Relocating from the U.S. to Ecuador, and then to Mexico. This will chronicle our adventures (and misadventures) as we learn to live in another foreign country. "The worst day at Lake Chapala is better than the best day at work."
Here is a video of our new home in the Raquet Club:
We will be moving from Cuenca, Ecuador to Lake Chapala, Mexico in 2017! Below are pictures of the home that we will be renting in the village of San Juan Cosala in the Raquet Club. We plan on taking residency sometime in March, 2017.
During the month that we spent in the Lake Chapala area, we went to Guadalajara two times. The first time was with our group from Focus on Mexico (the seminar we attended in November, 2016). We went to several places, one of them being an upscale open-air shopping district called Tlaquepaque. Tlaquepaque is one of those places that shoppers dream of. This
Guadalajara suburb is a “must-see” on any vacationers agenda. The main shopping area has been closed off to traffic so that you can stroll and shop at a
leisurely pace. Specialty shops are everywhere you look. Over three
hundred quaint shops will make your shopping experience a real pleasure. This
seemingly small town offers some great bargains and an incredible
variety of items in just about anything in the way of quality handmade
goods, from fine crystal to furniture, and almost everything in between. Plan on at least one full day for your visit to Tlaquepaque. Take your time and explore the shops that really interest you.
Make time to enjoy a fabulous lunch at one of the sidewalk or patio
cafes (we had a delicious lunch at the Casa Fuerte restaurant -- I highly recommend it!). A few of the shops have their own restaurants so that if you are so inclined, you may shop during your meal.
We also visited the town ofTonalá.A few minutes from Tlaquepaque and a bit smaller, Tonalá offers another shopping experience that you
are sure to remember fondly. Tonalá is a village of craftsmen, it is
where many of the artists make and sell their goods. Tonalá is not as
glitzy as Tlaquepaque,
this is more a city of factories than stores but most are open and
willing to sell to the public. Much of the ceramics, pottery and some
of the finest dinnerware sold all over México, is made by the estimated
six thousand artisans living in Tonalá.
We went to the main plaza in Tonalá where we toured the gallery of the famous ceramist, Candelario Medrano.
Our second trip to Guadalajara was to Costco, Home Depot, and a store called Mega. This was a bus trip with the Lake Chapala Society, which is the way to do it if you are not familiar with the area.
