Virgin de Guadalupe, Ajijic
This week has been a whirlwind and work took a backseat!
To start the week, John and I took our TDY friend Drew to the small town of Ajijic on Lake Chapala, about an hour outside of Guadalajara. We walked by the lake, ate lunch at an excellent Argentinian restaurant, and browsed in some of the shops. I found a neat little place with old looms where they make the ubiquitous placements and napkins, run by a little old couple. Here are a couple of photos; click to see more photos from Chapala.
Lake Chapala
Mural, Ajijic
During the week, our A-100 classmates Megan and Marcy were in town for a visa conference; we were delighted that they spent an evening with us! We had a nice dinner at Ofelia and got caught up on all the gossip. We haven’t seen each other since 2007 or 2008, so we had a lot of ground to cover!
The next night, our friend and hometown ophthalmologist Dr. Clem was in town, so we had dinner with him, Shari, and their little boy. I bought my groovy red glasses from Dr. Clem and went to high school and college with his brother. It was fun to spend the evening with them while they were visiting Mexico. We enjoyed the old world ambiance of Restaurante Sacromonte and raised a toast to Hot Springs.
My in-laws Pete and Ginger arrived on Friday! John picked them up at the airport and we had a nice dinner at home, before we kicked off the sightseeing tour on Saturday. It’s so fun to have our first houseguests!
Saturday mid-morning we set off for Tlaquepaque, a little shopping town just outside of Guadalajara. We had a good lunch at Luna and wandered around the little shops. We didn’t buy much, but I visited the really cool leather purses and bedspreads that I like. Eventually I’ll find the exact thing I want, but until then, I’m content to “visit.”
Today we went to the town of Tequila. Tequila is sort of like Champagne – only liquor made from the agave plants of Tequila (and four other designated towns in Mexico) can be called “Tequila.” We went on a two-hour tour of the Jose Cuervo distillery – it was really interesting and their gardens with sculpture and beautiful trees and flowers were lovely. Afterward we had a tasty lunch at Cholula’s. John brought home a coveted bottle of Family Reserve that we’ll enjoy!
With Pete and Ginger at Jose Cuervo Garden
Tequila Tasting
In the evenings we’ve been enjoying the cool breezes on the balcony. I think we have about six different bird books out trying to identify the birds on the golf course.
Hummingbird on the balcony
Click here to see more photos of Pete and Ginger’s visit.
Mom’s had a rough week this week. Thank goodness, Debbie arrived and recognized immediately that she needed antibiotics. Thanks to her, Mom’s housekeeper Sandy, and the hospice nurse, she got the meds she needed. I spoke to her this morning and could actually understand her and she was very coherent. (When I asked her what the weather was like in Arkansas, she clearly said “Crazy!” and Debbie confirmed that was true!) It was the clearest I’ve heard her speak in weeks, including when I was home. Let’s keep hoping she continues to improve!