Guadalajara
Back some time ago, my friend had invited me to join him and others for a trip to Guadalajara for his bachelor's party and of course, my answer was yes. This trip was my first "real" trip since the pandemic started and really since my time in Japan so I couldn't have been more excited to finally go out and travel. To add to that element, it was the first time I was able to travel with my camera gear so I was also able to test out what it felt like to shoot and travel. This not only helped with inspiration for different photos, but also in terms of balancing what gear to bring vs. weight.
The flight's takeoff time was 10:30 or so, but my friends and I arrived at the airport at 7:30. From past experiences, it's best to arrive to the airport very early, especially for an international flight at LAX. It was a win-win honestly. Not only did we get there early to make sure we got on the flight, but I was able to get some photos at LAX. Every environment was something I could potentially capture and it was exciting. But when it was time to get on the plane, there was only one thing on my mind: Guadalajara.
When we landed and we got through customs, I couldn't wait to get out and see the area. After a while, we all get into our ride to head to the city. It was quite surreal just looking out the window and seeing the surroundings. I was quickly learning about how things worked in Mexico from my friends and just absorbing everything. Finally getting to the city, the place was crowded with people. I can't describe the excitement I had to just get out and walk around. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Once we dropped off our bags, we headed out. My friends took us to our first location, a torta place. It was my first time having torta ahogadas so I was just looking forward to having new food. This. Place. Was. Amazing. Apparantly to my friends, it was good, but not the best. But for a newbie like me? Man, it was something else. I wanted to save my stomach for more food, but I ended up eating two. And of course, I got some beer to top off the meal. It was a glass of Modelo and spoiler alert, that quickly became the drink of the trip for two reasons: 1) Modelo is good 2) It was easy to remember and pronounce.
I was feeling a bit full after the torta, but we weren't done yet. We stopped by a taco joint for some tacos. I can't name you the tacos we had, but man were they delicious. Just look at em and wait for the salivating to start.
After some rest at the hotel, we headed out for the night. It was a great and fun time out, but we went to a couple of taco places late at night, but the last place we went to that night had some of the best tacos I've ever had. I couldn't name you the type of tacos, but believe me when I tell you that they were really good. I didn't get a picture of these tacos unfortunately since I didn't remember to get a picture. I just dug into them so quick. After the late night snacks and chit chat with the homies, the first night of adventures were over.
Waking up the following day, I was pretty hungry so why not go for another round of tacos? The ones we had were from a street vendor and I haven't tried street food like that since my days in Japan and let me tell you right now; you might have to count how many times I'm going to say this, but these tacos we had that morning were G.O.O.D. They had the classic look of a good street food place. Nice taco truck. Super small tables and chairs that definitely would not fit a couple of adults wanting to eat there. All the sauces and condiments you'll need on deck. And of course, a random dog at the street corner.
I would definitely go again if I happen to come across it.
After a great breakfast, we decided to walk around town more. While walking, my friends told me more about the history of Guadalajara and what each historical site was. It's pretty amazing when you think about each historical site and everything that has happened at that location and then realize you're standing right there. After walking around for a bit, we all started to get hungry so we went to get some tacos and lamb! Let me tell you man, the way the meat fell off the bone, the way the tacos tasted with the lamb and some chili and lime over it. Let's just say I was really concerned with how much weight I was going to gain from this trip.
Needing to wake up from the incoming food coma, a walk around town was needed. we ended up walking to the Guadalajara Cathedral right by our hotel. They were open so I was curious about the inside and how it looked. I'm not too familiar with the religion in Mexico besides Catholicism being big. My friends told me a bit of the history of the chapel as well as the big figure in Mexico's history when it comes to religion, Nuestra Senora De Guadalupe. There weren't too many people there, but of the people there, the majority of them were praying. It was quite a sight to see.
After exiting the cathedral, the sight of carriages entered our view and we decided that a ride around town would be nice to get a quick tour of everything around us. I couldn't get many pictures from the carriage, but the tour was great. The tour guide had great bits of information, albeit it was in Spanish, but my friends carried with the translations.
Everyone felt a bit drained from the day after the tour so we all decided to rest up a bit before heading out the dinner. I wanted to go out for sunset so I headed out for a little walk during golden hour. I was able to get an idea of how sunset was in Guadalajara. The sun peaks through the straight roads in the city and it makes for beautiful views and compositions.
