Guadalajara

Guadalajara is Mexico's "second city" and, as such, is chock full of gorgeous churches and ornate colonial buildings. Writing about it now, nearly a month after I left, I find it difficult to remember which pictures are which. But I don't think it really matters to you, does it?

A fountain and the backside of a church or convent or some such. Mexico has a period in the 19th century when all religious orders were expelled and their (extensive) property expropriated by the state. As a result, many religious buildings were heavily remodeled and/or demolished. Like this one. Maybe.


The trees made it all but impossible to get a good shot of the façade. But I guess this works, nonetheless.


I liked this church. I can tell by how many pictures I took.


The ceiling was quite nice, with the plaster and exposed stone structural elements.


And the frescoes were quite nice.


I like how unruly his hair is. As though he's been hard at work for hours and can't be bothered with such trivial things as his appearance.


The Palacio de Gobierno. Or something like that. Probably.


The cathedral.


Inside the cathedral.


Between the cathedral (above) and the theater (following) is a massive square. It seems like it should have always been there, but it was done in the '80's. Living out an urban planner's wet dream (my guidebook's description), two entire blocks of colonial buildings were demolished in order to create these vistas. Worth it? I'm not so sure.


The theater opposite the cathedral.


Pretty nice marbles above the portico. Very classic.


Around the backside of the theater statues of the various heroes of Mexican independence and revolution. They have a lot of them. Heroes, not wars of independence or revolution. But they were long wars, hence lots of heroes.


Inside, they were rehearsing. The dancers had great.. technique. Yeah, that's the ticket.Great technique.


Another random church with a completely ridiculous alter. Yes, Virginia, that's real gold.


Another church façade, totally different from the last one. I swear.

While in Guadalajara I ventured 50km northwest to visit the town of Tequila and Jose Cuervo's distillery, Mundo Cuervo. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so these photos are all cribbed from Flickr.

Agave fields completely surround Tequila. By Mexican law, in order for a drink to be called "Tequila" it must be produced in the state of Jalisco from at least 51% distilled agave. Higher quality varietes are 100% agave. Photo credit: RunMX.com.


After the spiny outer leaves are cut away, only the "heart" of the agave remains. It is these that are mashed and baked to convert their starches into sugars. Photo credit: abest.


Which are then fermented and distilled. Photo credit: abest.


The immediate product, Tequila Blanca (white tequila), is clear, fiery and cheap. If they leave it in charred oak barrels for a couple of months or years, you get Tequila Reposada (literally: rested tequila) or Tequila Añejo (aged tequila). The latter two are quite good and should be sipped and savored. There were a lot of barrels of tequila. Photo credit: abest.


After the educational section of the tour was over, I enjoyed a tasting of the three varieties. It was quite nice. Photo credit: abest.