In Guadalajara with a short time to spare after a business meeting or a long wait between flight? Even an hour or two will suffice to see something of the artistic heritage that Mexico’s second city, Guadalajara, houses on behalf of the nation. It is especially fitting that the city houses so much fine mural […]
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Cabo Corrientes is one of those vaguely heard of places where nobody ever goes because… well, where is it? And how and why would you go there? Literally, Cabo Corrientes means “cape currents.” It’s the point about 30 miles west of Puerto Vallarta where Banderas Bay finally gives up its apparent attempt to swallow the Pacific. Look […]
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….¡Ay laguna de Chapala tienes del cuento la magia, cuento de ocasos y albarradas de enamoradas noches lunadas. Quieto Chapala, es tu laguna novia romántica como ninguna! Enclavado en la parte central del estado de Jalisco, Chapala “el lugar de búcaros u ollas pequeñas”; o “el lugar mojado o empapado”; o “el lugar de chapuzones […]
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Just outside the unassuming little town of Teuchitlán, Jalisco, 40 kilometers due West of Guadalajara, lies one of the most impressive archeological sites in all of western Mexico. However, the first time I saw it — in 1985 — I was anything but impressed. “Where’s the pyramid?” my friends and I asked a local farmer, […]
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For me, Tonalá has always seemed like a magical sort of place, like something that one would only stumble upon in the make-believe world of fiction. Its narrow, dusty streets lined with unadorned buildings give Tonalá a rather unpolished look as compared with neighboring Tlaquepaque or Guadalajara’s downtown. Yet there are treasures to be discovered […]
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Flowers and flower arranging have played an important role in Mexico from ancient times to the present. The symbolic meaning of flowers is prominent throughout ancient Mesoamerican thought and practice. Flowers could represent anything from beauty and creation to death and destruction. Tlacaelel, a councilor to Moctezuma I (1440-1469), initiated a mystical warrior vision of […]
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Down a quiet village lane in Ajijic, a high blue wall hosts climbing vines sought by songbirds. A wrought iron gate opens to a spacious colonial style mansion. Designed and run by owners Michael and Maria Elena Eager, La Nueva Posada is a modern boutique hotel with the romance of colonial Mexico. A grand staircase carved from quarry […]
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The third-largest deposits of obsidian in the world are found west of the city of Guadalajara and are superseded only by the deposits of Africa’s Rift Valley and the Oregon Plateau. Obsidian forms when lava cools quickly or is degassed in other ways. West Mexico’s obsidian probably began as lava oozing out of cracks in […]
Continue ReadingOctober 7th is considered the birthday of Talpa’s La Chaparrita, The Little Short One, aka Our Lady of the Rosary. History tells us that Santiago de Talpa was founded in 1599 with Virgin Mary and the apostle James as the patron saints. A humble church was established where the parroquia (parrish) chapel now stands and a tiny image of […]
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Decorated evergreen trees, garlands of greens and ivy, yule logs, shiny glass balls, seasonal music, twinkling lights, special family meals, shimmering stars, brilliantly red poinsettias, silvery ribbons, mounds of presents, and Santa Claus are the vibrant heralds of the Christmas season in the United States and Canada. Few North Americans recognize that the roots of […]
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