Mexico Part 13: Tlaquepaque

Matthew's parents joined us for the second week of our spring break.  It was great to have them here.  You don't realize how much you miss family until they come for a visit and then they leave.  But, the good news is plane tickets are finally booked to Oregon and we won't have to miss anyone for too much longer.  The most fun that we had will come in a post soon but one of the days that they were here we went to Tlaquepaque.  At first I had a hard time saying this word when we first got here but now I am such a pro, I don't have anymore issues :)  Here's a little wikipedia nugget on the place...Tlaquepaque (Spanish pronunciation: [tlakeˈpake]), historically San Pedro or Georgetown, is a city and the surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Jalisco. During the 20th century it was absorbed by the outward spread of the state capital and is now a neighborhood of the Guadalajara conurbation, lying only a few kilometers from the city center.  
Apparently it is also known for its pottery, blown glass and mariachis but I think we missed most of that because we didn't see too much of that.  I guess we did see a museum with some artwork and pottery now that I am remembering but I didn't take any pictures of that.  When we were there they were having this crazy sale of  empanadas.  Which for anyone who hasn't had an empanada, they are so delicious   They are this Mexican bread that is filled with whatever you can find them with.  Most often you see them filled with a pudding custard or apple, but here they had them filled with cajeta (I like to think of it like the Mexican caramel but it is a sweet goat milk spread), guava, pineapple, strawberry, all sorts of goodness.  And, my sweet friend showed me to love the ones that are filled with food, like mushrooms, tuna and peppers.  My personal favorite are the ones filled with cheese and peppers, or rajas, as they say here.  I LOVE them.  They are probably super fattening, but I don't care.  And if you find them warm because they were just made, they are even that much better.  The town is super cute.  At first we didn't think there was much to see, but then we found the touristy street and it was really clean and filled with neat statues and street vendors.  One of the things that I thought were super cool, but didn't get were these little statues that were covered in tiny colorful beads.  We will have to go back soon, so I can buy one for our home.  One guy told me that is takes him about 5 days to cover the little elephant with beads.  That's a lot of time and it makes me think I wish I was that good at making something that would sell well and looks beautiful.  And of course, the day wouldn't be complete without finding some fountain to cool the kids off and keep them happy until we walked back into the car.  It was HOT outside!