Street Art in Guadalajara

25 December 2021

Woke up today not feeling very well...but all I really had scheduled was a Street Art tour since it was Christmas day. I was supposed to have a Skype call with my mom and brother, but woke up to find that my mom woke up really dizzy and was in the hospital getting tests done.

view from my windows

view from my window of the Templo Expiatorio del Santísimo Sacramento

I had some cereal and headed to the Americana neighborhood where my tour would begin. I was surprised that they were even offering it on Christmas day! I met up with Karen--and really liked her. Like me, she got interested in street art and started photographing it and meeting the artists, and eventually creating this tour. Most things were closed, but luckily street art is in the street! She seemed to know everyone we passed.

the first thing we saw!

what it looks like with the app!

When we came to the final mural, she had an app that made it change colors and animate it which was pretty cool. She showed me how to get to the church I had seen from my Airbnb windows--Templo Expiatorio del Santísimo Sacramento--a beautiful church begun in 1897 and finished in 1972. I went inside and got to see the Christmas service.

I decided that even though I wasn't feeling great, I would go visit the Tlaquepaque neighborhood. I caught an Uber, and it dropped me off in the main square. A VERY cute town with lots of art. They call them "pueblo magicos" or magic towns, and they are all over Mexico. Most things were open here, even though it was Christmas day. Here on the square are the major sites--Parroquia San Pedro Apóstol which is a church built between 1670 and 1813, and the Santuario de Nuestra Senora de la Soledad, constructed in the 18th Century.

Jardin Hidalgo (from pharmacia)

one of Rodo Padilla's "chubby people"

that couple to the left took pictures of themselves here for a solid 15 minutes

Parroquia San Pedro Apóstol

Our Lady of Solitude (Santuario de Nuestra Senora de la Soledad)

my seat for lunch

side of Parroquia San Pedro Apóstol facing square

walking along El Parian, a market built in 19th Century

After walking up and down the main drag, I stopped at a pharmacy and got some paracetamol (Tylenol) and then I went to a restaurant for some queso, cerveza and pozole blanco (basically chicken soup with exploded corn). I was also finally able to find some cute calaveritas (tiny skulls) at a decent price that weren't obviously made in a factory.

I got an Uber back to my room and spent the rest of the night feeling icky. The good news is that my mom was out of the hospital--nothing major was wrong--and she was back home and in bed.