Guadalajara to Aguascalientes by Bus

All the buses from Guadlajara to Aguascalientes leave from from Nueva Central, at the end of Metro Line 3, station Central de Autobuses.  We picked bus company Primera Plus and bought the tickets online, huge seats with individual video screens (a first for me).  I was planning on listening to my Spanish lessons, instead I watched Little Women (2019) dubbed in Spanish.  It's like being on the airplane, but more leg room and more interesting scenery.

John's cousin Danny met us at the bus station, such a hospitable host.  We must have seen hundreds of greetings and farewells at buses.  This was a first for ourselves.  

His house is a typical row house that opens directly onto the street, which we must have walked by by the thousands, but this is the first time we have stayed in one.  

A very novel day!   

The view from the bus window on the road from Guadalajara to Aguascalientes



Agave fields.

Corn fields.

Sun-Ling and "row mates" on the bus.

The afternoon we arrived (October 28), workmen were busy setting up for the 5-day Festival de las Calaveras (Festival of Skulls) in Plaza Patria, the main square.



Cousin Danny Meckley lives around the corner from Parque Encino and Templo del Señor del Encino (below).

Danny and I in the first floor of his house with the window "onto the street".

And in Parque Encino.

Around town in Guadalajara

The center of Guadalajara is small enough to be walkable, yet large enough not feel like we are making grooves in the same streets, a good mixture of open spaces, public buildings, commercial establishments, and pedestrian streets.  

One of the tourist things to do in Guadalajara is a day trip to Tequila.  Neither of us could warm to the idea, so we took the metro to Zapopan and walked back to the center.

We loved everything about Guadalajara.  What a nice city for living!  No wonder (I couldn't remember where I read) the area has the largest concentration of North Americans outside the US and Canada.

First some photos in the neighborhoods around our Airbnb.

Taking on liquids and having a rest at La Cafeteria, a peronal favorite of our landlady.

This stand at the Parque Expiatorio weekend night market serves veggie tacos.

The neighborhood church; Templo Expiatorio.

Sunday night there was a rock band at Parque Expiatorio.

The modern Zapopan Centro MiTren Station is just steps from the center of the city.

Across the street from the station, the Arco is under renovation.

That's me! On the walk north to the Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan.

And me again posing with the city sign.

The Basicical; a pilgrimage destination.

For the Basilica, as with most buildings in Mexico, there is a mandatory temperature check and splash of disenfecting hand wash, not to mention cubrebocas (face mask) required.

From Zapolan, we headed southwest to Bosque Los Colomos park and its highlight the Japanese Garden.

Then through Los Arcos de Aguas and back home.

A streamline corner building on our block.

And more pics from around town.

Near the main plaza.

Mariachi Square

Mercado San Juan de Dios

Wedding Photo Shoot - Looking toward the Cathedral.



Inside the Cathedral.

Day of the Dead Market was coloful and lively.

Patio with Moorosh Architecture.

A peak inside an old mansion.

The Art Deco facade of the Cine Roxy, now Sala Roxy, still stands.

I make myself at home inside this gallery "installtion".

An exhibition featuring artist Paloma Torres. The medium for this work is felt.

The ubiquitous Mercedes-Benz buses; red and green.

Pan de Muerto shop window.

And if you get this far, all the flickr photos from Guadalarajara are here.

The Murals of Guadalajara

Overshadowed by Diego Rivera and David Siqueiros in Mexico City, Jose Clemente Orozco really shines in Guadalajara.  Between 1936 and 1939, he painted murals at

University of Guadalajara Paraninfo (assembly hall)

Government Palace

Hospicio (Orphanage) Cabana

While all the murals are visually striking, the scale of Padre Hidalgo in the Government Palace was breathtaking.  Painted in 1937, his prescience about the evils of Hitler, Stalin, Franco, Mussolini, etc. was even more impressive. 

There were also David Siqueiros' murals in the Octavio Paz Library, and in the Jalisco Preceptory School, Guillermo Chávez Vega in the stairway, and Jorge Navarro in the auditorium.

The People and their False Leaders by  Jose Clemente Orozco - University of Guadalajara Paraninfo 

Padre Hidalgo by Jose Clemente Orozco - Government Palace

Man In Flames by Jose Clemente Orozco - Hospicio (Orphanage) Cabana

 

  La Buena Vida by Jose Clemente Orozco - Orosco Family Home in Aguascalientes

By Guillermo Chávez Vega in the Jalisco Preceptory School stairway

By Jorge Navarro in the Jalisco Preceptory School auditorium

And by David Siqueiros in the Octavio Paz Library

And a few of the numerous outodoor murals around town.