Guadalajara (V) - More City Landmarks, Mexico (January 2024)

Museo de Arte Universidad de Guadalajara (MUSA) is definitely one of Guadalajara's landmarks not to be missed. It belongs to and is operated by University of Guadalajara. Its building is beautiful and its main attraction is the mural painting on the ceiling of the main auditorium by the famous Jose Clemente Orozco. His mural painting was well displayed at Museo Cabanyas. Mexico City or Coyoacan has Frida Kahlo; Guanajuato has Diego Rivera, and Guadalajara has Jose Clemente Orozco. 

Since it is run by the University of Guadalajara, its president photos were proudly displayed in a hallway. 

The museum had quite a few interesting arts some of which are posted below:

 

Chapultepec is a wide boulevard with a pedestrian pathway at the center, like a park. There were several water fountains and numerous benches. People stroll, hike, walk, or sit on the benches to enjoy people-watching. Along the Chapultepec, there are restaurants, cafes, and bars that attract people, young and old. It is one of the trendy places in Guadalajara, located close to Colonia Americana that was named the coolest place in the world by one of the magazines.  

Farmacia Guadalajara is a super pharmacy that started from Guadalajara. It is one of the largest pharmacy network. We bought a lot of daily stuff, including cold medicine, but we also used its Consultorio Medico service. It is not the doctor's office, but a person who is authorized to provide medical consultation for relatively light symptoms. Kristin had a cold and her coughing persisted. So she went to get a prescription to get a strong cough medicine. 

As we explored the city by bus and on foot, we bump into a lot of interesting places. For example, Los Arcos de Guadalajara is a historically significant monument because it was built to commemorate the construction of a highway linking Mexico City, Morelia, and Guadalajara. Also, the Statue of Lady Mexico signifies the Mexican people's desire to be prosperous with the power of an obelisk behind her.  

Biblioteca Iberiaamericana is another landmark located downtown. It was built like a Greek temple, but the inside was well stocked with books and the studying area was well beautifully decorated.

The most outstanding landmark in the downtown area is the Cathedral of Guadalajara. It was already introduced in my previous blog post, but I could not resist additional photos from different angles. It is too bad not to be able to capture the beauty of the cathedral in full details. 

While strolling around the downtown area, a tiny police smart car was patrolling the pedestrian area. It was cute. Also, I found another sculpture of a man's face with eyes closed. 

Korean Businesses - It is a joy to see Korean businesses almost every where we go. Guadalajara was no exception. We used a few of them while we stayed in the city for three weeks. We ate twice at a Korean restaurant called BAP. It was a small space offering a simple menu, but we enjoyed the food. The owner was Mr. Yang who lived in Malta for two years and settled down here five years ago.

He owns another Korean restaurant, called Tacorea. What a clever name! It offers snack food items like Ddeokbokki, Korean fried chicken, Ramyun etc. We did not get to experience this restaurant.

We also bumped into a Korean dessert cafe, called Seul Bin while we were walking around. We had a Bingsu, but it was far from the expected taste. But, the owner sat down with us, Mr. Kang Seung Hwi, and shared his life story. It was a pleasant surprise to hear that he graduated from Seoul National University with the major in classical guitar. He said he would look forward to living a life that we live now with a lot of traveling. 

 

We found one Korean grocery market, Asian Market, where we bought some essential stuff for cooking, such as Korean radish, rice, and ramyun. 

We also found another Korean restaurant, called Lucky Seoul. The owner said that he has been in business for seven years. He also runs an international trading business when he is not helping his wife run the restaurant business. We checked out the restaurant and they had quite a few items on the menu. We enjoyed their food. The owner seems to enjoy talking with Korean customers. He shared a lot about his life and the life in Guadalajara.

I ran into another Korean business while I was walking around. It was a bubble tea shop, Bubble Pop, where Korean bread (bbang) was also sold. It was Saturday usually crowded, but the line was far too long for me to try to buy anything. Well... it was good to see a Korean business thriving.

Our stay in Guadalajara was somewhat restricted by Kristin's cold and my body ache, but we still explored enough to be able to say that we know a little bit about Guadalajara. We enjoyed our stay in Guadalajara. - Jeffrey