We spent one week in Tlaquepaque, a small town just outside of Guadalajara. It was a great week, and I think we both agree that we could have spent a few additional days exploring the city and experiencing Mexican life.

Our apartment was about 3 blocks from the main city square, so we had no problems walking all over. Beyond that, our Spanish school was an additional 4 or 5 blocks, making it an easy commute for our lessons throughout the week. We tried a handful of different restaurants, took a walking tour, participated in festivities for the Dia de Indepencia, and enjoyed walking around.

Tlaquepaque was full of color, like these houses on our street.

In the center of town, there were actually 2 main squares, next to one another. One was comprised almost entirely of the Parian. This structure used to be the marketplace in town, where farmers would congregate to sell their crops. Nowadays it’s a touristy area filled with restaurants and bars around a central courtyard where mariachi play each evening. The other is the Hidalgo garden, with 2 churches on different sides of the square. Tlaquepaque was originally founded as a resort town for the rich who came from Guadalajara. They build a church, but soon discover that the local poor people were also going there to worship. Since the rich didn’t want to pray near the poor, they had a second church built across the square so that there could be separate services.

One of the churches on the main town square.

The main pedestrian street is lined with shops and restaurants. Down the middle of this street are a variety of pig statues, all painted differently. Our tour guide told us that they were in town to celebrate ‘bacon and art’ (sounds great to me, even though I’m still not sure how those go together!). There are also a number of galleries showcasing local arts and crafts; everything from life-sized statues to jewelry and tequila to parakeets.

One of the many decorated pigs in the center of Tlaquepaque.

El Refugio, a former hospital, is now the cultural center of Tlaquepaque. The space is used for a number of different activities. We meandered through rooms filled with clay pottery and figurines, the local specialty since the region has an abundance of clay nearby. We saw large vases the size of a person and tiny intricate figures painted with a magnifying glass. In one of the halls, not only were there more clay art pieces along the side, but there was a small stage where a pianist and violinist were practicing for a concert. In addition to the art on display, El Refugio also houses schools dedicated to the arts: singing, dancing, painting, crafting, and more.

Lana at El Refugio, which is now a cultural center.

Clay figurines representing different aspects of Mexican life.

Another notable building that we got to see, at least from the doorway, was Planole Iguala. This was a house where Mexican independence was signed into effect in 1821.  The house is still in use for private events, so we could just look through the doorway and see into the courtyard.

The building where they signed Mexican independence into effect.

All of the walking around, learning Spanish, and exploring worked up an appetite in us! Luckily we were able to find some delicious local specialties to try and savor. For dinner our first evening in town, we walked to the pedestrian street and saw a big crowd gathered around a street stall selling gorditas. Deciding that a crowd was a sign of good clean food, we joined the line and ordered three different kinds to try: cheese, potato, and mole. All three were delicious but my favorite was the mole!

The gordita stall in the center of Tlaquepaque

One of the nicer restaurants in town was Zaguan, about a block away from the main square. We ate here twice, since the food was so good! Each time, we split tacos de jicama for an appetizer. Then we tried different main dishes each time, from ribs and stuffed chicken to pork knuckle and shrimp rolls. If we ever return to Tlaquepaque, you can be sure that we’ll make a return visit!

This was our second visit to Zaguan and I think we enjoyed it even more than the first!

We ate lunch one day at the market, choosing a stall at random and selecting flautas and tacos. Also, there was a tiny restaurant between our apartment and the center where we ordered tostadas topped with different kinds of ceviche as well as empanadas and tortas aghodas.

Tortas aghodas, one of the local specialties and found all over the city.

Our time in Tlaquepaque was a perfect start to our round-the-world trip, different enough to give us little challenges each day but somewhat familiar so we didn’t feel totally overwhelmed. We loved our time in Tlaquepaque and would definitely recommend the city as a place for anyone to visit!