**** There's not much food in this one and I'm going to mostly post photos otherwise this post would span pages. Hope you enjoy!
During my "younger" days, I eschewed tours thinking that they would be full of "tourist fluff". But over the years, we've come to really enjoy certain tours, usually small group or private, where we have the opportunity to learn about the history, culture, and of course food!
To be perfectly honest, before this trip, other than the food, birria, tortas ahogadas, carne en su jugo, and such, I really knew nothing about Guadalajara. Being in the city gave us a chance to change that. I came to find out that the city has so much rich history and art, it's just really impossible to appropriately cover things in a short trip. Still, we wanted to learn and see, and I ended up booking a Private Walking Tour with Diego Hannon. It ended up being an enriching 3 hour walk, full of so much info, and Diego also made it fun for us. We also gained insight on growing up and living in the city.
Our meeting place was in an area we hadn't been to yet called Colonia Americana, in front of a Hamburger restaurant? Hmmm….. The night before, I did some Googling on the neighborhood and found that in 2022, TimeOut declared it the Coolest Neighborhood in the World. We turned out to really like Colonia Americana, which was originally the home to wealthy Europeans and such. And to really seal things; the US Consulate was a block from where we met!
Diego quickly pointed out these plaques in the sidewalk.
According to Diego, there are 700 of these in the city, which mark historic structures in the city. Whoa, 700!
And it turns out we loved this neighborhood, which reminds us of an more mellow Condesa or Roma in CDMX.
This is where I'd want to stay on our next visit.
Lovely mansions and buildings that have been transformed to cafes and shops…..
And the public art is amazing!
The streets are wide and beautiful.
And soon we were off to see Centro Historico. Diego had so much info that I'm not going to go into detail. If you're interested, I want you to go to Guadalajara to explore!
We stopped by a church that wasn't in the central historic district; Templo Expiatorio del Santísimo Sacramento.
Diego told us that this church took 75 years to build and was just finished in 1972. Because of specific rules, Diego would leave us to explore the churches and cathedrals, but would always give us info and hints as to what to see.
This church was built in the very ornate gothic style.
There's a well known statue of Pope John Paul II outside the church which commemorates his visit to the city in 1979.
Diego was so full of information.
At the Templo de Nuestra Señora del Carmen, which was just a half block from where we were staying, we were told not to miss the the murals.
We were also told that due to the location this was once the preferred church of the wealthy in the city.
We were taken into the Biblioteca Iberoamericana Octavio Paz, a huge library that was once a Jesuit College that dates back to the 16th century.
Plaza de Armas is considered to be the historic "center" of the city.
The next stop was the Cathedral.
This one was interesting. We have been in so many cathedrals over the years; each is different, each has it's own stories.
For us, the one that stays with us, lies here.
Yes, even though the bottom seems to spell "MOM", it ain't her. This are the mummified remains of Saint Inocencia, who was supposedly killed by her father after taking Holy Communion and becoming Catholic against the wishes of her father.
It is said that that on occasion she will open her eyes! I did find this post regarding that phenomenon.
From here we strolled to the Rotonda de los Jaliscienses Ilustres which I wrote about in my previous post.
From here we spent some time in Plaza de la Liberación, considered to be the historical center of the city.
That lovely building is the Teatro Degollado.
There were so many statues in the area and Diego would go into the history and significance of each at a glace.
We would go past something, like this….
And ask Diego about it. And without a pause he would tell us. FYI…this is a statue of Beatrice Hernandez, who it is said is one of the founders of Guadalajara.
Much of it culminated in this display in back of the theatre.
This commemorates the founding of the city and includes all those who are founders of the city.
Diego told us that this area is considered to be where the city was founded!
This was a fun tour. Having a private guide meant flexibility, and with Diego's experience, he soon picked up on the info we enjoyed.
Things ended at the huge Mercado Libertad.
Where we had lunch at a Mariscos stand.
Which was fine.
What for us was outstanding was the tour, the flexibility, the amount of knowledge that Diego had, which he presented in a most entertaining way. You could go as deep as you wanted. We also learned what is was like growing up in Guadalajara, a bit of the culture, and most of all, we gained a deeper appreciation of the Tapatios!
Thanks for stopping by!
what a great tour
It was Kat!