Often times when I’m in a city regularly, I develop a few favorite places.  Despite being fairly adventurous at trying new places and things, when you find a favorite it’s sometimes hard to try something new.
Karne Garibaldi (website is in Spanish) in Guadalajara, Mexico is one of those favorite places.  When I’m in Guadalajara, the assumptions is that I’ll be having at least one meal at Karne Garibaldi.  And I’ve never gone wrong with that decision.
To “get” the concept of this restaurant, you have to let go of what you assume typical Mexican food is like.  What passes for …read more

Guadalajara is probably my favorite city in Mexico, with its unique combination of a cosmopolitan city and a historic center.  It is the capital city of Jalisco, and is the second largest city in the country (Mexico City is the largest).  It’s considered the equivalent of our Silicon Valley, with a strong electronics and high tech industries.
Contrast that very modern business core with one of the oldest and most beautiful structures in the city – the Guadalajara Cathedral, a minor basilica that is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guadalajara.  Located in the downtown Centro Histórico (Avenue16 de …read more

I’m trying out a new blogging photo service today – Smilebox.
Here’s a photo slide show of a recent trip to Guadalajara, Mexico.
 

Make a Smilebox slideshow

 
This is a fun way to share some travel photos with you, so let me know how you like it.
 
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Tonalá is a city of around 350,000 located near Guadalajara, in central Mexico.  The city is well known for its ceramics, glass, and other native arts and crafts, and its Thursday and Sunday open air markets.
Market days will find the neighborhoods full of good displayed on the sidewalks, and often spilling out into the streets.  Ceramics, pottery, glassware, papier mâché items are all good buys.
If you practiced up on your Spanish, it will come in handy.  Although many locals do speak a little English, it’s probably going to take a fair amount of Spanish, English, and some gestures, to …read more

I’ve been sick this month, and have spent the entire time on bed rest, recuperating from a bout of pneumonia.  It hasn’t been any fun being grounded, and I’ve missed out on a great month of flying (wonderful layovers), as well as all the fun things here at home in Seattle.
One of the things that has made this month bearable (well, in addition to my wonderful friends who have checked in on me) has been going through some travel photos from previous trips. . .
. . . like this one from a stay in Mexico earlier this year.
I’ll …read more

Next month I’ll be going back to Guadalajara, Mexico, a city that I haven’t visited for about 15 years.
What I always loved about Guadalajara, was that it was a “real” city, as opposed to the beach cities.  Although tourism plays an important of the economic fabric of the Guadalajara, the city is also home to several universities, and, along with Mexico City, is a center for international commerce.
I’m sure that a lot of things have changed since I’ve been there, but I remember having a lot of fun shopping at Tlaquepaque, Tonola, Trocadero, and the Mercado Libertad.  And watching …read more