Day 3

Breakfast at our hotel and we walked to the bus terminal. Interesting walk in a part of town we have not been.  Lots of shops, lots of people and no Americans. The bus terminal was nice and efficient.  The tickets to Guadalajara were $3 each.  The bus was a big beautiful coach, air-conditioned with wifi.  One hour ride to Guadalajara then a taxi to the centro historico.  Guadalajara is not as pretty on the ground as it was from the plane.  The historical center is breathtaking -- big buildings (built by the Spaniards), large plazas, and wide pedestrian malls.  The cathedral is especially impressive. Most of the historic center is now a pedestrian zone with some limited areas for car traffic. Even though the plazas are huge and the walking areas are wide, it’s sometimes hard to get through because of the number of people there. We walked till our feet hurt, and visited a museum called Instituto Cabanas , which has a large number of amazing murals by Jose Clemente Orozco, one of the most famous Mexican muralists (we also saw his murals in the impressive Palacio de Gobierno). At Instituto Cabanas we also saw an amazing exhibition of indigenous artists from the Nayarit region who call themselves Wixarica. Their art was totally amazing.   The tourist information gave us a recommendation for a great restaurant (La Chata).  Unfortunately it was a 15 minute walk and when we got there, there was a line out the door (about 12 people). The receptionist said it was a 15 minute wait so we waited.  The meal was great and the service was even better.  When we left, the line outside was about 30 people.  We walked to the park, rested and took a taxi to the bus terminal.  Traffic was terrible – at one red light we had to wait for 4 cycles before we progressed.  The bus terminal had hundreds of people and busses going everywhere.  Very efficient.  We were glad to get back to Chapala and walked to the American Legion bar for a glass of wine. After a quick rest we went to the lakefront.  It was jumping with people kids and musicians.  The largest restaurant said they closed at 7.  The next one said 8.  We walked for 15 and then went there.  We hade one ceviche and it was great and enough.  We walked the boardwalk.  Tons of people and vendor stalls but the restaurants close at 8.  Strange.