Colours and Cazuela

I had seen instaperfect pictures of a pretty street covered with hanging umbrellas. So I headed to Tlaquepaque, practicing the tongue-twisting pronunciation (Tla-keh-pa-keh) over a 20 minute Uber ride from Plaza Del Sol in Guadalajara. But the second I stepped off the cab, I was swept away by the colors and beauty of this quaint little town.

The visitor center was closed for the day so I crossed the road to a small cafe in an alley covered with bright graffiti and sipped my coffee while a enthusiastic quartet played some mariachi. I should mention here that in Mexico, this is kind of a magical evening is almost always waiting around the next corner.

As I finished my coffee, I remembered the umbrella street I had set out to find. So I walked on, past a colorful sign of the town’s name, into a little cobbled street lined on both sides with picturesque cafes, ivy-laden balconies, bright pottery shops and contemporary art galleries.
I was so distracted by the lively beauty of the street and the smiling hawkers selling handmade souvenirs that I suddenly realized with a start that I had already reached my umbrella street- Calle Independencia. There were no umbrellas. Instead, the street was decorated overhead with strings of little Mexican flags. I guess I should have expected this as we were just three days shy of the Mexican Independence Day. 

By this time I was so enchanted with Tlaquepaque that I didn’t even care about the lack of insta-umbrellas. I spent the next hour being a happy tourist in the local tequila stores, stacked with the most creative and quirky bottle designs I had ever seen. I bought some handmade chocolates and the colorful pottery which the town is known for. I went past churches and parades and bakeries when I came across a bronze sculpture of a rooster outside an art gallery. As I looked around I saw another sculpture, a little person with a triangular face flying in the wind while another little person with a triangular face held onto him.

This jogged a memory of a series of much grander statues I had seen at Puerto Vallarta, with the same little robed beings with triangular faces.

Intrigued, I stepped into the Sergio Bustamante Gallery which is now one of the reasons I long to go back to Tlaquepaque. The gallery is a maze of rooms filled with sculptures, some colored some bronze and each one is a moment frozen in some parallel realm of magical realism. I don’t know much about art so I won’t pretend to have understood the technicalities but as a layperson, his art is breathtaking. Each sculpture is surreal and full of charming little details and even more charming little triangular faced people.

(Tip: The maze eventually leads to a little, manicured and perfectly peaceful garden, strewn with more bronze sculptures. Trust me, you want to see this) By the time I tore myself away and got back into the street, the sun was setting which meant it was time for me to head to El Parian.

El Parian is a plaza in the heart of Tlaquepaque, which is where the fun starts, come sundown. As my research dictated, I took a seat on the unique leather chairs found in this town, in one of the many small cantinas all around the plaza and ordered a ‘cazuela’- a citrusy, fruity cocktail I have since come to love. What appeared on my table was a big clay bowl filled with a pink concoction, wedges of grapefruit, lime and oranges floating in it and a 90ml shot of Herradura on the side. 
I had just finished adding the tequila when the lights around the plaza dimmed and a mariachi band began to play in the center of the plaza and they were soon joined by a group of sharply dressed dancers too. Maybe it was the tequila doing its job, maybe it was the music and dance or maybe it was just the visual feast I had been on for hours, but at that moment, in Tlaquepaque, life was pretty much perfect.

Useful Links http://www.tlaquepaque-centro.com/ https://www.visitmexico.com/es/actividades-principales/jalisco/disfruta-de-un-paseo-por-tlaquepaque https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/9-things-to-do-in-tlaquepaque-guadalajara/