After hanging out in Mascota and Navidad, we grabbed another ATM bus with painted and sculpted air conditioning vents to Guadalajara. There we met up with Irma and her husband, Gustavo, and Silvia and her husband, Rodrigo. Silvia so graciously welcomed us into her home, fed us, and woke us up to the smell of coffee and chilaquiles and the sounds of Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James. Her breathtaking home in the hills of Zapopan has a view of the mountains you can't resist.

We then packed up for the day to head to Tequila, home of tequila, to do a tour at Jose Cuervo. This history behind Cuervo is very fascinating, but I couldn't tell you any of it--Ha! You'll have to take a trip and discover it yourself!

We then headed out for a bit to Tlequepaque (la-kay-pah-kay), an artisania village just outside of Guadalajara. While we were running on Flores time, we unfortunately missed the shops by 15 minutes, but got to see the market and community that surrounds this area. It is very lively, colorful, and steeped in traditions.

Our second and sadly our final day in Guadalajara, led us to El Centro to explore the area. We bought pan dulce and palmeras con chocolate y nuez out of the back of a van, explored the Mercado Libertad, and let our jaws drop at José Clement Orozco's storytelling and larger-than-life murals at the Instituto de Cabañas. We then walked back up the promenade munching on semillas de granada, pomegranate seeds, and tacos al pastor.

We stopped to admire the Spanish colonial architecture, wash our hands in the fountains, and eat paletas in front of the Guadalajara Cathedral for a hot second, then caught a Vallarta Plus...

... a bus with real air conditioning and even free wee-fee through the Sierra Vista, the jungle-like hills of Nyarit, back to the steamy streets of PV.