by JudyJB » Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:16 pm
You are right, Beth. Carol, part of my visit 13 years ago was to Lake Chapala where we stayed at the Lake Chapala Hotel for the weekend. It was a joint conference with the AUtonomous Univerity of Guadalaja, and there were about 35 Americans in our group. We were all a little nervous about staying there, and I had a first floor room with a flimsy screen covering the door to the patio.
We were pretty scared when we heard what we thought were gunshots. Turned out it was the Bam, bam, you mentioned. Turns out they set off fireworks every night to scare the blackbirds from out of the trees and fields. I was born and grew up in Detroit, and many people would not drive through the city, either, but I don't hesitate at all.
If you ever end up in Tlaquepaque, make sure you don't miss the Restaurant With No Name--Restaurante sin Nombre, I think. Food is excellent--no menu, but a very pleasant courtyard. Entertainment is provided by the peacock, peahen, and chicks. (They let them eat off the uncleared tables, or at least the peahen stole food when she could and fed it to her baby.) Also, tiny bantum hen and brood of incredibly tiny chicks wandered around our feet.
Detroit Institute of Arts has a famous room-size painting of the automobile industry by Diego Rivera, by the way. Lots of similar art in Guadalajara. i ended up spending 7 days there that trip, part of the time in Lake Chapala and part in Guadalajara. Wonderful trip and fond memories.
JudyJB