Motivation
I have been living in Los Angeles since September 20th, 2025.Mexico has become the closest foreign country for me.
On top of that, I’m a big fan of Mexican food and often cook it using ingredients I buy from a nearby Mexican supermarket. (My specialty is carne asada!)
This has made me want to learn more about Mexican cuisine.
Therefore, learning food was the theme of travel.
Also, my wife wanted to experience the Day of the Dead in Guanajuato.
These are the reasons why we chose to visit Mexico.
My wife and I went on a trip to Guadalajara and Guanajuato, Mexico, from October 29th to November 3rd. Personally, this was my third trip to Mexico.
Iteneary
- 1st day : Guadalajara (Arriving night)
- 2nd day : Guadalajara-Guanajuato (Taking bus)
- 3rd day : Guanajuato (Enjoying day of the dead)
- 4th day : Guanajuato (Staying with the house of acquaintances and hanging out with them)
- 5th day : Guanajuato - Guadalajara (Returning to )
- 6th day : Guadalajara (Enjoying shopping and eating at Tlaquepaque)
- 7th day : Guadalajara (Enjoying shopping in big market and return to LA)
1st day
First, we planned to visit Guanajuato, where the entire town is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site. However, we found out that a direct trip to Guanajuato could be expensive, so we came up with an alternative plan: we would first fly into Guadalajara and then travel to Guanajuato by bus, which could save us a lot of money.
While waiting at the boarding gate in LAX, the annoucement in Spanish really heightened the travel mood even though we had no idea the meaning of it.
We did not have a high expectation on Guadalajara, but it turned out that Guadalajara was a beautiful and exciting city as well.
On our first night in Guadalajara, we went to a local Mexican restaurant called La Chata de Guadalajara and found the place lively, with incredible food.
We ordered torta ahogada (“drowned sandwich”), Caldo Tlalpeño (a Mexican chicken soup), and pork flautas.
Each dish was absolutely delicious. The flavor of the meat was so rich that it really made me appreciate how good the quality was.
I was reminded of natural deliciousness of the meat.
2nd day
Next day, we wake up at the Real Maestranza Hotel in centro, then we went to Guadalajara's Cathedral. It seems that in preparation for the Day of the Dead, the plaza was decorated extensively and crowded with people. The building of the cathedral was so great, giving me a strong sense of historical significance. On the second floor of a chic restaurant, we had a relaxed breakfast while watching the street below.
Then, we went to down town area, doing window shopping at sourvenir shops that sell tableware and other keepsakes.
Seeing El Palomar de Luis Barragán, which excited my wife who is a big fan of Luis Barragán.
Next, we visited Taco Fish La Paz and have a delicious fish and shrimp tacos.
We enjoyed soft music musician playing with marimba in front of the restaurant.
Both of tacos were so crunchy and juicy.
We also tried Horchata and green aguas frescas, but these were not our type of drinks.
Then, we hurried to the train station to make it to the bus station for Guanajuato. On the way, we passed by vast agave fields from the bus window. We arrived in Guanajuato two hours late.
Before checking in at the hotel, we stopped by a bar called Nigromante Cocktail Rooftop. The music was a bit loud, but the view from the rooftop was amazing.
Since it was the day before the Day of the Dead, the streets were bustling with activity. Everyone was in costume, and music could be heard from every corner. We visited the fanciest-looking restaurant in town,Casa Valadez · Anfitrión & Gourmet which promised authentic Mexican dishes. The enchiladas we wanted to order were sold out, so we ended up ordering a ribeye steak. Considering how cheap things usually are in Mexico, it was fairly expensive. It was decent, but nothing special. We went through the underpath, which used to be sliver mining tunnel. There were so many decorations and stores going on and so energetic.
3rd day
The English teacher from the cambly app who had taught my wife sent us a message saying that he was staying at a friend's house in Guanajuato, which was actually where we were planning to stay that day. He invited us to climb a mountain with them to enjoy the view from the top.
At first, I wasn't completely sure if that would be the best way to spend our day in Guanajuato, since there were many restaurants and places I wanted to visit. But in the end, we decided to go with them because it felt like a rare and special experience.
Mario, who is a professor and the owner of house, gave us a ride in his car.
Besides him, there were two other people, including his sister and her husband.
On our way to the base of the mountain was rough and thrilling.
After we arrived the base, we hiked along the mountain trail until we reached the folk. There were two paths, one is much steeper and rough but short, the other is more mild but long.
We chose the steeper and shorter one. It was like an adventure and exciting, a bit scary.
After finishing the climb, the view opened up, and I felt refreshed.
We could see the base of mountain far down in the valley.
Climbing down the slope was even tougher. We got lost along the way and became thirsty.
Finally we arrived the base of the moutain, Mario and his sister were already there, saying they gave up climbing due to phisical exhaustion.
Then we went to the lunch place, where is not shown in Google map.
We ate goat soup and tacos, which tasted very flavorful.
Then we met Gary, who is a English teacher, and hung around Guanajuato city.
Along the way, we found small bakely. Since we heard that the bread in Mexico tastes good, we gave it a try.
The bakely looked like a old-fashioned small bakely, which we could hardly see in Japan.
Then we went to Gary's old friend's house, where my wife got a face painting for the Day of the Dead.
At first, she chose the style of painting, and then the painter started.
After about one and a half hours, the painting was finished.
The quality of painting was outstanding. It seems that any other painting store cannot do this high-quality service as far as I see in the street.
Out of her kindness, she also gave me a faint face painting.
We were asked so many times where we could get face paintings.
Then, we went to the market.
Like other markets in Mexico, it was very crowded and vibrant with a variety of colors.
We were a little hungry so we tried Chile relleno, which is green chile pepper stuffed with minced meat or cheese and coated with eggs.
As I imagined, this tasted so good.
Day 4 continues in the next article.