We took the Vallarta Plus bus there for about 50 bucks per person round trip, and I'm so glad we did. I would have been all kinds of stressed out had we decided to brave Guadalajara traffic and I'm sure we would have spent more time being lost in our car than actually seeing any sights. The Vallarta Plus buses are more comfortable than any first class flights we've been on... The seats were big, comfy recliners with pop-up foot rests and lots of leg room. Each person had their own personal TV complete with English and Spanish movies, games and music stations. The buses also have free WiFi (that worked most of the trip) 2 bathrooms and it included a "sack lunch." (The sack lunch was really just cheap, processed snacks...next time we'd bring our own food.)
We had our buddy, Ernesto, drop us off at the Bucerias bus stop on Tuesday morning at about 8:45 for our 9:00 bus. We checked in at the counter and got our tickets for the trip there as well as our return trip a few days later (we purchased our tickets online and took our printed confirmation in with us.) Our bus was 30 minutes late, but we still made it to Guadalajara around 1:00-1:30.
I guess this is where I should mention the downside to our bus ride. For the first time in my entire life, I got super car sick. A big stretch of the road to Guadalajara is through curvy mountain roads and when you're in a tall, lumbering, swaying bus that's constantly jostling your stomach...you start to feel a little queasy. Let's just say it's a very good thing the bus had a bathroom on it, because yours truly puked her guts out after trying to keep it down for over an hour. Imagine kneeling in an airplane bathroom while trying to aim your vomit into a tiny toilet during extreme turbulence. It was like that. The bus was swaying so hard I was literally crashing into the bathroom walls while trying to clean puke off my chin. Awesome.
Luckily, I felt a little better after throwing up and the road flattened out for the remainder of the drive, and despite getting sick I would still take the bus again... I'd just be better prepared next time.
The view from the bus.... I feel like all of our family and friends think we up and moved to the desert complete with rattlesnakes and tumbleweeds, but Mexico is greener than Seattle!!
After arriving at the Zapopan bus station, we took a short cab ride to our lovely, 1920s mansion-turned hotel, Villa Ganz, which happened to be in the perfect location for out-of-towners on foot. Our hotel was in the Americana Zone and was surrounded by tons of funky, hipster taverns and restaurants.
Guadalajara isn't at all what I was expecting. On Wednesday, we spent about 6 hours on foot with no real plans... I was surprised to find that major sections of the city could have been in any major city in the States. Certain areas looked and felt like they could have been in Portland or Seattle to me. Busy traffic, high-end cars, eco-friendly public transportation, wide sidewalks full of 30-something business professionals all staring down at their iPhones in a hurry to get somewhere... It was definitely not the slow-moving, laid back, somewhat gritty version Mexico we were used to.
Unfortunately, because we ignorantly assumed Guadalajara wouldn't be much different than here, we didn't pack very well for this trip... We live on the beach and we spend all of our time on the Banderas Bay where it's 85+ degrees everyday and it's the only version of Mexico we knew...so we packed accordingly. Imagine crowds of young, Mexican nationals in fashionable coats, boots and scarves...and then picture a tall, blonde gringo wearing a frat boy tank top, board shorts and flip flops walking among them. We stood out a bit, to say the least. Ty looked like he was ready to whoop it up at Spring Break 2016! Next time, I will be packing a jacket, for sure. I was pretty chilly most of the trip.
Click here to be taken to a photo album of our walk around the city... I really love old buildings, ornate architecture, and history in general, so I was in heaven.
I especially enjoyed the juxtaposition of old and new... Considering the city was established in 1542, Guadalajara is a visually interesting mix of the colonial era and current day.
Really, the only definite plan we made before traveling to the city was to go to the giant market I had heard about previously... The Mercado Libertad - San Juan de Dios is the largest indoor market in Latin America. It's hard to explain how massive it was... It's like Pike Place Market and Portland Saturday Market had like 10 kids and they all lived under one roof. It's HUGE. (According to Wikipedia it's over 430,000 square feet with nearly 3,000 vendor booths.) As a person who kinda freaks out in small, crowded spaces, I did pretty well navigating the narrow corridors jam-packed with people and merchandise... Amazingly, we didn't even buy anything!
From the third story, looking over the market....
Overall, we had a great time... We saw lots of interesting sights, ate lots of tasty food we had been missing from home, (first time eating sushi since leaving Seattle!) and we'd definitely go back again.
Thankfully, I didn't get sick on the bus ride home, but the trek back to La Cruz wasn't without a new kind of drama. After we got off the bus in Bucerias, we grabbed a taxi for the 10-minute drive home... Normally we'd take the bus coming home from Bucerias, because it costs like 10 cents, but we were tired and didn't want to wait... And as soon as we were about a block from home, I realized that I didn't have my laptop with me. "Oh crap...I LEFT IT ON THE DAMN BUS!" Of course, I immediately started to panic and freak out and act like the sky was falling, because duh. Meanwhile, Ty was perfectly calm and level-headed and told me not to worry because it wouldn't solve anything. Easier said than done for a crazy person.
After we got home, I paced the house and whined about never seeing my computer ever again instead of actually doing something to find it.... While Ty cooly made a few phone calls, researched where the bus was heading, and figured out all the hows, whos and wheres of getting my computer back. Within 2 hours of stepping off the bus, I had it back in my pouty, incapable little hands. Crisis averted.
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Let me just interject here for one mushy minute about how awesome my husband is... I have a lot of talents, but basic adulting skills aren't among them. Most people don't know that I'm actually really shy in most situations (probably because I tend to mask my discomfort with humor.) I struggle with change; I don't like talking to strangers (not even cashiers, waiters, bank tellers, etc.) I have social anxiety issues and don't like crowded/busy places; I'm easily overwhelmed or uncomfortable and/or nervous; and I tend to "shut down" when something is too far out of my comfort zone (like calling a Mexican bus company and trying to explain in really bad Spanish that I'm an idiot.)
Ty is the total and complete opposite of me. He is so....steady. He's never worried or scared or stressed. He doesn't get nervous or intimidated by new or stressful situations. He just does what needs to be done as if he's done it 100 times before. He rarely ever gets mad and never raises his voice, (even though I give him plenty of bratty reasons to.) He's so patient and solid and I envy him....and I have no idea what I would do without his calming magic. You know those big, inflatable cartoon-looking characters you see at car dealerships with the arms waving everywhere? That's us. Ty is the rock-solid base, and I'm the freak show flailing in the wind. It's okay to be jealous...
Welp, I guess that's all for today... We love and miss you all! GO HAWKS!
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