I only spent one day in Gaudalajara, which is about an hour's drive from Lake Chapala. We mostly visited their gigantic plaza.
Packed with stores and people, the plaza featured wedding dresses for $45, all sorts of food, a cathedral, a very wide variety of shops, plenty of benches, and polite people.
The traffic was not too dense, and the clear blue sky showed no sign of the pollution that the retirees around Lake Guadalajara had complained about.
A three-story mall contained no stores--it was all stalls, and they were all clean. I bought about $25 worth of VERY rich candy, and a pair of very well-made sandals for my wife. The mall featured every kind of product, including fresh rattlesnake meat and fresh goat meat.(The goat meat stand advertised Coca-Cola, which is everywhere in Mexico).
Leaving the plaza, we ate at KFC, which tastes exactly the same as in the US, at about 80% of the price. The Wal-Mart Supercenter was a disappointment. It had the identical items, shipped from the US, that my local Wal-Mart has, and at the same price. Only gringos and wealthy Mexicans shop there.
At a ridiculously high-priced mall, we paid $5 for two small ice teas with a scoop of lime sherbert in them.
My research tells me that Guadalajara is higher-priced than Lake Chapala, but has much more to do. Gringos are hard to find (we didn't see any) but a lot of them retire there.
Vince
Packed with stores and people, the plaza featured wedding dresses for $45, all sorts of food, a cathedral, a very wide variety of shops, plenty of benches, and polite people.
The traffic was not too dense, and the clear blue sky showed no sign of the pollution that the retirees around Lake Guadalajara had complained about.
A three-story mall contained no stores--it was all stalls, and they were all clean. I bought about $25 worth of VERY rich candy, and a pair of very well-made sandals for my wife. The mall featured every kind of product, including fresh rattlesnake meat and fresh goat meat.(The goat meat stand advertised Coca-Cola, which is everywhere in Mexico).
Leaving the plaza, we ate at KFC, which tastes exactly the same as in the US, at about 80% of the price. The Wal-Mart Supercenter was a disappointment. It had the identical items, shipped from the US, that my local Wal-Mart has, and at the same price. Only gringos and wealthy Mexicans shop there.
At a ridiculously high-priced mall, we paid $5 for two small ice teas with a scoop of lime sherbert in them.
My research tells me that Guadalajara is higher-priced than Lake Chapala, but has much more to do. Gringos are hard to find (we didn't see any) but a lot of them retire there.
Vince
