weekend wrap-up

We decided to take it easy this weekend and stay in the greater Guadalajara area.

Saturday we met up with one of our new friends and went to the movies.  This wasn't just any movie, this was VIP.  For less than a regular movie ticket back at home, you get to sit in a very comfortable leather recliner chair and have food and drink brought to you.  Yes, it's pretty awesome.  We watched Pirates of the Caribbean while enjoying cold beer, popcorn with chile, and sushi in an air conditioned theater.  Wonderfully cold air conditioning, it's really the little things I miss.  :)

Best movie theater ever

Anyways, also at this pretty hoity toity mall we discovered a few more additional treats.  We ordered crepes the size of our head.  One was filled with nutella, strawberries and banana.  The other with bananas, almonds, and cajeta (aka caramel of sorts).  Claire and I also decided to feed our coffee addiction so we tried out a new coffee shop at this fancy mall called Black Coffee Gallery.  After drinking many weak attempts at americanos, iced coffees, lattes, and iced lattes, I was stunned when I was able to order two iced soy lattes with ice cubes, not blended, and without sugar.  I had no idea how much I missed a good iced latte and this one was so refreshing and so needed.  I know, I'm addicted.

Crepe con cajeta

In Spanish, my name becomes one of three things: Liz, Lizbet, and Isabel (Isabel is often the easiest)

I promise I did more than eat all day long.  (However, you do have to remember I am walking at least 4 miles a day and running 3 miles every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.)  After the movie, we headed to Av. Chapultepec.  It's one of the larger streets in the city that gets shut down for a few hours every Saturday night.  The street is filled with artisans, vendors, and music.  We had a lot of fun walking around and feeling like locals. 


The next day we headed to Tonala.  Every Thursday and Sunday, the place turns into a giant flee market.  There was so much stuff.  Vendor after vendor with tables full of ceramics, jewelry, fabrics, toys, kitchenware, furniture, and much much more.  I bought a set of glasses and a condiment plate.  For lunch, we again followed the cardinal rule of street food, and looked for a busy place with steaming hot food.  We stumbled upon a stand and ordered sopes, tortas, and flautas filled with spicy, stewy, tomato based beef.  The sopes were made right in front of us.  The lady flattened out the dough, threw it in the fryer, took it out to shape it again using what I'm sure are very callused fingers, and finished cooking the dough.  Again, I couldn't have asked for a better meal.  However, you can see what I'm talking about when I say I play Russian Roulette with my food.  But, how can you not trust someone like this frying your food in front of you? 

Claire's torta

 We finished lunch with churros fresh from the fryer.  How fresh you ask?

  
One of the highlights of the trip was talking to the taxi drivers that took us to and from Tonala.  I learned a lot about where to travel in the area, the differences between local towns, the economic frustrations of the people of Guadalajara, and the difficulty of learning new languages.  It's safe to assume my Spanish has improved. 

For dinner we hit up an Argentinian restaurant called Savora.  We had pepitos (aka sandwiches) filled with a large cut of rib eye.  Yum.  Dessert was the Ferrero Roucher ice cream completing another wonderful day in Mexico.  

This picture does not do the ice cream justice