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Shop ‘til you Drop…The Tonalá Experience

Signing on with Roberta Valdez of Alegre Tours we joined a group of travelers at the Puerto Vallarta Mega, loaded our luggage, boarded the TTur bus at 6:30AM and headed north out of Puerto Vallarta with a brief stop at the Nueva Vallarta Mega to pickup the balance of our group. The objective – to prowl the environs of Tonala for special purchases - needed or just desired.

In my opinion there are a lot of positives to be said for this kind of travel. All the planning on the best route to take, stops along the way, hotel reservations, driving, meals, etc. are whisked away. You travel without pressure and arrive safely and rested. And all the while you’re meeting new people from many different places and backgrounds. Additionally, traveling with a knowledgeable bi-lingual guide who can assist you with any problems or communications is a powerful and positive asset.

So said, after a couple of rest and sightseeing stops we arrived at our destination Hotel in Tonalá.
Why Tonalá? The shopping village of Tonalá, Jalisco, is probably one of the best places in the Guadalajara area to find beautiful handmade crafts such as silver, blown glass, ceramics, fine pottery, and paper mache. The noted Mexican artist Sergio Bustamante is reported to have his primary studio in the Tonalá area, with his main gallery being located in nearby Tlaquepaque. Tonalá is more of a big outdoor shopping market and a wonderful one at that! The Tiangis is held on Thursdays and Sundays. Most of the art found in Tlaquepaque and Guadalajara is manufactured here. The prices are unbeatable and the high quality of each handmade product is clearly evident - the number one reason people flock back for more.

The Hotel that our group stayed in is centrally located and the lobby is setup to focus on groups and their purchases. The lobby has dedicated space set aside for completed purchases. Most all of the stores deliver to the hotel several times daily and place the purchases in a space with your or group name. In this manner you need not worry about carrying around your packages or returning large items to the Hotel yourself –its all delivered at no expense to you thereby freeing you to continue your quest for more treasures.
After check in we regrouped to have lunch and the appropriate refreschas in order to refuel the “hunter-killer” instinct needed to find the hidden treasures of Tonalá. Even though there was an general itinerary most of the pro-shoppers already knew their first designations and were off immediately while the inexperienced stayed close to the leader while they familiarized themselves with the layout and variety of treasures. Dolores and I had committed to take several shoppers to visit an Arte Krystal shop that specialized in manufacturing beautiful hi-end multi-lenses and vases of every shape and color. Leaving our friends deciding on their purchases, Dolores and I moved on to place some needed orders for her Essence Of Cuisine Cooking School. The day ended with an impromptu wine happy hour at the Hotel and a late dinner in a local restaurant for a remaining few brave high energy souls. Tomorrow is the famous Tonalá Sunday Tiangis (flea market).

The next morning most of the group was out and having a breakfast by 9:00 A.M. ; however, several of our shoppers had already hit the streets and were already returning with purchases. Since we had purchased our required items the evening before, we rose late and enjoyed a wonderful brunch by ourselves. By the time we set out to acquire some personal small items the lobby was already filling up with packages. As the day progressed, the space in the lobby rapidly filled with packages of every size and shape from the several groups, individuals, and store buyers that were staying at the Hotel. There was everything from small miscellaneous packages to large items of furniture, lamps, end tables, mirrors, dishes, wall hangings, candelabras, vases, marble tables, and on and on. While Dolores went out to explore on her own I stayed and worked on my computer in the Hotel lobby and watched the incoming deliveries. They arrived by cart of every size and shape, bicycles pulling custom trailers, wheel barrows, pickup trucks, sweating strong youngsters, and the occasional shopper. Finally, our group began to trickle back to the hotel to check whether their purchases had arrived and to rest before the final splurge to pickup miscellaneous items that they had seen during shopping but had delayed making a commitment to purchase. At 7:30 PM we all joined together in the lobby to travel to a wonderful Italian restaurant in downtown Guadalajara. This was done with our custom motor coach and driver. What a twist to the popular phrase – “ride the bus and leave the driving to us.” That extra glass of vino was wonderful! My wife was really feeling pampered by all the special service.0

The next morning we once again enjoyed a leisure breakfast then got ready for checkout. Some of our group needed to visit a store that specialized in marble furniture to place final purchases for custom designs. Upon leaving Tonalá we immediately proceeded a few miles to a glass factory where many of us added glassware items to our already sizable inventory of purchases. From the glass factory we motored to Tlaquepaque to walk the streets and plaza, finding additional treasures. How much is the shipping cost?

The name Tlaquepaque (or San Pedro as it’s often called) derives from the Aztec language and means "place above clay land". The area is famous for its pottery and blown glass. Tlaquepaque features El Parián, a large plaza flanked by columned arcades and surrounded by restaurants and bars. The main street is lined with shops and restaurants of every kind. The past several years have seen a much needed and welcome upgrade to the area. Tlaquepaque is known for its mariachi bands. The restaurant we chose to gather at and enjoy a late lunch was visited by a wonderful all female group which entertained us royally.











Finally, it was time to re-board our motor coach and leave Tonalá-Guadalajara-Tlaquepaque and head home to Puerto Vallarta. Roberta Valdez, our leader, had made available some movie DVD’s to help while away the time and magically we arrived safe and rested in Puerto Vallarta, a magnificent way to spend a weekend. I’m looking forward to the next “Shop ‘til you Drop” Tonala adventure.