Once the sun set, I went back to hotel to get ready for the night. For dinner, we were recommended a nearby place called La Gorde. There were many praises for it so we were all excited. However, the place sadly didn't meet up to those expectations. It might've have been the fact that they ran out of a lot of their ingredients for the day so that could’ve been why the food wasn't really that good. I'll definitely have to go back during their early hours or so to have a better review of the food at La Gorde. After dinner, we made our way to a high end area in Guadalajara called Andares. We really just went there without too much of a plan and rode the wave. Our first stop was a rock bar. We got some drinks and enjoyed live music by a cover band doing songs from Sweet Child O' Mine by The Guns N Roses and Enter Sandman by Metallica. Our favorite of the night though was definitely Killing in the Name of by Rage Against the Machine. Lots of singing along and random stuff by everyone made it hilarious.
My friend ended up getting the band a drink and after a little chat with them, we all left for a neighboring club in the same district. After a couple of drinks and almost going deaf, we ended up going to a taco joint nearby. Again, let me tell you, these were the some of the best tacos I've ever had. They were Taco Pastor (I actually remembered this time for a good reason that'll you read later). I must've had at least four because I was going through them like nothing. With those tacos ended our second night in Guadalajara.
Waking up for our third day was a bit difficult. Our original plan was to get on a bus to go to Tequila, a nearby town about an hour away to explore and taste the tequila. However, we all weren't quite able to get up that early to make it on time so we decided to change the schedule. We ended up going to Tlaquepaque instead.
Tlaquepaque is a pretty historic town with many small street vendors with food and souvenirs. There were also many galleries and other activities like ceramics, but we didn't have much time there so we decided to just walk around and take in the atmosphere. We ate lunch at a place called La Mata Tinta Tlaquepaque. The place was absoluetely gorgeous. Above us were umbrellas of all colors hanging from the ceiling, stretching from the restaurant all the way to the entrance of the Tlaquepaque Centro, a little strip of stores. Lunch was delicious, though there was one thing I regretted. I got Ravioli instead of steak... Don't get me wrong. The Ravioli was great, but the portions were a bit small and my friend's steak looked delicious. But overall, I would definitely want to go again if I'm in the area. We moved on to some of the souvenirs stores when we finished lunch to see what we could get for our families. I decided that was a good time to get some photos of the daily life of some of the vendors. The lighting wasn't great since it was high noon, but I love some of these shots I got there. After walking around a bit more, we decided to head back to the hotel and rest for a bit. At night, we went back out to Andares and long story short, it was fun with hot dogs (apparantly) instead of tacos to end the third night.
Waking up on the fourth day, we all were a bit tired from the night before. We definitely wanted to take it easy for the day so when everyone was ready, we headed out for some late breakfast. We decided to go to a Torta place which was quite a walk away. The restaurant was a great little food joint with what seemed like lots of history, It enbodied what I think of when I hear about small food places in Mexico. I liked it quite a bit, though my friends didn't have the same opinion. I don't have much experience with Tortas though so you'll have to take their word. Finishing our torta, we had a bit of a dilemma. We were thinking of going to a chicken fight for the experience, but we also wanted to go to a Lucha Libre match. Turns out, there was no Lucha Libre match to go to and the chicken fight place was too far away so we decided to walk around Guadalajara again for sunset. We went the opposite direction of where we went on the second night and I'm glad we did. There were a bunch of beautiful places that I wouldn't have seen if not. The golden light encompassed a lot of the historical statues and buildings around town. It really did feel like magic hour. Also, it might've been because it was Sunday, but there were many chapels that were filled at the time so I was able to get some beautifully filled chapel pictures.
Once everyone felt hungry, we all made our way to our destination for dinner which ended up being at Casino Caliente. Not only was the food great there, but it was nice getting to know how casinos in Mexico worked. I'm not a big gambler, but it was a great experience! And with that, came a calming ending to our fourth night.
Knowing our final day was coming up, waking up was a bit bittersweet. We had to get our covid test results back so we ended up getting some lunch before heading out to the airport. We went to Famosas tortas ahogadas for our last meal in Guadalajara and I can't speak this into existence enough. It was the best Torta place of the trip and maybe ever. It was definitely a good meal to end the trip on.
Heading to the airport, I couldn't help but think about the wonderful experiences I had in Guadalajara. It's always nice to experience a new culture and a new environment. It's crazy how we're all humans yet so different due to our upbringings. We can definitely learn a lot from each other and traveling is a great way to do that. I can't wait to get back out there for the next trip!
Shoutout to the homies man: Fernie, Nestor, Miguel, Kenneth, and of course the Bachelor, Robert!