Brunch and a Walk

Kicking off the New Year with an American tradition of weekend brunch and a lazy walk. The weather cooperated beautifully this year, not a cloud in the sky, giving the air an intense, brisk quality. All the better to enjoy the spectacular views of the mountain ranges on the other side of Puget Sound.

Parques Agua Azul y Mirador Independencia

Having been cooped up in classes for most of the month, it was only in my last week that I had time to wander and appreciate the parks Guadalajara has to offer. The city is dotted with green spaces, large and small. On this Wednesday, I visited two- one in the south of the city and another on its northern edge. All thanks to a great BRT line.

Parque Metropolitano

I may have a new favorite place in the world. The Parque Metropolitano in Zapopan can occupy a park lover's month, let alone day. Located a quick 20 minute bus ride from Parque Revolución on Tren Linéa 1 (a bus line, not a train line, no matter the name), the park is full of activities to delight kids and inner kids alike.

Festival Internaciónal del Globo 2015

An easy 2.5 hour drive from Guadalajara, the ITTO graduating class of Nov 2015 decided to check out the International Balloon Festival held in Leon every November. There are worst ways to spend a weekend than in a park enjoying hot air balloons play in the wind. If you ever make your way to this event, do yourself a favor and camp at the park. There's an ample supply of hammocks for sale for you to enjoy throughout your visit.

Tequila

A day spent in the town that has given joy and sorrow to millions across the world, Tequila, Mexico.
Just a short hour drive west of Guadalajara, I would recommend a tour for those interested in visiting the area. Our hostel signed us up with "Guatequi Tur", full of interesting facts if you can understand Spanish or if you have a good translator with you.

Welcome to the tour

Our tour guide, Sr. Armando Ramírez León treated us well and can be contacted at asesorarmando@hotmail.com. Highly recommended!

Mountain Biking with Couchsurfer Francisco

Oh, does my body hurt, but oh, how much fun I had last night.
Francisco invited me to the Paseo Nocturno en las Montañas that happens every Wednesday, organized by Gdl Bikers/MTB. After outfitting me with the requisite gear, we were off to La Primavera.

Couchsurfers at Centro Cultural Breton

Another week, another Thursday Couchsurfing meet-up. This one was at the fabulous Centro Cultural Breton, near the Cathedral, but hidden away on a quiet street.

 

Friday morning rain

The hurricane may have passed, but rain has been threatening every day since Wednesday. The clouds finally broke today and we awoke to heavy and consistent downpour.

Hurricane Patricia

Traveling can take you on some wonderful adventures. And sometimes nature can meet you on those adventures and give you a spin.
I got to class yesterday around 9am with other students going on about this tropical storm that had just been upgraded to the worst hurricane that had ever been recorded. Knowing we were protected by a couple hundred miles and some mountain ranges, I wasn't too concerned about us. The danger to the coastal regions was quite real, however, and I'm glad that the best case scenario of the hurricane making landfall away from the major population centers and quickly losing intensity happened.
One of my classmates tells me the worst of the wind passed by us around 1am, furniture banging around the rooftop patio of our hostel woke her up. Having experienced a few Seattle windstorms, though, I slept right through and didn't realize anything had been out of place, the staff having set everything to right before I left my room.

I took some videos of my school shutting down in preparation for the event- flooding was a danger here, so it was important that students and teachers were able to get home. Unfortunately, when I uploaded the videos, the sound wasn't working, so I'm going to have to figure out what the problem was if I want to share some moving pictures.

Walking around this morning, I did notice a sign in the park near my hostel still knocked over, so Guadaljara wasn't entirely unaffected.