One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, FLOOR

Guadalajara was my next destination in Mexico. My good friend Evelyn had told me alot about this city as her family are from here originally. I was therefore curious to see what it was like.

The city is famous for being the home of Mariachi music, Tequila, and the Mexican hat. I can proudly say I saw examples of all three whilst I was there : D

Example number 3: Mexican sombrero

Guadalajara has a square aptly named Plaza de Mariachi's so I skipped my way there to marvel at the Mexican men serenading the tourists with the famous "La Cucaracha" (The Cockroach) song. I also was lucky enough to see a traditional Mexican dance. The outfits worn by the Mariachi's were what made the show for me - the tight black trousers and Bolero jackets all embroidered with silver buttons in a variety of shapes, all complemented with the infamous large sombrero and large bow tie - Mariachitastic!

Traditional Mexican dancing

With regards to Tequila, I discovered that as well as being a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, it is actually named after the town where is born and where the agave plant is native to. Tequila, is also unsurprinsingly a World Heritage Site (where isnt these days?) and is situated roughly two hours drive north west of the city of Guadalajara. 

Blue Agave plant - so called as it looks blue from a distance

One of the contributors to being World Heritage Site
- that's the church Im referring to, not the clapped out old van

Novel take on the tour bus

Cholula Hot Sauce even has a restaurant here...

I had originally wanted to visit Tequila by taking the Tequila Express train but unfortunately being holiday season throughout Mexico all the tickets were fully booked. I found out that Jose Cuervo (the Worlds leading brand of Tequila) also had their own train carrying out the same tour, but I refused to pay their extortionate prices. I was therefore left with getting a local bus there and back and visiting the factories directly myself. All of which actually turned out to be more economical and meant I could take my time.

I chose to visit the Disney World of Tequila that is Jose Cuervo and the more down to Earth La Cofradia factories. A good choice in hindsight, as they both gave me two different perspectives of the industry. Jose Cuervo, being the leading brand in the World thanks to its amazing Marketing team, is in fact not a very nice Tequila. Most Mexicans dont even drink it and it is mostly exported. La Cofradia on the other hand is much nicer and more popular amongst the locals. The tours of both factories couldnt have been more different. The Jose Cuervo factory was massively oversubscribed and the tour itself was not very well run and I got told off for taking photos. La Cofradia meanwhile was a more personal experience. I had my own tour guide and I was allowed to take pictures. Im glad I saw both though as it was interesting to see how they each differ. 

Me rocking the hair net look next to a vintage Jose Cuervo car

Examples of the work done by the Marketing team at Jose Cuervo

The dog I spotted en route to the La Cofradia factory, sat atop a moving car.

Sober

Drunk

A hill confirming we had indeed arrived at the La Cofradia factory

The root of the Agave plant once the leaves are taken off. It then goes in the oven and is later pressed to get the juice out. 

Fermenting the juice

Finished product. N.B don't have mango & chilli margaritas. They taste rank.

In Mexico the most traditional way of drinking Tequila is in fact neat (no salt or lemon here) and sipped. You take a sip in your mouth, breath in through your nose, swallow, and then breath out through your mouth. Thus allowing the taste and aroma to be appreciated. Get me Miss Tequila expert...

I wasnt expecting to like Tequila (the drink) that much, I generally dont like Margarita's because they use cheap mixed Tequila (agave and sugars). Ive discovered I like pure 100% agave Tequila (the best naturally...), the older the vintage the better. However I cant drink too many, in fact I could only stomach a couple. Any more and I would have been on the floor of the bathroom...

In addition to discovering Tequila, I also had time to visit two nearby market towns outside of Guadalajara. Well actually, they are deemed to be part of Guadalajara but they involved catching a bus so I class them as outside the town. The first was Tonala which I felt was a bit of a waste of time - Evelyn you were right! The second was Tlaquepaque which was much nicer and prettier. It used to be where the wealthy from Guadalajara lived but is now more of an arts district. Unfortunately a lot of the shops here are ridiculously overpriced so despite seeing a few things I liked I walked away without purchasing anything. 

Pretty courtyard

Overpriced but pretty boutique

More Mariachi's!

Guadalajara is certainly one of the prettier cities Ive been to in Mexico. After not being overly awed by DF´s aesthetics, I was pleased to see lots of beautiful cathedrals and other colonial buildings. I was staying in the Old district of Guadalajara but I in fact spent most of my time in the American Quarter which is where all the cool restaurants and bars are. 

The Cathedral 

Me & cow posing for the camera in the American Quarter. You're welcome. 

I sometimes think my entire trip around Latin America has been one big quest to find the best bar and restaurant! Although I dont have an answer yet on which have made my number one if thats what youre wondering...