Merry Christmas to All!

Settling In...

Puerto Vallarta, JAL, MX - It’s been 6 weeks since we returned to Puerto Vallarta from our 90 day visit to the PNW. We’ve been enjoying the wonderful weather in PV while monitoring the frigid temperatures in the Seattle metro area. They haven’t reached a high of over 30 degrees Fahrenheit for the past week. It looks as if we made our escape from the “Northlands” just in time. We had a wonderful visit with our families, got reacquainted with old friends, and made some new friends.

Dolores attended classes at several cooking schools, honing her skills and observing other class techniques, and also did a sold out appearance as a “guest chef” with Jeannie Judd’s Sweet Basil Cooking School in Edmonds, WA, one of our favorite cooking school venues. The reminder of the time was spent watching sports on the tube and getting all our “ducks lined up” for the return.

Dolores had decided that our guest bathroom in Puerto Vallarta needed remodeling as it supports the guests of our cooking school and would benefit from updating with more striking fixtures and color. We had shopped locally and in some interior cities but hadn’t found anything to our liking. An acquaintance had told us about getting qualified as a “Known Shipper” with Alaska Airlines and we could ship as much as we wanting – inexpensively. While in Seattle we applied, were investigated and received our shipper credentials. Now we were on-a-roll. We finally identified and made all the purchases of the fixtures, received same from the factory and set about packing for the shipping to Puerto Vallarta. I won’t make this a long story – Checking in with Alaska Air Freight we got instructions from the desk that went just the way we anticipated. The following day we had a couple additional questions and recalled the freight desk. This time a 30 year veteran answered the phone. Are you seeing what’s coming? This was an intelligent person who knew all the answers and you could see her shaking her head even over the phone, NO! NO! NO!,.. ETC. By the time we would have paid the upfront fees of both Alaska and the Mexican Broker fees + plus having all shipping and custom forms translated into Spanish, etc., we would be in way over our budget. They suggested FedEx which had it’s own service, forms and Brokers. Sitting with $2000.00 worth of fixtures, Dolores headed for FedEx. Score! - they would do all the work. Repackaging the items, Dolores went to the FedEx office, filled out the forms paid around $300.00 with a promise it would be available in PV on November 5, four days after we arrived. Wheeeew!
Upon arrival, we were told that they had tried to deliver it October 30th, two days before our arrival. Talk about Mexican time in reverse. The delivery arrived November 3 and a Broker bill of an additional $2,400.00 pesos (something the Seattle FedEx people had failed to disclose). Well anyway, it’s all here.

Puerto Vallarta seems to be recovering very positively from the earlier effects of the negative world media N1H1 attack and its devastating impact on Mexico’s and PV’s economy. More and more tourists are definitely returning (maybe to escape the N1H1 flu virus in the States). The city is looking good and people are surviving. Many problems still exist as a result of the difficulties, and we see many empty store fronts; however, we seem to be on a strong upward surge towards recovery. Real Estate is seeing buyers and delayed construction has restarted. Stores and markets are beginning to restock with needed merchandise, and civil projects are reemploying laborers. It will take time, but it’s happening.

We attended the annual SPCA-PV fundraiser event held at the Hacienda San Angel “Puerto del Cielo” ($100 per ticket) which overlooks Banderas Bay and is just behind the Cathedral de Guadalupe with its lighted Crown. The party was overflowing with attendees, the dinner consisted of filet mignon and red snapper and was accompanied by Mariachi music by Joya de Mexico (the best group in Vallarta), with pre-dinner entertainment provided by a local group named Katmandu, and featuring a belly dancer several months pregnant – that’s right. It was a first for me and many others and the performance was wonderful. The pre-dinner hors d'oeuvres once again included rack of lamb filets, my personal favorite. Dolores and I bought $200.00 pesos of tickets for the drawing and wound up winning three dinners out, including Joe Jacks and Freddie Toucans – two of our favorites. We must have been enjoying the drinks since we gave away the third award to the fellow sitting next to us. In all, an unforgettable evening!

The Cathedral de Guadalupe

Mariachi Group - Joya de Mexico

We’ve held three Essence of Cuisine Cooking classes since our return, another one scheduled for the 28th and commitments for two classes in January – so that’s going strong. Working on an on-line identity for EOC in mid-January; however, the webmaster has dengue fever, which has become a serious problem in Vallarta. So we’ll see. We are traveling to Tonala (Guadalajara) this weekend – more dishes, glasses for our classes (as if we didn’t already have plenty). Oh well.

From December 1 through 12th Guadalupe Processions to the downtown cathedral take place daily. Almost every business, hotel, restaurant, neighborhood and civic association makes a procession to the church for a special mass they have devoted to the Virgin. Some of the larger groups resemble a small parade, complete with folkloric dancers’, floats, and singing. This ends on the 12th which marks the day the Virgin Guadalupe made her miraculous appearance to a peasant, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. As I write one of the processions is just this minute passing our condo, complete with drums and singing.

The weather gave us some heavy evening time rains beginning November 30th and ending December 7th. This is the first time I’ve seen consistent heavy rain in PV at this time of the year. Fortunately it ended the day of Paco and Toody’s first wine tasting party this season which is held in a restaurant with an open courtyard. Good omen for the season. The menu was French and wonderfully tasty. Paco shared some of his 1st release under his own label, a Chilean Malbec. Of course we bought a split case of red/whites for our school.

More when we return.