Our guide has us running from corner to corner (youโ€™ll notice other visitors doing so as well). Orozco was a master of perspective, and Iโ€™ve never encountered a work that accomplished this so dramatically. โ€œHombre de Fuegoโ€ (โ€œMan on Fireโ€) in the dome moves in size, shape, and location, as do the other figures that make up the masterful scene.

While itโ€™s easy to get lost in the whimsy of the cityโ€™s historic and arts-filled side, Guadalajara is a cosmopolitan center of Mexico. I book the Westin Guadalajara for its dramatic views, oversized rooms, and healthy approach to dining. My night starts with Chef Fernando Labraโ€™s unforgettable meal at the hotelโ€™s second-floor Grill and Vine restaurant. Seasonal and fresh ingredients bought from local providers highlight the regionโ€™s unique bounty. I salivate for his version of the traditional chiles en nogada (stuffed poblano peppers in walnut sauce) that is delicate yet robust, and is quite literally a celebration of Mexican cuisine, as it is only sold from August to mid-September when the ingredients, particularly the pomegranates, are in season. โ€œYou can get pomegranates at all times of the year,โ€ I say. โ€œBut they are not Mexican,โ€ Chef Labra replies, shutting me up quickly. Stop by the restaurant for breakfast and lunch and sample their SuperFoodRX menu that is designed to help you live your best with an assortment of complete food options and a made-to-order juice bar.

Later that night, Iโ€™m happy to meet up with local friends who insist we grab a drink at Romea, located on an unassuming corner near the University. We sit outside with Saรบl Lomelรญ Guerrero, a PR maven, and his group of impossibly handsome friends who chat with us about life in the city. โ€œGuadalajara has changed enormously since I was a teenager, people now come out when they are very young, most of my generation had to struggle for a long time to come out,โ€ Guerrero says wiping beer from his Dalรญ-like mustache. He and his cohorts laugh over coming out stories and the changing Tapatรญo attitude, I canโ€™t help but examine the thoroughly cool spot and watch the denizens converisng over charcuterie and cocktails. The conversation switches to whatโ€™s in at the moment in the city. โ€œI have not lived in Guadalajara since 2010, but I come almost once a month or more, and I am constantly surprised to find new places all the time. Art, design, and culture are everywhere, and itโ€™s very easy to find out what is hot or new just by looking around,โ€ one of Saรบlโ€™s friends tells me. โ€œShopping from small independent stores is always a good idea like at Amor Apache and Albergue Transitorio to galleries like Tiro Al Blanco, Pรกramo Galerรญa, and Curro y Poncho,โ€ Saul adds. His friend butts in to tell us about the brand-new market called Vรญa Libertad thatโ€™s attracting international attention for its local products, high design, and stylish shoppers.

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