Ajijic Revisited

We had an invitation from our friends in Ajijic to join them in the house they had rented for the rainy season, so, even though we had just returned from our France and Italy trip, we decided "why not"?  So we spent the first two weeks of August back on the shores of Lake Chapala, in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico, about forty minutes south of Guadalajara Airport. We were interested in experiencing the rainy season there, as all of the locals we had spoken to during our visit in February told us it was their favorite season and the rain storms usually only occurred at night. We were quite skeptical, because when we looked at the forecast for the area, it always had images of thunder and lightening and rain every day!  After our Europe trip, I was strongly advocating for as little luggage as possible, preferably no checked bags.  We flew Volaris, which has a pretty restrictive "carry-on" policy, so another incentive to down-size our luggage.

These were Diane's two bags for our 16-day trip.  Janie kept saying, "how did you get all of those outfits in those small bags?!"   It was a challenge, but she did it!  I took a small backpack and a small shoulder bag and managed just fine. 

Our approach into Guadalajara. We knew to pay for our taxi at the counter as we exited baggage claim. This gives you a fixed-price ticket to present to the taxi drivers when you exit the airport. This is a great system as it prevents any price gouging. Our 40-minute ride cost us 420 pesos (about $24).

Winter sunshine and rain clouds along the shore of Lake Chapala.

Happy to be at the house we would call home for two weeks.

Our friends, Janie and Norman, who invited us to share their beautiful rented house.  They were staying for three months to fully experience the summer months in this part of Mexico.

As it turns out, Janie's birthday and mine are just two days apart, so yet another opportunity to celebrate.

Ceviche and local beer, what's not to like?

The weather turned out to be pretty much as the locals had described. The hillsides were all green and the waterfalls beginning to flow again. These "hills" reach about 8,000 feet, and they were often shrouded in clouds.

Most of the time we managed to avoid getting caught in the rain, as it does rain mostly during the night.  There was one exception, we were having a late evening coffee at our favorite Black & White Coffee Cafe, when the rain began. It was a tropical downpour with inches-deep water flowing everywhere. The streets that run from the hills toward the lake become rushing streams, so we had to find a way back to the house that didn't entail crossing one of these streets. We waited until the rain eased off and did manage to find a way home that kept our feet reasonably dry.

Janie and Norman took us to the organic market that occurs twice a week, luckily an indoor event.

This is where Janie introduced us to Laura, who, with her husband Diego, own a goat farm and produce items that you see for sale here (milk, yogurt, cheese and soap, among other things). I tried their goat milk yogurt.  It was delicious! 

We met local artist Jesus Lopez Vega at the market ,who invited us to visit his studio.  On the way home from the market, we happened to walk past his studio and saw him through the open doorway.  He welcomed us in and we spent a very enjoyable time seeing his work. He showed us elements of a book he is working on that is a written, as well as pictorial,  journey on the origins of the indigenous people of the Ajijic area.  All of the pages on the table are the artwork that will form the basis of the book. He plans for a Spanish as well an English language version.

An example of one of the pages.  Beautifully done!

This is the time of year when flowers are in full bloom,

and the bananas are ripening, (along with avocados, papayas and mangos, to name a few).

In the middle of downtown there is a working weaving enterprise using old looms and producing cloth of traditional designs.

Cloth in production.

An example of a finished garment, just beautiful.

We decided to take a day-trip into Guadalajara to see how long it would take, and have a brief experience of  Mexico's second largest city. Janie and Norman arranged for a taxi to take us for the day. The journey took about an hour and we decided just to explore the Plaza de la Liberación, which is a pedestrian-only area where the cathedral and theatre are located on the perimeter of a very large plaza.

An unusual feature of the plaza were all of the shoe-shine booths.  It is hard to imagine there were enough customers to keep them all busy!

The cathedral was begun in the mid 16th century, but rebuilt in the 19th century after it was destroyed in an earthquake.

An unusually wide boulevard leading up to the plaza area.

A peaceful square, where the Rotonda de los Hombres Ilustres, or, "all of the illustrious people" from the state of Jalisco, are honored. The statues included  painters, revolutionaries, politicians, writers, and poets. It was very impressive, a lovely spot.  Our day in Guadalajara ended at 4:00 p.m.when our taxi driver arrived to pick us up at the agreed-upon corner.  Thank you Rogelio!

Back in Ajijic, it was good to see it was still the same as we remembered from our visit in February.  We especially enjoyed seeing the horses around town.

We explored new restaurants and were somewhat surprised to find a local brew-pub with all of the beer made on the premises, and a yummy brew-pub menu as well.

We decided to explore another lakeside town and took the bus to Jocotepec, about 40 minutes away.  We went there on a Sunday and the town was very busy with markets underway everywhere.
I took this short video to give a small flavor of the day.  I hope it works!

Our journey back to the US was a bit of a slog. Our flight out of Guadalajara was delayed as they removed a passenger from the aircraft which then meant that many of us passengers already on-board had to vacate the plane so that the rows around where the person was sitting were searched. Consequently we missed our connection in San Jose and could not get a seat on a later flight.

We then decided to rent a car and drive back to Medford.

 Renting a car from Avis was quite a fiasco.
Stood in line and when we talked to an agent we were asked if we had a reservation, well no, we just wanted to rent a car. When asked if they had cars, the reply was, yes, if you have a reservation. The supervisor would not let the agent rent us a car from the desk where we stood. So, back out of the line, get on the smart phone and make a reservation for a car, get one reserved. Back into line where the same agent took our reservation and provided us with a car.
What numbskull in the Avis organization came up with this idiotic scenario? For many years I favored Avis because their motto used to be "We try harder". Well those days seem to be long gone and Avis is no longer a rental car company I will use in the future.
To add insult to injury, when we turned the car back to Avis in Medford, they charged us $170 extra over the invoice we signed in San Jose. (We are disputing this through the credit card company.)

