Vallarta

For Glynn's birthday we rented an apartment in Vallarta, on the west coast. Genius idea!

Glynn had gone previously and told me about how beautiful the sunsets were.....words cannot describe. It was a real highlight every evening to sit on the balcony and watch.

We had a lovely few relaxing days. The apartment had a rooftop infinity pool which I was very happy to lol about in! We also had a jacuzzi on the balcony, so I really didn't want to ever go out!! After six weeks of moving about and traveling, it was lush to just relax and chill!

We did venture out for a few trips of local villages and islands which were nice. Yallapa was a real highlight. It was just a very chilled out beach, only accessible by boat.

Day of the Dead skulls abound everywhere!

Yallapa

Glynn made a new friend!

As beautiful as it was though...I was keen to return to our pool and watch the sunset...our last night before Mexico City! I really am showing my age haha

Tequila

I have never been a big tequila fan, but was rather excited about being invited on a tour of Tequila. We went to the Jose Cuervo distillery, and got to visit the agave fields, which were so beautiful. It was such a gorgeous sunny day and the colours were amazing.

We then went on a tour of the distillery to see how tequila is produced. We went down into the cellar to sample some of the Family Reserve. Hmm....I am still not a great fan of it straight up, but in a frozen margarita....now you're talking ;)

The old barrels are all signed by visitors so it was nice to read some of the messages from other guests, and Glynn had a good old signing session!

Guadalajara

My friend is currently working with Guadalajara so it was lush to meet up and spend the last part of my trip with a familiar face in beautiful Mexico! Guadalajara is a city I have known of for years, but never thought I would get to visit! It was nice walking around imagining Rach here, and Mum and Liz visiting....a long time ago!

Bronze chairs in the square

Cabanas

Amazing murals by Oresco

The symbol of Guadalajara

Guanajuato

This was such a picturesque city. Beautiful buildings, colour, hills, and underground tunnel caves. A group of us traveled up together...I was so happy to not be driving in the town. So many tight bends and tiny roads! It was Paco's birthday, and so a great opportunity to meet lots of Mexicans and speak Spanish!

Lunch bevvies!

Oaxaca

Oaxaca was a real highlight for me. We stayed in an art gallery which was so cool! The whole city felt arty and bohemian. It had a fantastic historical cultural centre which was lovely to wander about it. Again, colourful buildings and churches..... aw Mexico!

The cathedral

As seems to be the case every day, there are parties, parades, bunting, flags, flowers everywhere....for a saints day, anniversary, pretty much any excuse to party! As we wondered around after lunch we saw lots of tall puppets and a big band playing happily away. No idea! But good fun to watch!

We went to see the supposed world's oldest tree! It was massive! A very random excursion, but a giggle! Th church where the tree was, was very pretty, and I loved the way the hedges had been trimmed into animals....especially the giraffe!

Here it is!!!

I'm loving the food and drinks here. We ate very well!

YUM!!!

Puebla and Cholula

Puebla was a city full of churches and colour. It was beautiful. It felt a lot more Mexican than Cancun! Again, the Mexican kindness and hospitality really shone out. This is a wonderful country.

Chulula was a great surprise. It was just 20 minutes from Puebla so a very easy day trip. The town was gorgeous, lots of coloured houses, pretty churches and an archeological site with a pyramid you could climb! Happy happy!

How could you resist cheese ice cream?!