Acapulco - Hotel Las Brisas

The last stop of my Pacific coast exploration was Acapulco - a city bigger than Leipzig. I used the time right after arrival for checking out the city centre with Fort San Diego, the Zocalo and the Cathedral. After Zihuatanejo it felt very crowded and loud. 

Fort San Diego

inner yard of the fort

Fort walls

La Catedral

If you ever wondered where all the old Volkswagen Beetle ended up - Acapulco was the place. A big number of them are scurrying the city in white and blue as taxis, a smaller number are used as private cars. 

Volkswagen Beetles

Back from the centre I picked up my luggage and grabbed a cab to Hotel Las Brisas. My most decadent hotel stay ever. Built in the fifties on the rocky hill Las Brisas consists of rooms (casitas) with shared or private pool. Searching the web brought quite an affordable offer and I dove into the white and pink world with jeeps named after movie stars that take you up the hill to your casita. 

bedroom

My casita (no. 337) was one with shared pool but I never saw the inhabitants of the other casita. It had a big room, big bathroom with rainfall shower, pool and lounge area on the terrace.  

terrace with shared pool

sunset at my terrace

Acapulco by night

The next morning, I went to the private beach club in a jeep and swam in the salt and normal water pools. I had jumbo prawns for lunch served on the roofed terrace of the club.

La Concha Beach Club

Zihuatanejo

Zihuatanejo was once fishing village featured as hideaway for Tim Robbins in the movie The Shawshank Redemption. Today it's a little town with nearby Ixtapa as a party place.

port

Knowing a 18 hour bus drive would me leave more exhausted than relaxed I had booked the hotel for two nights and went to bed for some hours of sleep after my arrival.

I got some good tips for breakfast, lunch and tours from the staff of Hotel Las Salinas and soon found myself at Daniel's. I had fried shrimp tacos with lettuce and guacamole - very tasty - followed by fried ice-cream. 

Daniel's

shoe shop

In a nearby shop I bought a round trip by boat to the beach Las Gatas and while I was waiting for the little boat guides were trying to sell me snorkel and fishing trips. That's an idea for the next time. 

Playa Las Gatas

Swimming at Playa Las Gatas and a day later at Playa La Ropa was much relaxing as at Puerto Vallarta - less vendors, a quieter ocean and long sandy beaches.

Playa La Ropa

While those two beaches were reached best by taxi or boat, Playa Municipal (Daniel's) and Playa Madera are connected by a concrete rocky pass way. It was nice, a bit romantic except for the "do not litter" sign boards every 2 meters and the missing railing. 

to Playa Madera

A great place for dinner was Rufo's Grill.  

Puerto Vallarta

Just a 5 hour bus ride from Guadalajara is Puerto Vallarta at the Pacific coast. There I met two friends from the business trip - Mariella from Peru and Zorka from Chile. As our hotels were close to each other I met both of them after a late breakfast at the beach. 

Puerto Vallarta

I took a bath in the Pacific Ocean but finished soon as the waves were very strong and I completely covered in sand and little stones. Laying on a deck chair we had an endless parade of vendors passing by offering us beach dresses, jewelry, oyesters, hair braiding, massage, souvenirs, tattoos, excursions - you name it!

Hotel Canto del Sol

Applying sunscreen was not my profession and in the afternoon I discovered the spots I missed and suffered from for several days. 

In the evening, we signed on for a pirateship adventure. We got a show, sunset on the bay, dinner and dancing and luckily only handsome mutineer Juglio had to jump off the plank. 

setting sail

Zorka getting ready for the pirate ship

sunset on the bay

 fireworks ended the show

At night we went to the city centre and walked the Malecon - the promende - passing an endless number of eateries, restaurants and clubs. On the ocean side were several statues. 

On the Malecon

Reaching the Arcos - a group of arches - that were the backdrop for a little amphitheater we turned to the interior and walked up to the Templo de Guadalupe. 

Templo de Guadalupe

Then I said farewell to Mariella, Zorka and Puerto Vallarta. 

Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque & Tonala

The three cities of Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque and Tonala are very different from their character but very close from location, so that you sometimes do not realize going from one to the other. 

We started in Tlaquepaque that was an artist and crafts town. We had a late lunch in the Quinta Don José - a nice little hotel with pool and Italian restaurant. We were surrounded by paintings, pottery and fountains. 

Patricia from Peru in front of some great paintings

our favorite!

atmospheric lamp

In the afternoon we were led to a pottery workshop and I tried my luck in doing a vase. There was a lot of room for improvement. The president of AIESEC Guadalajara gave us a small city tour and from the glimpse I got I would say its a wonderful place for interior shopping if just someone would take care of the shipping costs. 

The master creating a fountain.

Church

Main Plaza with Pavillon

Sweets shop

The next day we spent in Guadalajara sightseeing. We visited the Hospicio Cabañas - built and served as an orphanage, it features a series of modernist murals by José Clemente Orozco. 

Men on fire - cupola mural

Just some steps outside of our hotel was the Plaza de la Liberación with the cathedral on one end and Teatro Degallo on the other. 

Cathedral

Teatro Degallo

In the afternoon, I walked the streets without the big group finding churches, lovely houses and markets. 

Guadalupe Church

After a refresh in the pool that was much cooler than in Guanajuato, time was ready for another Mexican night with tacos, tequila and Mariachi. I joined a group going to a club before calling it a night. 

Partying at Lola Lolita

The last evening in Guadalajara was very modern as I went with a Mexican family and a Singaporean couple to a big mall for Chinese food. This modern restaurant - P. F. Chang's - can't compare to any Chinese restaurant I'm used to at home and probably it spoiled me as I liked all six different dishes that Geraldine ordered. 

Delicious! Yam!

The business trip ended here and the goodbyes were said. Before leaving I made a trip to Tonala and roamed the Sunday market. I finally found shoes, a tablecloth for my new flat and some earrings.  

Pottery - to heavy for my suitcase

My new pairs of shoes

Tequila country

The evening we arrived in Guadalajara, we had a tequila tasting organized by the local AIESECers. The PR lady from the Tequila lobby told us more about production process and interesting facts about the agave. 

fields of blue agave

Even tough there are more than 300 varieties of the plant, only the blue agave is used to make tequila. It has to grow for at least 7 years before it can be harvested. In this time, the sugar level increases in the plant. Then a worker cuts of the leaves until only the heart/ piña is left over. 

piñas

The piñas are put in an oven to cook for 9-36 hours.  

oven - ready for cooky the piñas

The cooked piñas are put in a blender, soaked with water and then pressed. The liquid is fermented and later distilled.  

shreeded piñas

fermentation

Finally, the tequila is bottled or filled into barrels of American oak wood. 

Depending on the age, there are five types of tequila:

1. Blanco - upto 2 months

2. Oro - not aged, colored artificially

3. Reposado - 2-12 months

4. Anejo - > 12 months

5. Extra Anejo - > 3 years 

Tequila - Blanco, Reposado, Anejo

Tequila was declared a national heritage in 1974 and its brand has been protected by the  government and production restricted to the state Jalisco and parts of Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nayarit and Tamaulipas. 

The tasting consisted of three steps:

1. Checking the colors

2. Smelling

3. Sipping 

one of the many tequilas

Two days later, we visited the Hacienda de Oro where we saw the production steps in action. Afterwards we had a good barbecue and then a big part of the group left for the airport.