The good news is that we made it to Medford before our originally scheduled flight landed.

See you all later for more adventures.

Interesting Side Trips from Toccalmatto

While the majority of our time in Toccalmatto was spent in the bookmaking workshop, we did visit some of the interesting towns nearby. We were fortunate to have Andre and Carla as guides as they provided interesting insights about the places we visited. I was surprised at the number of castles and fortified manors in the area, but realized we were talking about at least a thousand years of sometimes turbulent history. Additionally, we learned that this area lay on one of the pilgrim routes from Canterbury to Rome. In my recollections of all the history that Andre related, I can only remember small portions and I am hoping that what I do remember is not too mixed up!

We visited the town of Fontanellato several times, the first time in the evening and saw the moated castle nicely lit with few people around.

This castle is known as Rocca Sanvitale and was begun in the 13th century and finished in the 15th century, which is when the town began to grow around it. Until the middle of the 20th century it remained the home of the descendants of the Count of Sanvitale.  We visited the castle a second time and were able to visit the interior rooms with wonderful fresco's. We were accompanied by Andre who has a great deal of knowledge of the fresco origins.

This is part of the fresco known as Diane and Acteon, painted by Francesco Mazzola, commonly known as Parmigianino ("the little one from Parma"), in 1523-34. When he painted this fresco he was only 20 years old, which underscores his amazing talent.

This is the room you see before the Diane and Acteon, fresco, and indicates the dramatic difference displayed in the style of painting.

We went to the Sunday market in Fontanellato and enjoyed the many local offerings.  I thought this photograph epitomized the region with Parmesan cheese and one of the many forms of Parma ham.

We also took a trip to Castell'Arquato, which is in the foothills about 10 miles or so from Toccalmatto. This castle sits in a commanding position overlooking the valley below. It is believed to have originated in Roman times as a military settlement. The first recorded news of this castle occurred about the middle of the 8th century.

It was quite a walk up to the castle entrance,

but it began with this lovely tree-lined avenue.

There was so much to see, but I thought this photograph gave some idea of the commanding position of the castle.

This is the Collegiata di Santa Maria, the church also built on the site in the middle of the 8th century. It was, however, rebuilt after the earthquake of 1117, so I guess it counts as a "new" church in this part of the world!
There is a small restaurant next to the arch under the clock tower.  We took the opportunity to relax for a while with an aperitivo.

The next evening, Carla took us to another castle, in the town of Vigoleno.

The good news for this visit was that we could drive to the castle entrance!

The town of Vigoleno is largely within the castle walls. All the streets were cobbled, some offering glimpses of the countryside below.

 Walking down the streets also meant that we had to walk up. The benefit of visiting in the evening was that is was cool with the occasional breeze.

We passed by several Trattoria.   Each looked very inviting and interesting.  Notice the ATV, an easy way to maneuver some of the steep narrow streets.

The photo above is in the castle main square. It was interesting to see that there was a large cistern, reminding us that this castle was first built in the 10th century which required a secure supply of water to withstand any possible siege.  You can stay in the castle, as it is run as a small hotel.

Next was a visit to the Abbey of Clairvaux of the Dove, or Abbazia di Chiaravalle della Colomba in Italian, which sounds more colorful.  We were fortunate to be here at this time of year, as this is when the "Flower Festival of Corpus Domini" occurs.

This is a beautiful carpet of flowers set in place along the central aisle of the basilica.

Close-ups of some of the details of construction.  Fortunately all of the flower petals and other elements of the display were still fairly fresh.  This is a Cistercian Abbey that is well preserved and still has practicing monks in residence.

This is a statement from the Abbey website that describes the layout of the square above, "The architectural complex is built in the traditional Benedictine plan, taken up by the Cistercians, with the fundamental buildings arranged around the square cloister and church".

The inner ring of the cloister is remarkable in it's detail and quite beautiful.

The pillars that make up the cloister walk were difficult to capture in a photograph, but I did attempt to capture these corner columns, all carved from a single piece of marble. 

 Kathleen taking a walk around the external cloister path.

One last photograph from a room off the cloister walk, dedicated to displays of measurement methods employed in the construction of the Abbey, which  were quite fascinating.

We also went for a guided tour of Rocca di Soranga, a castle-palace located in the nearby town of Soranga. This castle was once owned by the princes of the Meli Lupi family and is still inhabited by descendants of that family. Because it is still a family home, no photographs were allowed in the interior rooms. The exterior of the palace is rather plain which belies the beautiful artwork and furnishings within.

The first thing that you notice as you enter the castle courtyard is the Porsche, one of the prince's cars.

 
The courtyard portico with fresco's depicting vine leaves.

The tour guides spoke only Italian, so we were doubly fortunate that Andre came with us and provided a narrative in English of all that we saw,  (again, he is very knowledgeable about all of the art and the history of this castle).

An interesting patio overlooking the castle gardens.

The garden view from the patio.

This post wraps up our visit to France and Italy this summer.  I must add our gratitude and appreciation to Andre and Carla for being our knowledgeable guides to these castles and monasteries. I apologize if my memory of some facts is not totally accurate.  ( I would also like to thank Wikipedia for providing the occasional extra detail.)

Until next time, thank you for joining us on our travels,  au revoir and arrivederci.