Guadalajara

In February of 2005 we traveled to the historic city of Guadalajara. The church and several of the buildings on the square were built in the 1500s. The hotel Frances, must be one of the oldest in the Americas, it opened in 1603 and is still going. We toured the lovely square which has theTeatro Diana (theater) built in 1560, the government buildings which has several famous murals by Clemete Orozco, which satirize both Mexican and world history. We received a different explanation of who the various characters were from and ex-pat American with whom we did a walking tour, and a Mexican Guide, with whom we toured several of the historic buildings and Telaquepaque . Orozco was famous for creating optical illusions in his murals. The finger of Hidalgo (the priest who freed the Indian slaves) in the painting appears to move as you ascend the stairs in the legislature building. In the former orphanage building, now a school for architects, a figure appears to be on both sides of a door depending on where you are standing. His most famous mural, Man on Fire, painted on the dome of the architecture building appears to change in several respects as you change positions under the dome. We did the hop on hop off bus tour of the famous sights (similar to the London tour) on a double decker bus. We enjoyed some of the best Mariachi music (which originated in Guadalajara) at Bariachi, a large restaurant and night club. We arrived at 8 for what would normally be a late dinner for us, and discovered that the performance did not start until nearly 10, when the place suddenly filled up with large families, many with small children. The last night we went to a soccer game between Atlas and Chivas at the Guadalajara stadium, which was used in two world cups and the 1968 Olympics. Both teams have a lot of local support and the place was truly sold out with many people sitting on the stairs and the aisles. Earlier in the week we went to a performance of Carmen, although not the opera as written by Bizet, it was modern dance with a rock flavor, with the occasional use of the great arias from Bizet's masterpiece. We enjoyed the bus ride to and from Puerto Vallarta, the seats are comparable to first class seats on an aircraft, and the bus has restroom facilities and movies are shown through-out the trip.